for lack of a better title, thats all for the title....

OK yes I am lucky they warranty it, youre right there. I had the 7.3 cooler originally and it was on its third bad tranny. There is a cooler in the radiator and according to the ford tech there are screens in the cooler? I am not dissecting mine as I hope to use it for another project down the road. So with the replacement of radiator and cooler it sanitizes the system of everything bad and keeps it from possibly overheating.

as for costs

230 for radiator (oreileys)
320 for TC (dealership)
40 for remote filter (Summit)

1355 (Tranny shop covered all but labor and the cost of the new serpentine belt) so remove, rebuild, replace bad parts, tranny fluid, install radiator, install and fabricate for 6.0 cooler and remote filter, install serpentine, put bolt back through water pump to stop oil leak.

in all I made out good!

 

Meet a tech or two I know that will squeal to Ford because of your mods so you have no warranty. Before you start on me, I saw it done personally. They take some perverse pleasure in doing that. AFAIK, Ford never gave them a penny more for it so IDK why. Those guys have probably got FORD tattooed on their wiener. If Ford didn't make it, nobody else should.

The fluid goes from the trans to the cooler in the radiator and then to the air cooler in the front and back to the trans. When mine came out, the flushed the lines after removing the cooler. After that, the new 6.0 cooler was installed. Remember, I have a BTS and have no warranty limit. 3 years from the install, I can get a new BTS trans by sending this one back. If he was going to warranty it like that, why didn't he ask me to change the radiator? Probably because there are no narrow passages that can clog up. The air cooler is a different story. No remote filter either. Standard on in the pan is all. His dime anyways.

\

 

the techs some places just have to be babies, why i dont know, I agree there. and according to multiple sources the coolers in the radiator have screens in them and possibly in the actual cooler too, but like i said I am not going to dissect one for the sake of knowing just yet. Next time I need a tranny and have to pay full price I am going with BTS, but couldnt afford it as of now. next big thing i NEED is ball joints and a spindle conversion.

 

the trans coolers in the radiators have a type of screen in them, it's more to direct the oil to the edges of the cooler tube to disperse as much heat as possible. BTW they can be replaced in the tank, it is only a copper or in this case a aluminium tube with a couple of o-rings to seal against the plastic tank. should have been a lot cheaper than a new complete radiator.

cheers
josh

 

really you can replace em easy? you have any info on where to get that cooler and the instructions

 

if you go to your local radiator repairer he should be able to get one for you, then all you need is a new o-ring for the bottom tank which the repairer should be able to source for you. then to do it at home you will have to make a tool out of a old pair of pliers and something like a flatblade screwdriver, cut the blade about half an inch from the end then weld it to the end of one side, pointing down. this part will be used to get behind the tabs holding the tank on, then gently roll the pliers up and back and the tab will lift and straighten. do that to all of them being careful no to bend them to far as some aluminium they make the radiators out of tends to not like being bent to many times. so just enough to get the tank off then grab a hammer handle put it inside the hose fitting and give a couple of quick pulls up and the tank should lift off, once off if you want you can run a hose through the outher tank and whach the flow out the tubes to make sure they are all flowing, if a couple are blocked a thin peice of flat strong steel rod can be slid into the tubes to unblock them. then just undo the two nuts that will be holding the cooler to the tank and pull it out, put the new one in its place tighten the nuts, if you want you can put some RTV sealent on the o-rings just to make sure they seal but its not very oftern they will leak, tighten the nuts up. once that is done remove the old seal from the header plate clean the part of the header that the seal sits in so there is no debris in there drop the new seal in pop the tank back on it might need a tap on the ends with a rubber mallet to get it to seat nice. then use a unmodified pair of pliers to recrimp the end taps first to hold the tank, then start from the middle and work your way out making sure the tank is sitting snug all the time. you can put a fair bit of pressure on the crimps before worrying about cracking the plastic tank. once done find something to block the fittings with that will hold pressure put the bottom of the radiator in a tray of water and pressureize with air to about 120-140 kpa if there is no leaks your finished. if the header has bubbles coming from it get the pliers out and try squezing the crimps a bit tighter. a tiny bubble here or there wont matter as water will usually seal it up and not leak.
i will take a pic of the tool that radiator shops over here use to lift the tabs with, so you have a fair idea on what i mean about the pliers and screwdriver mod.

 

i thought it was in my centre console but it is'nt, it will be at the yard in my tool box when i get down there i will take a pic of them and post it up for you.

 

In a last ditch effort, I changed the transmission fluid and internal filter. I'm hoping the filter was clogged or something else was obstructing fluid flow from letting the transmission get in drive.

I drained the pan, and the torque converter and followed Mark's flush instructions. It wasn't very difficult. I used Motorcraft Mercon V and the Ford filter for $120 from my local dealership.

That fluid looked terrible. It was very dark. I would believe that the fluid had never been changed, but I'll never know for sure since I'm the 3rd owner.

 

With the miles on it, you do understand you are on borrowed time anyways. I would get my act together and start shopping around for a tranny I want. This one is probably going to die out in the worst place possible.

 

I understand BigDummy. I've started to get quotes on transmissions. The fluid change is a drop in the bucket compared to a new transmission and I thought I might learn something about its health.

I haven't gotten in touch with BTS yet. Can anyone PM me recent costs?

 

I guess my old man and I got lucky, he just changed out his original tyranny at 340k and im not too far behind him with 288k and im still running the original. I feel bad for all you guys having to replace them at less that 200k.

All i can say is good luck!

 

IIRC, it was $4100. Talk to Obswiz on the PSN site. He is a dealer and can get you a better price because he can ship it cheaper.

Home

If you go to him, he will install it for free. If you want to you can watch as they rebuild a trans, FWIW. I didn't bother because he has forgotten more than I will know or ever want to know. I will never rebuild a trans so I don't care to know what he is doing. Rebuilding a trans is more than slapping a bunch of known good parts together.

So I take it you plan to add stuff to the truck and/or keep it for a long time?

 

maybe we have 2 freaks but our 2 truck have over 160k ans 175k on the auto and no troubles.