All: I have a question about transmission cooling.
I purchased pre-bent SS transmission cooling lines from Inline tubes. As I go to install them I see that the line fitted for the front port (just behind the torque converter) where the hottest fluid exits, connects to the driver side of the tranny fluid cooler section of the radiator.
I understand this side of the rad (where the cooled anti-freeze exits back to the engine) is the coolest. So the hot tranny fluid goes in at the coolest point in the rad.
The return line for the tranny fluid comes out on the hotter side of the radiator, and goes back to the tranny.
Intuitively, this seems "bass-ackwards", that is, shouldn't the tranny fluid return line come out of the cooler side of the radiator?
And the hot fluid should go into the hot side of the radiator.
Perhaps, I don't understand how the tranny cooling section at the bottom of the radiator works.
Can one of you experienced guys help me out? Thanks ever so much. Jeff

 

It doesn't matter which way the cooler lines are plumbed.

 

Best bang for your buck is fluid enters the radiator cooler farthest from the lower hose and exits closest to the lower hose.

Reason being the engine draws coldest coolant from the coldest part of the radiator.

 

The bottom of the radiator (where the trans cooler is located) is the coolest part of the radiator. It doesn't matter which way the fluid circulates through the radiator cooler, but it is generally left to right.
If you also have an exterior aux cooler, it should be radiator first then aux cooler then back to trans.

 

The transmission cooler in the radiator is just a heat exchanger. It doesn't have an 'in' or 'out' or a hot side cold side, per say.

Any automatic transmission should have an auxiliary transmission cooler plumbed, in series, with the cooler of the radiator. Well, should have one IF you want your transmission to live a long and trouble-free service life.

Plate type aux trans coolers are more efficient than fin type.

To plumb an aux cooler, the pressure line should come from the transmission and into one of the ports on the radiator. The line should come out the other side of the radiator and into one of the ports on the aux cooler. The line should come off the other side of the aux cooler and back to the return port of the transmission.

I installed a factory plate type transmission cooler for my C-4 in my '69 F100. I robbed the cooler off of a '92 Ford F150. It's a Long brand cooler part number 703-4502, Ford part number F2UH-7A095-BE. I paid $10.00 bucks for it.

 

Somebody had put an Econoline tranny cooler on that F150 you got it off of Ultra.
F2UH7A095BE crosses to F2UZ7A095A. 1992/95 E150/250/350.
F2UZ7A095A replaced by F6UZ7A095BA.
F6UZ7A095BA is listed for 1996 only E150/250/350/AND E-super duty vans.
^"U" is the designation for Econoline. "T" would be pickup truck.

 

Can't say for sure but, the installation of the oil cooler, mounting screws, screw holes and the supply and return line didn't look like anything some individual had swapped over. It all looked factory installed and original at the time I pulled the cooler off the truck. --who knows?

At any rate, the cooler is a nice factory upgrade part and it was cheap.

 

OH I believe you Ultra. Who knows? Could be something stupid like fitting size between Econolines and Pickups. So because of that:
1992 F150:
E9TZ7A095B...AOD,C6,E4OD...extra capacity....engineering number E9TH7A095AB.
E5TZ7A095C..aod,c6.........standard capacity....engineering number E5TH7A095CA.

 

So say perhaps I wanted to go looking for one of these plate coolers in the junkyard, what vehicles would they be in?

 

E9TZ7A095B...89/93 F150,85/93 F250,85/93 F350,90/93 F(Super Duty),89/96 Big Bronco.
E5TZ7A095C...80/ F100,80/96 F150,80/96 F250,80/97 F350,80/96 Big bronco.
And the Econoline number ones I listed the applications above.

 

Cool! I might just have to go get one. My AOD stays pretty cool with just the radiator exchanger, (about 160*) but I'm sure it gets warmer when I work it. Adding a cooler couldn't hurt.

 

Heat is the enemy of automatic transmissions. Transmission fluid needs to be kept under 175-degrees for the transmission to live a long service life. For approximately every 20-degree temperature rise above 175, the fluid life of the transmission is cut in half.

Chart showing temperature rise and expected miles 'til destruction.



These are three factory Ford plate type transmission coolers I got from the wrecking yard. Left to right: Ford Explorer (don't remember specific year model of it). In the middle, 1994 Ford F150. On the right (the one I installed in my '69 F100), plate style cooler I pulled from a 1992 Ford F150. I gave $10.00 dollars a piece for them --$30.00 dollars total.




This is a factory plate type engine oil cooler I pulled from a 1987 E350 DRW cube van that had a Super Duty 460 in it. This engine oil cooler is the same dimensions as the transmission cooler I installed in my '69 F100. The only major differences are the mounting brackets and the larger ports for A-N style fittings.

Engine oil cooler shown after I bead blasted it and sprayed it with primer.



I got the engine oil cooler, engine block-to-filter adapter, the oil filter fitting that screws into the block (requires a 1-1/4" socket to remove) and the braided oil lines for $12.00 bucks.

--cheap, quality factory performance upgrade parts to increase the service life of the engine and transmission.

 

What temperature is "too cool" for the trans? I know 180 is about as cool as you want to run an engine before wear goes up.

 

Some radiator transmission coolers are horizontal while others are vertical.

Both should be plumbed so the exit is either at the lowest portion of the rad or closest to the lower rad hose.

 

I'm not a transmission engineer or a transmission fluid formulation expert. However, you would have to live in a climate with sustained sub-zero temperatures before there might be a remote possibly of the transmission fluid being too cold.

If that ever became the case, you could cover the auxiliary transmission cooler, to isolate it from the ram effect of air going across the cooling plates, while driving on the highway. --much the way truckers cover the radiator in an 18-wheeler to limit the amount of air that can get to it.