So I have long agreed with the upgrade of auto tranny cooler for improving lifespan of trans.

Several years ago I did the 6.0 tranny cooler upgrade for my extended cab 4R100 & added inline filter as well.

So after finally finding an upgrade truck for the family; a full crewcab w/ standard 6 spd last year... i discovered that it had a couple surprises for me.
1) from factory it uses ATF
2) it has a pair of lines for cooling to a unit inside the radiator
3) those lines are exposed & below the frames protection
4) i easily added an inline filter & re-routed the lines above in the safe zone

So, the question at hand.

1. Any reason why an external cooler for the zf6 is a good/ bad/ neutral idea?
1a. Is either the spare e99 tranny cooler i held onto or find a 6.0 cooler to mount up & cap off the unit in the base of the radiator?

 

It's a way to spend money without gaining any advantage.

The radiator cooler is a very effective cooler. You won't gain much, if anything, by changing to an external cooler.

 

When I first bought my ZF6 truck 4 years ago, I read over and over about the transmission cooler available for the 6.0 that a lot of 4R100 owners install. I did a lot of research of my own, but never posted the direct question, like you did about adding the cooler to the ZF6.

I came to the same conclusion that Mark just posted. It will give you peace of mind and a bit less cash in your wallet, but nothing much else.

 

As long as the engine does not overheat, the tranny will not overheat.

If the engine does overheat and you keep driving, the engine will save the tranny by blowing up first.

Save your money for some future radiator rod out or re-core.

 

I put a set of PTO coolers on my SOB NV4500 mostly for the piece of mind even though overheating is not among the known risks. That tranny does not have an external cooler like the ZF6.

Primary reasoning was that it added to the fluid capacity with a side benefit of a bit of radiation cooling.


There is some planned work on the 250 coming up and am likely going to add a PTO cooler to the ZF6 for the same reasons as I did on the SOB.

 

I had my ZF-6 rebuilt recently by a shop which came recommended by a few local Powerstroke mechanics. The builder highly recommended running synthetic 5w30 in place of ATF in the manual transmission ONLY. I believe his reasoning was ATF is too thick for the synchros. I took his advice and have been running it with no issues. The truck shifts great.

I did not "upgrade" or change the cooler, however I did install a new radiator. The ZF-6 runs pretty cool as it is. From what I have read... too cool in some cases. The integrated radiator design sucks in that it creates a pretty critical point of potential failure that will go unnoticed until it's too late... however it also HEATS the transmission fluid (or oil) as much as it cools it and I believe that is intentional from Ford. Most of the guys freaking out about high transmission temps have autos.

My last transmission had to be rebuilt because the radiator failed. Mixed coolant with ATF - milkshake. I check the fluid every oil change.

The best fix is likely a nice all aluminum radiator that won't break apart inside like the cheap NAPA/Autozone/Motorcraft junk. I did not go this route due to funds at the time but eventually would like to.

 

 

I will gladly give you the make & model name & pictures of my install in a few days or so. I have a "buffet style full plate" the next few days.

You'll see I have 1 brand for the engine oil & the other for the tranny(forgot which is which at the moment). I also have a bracket setup for the coolant filter that's about to be installed -when I put the heater core bypass 3-way valves in.

You'll also see a few other tweaks too.

 

fascinating data Dude... I wonder what exp. the rebuilder has with the synth vs. ATF.....

 

so, as promised... pictures of the filters.... and other surrounding stuff.
#26 & 27 are drivers side, Tymar & engine oil bypass setup with Motorgard M30's
#30 & 31 is the Gulf coast filter - older design, I believe the 0-1 model
You'll see the head for the coolant filter mounted next to the tranny (gulf coast) filter & the electrical bridge will be for splitting for winch, and the aux fuse block for other toys that will be on relays.
Both by-pass filter systems use the scott tissue 1000 roll.

a few other pic's of tweaks:
#35, 36, 37 are the tranny cooler lines rerouted safely above frame rails & the detour through the gulf coast filter.

#32 has HPX & Deadhead-ectomy

#33 & 34 better airflow for battery life & safety switch

 

I had not even thought about wrapping the A/C condenser lines, added to my list...

This is so obvious now. I mean I did it for the hot water in the house in the crawl space...

 

Consider some homework first. While admitting that I am far from the best expert, I too had thought about that until I saw commentary where the system might not like the end results. Something about gas vs liquid state of the fluid at different points in the system, or more specifically, avoiding liquid state. Naturally this was for a different vehicle though, but the principle still applies. Another thing keeping me from doing this is that with all of the cost drivers at the manufacturer level, I am not clear whether the lack of insulation was a mere cost-saving thing or required engineering function.

Definitely not looking to insult anybody's good mod efforts. Just sharing.

As always, I am open to better information . . .

 

that is the reason I got my E99 for $1,000.00 the line got hit and pumped all the fluid out then the trans locked up.
I had already sourced a trans for the truck (customer was going to fix it)
as for fluid I run syncromesh and a bottle of slik50 synthetic in all of my zf5 and zf6 transmissions. I have never seen over 200 on mine while towing at 27,000 pounds

 

Sous & JaytheCPA... I had this dialogue with several HVAC folks back in the 90's when i took an ASE HAVC class while working my way through the automotive classes in junior college.

the added insulation is ONLY in the area i have it... its the safezone to "minimize" the soaking of enginebay heat before it gets into the cab to pull heat from cabin air. I started doing this on my subaru's back in the 90's!

Helifixer.... I like to see when a skilled person can score a deal like that $1K truck! way to go dude!

 

We love our Super Duty and our Subaru. Two of the best vehicles we have ever owned hands down.

How long have you had your A/C lines wrapped like that on the truck? Not saying that these are the same systems as a house uses, but the A/C lines for the house are wrapped as well.

This is something I have not seen before and am interested in if I can get a few degrees cooler. Living in GA can be hot at times...