Manual or auto? If manual it should stay where it is, just get a better radiator if you are worried about it. It not only cools but it also helps warm up the trans. You should check for coolant infiltration periodically, I check every oil change.

 

I never heard anyone say that we should delete the radiator cooling for the transmission lines. I believe that the lines run from the trans to the radiator then to the front mounted air cooled coil. If your transmission oil temp is 220 and your radiator reduces it by any amount it beats running straight 220* oil through the front cooler.

 

I remember reading that the radiator cooling is the only cooling you get when you go in reverse (seems logical since you are going backwards and there's no airflow across the front of the truck).

There's a reason that it was added instead of removed. I don't recommend deleting it.

 

 

^^^ That and it actually removes heat better than the air cooled cooler

 

What volume? What buffer?

The oil to water cooler in the lower radiator tank is only 1 foot long, and is confined to just the area of the lower tank between the OTW trans fluid cooler's inlet and outlet ports.

The additional volume of trans fluid found in an oil to water cooler might, at best, amount to a mug of coffee.

Here is a photo of an oil to water transmission coolers:



Whether stacked plate, plate and fin, or fin and tube, there simply isn't that much space between inlet and oulet ports to add a "buffer" or "volume" to the transmission fluid.

That all being said, I absolutely agree that it would be insane to eliminate the oil to water transmission cooler from the system. However small it may be, it is extremely effective, as water is a far more efficient heat transfer medium than air. Especially still air.

 

I agree,its proven technology for over 50 years that I know of.

 

No matter what you think, it helps. It was designed by the engineers, for whatever reason beyond your level of comprehension, as the first step to cooling your fluid. I admit, it's beyond my comprehension also. I also think that it's not much, won't do much, and can't figure out why they would even do that. But do not remove it. You can add to the cooling system, and I would suggest getting a cooler with a fan.














I don't have a diesel. I just have a little F-150. The only thing that it came from the factory with was the transmission cooling line flowing to the top of the radiator, and the fluid returning from the bottom of the radiator. I added a B&M 70297. The cooler has a fan which triggers with a 180 degree thermostat switch. I never saw that fan come on. With a point & shoot laser thermometer, I only saw temps from 110 - 130 on the cooler body & fins. Despite that my ScanGauge II was reading temperatures from 190 - 225. I believe that a thermometer reading the cooler is probably 10 - 20 degrees lower then the temperature of the fluid actually inside of the cooler. This indicated that whatever the true temperature of the fluid was in my return lines, it was well below 180 when exiting the radiator. And if in fact the thermometer is reading a temp close to the true fluid temp, then I can believe that the return line is sending fluid back to the transmission at or about 110 - 120.

I finally bypassed the 180 degree switch, with a fin probe set for 140 degree. Knowing nothing what-so-ever about where to place the fin probe strategically, I just found a place close to the transmission cooler's inlet. Somebody else mentioned that I should have placed it next to the outlet. I saw that fan turn on once, While idling in "Park", when my ScanGauge II read 207, and it quickly dropped to 194 within minutes. I guess what you are suppose to do when the temperature gets high is to pull over, park, and allow the engine to idle so that the transmission pump can push your fluid through the cooling system. I typically see temperatures of 190 - 225. I just keep driving until I get to where I'm going. I'm the original owner, and have driven the truck like this for 12 years.

 

 

 

Do not "delete" or "bypass" any of the OEM cooling system.

You can always add an extra cooler of your choice to the return line. The idea is to allow the OEM cooling system to do what it was designed for. Then an aftermarket auxiliary unit can pick up where the OEM left off.

Also consider an aftermarket pan, with cooling fins, extra capacity, and a magnetic drain plug.

 

 

Agreed.

Disagreed. One can't "always add an extra cooler of your choice to the return line" if the extra cooler impedes adequate return flow back to the transmission. Each additional cooler adds restriction to flow. Each bend in the lines to plumb the additional cooler adds restriction to flow. Whether or not the additional restriction impedes flow beyond the minimum return flow standard established by the transmission manufacturer will first need to be tested.

The Ford 4R100 requires a minimum of one gallon per minute of return flow. This can be tested with a quart container timed for 15 seconds, from a point in the return flow circuit following all original and extra coolers, just prior to returning to the transmission. If the return flow meets spec, even with the extra cooler and associated tubing to plumb it in, then ok, the extra cooler won't do the transmission immediate harm. But it does introduce additional risk to the transmission... more places to leak, more places to clog return flow, especially if the "extra cooler of your choice" is plumbed in series and lacks an internal bypass.

Disagreed. Every aftermarket transmission pan on the market for this application that has extra capacity and cooling fins is made of aluminum. Aluminum is known for its heat sink properties. Aluminum is not known for having an ability to discriminate between sources of heat, say, selectively choosing to absorb heat from one source while rejecting heat from another. The transmission pan is located near a heat source that can reach up to 900 degrees F (the downpipe, and the diesel oxidation catalyst for trucks so equipped). Even without a cat, the exhaust piping runs right next to the transmission pan, and the heat generated in the engine compartment is ejected down and back through the transmission tunnel, motivated by the engine fan blowing backwards, as well as the truck's forward movement pushing air through the heat exchangers.

Are the fins on this aluminum pan expected to absorb the 180 degree "heat" from the already cooled transmission fluid in the pan (since the fluid just returned from all the extra transmission coolers), yet then somehow dissipate that 180 degree heat into an environment being baked with 300 to 900 degrees of radiated heat?

Forget the fins for a moment and just consider the extra fluid capacity that the larger pan brings to the table. Let's say the aftermarket pan fits in 3 additional quarts. Remembering the return flow rate of one gallon per minute, and remembering that the fluid that is being pumped out of the transmission is exiting the torque converter, where the fluid gets worked and heated, it will take all of 45 seconds for the 3 additional quarts to get worked and heated just as much as the original quantity of fluid available. And now that there is 3 additional quarts in the system, it will take that much longer to cool the fluid through the heat exchangers. Since it takes longer to cool the fluid than it does to heat it, is there a benefit to heating up more fluid that needs to be cooled?

Consider that at any given flow rate, the fluid dwell time in passage through the heat exchangers is the same. It's like having a neighborhood pool party, where due to the number of kids who want to play in the pool, turns and time limits have to be placed on each kid so that every kid has a chance to have some pool time. Then, one neighbor decides "the more the merrier", and invites their 3 quarts of cousins from across town to join the fun. Now every kid present has to wait longer in line, while soaking in the hot sun, for the same amount of pool time. And the extra quantity of kids reduces the total number of turns that each kid can have in the pool during that day (or during that drive cycle). The more quarts of transmission fluid added to the pan, the more time that each molecule of fluid has to wait longer in line for a chance to make that brief trip through the pool of coolers.

Agreed. However, there is already a magnet inside the stock pan.

 

Just to address your question regarding why your 2000 doesn't since I didn't see it answered...this was change to the cooling system by ford that happened in mid-year for the 2000 MY (build date before 2/6/2000). There was a TSB (00-24-4) put out to address the issue of overheating trans complaints for the 99-early00 trucks if owners came in with the complaint under warranty...all trucks built after 2/6/2000 received the oil to water cooler from the factory (in addition to the standard oil to air cooler up front).