Friends,

I've been in radiator business for forty years, but do NOT claim to be a transmission expert. I would think that the transmission generated enough heat that it would not need to be "pre-heated" by the coolant in the radiator. I'll check with my transmission guru next week about that. Of course, in Georgia, the temperatures are not nearly as extreme as up north.

Johnny

 

Sounds great Johnny. Let us know what you find out.


I am a long way from an expert at any of this. I have rebuilt enough to know that heat kills. I would suspect that generating heat will not be the issue.

EDIT: I just figured out your login. Im dense. Capped radiator. Cool!

 

Brain,

Close, but no cigar. Many years ago, before e-mail, a fellow shop owner started calling me Captain Radiator. So, when I needed a name for my e-mail address, I shortened it to captradiator. However, I like your take on it, too!

Johnny

 

That is exactly what I did on my '53. I have the stand alone tranny cooler in front of my radiator. I had my tranny rebuilt this summer after I blew up my C6 on the truck's maiden voyage. Anyway, I had metal throughout my whole system including the cooler in the radiator for the tranny. The transmission rebuilder told me to just go and buy the largest stand alone cooler I could find and just bypass the radiator's tranny cooler. I did. I've got one on there for an RV, a large RV. Anyway, it does take a little longer to warm up, but once it is warm, it is fine. I have tranny temps in the range of 145 -155 degrees for just moderate driving. Once I start putting the tranny through its paces, or it gets over 100 degrees outside, it gets up to about 175. It's a C6 with extra clutches, stage-2 shift kit, manual/automatic valve body and an 1800 RPM torque converter. I wouldn't hesitate to use a stand alone cooler if I were you. But, I would also install a temp gauge as well to monitor it. There are a variety of ways you can go. There are nice rail coolers, and stand alone coolers with fans that I've seen installed underneath the cab.

 

I have used stand alone radiator coolers since the 70s. It's not even necessary to mount them in front of the radiator where they tend to pre-heat the air coming into the radiator. The last two street rods I had I mounted them under the car along the frame rail with no fan. Just don't mount them against the frame rail. Leave an air space all around and they will do the job. I owned both cars for over 15 years and never had any transmission problems...

Vern

 

Randy started all this...at least my horrible curisity. I just can't let something go and go to sleep sometimes.

I finally found another post where randy explained what his had.

Now if I could just find a pic.

It was in this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...&highlight=302

 

Brian -

Sorry. I don't have pictures of my tranny cooler setup. I did the same thing for my oil cooler. Tranny cooler is on the passenger side behind the battery box. Oil cooler is on the driver side.

I'll see if I can get a pic or two of the installation...so you can sleep again.

 

Thanks randy. I am not trying to cause you more work. I just get something in my head and it drives me nuts until I figure it out. Someday, I hope to swap in a 5.0/AOD and I am tring to plan as much as I can before I jump in.

I do appreciate the help very much.

 

FTE Family,

I posted on the iATN (International Automotive Technicians Network) transmission forum, and have had several responses. The main concern with the external cooler, and NOT using an internal cooler, is in extreme cold weather conditions. I also learned that some Ford tranmissions have a thermostat inside the transmission. I'll post again as more info becomes available.

Johnny

 

Brian_B -

No problem. I should have taken the pictures when I was building it. But I don't think I had my digital camera then. I've had oil and tranny coolers on the truck for some time.

I made a new album in my gallery that shows the oil cooler (it was easier to get at). But the tranny cooler is identical, just on the other side. I even included part numbers, if you're interested in them.

Check it out.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=19415

 

Randy, how big of a difference does that oil cooler make on engine temperature? I have thought about adding one of those as well.

 

Branden -

The PO just had a small cooler wire-tied to the front of the radiator. The tranny fluid was awful smelly (burnt), so the old system wasn't doing a very good job. I can't say what actual difference it made, since I didn't have oil or tranny temp gages before I added the coolers (I have both now). But, the coolers work very well controlling the temps of both within the given temp ranges.

 

I have thought about adding an engine oil cooler because I think it would lower the engine temperatures a bit. However, I'm not sure how much it would lower engine temperatures. My engine temperature climbs a bit in traffic. I was talking this over with a friend of mine and he seems to think I need to fabricate a better fan shroud and then I wouldn't have anymore problems. The flip side of this is, I have a 400 in my '79 4x4, and it heats up in traffic just like my 400 does in my '53. If I could see where I could get a 10-15 degree drop in engine temperature by using an external oil cooler, I would probaly go that route. But, I don't really know how much it would drop it.

I'm like you though, I have a tranny temp gauge installed as well. I think that is my favorite gauge

 

Branden -

I don't think my oil cooler made a really significant drop in engine temp. Probably some, but certainly not 10-15 degrees. I use a temp-switched fan mounted directly to the radiator (no shroud) and the engine temp is fine. Mine also heats up in traffic, but the fan takes it down. Other than in traffic, the fan never needs to come on. This setup is the best temp control I have had on any engine, in any car. I originally fabbed a custom shroud for it, and it looked really cool, but this setup actually works better.

I have always felt that the best insurance for long drivline life is fluid temperature control. The coolers and radiator fan were some of the earliest mods I did on my truck.

 

Thank you randy. Sorry I am such a pest. This is great information for everyone to know especially with install the pics. Its a lot easier to actually see them in place.

I like that fact that they are hidden and not sticking out behind the grill as well. I don't even like seeing them from the factory on mine.