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Transmission Cooler

6K views 41 replies 24 participants last post by  timb99 
#1 ·
I will be pulling a trailer to the Grand this year and was wondering if a transmission cooler would be a good idea? This will be the first time pulling a trailer. I will be pulling it with a Ford F150. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Chad
 
#2 ·
Your truck should have a tranny cooler built into the radiator. You may want to get a trans temp gauge on it to monitor or add an additional cooler to the current one. I have both on mine and it never heats up.

Biggest thing is watch how often it shifts shifting is what builds excessive heat if it is staying in gear you are normally fine, but if it is constantly upshifting and downshifting it's pry getting hot.


Nick
 
#6 ·
Chad, my 97 and 07 both came with transmission coolers on them. If you raise the hood and look just below and in front of the radiator you will see it if it has one. I was led to belive that all 05's and newer had one on them but it may have only been those that have a towing package. You should definitely get one if it doesn't have one though. If you hit hilly country make sure you have the overdrive turned off and if pulling trailer over 60 Mph it's not a bad idea to turn it off. Jackie B.
 
#9 ·
Install an auxillary cooler anyway. Hayden, B& M all ok.

Mounts in front of cond. or rad. Internal radiator coller not enough for hauling. Good insurance. Transmissions in light duty trucks not what you call heavy duty, especially overdrives.

I have one on my old Olds Custom Cruiser Wagon. Oil always looks like new.


Regards....Gerald
 
#10 ·
Chad
My father has a transmission shop here in South Jersey of which I have spent the last 15 years of my life at. Time and time again I have had customers come in to our shop with fairly new trucks with transmission failure due to overheating from towing even small campers or trailers. Most of these trucks had what the factory called a "tow package". I have found 2 problems that cause these overheating problems. A. Most of the newer coolers are installed inside the radiator which does not allow the fluid run under engine/ antifreeze temp. B. These coolers are way undersized and have an insufficent cooling capacity. I suggest going with the largest cooler that will fit mounted in front of your radiator, allowing the air to flow through the cooler first,thus keeping the trans fluid cooler. Hayden is fairly cheap and will work fine. Part # 14-05 is about the largest that will fit and will run you between $50-$70 depending on where you live. One last tip, make sure you run the line direct from the trans into the cooler and back into the trans direct. Some folks run the new cooler in conjunction with the factory cooler which defeats the reason of installing a new cooler in front. Good luck and any questions feel free to private message me and I'll be glad to help.
Jason Baldino
 
#11 ·
Listen to Jason. The factory "cooler" cools into the engine coolant, adding heat into it and not cooling the transmission fluid for any kind of severe service at all. Put in a large aftermarket cooler and bypass the one in the radiator completely. That will allow the transmission to run cooler while providing a cooler reservoir of water for the engine to work out of for those times when you are pulling hills and so on. Make sure you place the new cooler where air will be forced through the fins, preferably air that isn't pre-heated from the engine compartment. If there is room, don't put it in front of the radiator because the heat from it will heat the engine coolant, but far better there than not at all.
 
#12 ·
Buckdeerdown is absolutley correct. Larger is better. This is because cooler matrix area is a cubed function, and air flow is a squared function when you are working with heat rejection formulae. The direct line from the tranny to the cooler and back is the only way to go. Running two coolers in series only serves to decrease the efficiency of the downstream cooler.

If you have the space, an auxilliary cooler with it's own DC driven, temp controlled fan would be the best solution. Stacking coolers front to back inhibits air flow.

If you live in area with cold temps you may want to install a pressure bypass. No need to cool cold transmission fluid.

Dan
 
#14 ·
As long as you guy's are spending his money why dont you recomend a deep sump transmission pan as well. And maybe evan a deep sump oil pan and engine oil cooler as well? As long as your at a freeflow exhaust system will help keep the engine running cooler also.
We dont evan know what he is pulling but you make it sound like if he pulls a fiberglass canoe he will burn up his trans.

db3006
 
#15 ·
Hmmm. F150 = 1/2 ton rating. Now then if it has a 'road' gear instead of a pulling gear even wiith a fairly light trailer you would be advised to shut dowwn overdrive most all the time. Just about every auto transmission vehicle has an internal trans cooler in the radiator, since the fifties at least and maybe before. What everone is talking about is and after market cooler or one from the factory as part of a 'tow' package. If it does not have the external cooler then $50 -75 bucks is cheap insurance and if a person can walk and chew gum at the same time you can install it yourself. Bill PS. Do yourself a favor and wash out the fins of the radiator before the trip with some dish soap and water or 'orange' cleaner. You will be amazed and the crud you will flush off it with your garden hose. Bill
 
#16 ·
Grunt,
Not always the case. I have seen plenty of trucks that have the " tow package " that had nothing more then a wire harness for a trailer.
DB3006,
I'm sorry if I came off as a know it all or as if I am spending his money for him. I was just trying to make what I feel were educated and experienced suggestions to help dissipate heat, which is the number one cause of transmission failure. If every vehicle owner installed transmission coolers, changed the fluid AND FILTER every 30,000-50,000 miles, we would be out of business.The viscosity of trans fluid breaks down just like motor oil. They are both a natural petroleum based fluid ( except for the newer synthetics )that have limitations. Again, I am only making these suggestions based on 15 years of trial and errors in this field as well as attending multiple seminars on this exact subject.
Wireguy and Buckwheat,
Thanks for supporting my " two cents ". Shoot straight! Jason
 
#18 ·
Jason, What do you know about putting a Temp.Gauge on an Allison Tranny in a motorhome with a 300 cummins engine? It appears to have lots of power but I would still feel better if I could check the temp. every so often as I pull a vehicle behind. What would you suggest and how difficult would it be to put on?. Glenn
 
#19 ·
The separate trans cooler is more effective and also will help the radiator run the engine a little cooler because it won't have to try and keep up with the engine and trans ... Not all towing packages come with separate trans coolers unless the truck is a 3/4 ton or better usually ... They are a cheap insurance policy for those who do a lot of towing and the bigger the better ... WPT ... (YAC) ...
 
#23 ·
There are also gauges that plug into the OBD I and II that give very accurate readings on all kinds of stuff from manifold pressure to coolant temperature. There are even free programs that work with a Palm Pilot ready for the free download. I'm not sure what kind of cable is used to connect, but I'm sure somebody much more versed in this at this forum knows.

I use a commercially available Scan Gauge that was/is marketed by a company in Arizona. It is great; tells me the temp in degrees either C or F. Also gives instant mpg, instant mph, and all kinds of stuff. I drive an '07 D-Max and pull a 4500 lb. travel trailer...wet weight. I know that's not a lot for this kind of truck, but I still like to keep an eye on things. High temperatures translate to high exhaust gas temperatures in a diesel and that's not a good thing. However, the OBD-II system does not give EGR, but the coolant temperature is an indirect measure. The factory trans temp gauge has never shown anything near the hot side of the range even when towing on a hot day up the grapevine at 60 mpg. I lightfoot it...Yup, however, an aux trans cooler is a no-brainer and a very good thing. There are also kits, or used to be, that mist the radiator core with water from an auxillary tank. Makes a big mess on the engine, however, but distilled water may be the way to go for a long pull..

The Scan Gauge was well under 200 bucks, btw.
 
#24 ·
if your Ford came with a towing package then the Super Cooling Package is also part of that...If you don't have a tranny temp gauge thats a good idea...on my F350 I installed the extra large pan with cooling fins and tubes ..and a drain plug...running Amsoil tranny fluid...gauge never moves empty or with 7500 lbs on the back
 
#25 ·
EE,

The last 1 (Chevy Heavy 1/2) and I do mean last one I had did not have a trans cooler other than the lines to the radiator ... I installed an external and plugged the radiator myself with brass plugs ... I didn't keep it long because it was a junk from day one and when I bought the Ford I replaced it with I had the dealer put an external on it before I picked it up ... WPT ... (YAC) ...
 
#26 ·
Jason or others: I don't own a truck or haul anything but I'm just curious. Is there any DISADVANTAGE to a transmission cooler when not towing anything in very cold weather? I remember MANY years ago we used to put cardboard in front of the radiators of our cars in the winter. You still see semis with radiator flaps.
 
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