I have an 02 supercrew with the 5.4 but no towing package. I was unaware until I changed my oil that there is a aux-trans cooler standard on the 5.4 equipped trucks. Does anyone know how significant the difference in size/capacity is between the tow package cooler and the standard 5.4 cooler?

 

On the 5.4 Engine with the factory tow pkg. you get a upgraded larger capacity Trans. oil cooler, along with the other upgrades.

 

Right, my question was: does anyone know how much bigger in terms of capacity the cooler is that comes with the towing package. My truck has an external trans cooler which is standard with the 5.4 motor but does not come with a 4.6 equipped non-towing packaged truck. Would the tow package cooler interchange, is it significantly larger and therefore a worthwhile modification, or not?

 

Are you sure you are looking at a transmission cooler and not a power steering fluid cooler? Most of these trucks come with a power steering fluid cooler mounted on the lower driver's side ahead of the radiator & AC condenser. A factory trans cooler would be mounted on the pasenger side of the grill.

In any event an aftermarket cooler is always a great improvement over stock and will increase the longevity of your transmission by substantially cooling your trans fluid and the components that are lubricated by the fluid. Heat is the #1 killer of a transmission!

Good luck.

 

Yes, was unaware that the trucks came with one, then I looked at the Ford website, and it notes there that 5.4 equipped trucks come with an auxilliary cooler. And I followed the hard lines coming into and out. Oh well, guess no one knows, thanks anyhow.

 

Formula4dissent, i used the rule of overkill when I determined the size of my trans cooler, "When just enough is sufficient, too much is better.

Seriously though, my truck did'nt come with a factory cooler other than the wound coil in the radiator. I chose a B&M stacked plate cooler #70266* SuperCooler, it,s 28,000 GVW 11"x8"x1-1/2". I chose it because it looks stock and the size fits the grill opening perfectly.



The Towing forum might tell you the proper technique for sizing a trans cooler but I mostly reasoned to myself that any cooler would be better than none at all!

BTW, If you eventually decide to get a B&M cooler you'll notice that most come with fittings, clamps, and hoses but the bigger ones require that you get all the hardware separately.

Good luck.

 

Did the B&M cooler mount pretty easily? I just bought an 2002 Expy without a factory cooler and need to add one. From the pictures I've seen of the cooler it only has mounting holes on the bottom.

 

It was fairly easy to mount. The mounting brackets are identical top & bottom.

To center the cooler in the grill opening I wound up screwing the top bracket directly to the top radiator support with some short ( as in not long enough to pierce the AC condenser!) self tapping screws and washers.

For the bottom I got some light aluminum angle stock from the hardware store and cut it so it was long enough to reach from the lower mounting bracket to the lower part of the radiator support frame. I bolted the aluminum angles to the bottom of the cooler with some 1/4-20 bolts, nuts, washers, and lock washers.

I then screwed the bottom of the angles to the lower part of the radiator frame again with short self tapping screws and washers.

The way it's mounted makes the cooler face inwards towards the AC condenser and this leaves about 1/2 inch of space between the trans cooler & the condenser. I still have my factory clutch fan and when it's at idle the fan draws air past the cooler because it's fairly close to the AC coil.

I have a crappy pic of the cooler in my gallery that shows the barbed end fittings I used, got them from NAPA . There is already a cutout in the passenger side of the rubber splashguard to route the hoses through. I used one hoseclamp on the barbed fittings and two where I spliced into the lower trans fluid line that exits the radator.

Good luck, I hope this is of some help to you.

 

Thanks for the info. That's kinda what I thought it would take for mounting.

 

Stephen_T:

I purchased the Imperial (Hayden Automotive) Transmission Oil Cooler: Maxi-Cool XL Plate; 3/4" x 12" x 11"; Extra Heavy Duty, Part Number: 243012 from Advance Auto Parts for about $55.

The cooler has mounting tabs on each end. By a coincidence, the holes line up with two screws that hold the hood latch mechanism in the front of the AC condenser, behind the grill. I simply made 2 aluminum brackets about 3" long. Drilled a 1/2" hole in each end, put a rubber grommet in each hole and then put a metric stainless steel washer and nut over the grommet onto the existing screws in the grill. The grommets help isolate the cooler from vibration fatigue. I connected these brackets to the cooler with stainless nuts and bolts, using the same grommet system.

On the other end of the cooler, I bent a piece of aluminum to fit on the front end where the radiator mounts and ran it down towards the ground. I then attached the cooler to it with the same grommet system mentioned above. Had to drill a single hole in the truck to mount it, but used a stainless sheet metal screw for the install.

Overall, the install is very nice, sturdy and has good vibration resistance.

I'll post some pics later if you are interested...

 

Pictures would be great. Thanks.

I'm debating on getting an aftermarket cooler or just getting the factory cooler & hard lines from Ford. My Pickup has the factory cooler so I know exactly how it's mounted.

 

LEPEW
Where did you buy your cooler from and what was the price
of it?

Boom

 

Boom, I got mine through Summit. I believe it was either $60 or $70 but you might find a better price if you shop around. As I said earlier. I got the hose, fittings, and clamps at NAPA.

Good luck.

 

I tried to use the upsized factory cooler (4r70 towing) in place of the small cooler that comes with the 4r100 towing package. I found the part and it bolted on the mounts but the cooler lines had different ends, so there was no way to make it work without refabricating all the lines. The parts catalogue doesn't list the lines, it says "fabricate at dealer" or something similar and they have to be a reverse flare. The cooler was about $120.

I ended up returning it to the dealer and going with the B&M 18k cooler (from Jeg's)in addition to the stock cooler. Cheaper to buy and works great.

Ian

 

HI!... I personally don't like the STACKED PLATE design tranny coolers. I've never had any luck with them. I removed my factory tow package trans cooler and relocated and replaced it with a PERMA-COOL trans cooler with 10" electric fan. It measures 10" X 14" and is made from aluminum. It helped drop my tranny temps about 25 degree's over the factory stacked plate design. That is without the electric fan running.

http://store.summitracing.com/global.../prm-13311.jpg