Hi! I'll be installing a tranny cooler this month and need some advice. I have a 2001 F150 V8 5.4L 2WD automatic and adding on a universal tranny cooler in addition to my stock cooler. Was wondering if it was going to help out and wear would be the best spot to mount it. I will be towing a 21Ft toyhauler through the wyoming mountains and want everything to run cool. I was also thinking of installing a oil cooler, but space looks limited.

Thanks in advance!

 

I run a super duty cooler in my truck. Works very well! And I removed the stock cooler. But you can run both if ya want.
http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=480

Phil

 

First, I would check your transmission temperature to see if you are in fact running hot. If your temp is within safe range, then you don't have to do anything. If you already have a cooler, then either add an electric fan to it, or replace it with a cooler that has an electric fan mounted onto it. But if you insist on running two coolers, then add on a cooler with an electric fan. Attach the cooler to the line returning fluid from your factory cooler back to the transmission. That way, the second cooler will help dissapate heat before it returns to your transmission, and as a final back up measure, draw heat away with the electric fan if the fluid is still too hot after it has passed through your factory cooler. Where to mount it? Right up front behind your grill, next to your factory cooler; so that the lines are right there for you to tap into.

 

 

Do you know what temps you are running now? Your 5.4 should already have a factory aux trans cooler and a factory oil cooler. The oil cooler is integrated into the cooling system (that's what those extra little hoses running from the lower rad hose is doing).

When adding additional trans coolers, you have to be mindful of the flow rate of the trans pump.. More coolers means you could lose some line psi and that might cause other issues..

Remember, your truck is already moving the trans fluid thru the rad first, then it goes into the aux cooler and back to your trans... If by a 'universal' cooler, you mean one of those 'tube and fin' type, then I wouldn't even bother.... Just get a larger, single 'stacked plate' model. If you run in low speed situations a lot, then the fan will be a bonus...

If it was me, I'd determine what my current trans temps are before adding anything..

Mitch

 

Could not have said it better than Mitch even if I wanted to. I will reitirate two things he said...DO NOT even bother with some universal tube & fin cooler, and you are much better off running one large cooler that'll do the job besides two. Additional coolers will cause a pressure drop in the line and the tranny will be sensitive to that. Even if you swap to one cooler, still don't get a tube type. Always go stacked plate (Derale, Earls, Fluidyne, etc) you're wallet may not thank you but your truck will.

 

you can always run more than one auxiliary cooler but it's recommended to plumb it in 'parallel' instead of 'series'. that way there is no pressure drop. you have to get pretty creative with fittings etc. i like the ones made by long. L405 comes to mind.

 

I've never heard of running multi coolers in 'parallel'... That would mean a 'T' to each one, right? Wouldn't the fluid just follow the path of least resistance? Interesting concept however and I'd be curious to see the plumbing setup for that... To be honest, I'd just run a large V10 cooler as they are basically a bolt on piece if I was having trans temp issues....

Mitch

 

it's not a very common way to install, but at the atra seminars, they were suggesting it for hard working units, that have a history of lube related failures, ie cooler line blockage etc.

 

would that work on the 04-08's?

 

I run one of these as well except I ordered mine from Ford. I too took out the factory external one and replaced it with this. The 97-03 external trans coolers are very small and not enough if you do any sort of towing. I tow a 19' travel trailer. It would be on the passenger side bottom in front of the rad. The other cooler on the drivers side is your power steering cooler. If your truck never came with tow package you may only have the system that runs into the top of the drivers side of the rad and back. The way this thing mounts you don't need a fan. I have the stock fan and at idle it pulls air through this thing well and when I mount my efans it should work even better.

 

If yours has a tow package then your stock one for 04-08's are pretty large already but if it is not enough for what you want to do get one from an F250 SD for your year of truck it should fit just fine. You will have to cut your stock lines and add some rubber trans line or braided line depending on your tastes.

Fifty150's fan set up would work nice as well but it costs a lot more too.

 

One other option is to install another cooler in the line going to the radiator cooler. So you would have one external cooler before the radiator cooler and one after. This will cool the fluid before going into the radiator cooler and will help reduce engine temperatures. An external transmission cooler will take some of the heat load off the radiator and will help cool the engine to some degree but it is more effective at cooling the engine if it is installed before the radiator cooler.

If you want additional engine cooling, there probably is a larger stock radiator available.
After I bought my 2000F150 5.4 4x4, it seems Ford had advertised that the tow package includes additional engine cooling and it had the standard radiator. To avoid a law suit, Ford gave me and other owners the option of installing a larger radiator or $100 cash or $500 credit on a trade in. I chose the larger radiator.

 

ok I thought I had a transmission cooler now I'm not so sure.

What I have is a small cooler maybe 2' wide, and about 4" tall in front of the radiator, is that the stock transmission cooler?

If not I'll just be adding a cooler, and not a secondary with that in mind which way would you go?

The big super duty cooler, or the B&M?

Edit: If I am adding primary cooler will I need to worry about the line pressure?

 

What side of the rad is it on?

Follow your trans lines they should come out of the trans and go to the top of the drivers side rad and then out the bottom and to the external trans cooler (if you have one) on the passenger side front bottom of the rad. If you don't they will go from the bottom of the rad back to the trans.

The SD cooler and the B&M will both do the job. How much do you want to spend? The SD cooler is a nice big cooler that is working well for me.