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Installed An Auxiliary Trans Cooler (04/17/12)....


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Well after about 5 days of driving around with the full meth kit and my gauges installed (one of which is a trans temp gauge).....

 

I am seriously contemplating the addition of a separate, after market trans / auxiliary cooler to my SHO.

 

I am surprised at how hot our tranny's seem to run.

 

Now mind you the temps in the Chicagoland area have been unusually warm. Record breaking in fact, with several back to back days of temps being in the low to mid 80's.

 

Now "normal" driving around town, putzing back and forth to Wally World, or picking up the kids from their various after school activities, the tranny temps have been floating around 190-200.

 

"Normal" driving on the Expressway in these temps has revealed a temp increase to an average of around 205-210. This is with cruise control set at, around 75, 80 MPH.

 

If I am really romping on it, and driving rather aggressively, the temps seem to acheive a blistering 220.

 

Which, I might add at that last note, was really, REALLY surprising to me.

 

No wonder FMC has changed out/changed around the tranny cooling design(s) for the 2013 models.

 

So anyhow, since I'm relatively new to the realm of after market trans / auxiliary coolers, any input from any of you that might be able to yield some insight into this subject matter?

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I would guess that Livernois could come up with a kit for us to have installed. I will also talk to Torrie... This is a VERY GOOD idea and MOD.... The 2013 PP has the Police package mods which I believe include a separate Tranny cooler. May be wrong, but believe we have one that goes thru our radiator... Ask Rick or Dan about the meaning of these temps... IE... HOW HIGH... is HIGH....

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Yea, from what lil bit I do know, our trans cooler (if you even want to call it that) is tied in not only with the radiator, but also a bunch of other cooling related modules / functions.

 

I heard some chitter chatter previously about our trans temps running high and that eventually it could lead to more and more failures as a result, and I'm more inclined to believe that that chitter chatter was fairly accurate.

 

Not only cuz of what I'm reading on my own trans temp gauge, but also because of the fact that FMC completely redesigned it for 2013 and made it an entirely separate package.

 

Kind of like how sh!tty our brakes are for us 2010-2012 owners, and the fact the that FMC completely redid them for 2013 as well.

 

I really don't have enough coin for me to be flip'n for a tranny rebuild, or replacement for that matter, and I'm really think'n that this mod needs to get done like freak'n ASAP.

 

Like as in I already consulted my shop owner friend and have him looking at a few different ones that I've found just by doing a simple search of "transmission coolers".

 

Bob, and Chris, I would hope that either Torrie (Unleashed Tuning) or Rick (Livernois Motorsports) can chime in on this issue, cuz I am none all to happy about the current temps mine seems to be running at.

 

Not at all.

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After looking at dbulldogs cooling diagrams I would think that there could be troubles with the thermal bypass valve. I would hope the coolers are not that poor that it lets the tranny get up to 220 by giving it hell for awhile. If that thermal bypass is hooped, a coolers not going to do anything for you.

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Interesting diagram dbulldog..... very informative. Thank you for not only finding that, but also posting it for the community to see 1st hand the differences between the 2010-2012 models, and the new 2013 models.

 

Interesting.

 

Steve O, I mentioned this to my shop owner pal (about a combo fan/plate unit as in the link you provided) however he had reservations about using one of these set ups cuz he said that the 2 OEM fans would be essentially be fighting with the hypothetical 3rd one found on a kit such as one that includes a fan.

 

Not only that, but he reminded me that both of my OEM fans kick on sooner than most due to the lower temp thermo I have installed and also the LMS tune turning the fans on at a lower temp than the stock tune file.

 

So not sure that a fan would really be all that beneficial.

 

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

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Interesting diagram dbulldog..... very informative. Thank you for not only finding that, but also posting it for the community to see 1st hand the differences between the 2010-2012 models, and the new 2013 models.

 

Interesting.

 

Steve O, I mentioned this to my shop owner pal (about a combo fan/plate unit as in the link you provided) however he had reservations about using one of these set ups cuz he said that the 2 OEM fans would be essentially be fighting with the hypothetical 3rd one found on a kit such as one that includes a fan.

 

Not only that, but he reminded me that both of my OEM fans kick on sooner than most due to the lower temp thermo I have installed and also the LMS tune turning the fans on at a lower temp than the stock tune file.

 

So not sure that a fan would really be all that beneficial.

 

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

 

That depends on how and where the cooler is mounted. These can be mounted remotely, instead of being stacked on the cooler in the front; room pending obviously.

 

Speaking of my link, where did it go?

 

Don't forget to check the operation of that thermal bypass valve.

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That really doesn't sound too high to me. I had a trans temp gauge on my 4r70w I had in my Tbird, and normal day to day driving in the summer time usually showed temps around 200ish. One thing you want to consider is where you're monitoring the trans temp...on the trans itself? before the stock cooler? after the stock cooler? Each location is going to show a different temperature.

 

One thing is certain, an aftermarket trans cooler is definitely not a bad idea. When I had installed mine on the Tbird, I remotely mounted it in front of the radiator where it could get good airflow. I spliced into the stock lines, so I had the stock cooler, and the aftermarket cooler for extra cooling. The most annoying part was keeping all the lines from loosening up and leaking little droplets of red all over the front of the engine. I personally like the B&M stacked plate units. They're pretty cheap and quality made pieces. Get one of these, mount it where you can get good airflow, and you shouldn't need an auxillary fan.

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I just saw this. You know that I've been looking into this. I'll being going to the local speed shop here in the next week and look to get a quote to get a engine and tranny cooler installed. As far as a coolers, i was looking at Derale and B&M stacked plate coolers. Both of with are not too expensive. I also plan to change all the drive train fluid to amsoil synthetic that is more resistant to heat.

 

This is the way i was going to get them mounted up given our limited room.

 

5552378200_f2cc39a9b8_z.jpg

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I checked and according to Ford, 'Normal' temps are 180 - 200 F for the 6F55. If you were hard on it, 220 F does not seem that high and your system is cooling the fluid correctly.

 

Brian

 

Good info to know :thumb:

 

I'm glad we have you here in our EB community to provide some of the 'technicals' that some of us can't..... that being stated, sent more rep points your way Brian.

 

Much appreciated.

 

The temps I was seeing in the 200-210 range were motoring down the E-way with the cruise on at around 80 MPH. Outside atmospheric temps were in the low/mid 80's.

 

The few times I did "get on it", it quickly hopped up to 220. Seemed high to me. Either way, I'm wondering for those guys that do track their EB's (even periodically) if this is not necessarily a good thing (for it to ramp up so quickly) ???

 

Still seems to me that the addition of an auxilliary trans cooler might be of some benefit to us 2010-2012 owners.

 

My shop owner pal seems to think that the way FMC has the 2013 set up is probably the best way to go (I fwrd'd him your exploded diagram for review).

 

He also has an "in" at Ford and is looking into whether or not the OEM auxilliary trans coolers for the 2013's are even available yet for ordering.

 

He told me to give him a few days. He's also looking into ways to bypass that thermal valve in the event the 2013 parts are not available quite yet and we decide to go with a true after market cooler.

 

Even with all of that in mind, I tried motoring around today and attempted to reign in the tranny temps to something more reasonable, and was able to keep it at, or around 160.

 

Now mind you, I was quite literally driving like a Grandma head'n off to Sunday services. Kept using the cruise control to maintain my speeds at the posted limits, and gently accelerated from stops, etc etc.

 

So I guess it's not all that bad, really, but like I said up above, if guys are prone to "romping on it" and the temps dart up that quickly, eh.... idk man, still would like to think the addition of another cooler (in w/e variant that may end up being) would help out in the long run :noidea:

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I just priced out the 2013 aux oil cooler and lines that Ford shows in their diagram that dbulldog posted. It looks like it all comes in around 620.00 dollars CDN. Being basic numbers she wasn't sure if some stuff was available as it was for "police" vehicles. It's pricey in Canada.

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The ideal temp that my diesel tranny worked at was 180 degrees. I know that's what a lot of trannys are set to operate at. Get too hot and you burn things up. Get too cold and you do just as much damage to the trans. 180 to 205 should be normal operating conditions with the 205 being when towing. 220 is hot, however with these cars weighing more than some pickups I'm not shocked to see that temp reading when you consider that a truck has two to four core radiators that have big tranny coolers. Now add that with a massive front area for that truck to shove air over and through the cooling system.

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There is "someone" who is making a tranny cooler for the 2010-2012 SHOs who helped design the one for the 2013 SHOs. They will be released here soon and I will be notified when they are up for sale. I can't recall for the life of me now what the tranny fluid runs through right off the bat at start up to help warm the fluid so the car can be driven almost immediately with no warming up really needed. The A/C condenser maybe? Hate when I can't remember something. And the 200 degrees is a normal tranny temp as stated above. Heck, I've noticed my coolant temp being higher than that on a warm day here in VA Beach.

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There is "someone" who is making a tranny cooler for the 2010-2012 SHO's who helped design the one for the 2013 SHO's.

 

They will be released here soon and I will be notified when they are up for sale.

 

1st..... sign me up for the 1st few to be notified (outside of you). PM me if necessary.

 

2nd..... i'm fine with the 200, but when she starts creep'n over the 210 mark & then even closer to 220 it's cause for concern. Especially given the fact that Summer hasn't even arrived yet.

 

I can't imagine for those guys that have tracked their cars, wth their temps are..... yikes.

 

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