Trans Cooler?

[Calisdad]

I have a E350 with a 460 and it has a tendency to heat up on grades. It is stock with the stock trans, oil and power steering coolers. I'm think about adding another trans cooler.

I can't decide to put it up front with the rest or perhaps a fan assisted one in a different location.

Has anyone done this? Did you get the results you were looking for? Tips?

thanks

[path1]

Calisdad wrote:
Thanks path1. I didn't think about the cooler being plugged. I do have a laser thermometer (heat gun) I'll carry it in the RV so I have some sort of reference until I can get a gauge installed.

I had thought about changing the thermostat but when I looked at where it is all I could ask was 'Man, do you really want to do this?'. I might do it after all. I've never heard of a 'high volume' water pump. Where might I find one for a '94 460?

Maybe just me but I don't buy any part that is not (Ford) Motorcraft unless I have to. To many failures from other brands and larger price not that big of deal when you take your skinned knuckles into account. See link about high volume pump. I put a "high volume" pump in a 87 and couldn't tell the difference, not saying they are not good, I went down the road normal, which I like. But maybe worth it if your having cooling problems. Snoop around this link, they have some interesting stuff.

http://www.460ford.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154940

If your going to change out the cooler and still want bigger capacity check out the coolers for 6.0's compared to your size they are big. But again the OEM engineers probably a step ahead of the "end user" like us, so going anything but stock might not help in many instances.

[Calisdad]

Thanks path1. I didn't think about the cooler being plugged. I do have a laser thermometer (heat gun) I'll carry it in the RV so I have some sort of reference until I can get a gauge installed.

I had thought about changing the thermostat but when I looked at where it is all I could ask was 'Man, do you really want to do this?'. I might do it after all. I've never heard of a 'high volume' water pump. Where might I find one for a '94 460?

[path1]

Calisdad wrote:
OK- maybe I'm kicking the can down the wrong road here.

A little history: Ford 460- common problem are the head bolts, particularly rear bolts passenger side. Several years ago I had one break and I managed to drill it out in place and re-tap it. Only I didn't get as many threads as I would have liked to. That resulted in a minor exhaust leak then finally a drip of coolant. A 2-part sealer actually stopped the leak- maybe at the cost of some cooling capacity.

So- It stays within range on grades but I don't want to fry the transmission. Of course if I had the money to put in a 20 year old RV I'd have the heads shaved, deal with the head bolts and put on headers or a Banks system.

What I'm thinking is a cooler and a triple gauge cluster so I can monitor what's going on. Waste of money?

I'm lost a little but if you think it a trans problem see below.

But on gauges, the more you can monitor something the better IMO.

Let me explain my comment "Do some more investigating before trying to out smart the manufactures". That was in response to your posting "I'm think about adding another trans cooler".

Here is what I went thru when my trans temps that went up a little bit higher than they usually do. Which "my" normal is when the gauge needle goes to 1/2 way when warmed up and doesn't move. My trans gauge has only moved on a 2 mountain passes, that includes most western states.

With higher temps I thought my trans was going out. I got out my temp gun and checked it often, I changed the fluid and filter(s) but trans still ran higher than it did couple years before.

Trans shifted fine and temps just little bit hotter than "my" normal. When I removed the external filter by the cooler the fluid dribbled out. And I mean dribble. I disconnected another line to see if fluid was stuck or maybe vacuum locked or ???

That was a clue to me that cooler was plugged or getting plugged up and slowing down the cooling process. IMO, a nice clean cooler the fluid would of spilled out not dribbled.

I talked to my Ford dealer and they recommend a transmission "flow test". At the time it sounded good but complicated and something a trained mechanic should do. (Later found out flow test is running fluid into couple buckets and timing/volume measurement.) But the cost of a flow test was about 80% of what a new trans cooler was so I came home with a new cooler and bolted it up and no more problem. My old trans cooler must of been getting plugged up and trans fluid couldn't circulate like designed.

Probably like a radiator gets plugged up after a lot of miles. My trans temps went back to where they used to be. So I believe the manufactures have it figured out pretty good what size of cooler they need. That is why I wouldn't add another cooler till you find out more.

OEM's probably put a sharp pencil to trans cooling dept. If yours starts running high than normal there is a reason. And trans don't last forever. If I would of put in additional cooler the flow of coolant still would of been slowed because of the gummed up cooler.

If your talking about water temps, I would only recommend a "high volume" water pump or maybe little bit less temp opening on thermostat.

[DrewE]

Calisdad wrote:
OK- maybe I'm kicking the can down the wrong road here.

A little history: Ford 460- common problem are the head bolts, particularly rear bolts passenger side. Several years ago I had one break and I managed to drill it out in place and re-tap it. Only I didn't get as many threads as I would have liked to. That resulted in a minor exhaust leak then finally a drip of coolant. A 2-part sealer actually stopped the leak- maybe at the cost of some cooling capacity.

So- It stays within range on grades but I don't want to fry the transmission. Of course if I had the money to put in a 20 year old RV I'd have the heads shaved, deal with the head bolts and put on headers or a Banks system.

What I'm thinking is a cooler and a triple gauge cluster so I can monitor what's going on. Waste of money?

Do you currently have a transmission temperature gauge, or only the engine coolant temperature gauge? The engine temperature isn't really indicative of the transmission temperature, beyond the general observation that both will be higher when working hard and lower when idling or loafing along. It's entirely possible to overheat the engine without having unusually high transmission temperatures and vice-versa. Adding a transmission cooler to compensate for a hot running engine really doesn't seem to make sense, any more than it would to install a larger generator because you are lacking capacity in your house battery.

[Calisdad]

OK- maybe I'm kicking the can down the wrong road here.

A little history: Ford 460- common problem are the head bolts, particularly rear bolts passenger side. Several years ago I had one break and I managed to drill it out in place and re-tap it. Only I didn't get as many threads as I would have liked to. That resulted in a minor exhaust leak then finally a drip of coolant. A 2-part sealer actually stopped the leak- maybe at the cost of some cooling capacity.

So- It stays within range on grades but I don't want to fry the transmission. Of course if I had the money to put in a 20 year old RV I'd have the heads shaved, deal with the head bolts and put on headers or a Banks system.

What I'm thinking is a cooler and a triple gauge cluster so I can monitor what's going on. Waste of money?

[Dakzuki]

Sounds like you've already got cooling issues. Address your cooling woes and work you way from there. Radiators aren't that expensive.

[path1]

(assuming the trans temp)

Do some more investigating before trying to out smart the manufactures.

[skipnchar]

You say it's heating up on grades but WHAT exactly is overheating? If it's the transmission then a larger cooler might help but that's not lilkely to help any if it's the engine that's overheating.

[Grandpere]

Granted mine is a class A, but I put it right at the grill and added a fan. I also bypassed the radiator portion of the transmission cooler so as not to have that added heat to cool. Mine is a 454 Chevy setup. I do not have a tranny temp gauge so I don.t know how much it helped, but the MH engine temp does not get as hot as it used to. I got my cooler from NAPA and was pleased with the ease of installation.