Trans coolers are you friend. We all know what heat does to an automatic, and spending all that time offroad at low speeds, i figured i could use all the cooler i could get my hands on, so i ordered this beast of a cooler from Summit. While its not a full-on write-up, it should give you an idea of how to do it should you choose to do the same. First pic shows the rubber hose (from the factory) that bisects the return line from the cooler to the trans. Second pic shows the stock 'Super Cool' Trans Cooler option from Ford in '88. This pic also shows where i was considering mounting the remote filter.....on the framerail where the steering stabilizer is mounted, but was talked out of it in favor of a more-protected area. Third pic shows the new trans cooler mounted. This is the biggest 'stacked plate' style cooler i could get from Summit. The top is secured by a piece of angle iron running across the entire grill (have plans for a steering cooler on the other side), and the bottom by a flat plate. Everything's bolted in place. Fourth pic shows the connections made to the stock trans lines. Be sure to flare the ends before you reconnect to them, or theyll probably leak down the road. I have a double-flaring tool, but didnt want to do a double-flare, so i just did the first half of the double-flare, which leaves a round bulge at the end of the tube. Then slid the hose over and clamped it down. The line coming from the remote filter and into the cooler is ran along the underside of the radiator, and secured safely in place. Fifth & Sixth pics show the location of the remote trans filter i got from Summit at the same time. Yes, thats the overflow tank next to it. No chance of a stray rock getting up in there to hit that filter! If youll notice, the outlet side has a Tee fitting on it- this is so i could add a temp. sending unit into the outlet of the filter. This means im measuring the fluid temp after it exits the filter, but before it enters the cooler. Meaning the fluid entering the trans is actually cooler than it reads on my gauge, but it does give me an idea of what temp the fluid is upon leaving the trans. Seventh & Eight pics show the grill back in place....the cooler fit without any mods, and now that the grill is back on, you can barely see the cooler in there at all. |
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