Has anybody done a TRANS Cooler Upgrade on their 7.3 ambulance?

[FDM2012]

Knowing that coolant temp is critical in a transmission, I would like to upgrade the cooler for my 4r100.

It is banging *** hot here in Tampa right now, and it reached around 190 degrees the other day while running some errands.
Not happy about that... Fluid and filter changed immediately after I bought it, Magnefine added inline, and currently
no slipping or any other issues. Hope to keep it that way for a while....

I know a lot of the truck people upgrade to 6.0 coolers, just not sure if I have the room, or not?


Anyone already been down this road? Any help would be appreciated!

I tried to find threads on this topic, but to no avail.







My build thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/159270-New-Member-New-Rig?p=2102869#post2102869

 

[Bbasso]

While I don't have the ambulance I do have a 7.3 van, I have a small,, approximately 9 x 12 transmission cooler mounted on the frame rail just underneath the passenger seat. I immediately noticed s 15-20 drop across the board and haven't seen over 185 since installed, and I've been and many hot places with mountains and hills.

 

[FDM2012]

Good to know. I am on the fence as to get one with a fan on it, or not....

 

[limatangobravo]

http://derale.com/products/transmis...male-x-1-2-barb-90-degree-barb-fitting-detail
This is the trans pan I went with.
http://derale.com/products/fluid-co...-27471243954/180f-fan-switch-relay-kit-detail
This is the trans cooler I went with. I hardly ever see my trans temp go above 165 degrees, evern while going through the desert climbing hills driving to Utah. The highest me temp has been was 190 and that was at 11k feet pulling cars out of snow banks for hours in 3 feet of snow. I also put the filter kit on it as well so I can change the filter every 3-5k with my engine oil change.
Price is right as well, not to mention the extra amount of fluid the pan allows. One of my favorite upgrades that I have installed.

 

[Abitibi]

That pan looks really good. I like that it's steel as well. How much did they each set you back?

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[FDM2012]

I'm thinking I might go with this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XONUB...UTF8&colid=O4GDTAVTKZIY&coliid=I37N5XNL78RNL2

 

[limatangobravo]

I got them both on summit, the pan was well under two hundred and so was the cooler. I think for both I paid around three hundred with shipping. I bought them about 5 years ago so I don't remember exactly. I have certainly put them both through some torture tests along with the external filter housing. With my rig weighing close to 9K, I wanted to make sure that my trans had as much cool fluid as possible flowing through it.

 

[limatangobravo]

I'm thinking I might go with this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XONUB...UTF8&colid=O4GDTAVTKZIY&coliid=I37N5XNL78RNL2

This will work gret, not to mention you can mount it just about anywhere you want with the temperature control fan.

 

[FDM2012]

I will also run a dash switch in parallel, so that if I know I am about to do some steep grades or some hard towing, I will be able to
turn it on manually, to bring the temp down to 165, before I get into it. #StayAheadOfTheGame

 

[Abitibi]

Thanks LTB. With the deep pan, do you loose a bunch of clearance? Could be an issue for trails?

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[VOODOO7.3]

FWIW, 190 degrees will not hurt the 4R100 transmission. Above 170 degrees is optimal, above 225 degrees is no good! First, check to see if you have an in line Magnefine fluid filter right behind bumper (near block heater plug), and change it (every 15k miles). I would add the 26 row trans cooler from the 6.0 in place of the existing one. It is a direct fit. You can get one from Rock Auto, just look up the cooler from a 2005-6 with 6.0. The 7.3 has 3/8" cooler lines. The 6.0 cooler has 1/2" lines, so you will need hose adapters. More than one trans cooler causes too much restriction with not enough line pressure, so you are way better off using one big one. That is why BTS and other performance transmission shops require the 6.0 cooler for their warranty. It will drop your temps about 30 degrees. There are no real benefits to the bigger pan, certainly not $200 worth with lower ground clearance. Here is the link:
http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums...w-speeds-6.0-transmission-cooler-write-up.pdf
Cheers!

 

[tgreening]

No experience on the multiple cooler side, but I would agree on the fancy pans. Been there and done that with a couple different brands on multiple vehicles. About the only affect I saw was maybe a slight delay in temp rise, but once it started it rose right up to where it always did. It's biggest affect was emptying my wallet and making fluid changes more expensive.

 

[Abitibi]

Hey VOODOO7.3, thanks for joining in with good info and welcome to Expo!

Cool name by the way

Cheers
David



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[ohpyramids]

Thanks for the article voodoo. Learned alot in this thread.

 

[IdaSHO]

Agreed on the big pans not being worth much.

Also, with regards to keeping things simple, I always opt for a larger cooler, without a fan.

You should have a decent amount of space in front of the radiator and AC condenser for a good sized stacked plate cooler.