Replacing my radiator today and what I most feared might happen just did. When I was trying to get the cooler line out of the radiator I accidentally snapped it. It's the one going into the top. Any suggestions on what I can do now? Can I temporarily fix it by connecting a hose to the two ends and clamp it up for now? I'm going to replace the line, but not sure I'll have time today to do that. Plus, I would need something pre bent and probably only the dealer could help me with that and I basically won't have a vehicle to use until my wife gets home later. Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

Well if you have enough line to put a hose on it should work ok until you can replace it, no harm in trying.

 

Thats a hard line to replace since it originates at the RH side of the transmission and routes alone the side of the block with a couple of brackets to the front of the engine and then crosses over and comes up to the top of the radiator. Take a look at v6 Rangers in a junk yard that have an aux cooler. Those have different lines that you may be able to use to add on an aux cooler or just use part of the line that goes to the top of the radiator to splice in a fuel line type rubber tube to connect your original cut off line.

 

I went to advanced auto parts last night and they had some rubber hose especially made for transmission cooler lines. I had them cut me a piece and it's currently on there right now with two clamps. I haven't seen any leaks from it yet, but I'll be keeping a close eye on it for sure, until I can get another cooler line on there. I wish they would just make the whole line a rubber hose. Dealing with a steel line on a 12 year old truck when trying to remove a radiator is a rough task.

Now, I have a question about the tranny fluid running through that cooler. Does it get pumped up through there as soon as you start the engine or does it wait for the engine to warm up? Just curious because most of the time I was checking for leaks the engine wasn't fully warmed up.

Plus, my tranny fluid is right where it's supposed to be on the dipstick when the engine is warmed up, but when the engine is off and cold the dipstick shows it above the crosshatch a little. Is that normal? Is that just because of all the fluid draining back down into the pan from running through the tranny and cooler lines when the engine is on? Just curious, thanks.

 

fluid is always running thought the hoses

 

That's what I figured, thanks. Just wanted to make sure. I know that was probably a dumb question, but now I feel a little better about my "jerry rigged" tranny cooler line. For now anyway. Thanks for your reply.

 

any time you are working on those type of lines ie brake, tranny.....you want to hit them with pb blaster a few times and let them sit..........and you always want to use a Flare wrench.........

 

Yeah, I did all of that and I still couldn't get the bolt free from the line. I thought it was starting to loosen up from the line and that's when the line snapped. I even tried that freeze and release stuff but it didn't work either. Worked great on the bottom line. Had no trouble with that one. The top line is what gave me the headache. Thanks.

 

I think I would just say to heck with replacing the whole line, I would just get a new fitting and flare the end of the old one and make a small piece for the other end with the new fitting and install a rubber hose between the 2 and call it good. Plenty of cars have just hoses, unless your wanting to do a concours resto.

The fluid is always flowing as stated, it needs to because thats the lube circuit.

The fluid level will rise as the temp rises, oils expand with heat, thats why dipsticks have a full cold and full hot mark, not sure if yours has it though.

 

Yeah, like I mentioned earlier in the thread, that's exactly what I did. Considering how old this truck is, I may just keep it the way it is like you said, as long as it doesn't leak. I may only have this truck another year or so (I think I said that last year too lol), so I'm trying not to put a ton of money into it now if I don't have to.

As far as the dipstick goes, with the engine off and cold, it is up pretty high on the dipstick. I just wanted to make sure that is normal when the engine is off and cold. When running, and warmed up, it's in the crosshatch area. Thanks.

 

Unless you own a Honda, the fluid is checked idling in park. Old mopars are checked idling in 'N'.

 

I have a 1998 explorer sport with a transmission cooling line that runs from right side of transmission along engine to radiator. Not sure which line against the engine block is leaking but want to know if its possible to remove and replace? Looks like it would be difficult to get the metal line out. Thanks.

 

If you worked at an AAMCO, you would have seen more cut lines than disconnected lines. It is a lot easier and quicker to cut the line than to disconnect the fittings on the side of the transmission. When the work was done, the lines were 'spliced' using reinforced hose that was heat and oil resistant. Todays fuel line would work fine. Do NOT use vacuum line type tubing as it will deteriorate and you'll have a cloud of smoke when it lets go, and hopefully enough warning to shut down before permanent damage is done.
You can put a slight flare into the 'stubs' using a round cold chisel to do a bit of expanding, or just use clamps on dry lines. Some will use two clamps on each end of the rubber as a belt & suspenders type insurance.
The pressure in the lines is minimal, in the order of 3-5 psi, so it is not a high pressure application, and one end of the cooling line circuit just dumps back into the sump of the transmission, so is wide open. The only pressure would be back pressure from the cooler and the friction of the lines. More or less.
There have been some changes in the fluid circuits in that pump pressure that would normally be bled off to the sump is instead routed to the inlet of the pump, increasing efficiency, but I think cooler line pressure is still pretty low.
tom

 

Thanks tomw! I cut about 3 inches of the metal line out and put about a foot of rubber transmission oil line in and then wrapped it with some hear resistant aluminum tape. Seems to be working ok for now....no leaks and will check after a couple of weeks to make sure the rubber hasn't melted....son usually only drives it about 3-4 miles a day. Appreciate the response and have a great day!