Hey guys ,I have a 2003 Lightning and here where I live (Arizona) the temps are over 108* during the summer and my tranny temps go to 190*+ and I already have a f-250 tranny cooler and three e/fans.I been told that I can eliminate the tranny cooler lines.Can some one tell me how to step by step eliminate this lines and if I will see any positive and cooler temps on my tranny.Any advice is greatly apreciate it.Thanks,Joe

 

WOOWWW!!!!!!!!!!! 29 views and not one person have anything to say!!!.I'm out of here!!!.Thanks for nothing

 

I think they all wanted to see pictures.........of the HOT TRANNY......

 

BTW, what is the normal temp range for normal or even hot climate operation? You may be running at a normal temp....

 

and finally, calm the hell down! sometimes it takes a couple days to get someone who may have some info on the subject to post back. You just asked yesterday.

 

You can get better info on your Lightning over on NLOC !
The National Lightning Owners Club

I cant tell you the exact routing but you basically bypass the transmission lines that go through the radiator.
You can get away with it it hot areas like where your at.

I run the 250 cooler also but it gets below freezing up north here and I need the lines going through the rad to warm the tranny up in the winter.
When it's 90*+ here, I do see temps up around 200* sometimes.

 

Normal operating temperature is in the 180 range.

Don't bypass the radiator cooler, rather install coolers in series.

The hot transmission line should enter the rad from the top, exit from the lower connection then into a cooler and return to the transmission.


Is your radiator covered with anything like a spare tire?
That can block air flow.

As an almost last resort I have used an a/c condensor for cooling, there is lots of area and is a bolt in application.
Some of the factory installed coolers wouldn't cool a bicycle.

 

190 is not that hot for transmission temps, and bypassing the cooler will just result in higher trans temps. Bypassing the radiator will also result in the same because the temp of the fluid entering the radiator is much higher than the coolant temp, and fluid to fluid cooling is the most effective way to lower temps. Having the fluid run through the radiator helps regulate the fluid temps in warm and cold weather and the air cooler will help a little more; having the temps around 180 degreess is ideal. F-250 coolers are actually good because they're stacked plate type cooler which do a much better job than a tube and fin type.

 

You won't see cooler temps. Removing a cooler will only make the trans hotter.

You can get away with it better in cooler areas than hot. Removing a cooler in hot weather will make the trans hotter, not cooler.

You could get away with bypassing the radiator cooler because you don't get the high ambients that they do in Arizona. You'd be better off in the winter with less trans cooling.

Exactly!

The cooler in the radiator is a cooler. It NEVER warms the trans fluid. I have measured this as cold as -40°F and I was never able to find a condition where the ATF was colder than the coolant around the trans cooler. I had thermocouples to measure the temperature of the ATF going into the radiator cooler, out of the radiator cooler, and inside the radiator next to the trans cooler. The coolant is ALWAYS cooler than the ATF. The temperatures actually get closer the hotter it is outside, when I tested in below zero temperatures it was not even close. The water temperature was A LOT colder than the ATF at all times.

 

I would listen to Mark he knows what he is talking about. I wish I had a radiator tank cooler on my 2000 Excursion. For some reason I got a small external cooler and no radiator cooler. I am adding a cooler from the 6.0L Excursion that is over twice the area as the one I have now. I think the Excursions without the tow package had only the rad cooler.

If that cooler was in the top tank where the hot coolant came out of the radiator then it would heat the transmission fluid. Since it is in the bottom tank, where the coolant is relatively cool then it is going to always be cooler than the transmission fluid going into the radiator. You could mount a bigger cooler in front of the AC condensor to get maximum cooling but your AC may not work as well. Of the two, I would rather save the transmission than the AC.

Perry

 

No Excursion had a radiator cooler until mid-2000. Ford didn't install them in the '99 and up Superduty or Excursion until mid-2000. They burned up a lot of transmissions before they fixed this.

 

Well is the 6.0 L cooler going to be enough cooling for my 2000 Excursion?

Perry

 

Probably, but it won't help much in reverse, especially if you are backing a trailer.

 

Well if radiators were made like they use to be I could have the in-tank cooler added. These plastic tank aluminum core things are not something that you can modify. What if I have some sort of fan on the cooler? I see your point about the times when there is little or no air flow going through the radiator. How much cooling does the main engine fan provide at low speeds? With three layers of heat exchangers and low RPM I expect it is not much. I guess if I could find a used radiator with the tank that would be an option but finding one that is not corroded may be a problem. I will have to get a Scanguage II and monitor temps that way. If the transmission is in neutral with the engine running will it tend to cool off or should shut the engine down to give it a rest?

Perry

 

NEVER shut the engine off when the trans is hot! That's a bad thing. Leaving it idle or fast idle in either park or neutral is the best way to cool the trans.

A fan on a 6.0L cooler should take care of the reverse problem. The engine fan doesn't draw much air over the trans cooler at low speeds.