Installing a new all aluminum two core radiator

[traveler]

The box came with the radiator, and thats it. The radiator has fittings welded into it, which would work if the fittings on the radiator lines were shorter. They have a short 1/4" thread free area that goes into the radiator fitting, but that keeps the threads from going in and "catching". I'm sure with the right fitting on the hard line, it would fit easily.

However as I'm living in AZ I'm going to go ahead and just bypass the radiator for now. I can't even run to the store to get the right fittings if the truck isn't driveable! lol

 

[bigred4x4]

Look at your old radiator it should have adapters the radiator itself is threaded at 1/4" npt you need the adapters to attach the trans lines. And maybe contact the company you bought it from and make sure they didn't leave them out by accident.

 

[bigred4x4]

Ok never mind I'm looking at your pictures and it does have the flare fittings welded in but seem to be regular flare fittings and not the recessed Ford fittings you may have to find the correct male flare fitting cut the line install fitting then re flare the pipe and I would recommend using a tool that can do a double flare the factory flare is a double flare and it's more durable since there is twice as much metal in the actual flare itself.

 

[CDW6212R]

If you have the double flaring tool, you can also create those for the ends, and use the various lines available at stores(fuel lines of many lengths). I did that with my first mail car, my old 86 Crown Vic. That let me skip rubber lines since those cars came with large trans coolers with 3/4" NPT I recall.

The Super Duty coolers have simple barb/nipple ends right? I forgot but I think that's what mine has.

 

[bigred4x4]

I'm further reading into your delima and since you can't get to the store you could bypass the radiator but transmission cooler hose is recommended don't use fuel line it's not the same.

 

[traveler]

I'm using the line that came with my external transmission cooler. It should be ok. I did try to take the fittings off of the factory radiator and use those bit they didn't work. In the middle of bypassing the radiator and just using the big transmission cooler I have now.

 

[gmanpaint]

So we need to find and post a link to the adapter fittings for this thread, if someone knows where to source them, and do that, that would be great.

 

[bigred4x4]

I need to know the fitting size on the radiator to find an adapter some pictures of the cooler line fittings on the truck and a close up of the fitting welded into the radiator would help. You need to contact the seller they probably left them out or at least should know what the fitting is that's on the radiator. The weird thing is it looks like the fitting that's on your radiator is a flare fitting when it should be a pipe thread fitting. You can put the tranny cooler on it and bypass the the radiator for now and you will be ok.

 

[bigred4x4]

If the bypass turns into a permanent install I would recommend installing a thermostat. Your transmission fluid temperature sensor along with pcm and valve body circuits built on your transmission should actually control the flow of fluid to your cooler and should restrict flow to a minimum if it's under 140 degrees so I guess a thermostat added to your cooler line wouldn't be completely necessary in your area but still wouldn't hurt. And the line that comes with the aux cooler should be just fine. You could have probably used fuel line in a pinch but definitely not a long term solution

 

[Turdle]

The 4r70w torque converter in Traveler's explorer will warm the fluid fine on it's own. No need for the exchanger which can fail, and wipe out the transmission before the failure is noticed.

 

[bigred4x4]

I was thinking he might have a V8 that radiator looks a little different than mine and all of my trans knowledge is based on the a4ld ,4r and 5r55e transmissions so some of my statements regarding the transmission itself might not be totally accurate. But does need to be certain measure taken based on climate, use, type,etc when bypassing the radiator adequate size of cooler and thermostats is determined by specific trans and mod s done to vehicle, local climate etc same for adding an aux cooler.a temp gauge is really nice and I believe forscan can access TFT sensor data just to check your getting adequate cooling in the worst conditions and not over cooling (actually not good atf is designed for a certain operating temp range) in the winter in some areas.

 

[Turdle]

Well, my experience was fluid cooking at 250 degrees and knowing the radiator was doing nothing to help things.

I might be way off, but IMO better to protect for hundreds of miles of off roading and towing a camper then for the few cold morning trips in Arizona.

 

[bigred4x4]

Should still use the same fittings though. He has two options #1 find the correct adapters or cut the lines and bypass to aux cooler. Since he already has the aux cooler that's looking like the better option as you do have a point with radiator failing causing the fluid mix with coolant. Just need to make sure that his operating temps are within reason so a gauge would be nice or he can rough it and shoot the pan from time to time under different circumstances with an IR thermometer if he's got one of those already. You should be looking at average range between 150 and 180 would be perfect occasional 200/220 not terrible but over 220 there's a problem especially 240/250 that's very bad. I have a medium duty Hayden tube and fin in line after the radiator. And a auto meter trans temp gauge sender installed in the case on my 4r55e I get average of 150~165 once it warms up sitting in traffic extensively with ac running it matches radiator temp at 195 ( no air flow to cooler) and the highest iv seen it was running hard on the beach and it reached 210 briefly. That's with 32's and stock 3.73 gears. The converter discharge will be higher but just briefly until it reaches the cooler these are internal average operating temps.

 

[bigred4x4]

Well, my experience was fluid cooking at 250 degrees and knowing the radiator was doing nothing to help things.

I might be way off, but IMO better to protect for hundreds of miles of off roading and towing a camper then for the few cold morning trips in Arizona.

Well your right but only a gauge will tell if your cooling system is adequate and for cold climate's all that is needed is a thermostat or manual bypass valve. Im not at all against bypassing the radiator I'm just stating that it does serve certain functions to take into account when setting up a bypass system. Definitely don't want to mess around with fluid temps on automatic transmission as getting it right is key to its longevity.

 

[traveler]

I have a scangauge that tells me the transmission temp. It has been hanging around at 160 give or take (with the fans on). But it does climb quick when the engine begins to get hot. I do a lot of towing and 4-wheeling so I'm sure it'll be ok. If it doesnt warm up consistently its not a big job to reverse.

 

[Turdle]

Well your right but only a gauge will tell if your cooling system is adequate and for cold climate's all that is needed is a thermostat or manual bypass valve. Im not at all against bypassing the radiator I'm just stating that it does serve certain functions to take into account when setting up a bypass system. Definitely don't want to mess around with fluid temps on automatic transmission as getting it right is key to its longevity.

Yup!
Ignorance can be bliss, for instance when all the cars are wanting to go faster than you up a mountain road and wife asks " How can they go so fast?"
and me. not wanting to admit my failure answer with "Because they don't have a scangauge, that's why"

By far the best car toy -tool ever!

 

[bigred4x4]

If I didn't already have a gauge pod and scanner id definitely get one I almost did but decided on the pillar gauges instead mainly because I wanted an actual oil pressure gauge as well. Pretty cool though. Might still be in the future how does it hook up does it simply just plug into your obd port

 

[traveler]

Just plugs into the OBD port. You do have to do a little programming to get it to read the TFT though. Its not difficult however.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

So we need to find and post a link to the adapter fittings for this thread, if someone knows where to source them, and do that, that would be great.

Any hydraulic hose distributor should be able to get the adapters. They may not stock them, but they can order them.

 

[gmanpaint]

Any hydraulic hose distributor should be able to get the adapters. They may not stock them, but they can order them.

Sure thing, just as soon as we figure out the exact thread/pitch for the line & rad bung. lol