How to keep an A4LD cool

[2strokenut]

I hope I can get some good info out of this thread as I think this would be very beneficial to a lot of people and help get more life out of our A4LD trannys.


It seems to me after owning many 1st gen Explorers and the many Explorers owned by friends, that ford did not design this transmission to be cooled effectively under moderate to heavy use. First, the aux cooler is far too small to keep temps down. Second, being routed to the radiator means if your explorer is running hot, so is your transmission. I think at one point we bought 6 1st gen Explorers and all of them ran relatively hot. What is the best way to keep these things cool? Some ideas:

1.) Install a secondary oil cooler.
2.) If you live in a warm climate (like me) maybe installing a secondary cooler AND disconnecting the lines from the radiator and go straight to the coolers.

From reading and talking to transmission experts it seems you really can't overcool these things. Maybe the reason these transmissions get such a bad rap is because we simply can't keep them cool enough. I just bought a 94 4x4 that I plan to build into a off-road truck for this season with some simple mods but my number one priority is to keep this transmission alive.

Any thoughts and input appreciated.

 

[racer_x_one]

I agree, they're not cooled adequately enough, and keeping them cool is key. A larger secondary not routed through the rad is the way to good (or at least somewhere to start).

 

[84ranger2wd]

OK, in automatic lingo --- cool is better... I used to own a shop and we always used the factory radiator cooler unless it was contaminated (dirty) with old trans 'stuff' The factory coolers are very effective at reducing temps. Even if the water temps are near 100*C (212*F) the trans temps are above that under hard loads. Use the factory cooler and then follow it with an aftermarket cooler. Make sure the flow goes through the radiator first and the secondary cooler second. That way you get maximum cooling. If you want the 'mother-of -all-coolers' use the Ford V-10 tranny cooler, the one that mounts in front of the radiator, a bit expensive but will do a major drop in temps. I believe that several aftermarket companies produce the same cooler at reduced costs.