Tranny Slipping, Radiator, and other problems...

[albinoturtles]

Man, I love my SUV, but lately it has been a drag. It is a 97' xlt 4 door sohc, and I ragged on it for over 176,000miles, about 10,000 hard back road miles and 3/4 of the rest highway miles ,the rest city.
I recently blew the head gaskets, the water pumps, valves and all kinds of things. Dont know what happened but it set me backa pretty penny. Somwhere near 2.2k
Anyways, in between 40-50 mph my tranny goes reving to about 1,000rpms higher than normal. I dont know if it is slipping or not. The check engine light isnt on, and the mechanic said nothing is wrong, according to the computer.
I would like to know what to do from here to make sure, because i really dont want a new tranny!
Also my radiator is leaking...is there someway I can fix it without replacing the whole radiator???
It is parked right now so dont worry about me driving it!!
I got this car from my dada with about 6k mile in it,he wanted a merceds so hand me down the explorer,well, after about two or three years he said screw this expensive to fix car and bought a 2002-2003 explorer xlt.
There is nothing like two explorers in teh driveway!
Thanks for any imput
Mike

 

[albinoturtles]

A little clearer on the radiator......
the radiator leaks by a tiny crack about 6-7 inches bdown fromt he top right of the radiator...by the bottom of the air intake. Also it is a xlt 97' sohc if soeone forgot. 4 door

 

[Brent]

I'm at 108K now and have the same head problems, water pump, almost need to replace evrything. Found a TSB ford had put out. They say the heads had been at the incorrect temp when made. A small water leak develops which isn't noticed as it vaporizes in the exahust. However you will find that you need to add water occansionaly. The head gasket goes and it's down hill from there. They stop short of a recall stating that this might happen on some models. If it's a 4L SOHC is going to happen. I can only wonder what the heck happens next with the trani. know wonder the guys in the shop call these exploders