How to hook up a trans cooler on a 66 F100

tomrooster · Post by **tomrooster** » February 12, 2007, 8:29 pm

I have HD COM trans and the PO installed a after market trans cooler in front of the rad and I was wondering if it was done right.
There are 3 fluid connections on the trans, 1 near the top and 1 near the bottom front passenger side and 1 in the rear.
The PO has a tee near the rear connection and it connects the rear and front upper connections and the trans cooler and the front bottom connection goes to the other side of the trans cooler. Is this right? Thanks, Tom

Uncle Skip · Post by **Uncle Skip** » February 13, 2007, 9:53 am

Tom.
Since the COM is almost the same as a C-6, I think the two ports on the side of the transmission that are the same level, front and back are the ones you want to use. The front one will be the pressure side (front being the closest to the front of the truck), the rear one is the return line.
I am also assuming you are running the fluid thru the radiator tank (on the bottom) before it goes into the after market cooler.
This will be the two ports in the bottom of your radiator. There is no right or wrong way to hook this up, but I use the closest port which would be on the passenger side for the pressure line.
So, run the pressure line to the radiator cooler first, to knock some of the heat off. Out of the radiator into either side of the after market cooler and then back to the return port on the back of the transmission.
Make sure you tie the lines down so they don't flop and vibrate.
I personally don't know what the top port is for but maybe someone like Mike Wilk can tell you. The C-6 only has two ports.
U@ss

jakdad · Post by **jakdad** » February 13, 2007, 10:29 am

Maybe for gauge install.

Hoofbeat Racer · Post by **Hoofbeat Racer** » February 13, 2007, 10:29 am

Just to add to that, I am installing a thermostatic controlled electric fan tranny cooler to my C6. It is important that the pressure line or hot line go the inlet of the cooler that way the fan will kick in when it is supposed to. As Skip said, the front port on a C6 is pressure and the rear is return. Good Luck

64 f100 · Post by **64 f100** » February 13, 2007, 11:15 am

Okay, I was wondering what everyone was going to say about his. The COM trannies I have, had a strange cooling setup. The lower radiater hose had a piece in the middle, with a water outlet going to an exchange unit back by the transmission and a return line to the engine block. No radiater cooler in the bottom of the radiater. How efficient this was, I couldn't say, but it doesn't look very sanitary to me, although the coolant lines for the C6 also go to the bottom of the radiater. This begs the question, of how efficient is it to cool the transmission with the hot water coming from the engine?

Rich

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » February 13, 2007, 11:40 am

It is very efficient to cool a trans with hot water unless you have a borderline cooling system. A trans will run fine at 220 degrees, it is 275 degrees when it gets to be an issue. Hawkrod

bertha66 · Post by **bertha66** » February 13, 2007, 11:58 am

tomrooster wrote:I have HD COM trans and the PO installed a after market trans cooler in front of the rad and I was wondering if it was done right.
There are 3 fluid connections on the trans, 1 near the top and 1 near the bottom front passenger side and 1 in the rear.
The PO has a tee near the rear connection and it connects the rear and front upper connections and the trans cooler and the front bottom connection goes to the other side of the trans cooler. Is this right? Thanks, Tom

You say that the PO hooked up all 3 lines to the cooler? I do believe that the top one is the trans vent, and only the 2 lower lines should run to the trans cooler. As 64 f100 states, the 66 autotras. had water lines running to the trans, so unless the radiator has been replaced there should bo no trans cooler in the bottom.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » February 13, 2007, 3:23 pm

64 f100 wrote:Okay, I was wondering what everyone was going to say about his. The COM trannies I have, had a strange cooling setup. The lower radiater hose had a piece in the middle, with a water outlet going to an exchange unit back by the transmission and a return line to the engine block. No radiater cooler in the bottom of the radiater. How efficient this was, I couldn't say, but it doesn't look very sanitary to me, although the coolant lines for the C6 also go to the bottom of the radiater. This begs the question, of how efficient is it to cool the transmission with the hot water coming from the engine?

Rich

i have seen the water cooled trans used up into the 68s i think, usually on f250s and camper specials where the trans would get hotter from the towing or a heavy load.i had a 67 with one, nothing wrong with it but some of the big chain parts stores will not comprehend what you are talking about.

tomrooster · Post by **tomrooster** » February 13, 2007, 8:25 pm

The top front connection has 5/16 metal tubing connected to it and is painted blue like the trans and it doesn't look like after market stuff because the bend is a very tight 90 degree and couldn't be done without special equipment. There is no trans cooler on the bottom of rad. and the original trans cooler is long gone before I got the truck

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » August 13, 2015, 2:02 pm

ran into one of these coolers yesterday, also no provision on the radiator for cooling, truck is a 65 f250 not sure if its camper special or not
took me a while to remember about it and that it had been discussed here before

8 years is a long time, what was the end result

going to either need to use the one on the trans or trade to one hooked in front of the rad

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » August 13, 2015, 2:05 pm

did find a diagram over a fordification of that cooler on the COM

aarons428 · Post by **aarons428** » August 13, 2015, 9:21 pm

Make sure your aftermarket cooler is a "stacked fin" style that looks like a radiator not the tube type. The tube type is for with a radiator not for a standalone cooler.

SLICKCOLLECTOR · Post by **SLICKCOLLECTOR** » August 17, 2015, 10:31 am

aarons428 wrote:Make sure your aftermarket cooler is a "stacked fin" style that looks like a radiator not the tube type. The tube type is for with a radiator not for a standalone cooler.

.

i am not sure which is which. in an upcoming project i had intended to use a desert cool 4 core radiator that i took to a radiator shop and had cleaned and restored and had the brackets from a 65 slick installed on the radiator core. all good but i notice after that the radiator i used was for a 4 speed truck with no transmission cooling capabilities. i am wondering if a transmission cooler will work to cool the transmission without the radiator. 521 inch ford with a c6 from a 73 ford galaxie police interceptor transmission. i don;t want overheating problems with the transmission or the engine. i know the radiator will cool the engine but i am concerned about the transmission. thanks.

jim

aarons428 · Post by **aarons428** » August 17, 2015, 6:23 pm

I would run a cooler like this if not using the radiator.

http://derale.com/images/stories/virtue ... /13503.jpg