# The 6.0 Cooler Is JUNK....and not all it's cracked up to be



## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Ok so it's not quite junk, but I put my truck through hell today doing some serious plowing, and saw higher temps that I expected, I probably did 2 hours of straight hard plowing, and the TQ was never locked up, the highest temp I saw was 205 degrees on the trans, higher than I expected but like I said I was running it hard. I can only think that if my stock cooler was still in I would have turned my trans to molten lava!! Thought people should know that if I had run the truck for another hour I probably would have over heated the trans even with the 6.0 cooler, I guess everything has it's limits.

So for all of you running the stock cooler in a 7.3 just imagine how hot you're trans gets when you are plowing.....if you don't have trans gauge....good luck.

Link to some pics of what I cleared.

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=75932


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## Dustball (Dec 5, 2008)

Plowing with the t-case in low range will help keep your trans temp lower than if you were in hi range. Low range allows you to keep the rpms up and reduce heat created by torque converter slippage in the lower rpms.


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

I'm gonna have to give that a shot next time.


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## Triple L (Nov 1, 2005)

WOW! thats crazy hot... I've only gotten my allison up to 190 in the summer and I was ****t*n bricks with it that hot... I would have never let it get that hot... I'd like to know where that temp is measured from, is it in the tranny? on the line out to the cooler? or on the line coming back from the cooler?


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Triple L;710301 said:


> WOW! thats crazy hot... I've only gotten my allison up to 190 in the summer and I was ****t*n bricks with it that hot... I would have never let it get that hot... I'd like to know where that temp is measured from, is it in the tranny? on the line out to the cooler? or on the line coming back from the cooler?


My temp gauge is installed in a passage that dumps back into the pan, the standard place where you install an aftermarket tranny gauge on a 4R100 trans.

205 is not really "crazy hot" for tranny fluid.....generally 225-230 is considered "hot" and to the point where you should stop and let the fluid cool down.


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## Triple L (Nov 1, 2005)

Doakster;710317 said:


> My temp gauge is installing in a passage in the that dumps back into the pan, the standard place where you install an aftermarket tranny gauge on a 4R100 trans.
> 
> 205 is not really "crazy hot" for tranny fluid.....generally 225-230 is considered "hot" and to the point where you should stop and let the fluid cool down.


I think your missing a word or two..... but if im understanding you correctly, your sayin after the cooler.... so if its 205 after the cooler, it was cookin before it got cooled


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Triple L;710323 said:


> I think your missing a word or two..... but if im understanding you correctly, your sayin after the cooler.... so if its 205 after the cooler, it was cookin before it got cooled


Yeah....just a word or two...LOL...I fixed my illiteracy above...had to do some research to remember.....I had it backwards.....the gauge is installed in a passage that is the pick up from the pan through the pump to the cooler....so 205 before the cooler.


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## Spitz (Feb 28, 2008)

What do you expect to happen, your loading the **** out of the transmission (namely the torque converter) and your going slow with a huge plow in front of the truck restricting air flow.. Im suprised anyones transmission that does plowing do last as long as they do.. Heat kills the trannies and what plowing does is exactly the opposite of what is going to lower the trans temp..


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Spitz;710450 said:


> What do you expect to happen, your loading the **** out of the transmission (namely the torque converter) and your going slow with a huge plow in front of the truck restricting air flow.. Im suprised anyones transmission that does plowing do last as long as they do.. Heat kills the trannies and what plowing does is exactly the opposite of what is going to lower the trans temp..


Thanks for pointing out the obvious....my point was to see how far I could go with the much larger 6.0 cooler in my truck and how it would handle a beating. It's not that I didn't expect it to get warm, I expected it to be in the 160-180 range, in comparison with the stock cooler I probably would have had to stop a dozen times to let it cool down.


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## Turbodiesel (Aug 5, 2008)

Doakster;710185 said:


> Ok so it's not quite junk, but I put my truck through hell today doing some serious plowing, and saw higher temps that I expected, I probably did 2 hours of straight hard plowing, and the TQ was never locked up, the highest temp I saw was 205 degrees on the trans, higher than I expected but like I said I was running it hard. I can only think that if my stock cooler was still in I would have turned my trans to molten lava!! Thought people should know that if I had run the truck for another hour I probably would have over heated the trans even with the 6.0 cooler, I guess everything has it's limits.
> 
> So for all of you running the stock cooler in a 7.3 just imagine how hot you're trans gets when you are plowing.....if you don't have trans gauge....good luck.
> 
> ...


check yer cool air intake by the grill . clogged with snow? Try a zoodad .

After plowing a while , take her for as cool down blast of fresh air.prsport


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Turbodiesel;710481 said:


> check yer cool air intake by the grill . clogged with snow? Try a zoodad .
> 
> After plowing a while , take her for as cool down blast of fresh air.prsport


Are you really trying to tell me that a small piece of plastic cut out of the front grill has anything to do with transmission temps.....let alone ACTUALLY helping the motor cool down or get fresh air. Zoodad Mod = over rated.


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## nickv13412 (Nov 9, 2006)

low range definitely helps. My tranny stays at least 60* cooler when plowing in low range as opposed to high, never goes above 180* 

Was really tired plowing one time, forgot to put it in low, looked up and saw 240* 

Gave it a rest, put it in low, then never saw it go above 180*


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## veggin psd (Feb 8, 2007)

I too had been seing trans temps higher than I would like, so.......I found a cheap and simple fix.

I bought a 10" electric cooling fan and O'Reiley Auto Parts($60). I fabbed up some mounting brackets on the supports colums in front of the intercooler where my Tru Cool is located. Installed the fan. Using a cut off wheel, trim the inside of the stock grill. The fan was too tight otherwise. Next an automotive realay and switch to handle the load and behold, temps dropped signifigantly. 

The last snow event I saw temps right around 145 degrees. Before the fan install I would see 200 degrees real easy.

I will post some pix if anyone else is interested in the install. It seems to work great plowing, and is also useful when running the cold front as well.

One thing I have learned plowing with a set of quality gauges is the trans is hotter than most think plowing.


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## Turbodiesel (Aug 5, 2008)

Doakster;710501 said:


> Are you really trying to tell me that a small piece of plastic cut out of the front grill has anything to do with transmission temps.....let alone ACTUALLY helping the motor cool down or get fresh air. Zoodad Mod = over rated.


being a diesel owner , you know all the fresh air to that motor you can get is a plus.check cooler tube for clamp loose ness


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## niederhauser la (Feb 10, 2005)

I have seen 220 in my cummins and I wasnt worried 205 isnt that hot.


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Turbodiesel;710735 said:


> being a diesel owner , you know all the fresh air to that motor you can get is a plus.check cooler tube for clamp loose ness


As I stated before I wasn't worried about my motor running hot, just the trans, no problem with the motor. Tranny lines are all tight and if the tranny cooler had a loose clamp, enough to cause a good leak, you would loose the fluid in no time due to the pressures in the lines blowing the tranny fluid out. I'm sure you would notice something when your trans doesn't shift anymore at that point.


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## Turbodiesel (Aug 5, 2008)

Doakster;711461 said:


> As I stated before I wasn't worried about my motor running hot, just the trans, no problem with the motor. Tranny lines are all tight and if the tranny cooler had a loose clamp, enough to cause a good leak, you would loose the fluid in no time due to the pressures in the lines blowing the tranny fluid out. I'm sure you would notice something when your trans doesn't shift anymore at that point.


Thought you meant intercooler


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Turbodiesel;711474 said:


> Thought you meant intercooler


Gotcha now.


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## 1olddogtwo (Aug 6, 2007)

tell the whole story........ how u were busting hard pack snow............. and how many times u were stuck ???? the 6.0 has about 8 coolers 6 in front of the fan doing 3 mph is a lot for 1 fan. dont get me wrong the 6.0 has its problems but lets be real.


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

1olddogtwo;711704 said:


> tell the whole story........ how u were busting hard pack snow............. and how many times u were stuck ???? the 6.0 has about 8 coolers 6 in front of the fan doing 3 mph is a lot for 1 fan. dont get me wrong the 6.0 has its problems but lets be real.


I think you assume that my truck has a 6.0 motor......not quite. ...it has a 7.3 with a 6.0 tranny cooler.

I was busting hard pack snow by doing just that....busting it in V mode or what ever else would work....these were the tail end of a snow bank and an entire field about 2 ft deep that had a chance to melt and freeze a number of times. I got stuck maybe 4 times mostly because I was all frozen grass underneath, not pavement.


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## Grn Mtn (Sep 21, 2004)

Dustball;710197 said:


> Plowing with the t-case in low range will help keep your trans temp lower than if you were in hi range. Low range allows you to keep the rpms up and reduce heat created by torque converter slippage in the lower rpms.


Plowing in low range probably would keep temps lower cause it forces you to plow at 5mph or something agonizingly slow like that. 4-hi for me guys, sorry, time is short and 4-low is just not an option unless I'm trying to push 8" wet.


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## Lynden-Jeff (May 21, 2006)

I run my 6.0 hard and tuned and rarely see above 150* plowing. Anything above 175 and the fan comes on.


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Lynden-Jeff;711845 said:


> I run my 6.0 hard and tuned and rarely see above 150* plowing. Anything above 175 and the fan comes on.


I think I should have made myself a little clearer in my first post. My truck is not a 6.0 motor.

It is a 7.3 with a 6.0 tranny cooler installed in place of the stock 7.3 tranny cooler


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## Dustball (Dec 5, 2008)

Grn Mtn;711756 said:


> Plowing in low range probably would keep temps lower cause it forces you to plow at 5mph or something agonizingly slow like that. 4-hi for me guys, sorry, time is short and 4-low is just not an option unless I'm trying to push 8" wet.


Why do you think you're limited to 5 mph in 4-lo? Afraid to get your engine up to 2500 rpms? At 2500, you should be at around 20 mph which is plenty of speed. I'd rather take care of my truck rather than have the extra few mph. Transmissions aren't cheap. I just had my E4OD rebuilt for $3500 last Nov.


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## artic429 (Feb 20, 2008)

I agree with the 4 low in some situations but if i have a parking lot thats wide open.... Look out boys!!! Cuz greased lightnins comming through!!!! And no tranny issues!


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## Wieckster (Jan 9, 2008)

plow it like you stole it and when your tranny goes out get a BTS trans and never half to worry about it again


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Wieckster;712262 said:


> plow it like you stole it and when your tranny goes out get a BTS trans and never half to worry about it again


Are you reading my mind....I'm just waiting till D-day comes for my trans and a BTS will be in there.


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## Turbodiesel (Aug 5, 2008)

Ahhhhhh , nice . Stock turbo ?


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Turbodiesel;712649 said:


> Ahhhhhh , nice . Stock turbo ?


Questions for me? If so yes.


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## DCSpecial (Nov 16, 2008)

Better title would be "Stock 4R100 is JUNK"...... LOL


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## Turbodiesel (Aug 5, 2008)

DCSpecial;712859 said:


> Better title would be "Stock 4R100 is JUNK"...... LOL


rodger that


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## Ggg6 (Oct 14, 2003)

Doakster you might want to check your cooler bypass tube. The valve in them is known to stick in the bypass position. Mine acts up once in a while. Also give the fluid a smell, but it should be fine at that temp. I am running the v-10 cooler and I do have a BTS. The best money I have spent on my truck so far.
I agree in this situation 4 low would have been a good choice. The place I plow has a lot that is well over a mile long, there I use 4 high.


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Ggg6;714820 said:


> *Doakster you might want to check your cooler bypass tube*. The valve in them is known to stick in the bypass position. Mine acts up once in a while. Also give the fluid a smell, but it should be fine at that temp. I am running the v-10 cooler and I do have a BTS. The best money I have spent on my truck so far.
> I agree in this situation 4 low would have been a good choice. The place I plow has a lot that is well over a mile long, there I use 4 high.


Location of said tube?


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## DCSpecial (Nov 16, 2008)

http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=172

Pic in that link.


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## Ggg6 (Oct 14, 2003)

The rear fitting has the valve in it. When mine acts up I rap on it a little, but I have a new one on order. Another issue is a possible clogged coolant/ trans fluid heat exchanger. Also it is possible the coolant heated up the trans fluid too much, aka heat soaking.


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## LTL (Jan 13, 2008)

6.0 Diesel = Expensive Boat Anchor


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

MnDLawn;715752 said:


> 6.0 Diesel = Expensive Boat Anchor


Once again I have to point out that I don't have a 6.0 motor.


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## LTL (Jan 13, 2008)

Doakster;715779 said:


> Once again I have to point out that I don't have a 6.0 motor.


I know, I just like pointing it out whenever I can. I had an 04' 6.0 in an Excursion and it was the biggest piece of junk on the planet. The turbo was constantly going, and the head bolts stretched twice. I took a bath on that one.


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## DCSpecial (Nov 16, 2008)

My 07 6.0 does quite well.......as does our 06 and 04


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## nymustang50 (Dec 15, 2007)

Ggg6;715584 said:


> The rear fitting has the valve in it. When mine acts up I rap on it a little, but I have a new one on order. Another issue is a possible clogged coolant/ trans fluid heat exchanger. Also it is possible the coolant heated up the trans fluid too much, aka heat soaking.


JW's transmissions you should know who I'm talking about sells things to replace it so it takes it out all together this way you dont have to worry about it.


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

nymustang50;717250 said:


> JW's transmissions you should know who I'm talking about sells things to replace it so it takes it out all together this way you dont have to worry about it.


Funny thing is....in reading the link that DCSpecial posted....http://www.dieselsite.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=172

It mentions that removing the bypass completely is the wrong thing to do...mainly because if there is blockage in the cooler than there will be no flow....aka tossed transmission. If makes sense that you would never want to remove a bypass/fail safe device, so I'll be keeping mind.

Now the fact that JW sells a product to delete it gets me thinking why I reputable transmission building would recommend that. I'd be interested in hearing his explanation.


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## DCSpecial (Nov 16, 2008)

Yep, if there is a blockage or the fluid is too thick to flow through the coolers due to extreme cold, the bypass opens so that it can lube the rear of the trans. to prevent it from burning up.


I've read quite a bit about it recently on a ford forum that is frequented by a former ford transmission engineer.


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## 02powerstroke (Nov 7, 2006)

That seems really high. plowing my temp stays at like 125....and I have a stock cooler.


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

never got a trans gauge...6.0 here...just got the mag hytech and forgot about it...


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

Turbodiesel;710481 said:


> . clogged with snow? Try a zoodad .
> 
> t


how does this make sense?....i did the zoo dad and that just lets all the snow fly right in the damn air box...

zoo dad is a HORRIBLE mod for a plow truck..i had to close mine casue the filter keeps getting full of snow....close it up...no more issues...


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## Ggg6 (Oct 14, 2003)

Last snowfall my whole front was covered in snow and I saw less than 125* all day. I suspect something is restricting the flow, or bypassing the cooler.


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## Doakster (Aug 15, 2008)

Tonight I plowed and saw 120-125, it wasn't hard plowing and not as long, but it stayed in check much better than before when I was beating on it. 

At some point I might replace my bypass line and clean out the water/oil cooler and see if that helps.


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