Changing transmission cooler o-rings--any tips?

JTis · #1 03-30-2009, 11:45 AM

Hey folks,

After seeing small puddles of coolant appearing under my 4.6 at various times with no real rhyme or reason, I finally got around to lifting the truck up and taking off the splash guard this weekend to investigate.

Luckily I noticed blue crusty buildup around both the black plastic intake and exit ports of the transmission cooler....seems pretty clear that the o-rings inside are bad so I have a couple ordered right now and plan to replace this weekend.

That leads me to my question---anyone done this job personally? From searching the threads, I can see where several have had the job done, but I haven't really seen it detailed in a DIY type post. If you've done it, a few questions:

1) How hard is it to get the cooler off the radiator? It looks to me like there's one clamp holding it on---unfortunately the business end of the clamp is out of sight on the topside of the cooler, but I think I can manage it by feel. Any tricks or "don't do X or you'll break the clamp" things I should know?

2) I'm guessing that since this connection is at the very bottom of the radiator, I'm going to basically be draining the radiator when I remove the cooler. Should I just drain the radiator through the drain valve before removing the cooler, or is it just 6 on one hand/ half-dozen on the other?

3) Should I be worried about having a bubble in the system when I refill the coolant? Any tips on how to avoid that?

Obviously anything else you think I should know would be appreciated---this looks like a simple enough job---I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything obvious.

Thanks!

JTis · #2 03-30-2009, 05:57 PM

bump----surely this isn't an uncommon issue?

swissfrank · #3 03-30-2009, 11:06 PM

you should have no problems. When i did mine i took the front air scoop off and air filter housing out just to have better access, but it is no necessary.

1) just the one clamp, you lift it up gently until it is in the fully up position and wiggle the hose out.

2)you will want to drain the coolant as it will all come out through that hole. I just had a bucket there and pulled the hose out, there was a bit of a big splash...

3) There is a vent valve on the top of the coolant tank, unscrew that while filling up the reservoir again. and then run engine with it open until all air bubbles stop.

It is pretty straight forward! good luck!