Fordrocks689

And what was the purpose of this? Looks like previous owner capped the radiator transmission lines and hooked up some separate system. Thanks!

mbb

Buddy of mine had his tranny cooler in radiator fail on Z71 once
had coolant in his tranny fluid - no way was getting life out of tranny after that
he capped it off, put in a separate cooler
changed the tranny fluid and immediately traded the truck in before tranny problems showed up.....

someone might be proactive with a heavy duty cooler for towing..but you never know. Usually put that inline with the radiator cooler.
pull the radiator tranny cooler plugs, if coolant comes out....be worried.

jprevat

iTrader: (1)

Looks like an aftermarket trans cooler to me.

Fordrocks689

Ok, so the lines were just kept there but they didn't go to anything, they just came out of the radiator and went to the bottom and then capped off.
He told me they had done transmission work to it but I'm not sure if it was a rebuild or just sensor work and what not. It's got 219k and shift nicely so I'm assuming a rebuild. There is a MUCH smaller black radiator looking thing mounted in the front, you can see it in the picture, the brand is Hayden. It's, it's own system and is no way connected to the radiator.

My radiator got a small pin hole leak so I'm replacing it.

When I removed the upper transmission line nothing came out like it was dry, when I removed the lower trans line, black oil came out, almost line motor oil.

Does this info help?

jprevat

iTrader: (1)

That small cooler is the auxiliary trans fluid cooler the previous owner installed to keep the trans cooler. The lines running to it are for the trans. It keeps the trans cooler than the factory setup and makes it last longer.

Fordrocks689

Ok awesome thanks. That's what I thought but I've never seen it before so I wasn't sure. My next question is when I put in a new radiator will it still work properly without trans fluid running through it? My plan was to take out the lines since they arnt doing anything and just cap the holes in the radiator when i install the new one... would that be ok?

jprevat

iTrader: (1)

Yep won't be a problem. The only reason the trans lines run through the radiator is to allow it to warm up to operating temperature in colder climates faster.

Fordrocks689

Awesome! Thank you for your help.

jprevat

iTrader: (1)

Not a problem

bill06447

Transmission shops here won't warranty your transmission unless the cooler is replaced. Looks like a cheaper alternative than a new radiator.