Hello everyone. New to the forums and look forward to doing a lot of reading and learning.

Picked up a 2012 3.5L Eco-boom the other day. Vehicle checked out (the best I could in the cold rain) and it drove flawlessly. Only real issue I saw was a cracked windshield. Took it to the shop today to get the PA inspection done and we found the trans cooler lines were leaking at the quick connect and that it needed brakes and rotors all around (which I figured when purchased and knocked $750 off the price I paid) .

My searching on here lead me to the "Bulletproof trans Cooler" thread and I considered it, but I really want to keep it all OEM parts.

Can anyone ballpark what this should cost to repair with all new lines and cooler? Quick google search does not seem to be expensive to get the parts. If I am looking at the right parts online, its like $300 worth of parts. The videos on YouTube don't make it sound like an overly complicated repair. Am I wrong?

Thanks!

 

If you are just doing the lines, it is a pretty simple repair. Get all of them and get OEM Ford parts only. Since you're in the rust belt, I'll tell you that the quick connects are probably frozen and won't likely release. I did the ones on my 2011 3.5 Eco last year and after they were in, I also dropped the pan and changed some fluid and cleaned the screen up. A little messy, but not hard. I found that getting the right size tubing that you can run attach to a funnel all the way up into the engine compartment is easier than pumping from a bottle underneath, especially if you have no lift.

 

Yes, the quick connects is exactly where the leak is coming from. You can see it almost coming apart. I'm ashamed I missed it on my inspection, but in my defense, it was freezing and raining, lol.

Hope my mechanic is able to get the OEM part. I asked him too. He is a good friend of mine for many years and was almost family. He would not steer me wrong.