Sharkhunt

Flamingtaco

Sound design is dependent upon the coolant system having the capacity to shed both engine and transmission heat. Unless both drivelines have the same heat sink and transfer capability, we really can't make a statement about one based upon the performance of the other.

kehyler

Your comment about the overall design of the cooling system is valid, but beside the point I was trying to make about whether or not the OTW tranny cooler was up to the sub-job of cooling the transmission in the F150.

Flamingtaco

I think it sill applies even when only considering the OTW cooler's ability to move heat into another medium.

Of course, we can always formulate a guesstimate. How do the torque curves of the two engines compare? Do the transmissions have the same number of gears? Do both have the ability to lock the same gears? Are the gear separations similar? Do either have a PTO? Answering these questions can give a decent idea of whether the two transmissions generate similar heat.

Flipazn

In response to the original post: That looks like an auxiliary transmission cooler to me. Only way to really know is to open up the hood, remove the front grille and see for yourself. I have a 2015 F150 XLT 3.5L ecoboost that came equipped with a regular tow package and not a HD tow package. Essentially what that means is that it had a class IV hitch and 7-pin connector in the rear bumper. I upgraded the front sway bar to the HD tow package bar (cost like $70 and was super easy to install), installed an OEM electronic trailer brake controller (plug and play, literally), installed rear air bags (Air Lift Load Lifters), and had my mechanic install an OEM auxiliary transmission cooler for ~$500. For the 2015-2017 F150s, the only difference between the regular and HD tow packages were the auxiliary transmission cooler, heavy duty front sway bar, and a lower gear axle ratio (3.55 versus the 3.31 gears on my truck). Although 3.31 gears are not as ideal as 3.55 gears, I have had zero issues towing with my truck. There are a couple of threads in this forum that I used to help me when I was figuring this all out. I tow a 26' Travel Trailer that weighs approximately ~5000-6000 lbs fully loaded with absolutely no problem. You also have to invest in a good weight distributing hitch. I have the BlueOx Sway Pro BXW1000 and I love it. I have the 3.5 versus 2.7, so there's that, but you should be okay towing as long as you stay within the limits on your door sticker. Disregard what Ford "says" these trucks can tow. You have to look at your door sticker and properly weigh your setup to make sure you are within your limits to tow safely. Sure, my truck can tow a 12K trailer (as Ford brochures show), but it won't be able to stop it safely in the event that you need to slam on your brakes for one reason or another. You need to especially pay attention to your rear axle weight rating since that is what limits these half-ton trucks when towing. The weight of the trailer tongue as well as everything you have packed into your truck (including your family) adds to the weight on your rear axle. Again, there are tons of threads all over the internet regarding safe towing. You have to do your due diligence.

Flipazn

You could also lookup your original window sticker and it will list the auxiliary tranny cooler there.

Christopher Castillo

I recently came across this thread. I purchased a radiator mounted trans cooler to install, but I have the above OTW set up that runs the lines into the motor instead of the radiator. Does anyone know how to install the secondary radiator mounted cooler?

rd.king

Very carefully.
The OTW heat exchanger doesn't just cool the trans fluid when needed
it also heats the trans fluid when its cold.
The 10R80 trans doesn't like cold fluid.
Adding an extra trans cooling unit could cause more harm than good.
If the unit you have purchased is designed for use with your transmission
it should have come with the correct installation instructions.
Follow those.

Flamingtaco

A simple answer is to route transmission fluid to an aftermarket OTA radiator first, then to the OTW radiator. The aftermarket OTA radiator will remove excess heat, then the OTW radiator will either remove or add heat (depending upon volume and efficiency of the OTA radiator to keep the fluid close to design operating temp.

If in a snow belt, consider a bypass with two-way valve for winter so the fans moderate temp rather than thermostats.

Airborne_Ape

Youtuber Tim Esterdahl made a video referencing this thread directly but never posted his video here, so I'm guessing he's not a member of these forums and doesn't have the permissions to post. He did an excellent job explaining this so I'm attaching his video. If Tim reads this, you can add the numerical temperature directly to the digital instrument panel. Ford disabled it by default, but it's there and you can turn it on with a laptop. Show this to a Ford Tech and they'll understand its relevance: IPC 720-07-01 xxxx xx*x xxxx = digital transmission temperature output.

Full details to enable the digital numerical temperature output are in post 1 of Livnitup's 14-Gen F150 ForScan thread https://www.f150forum.com/f129/forsc...-f150s-481816/