2000 windstar Tranny cooler how to?

[cdnpokerface]

ADDING A TRANSMISSION COOLER TO YOUR WINDSTAR

I Searched the Site high and low and found lots of links of how to do other vehicles but none that were Windstar Specific. So for anyone who wants to give this a try here’s what I did...

Materials Needed:
1 - Tranny Cooler ( i used a Mr Transmission Cooler the larger of the 3 retails for 129.99 CDN )
6 - feet of 5/16” Rubber transmission hose ( 3 feet included with cooler approx 2.00/ft extra)
4 - Hose clamps (approx 1.00/ea)
4 – 5” Black tie wraps
1—Litre Mercon V Tranny fluid
HELPFUL HINT: IF YOU LIVE CLOSE TO A WRECKING YARD TAKE THE TRIP, I FOUND 2 ALMOST NEW COOLERS AND PAID 20 FOR THE PAIR AND THEY WERE PERFECT!!!



Tools Needed:
-flat screwdriver
-phillips screwdriver
-drill with ¼” drill bit
-dremel tool w/ small cutting disc
-utility knife, box cutter etc.
-flashlight

Directions:
A. First thing your going to want to do is familiarize yourself with what your going to be doing. My plan of attack was to install the cooler inbetween the rad and tranny. So the flow of tranny fluid would be: TRANNY  RADTRANNY COOLERTRANNY. In the diagram below you will see the layout of my 2000 Windstar tranny coolant pipes. The parts are as follows:
1) Tranny fluid inlet tube 2) Tranny fluid outlet tube 3) fluid return tube 4) Rad 5) Fluid inlet tube


B. Pull the van up on ramps or jack it up and place Jackstands underneath vehicle
C. Pop hood and remove negative cable from battery
D. Now you will want to remove the small black shroud that sits on top between the top edge of grill and engine bay. To do this use phillips screwdriver and remove the 3 nylon screws, once you’ve done this use the flat screw driver to pull the black plastic clips up through the shroud, remove shroud and place aside. Now you should be able to look down infront of the AC condensor rad. This is where you will place the cooler.


E. Now we get to play with power tools, Take the dremel with a small cutting disc, locate the return fluid line, it exits near the top side of rad on passenger side. Take the dremel and cut the metal pipe about an inch after the 90 degree bend BECAREFUL as fluid will pour out of here, you may want a small container to catch the fluid.

F. Now climb underneath your windstar and locate the two pipes going into the tranny, you want the top pipe. You’ll notice this pipe comes out of the tranny as metal then turns to rubber than metal again. Use the Dremel to cut through the pipe where it turns to metal about an inch past the rubber. Again becareful as more fluid will pour out of here, so you will want to have that container handy.

G. Now take your cooler and “dryfit” it infront of the AC condensor, (different coolers will have different dimensions so you want to have an idea where everything is going to sit when you’re done.)

H. Take 3 feet of your rubber hose and press one end over the tube coming out of the top of rad, place hose clamp on and tighten.


I. Feed the hose you have just connected underneath the pass side headlight area and into the area where the rad is located, this looks tricky but if you use both hands one from inside engine bay and one thru front grill it’s not that bad.



J. Double check your length and if you need to cut some excess off the hose you just ran, do so with your knife.

K. Connect to Tranny cooler I connected it to the Top nipple
L. Connect your second 3’ of hose to the bottom nipple of the cooler, use clamp and tighten

M. Now feed the hose towards drivers side (be careful not to kink) and pull it out down near bottom of rad and loop around back towards the transmission.

N. Now take your last hose clamp slide over hose grab the inlet tube that is still connect to tranny and connect to the new rubber hose, tighten clamp.
O. Now you want to mount your cooler, I used Tie wraps . There was a hole in the metal above the rad already so i aligned the cooler to that edge and marked the spot where the new hole would be drilled. Now CAREFULLY, VERY CAREFULLY drill a small hole. It’s very important to drill slow because if you go to far you’ll drill through the top of your AC condensor and thats BAD! Now use your tiewraps or brackets to mount the cooler.


P. Replace shroud and double check your clamps
Q. Remove Van from Jackstands or Ramps and let idle, check fluid as per owners manual and add if necessary.
R. Test Drive check for leaks and recheck fluid level.... You’re Done!
This project took me about an hour and a half and some time was wasted doing things I didn’t need to do. (those steps were eliminated for your benefit LOL) I used a Laser thermometer to check fluid temps the outlet pipe from tranny read 60 degrees celsius or 140 fahrenheit and the inlet tube read 40 degrees celsius or 104 fahrenheit, that was after a 5 min test drive and 10 min idling.

[mark v]

Very nice write-up, made it a Sticky.

[balogne_t]

I don't hear mentioning if he flared the ends of those metal tube ends. The oil coolers when manufactured are pressure tested at 200 psi. I flared the metal tube ends on my oil cooler job for my freestar just incase to avoid slipage. I tied it in exactly the same way keeping the stock tranny cooler in series with the auxilary. Nice pictures.

[mark v]

You dont flare lines if attaching rubber hoses to them. If you flared the ends the hose would not fit and if you did get it on you probably would have a leak.


Flared ends are only for metal to metal fittings or if you use any type of fitting.

Originally Posted by balogne_t

I don't hear mentioning if he flared the ends of those metal tube ends. The oil coolers when manufactured are pressure tested at 200 psi. I flared the metal tube ends on my oil cooler job for my freestar just incase to avoid slipage. I tied it in exactly the same way keeping the stock tranny cooler in series with the auxilary. Nice pictures.

[balogne_t]

I had a 20 year plus experienced mechanic help with the installation, he recommended the small flare or barb appearance, we very lightly flared the ends, a slight flare, and hoses fitted nice and snug with no stress at all, just like a barb end.

Same look as the barb ends on the oil coolers on the first picture.

[12Ounce]

I would agree with a slight flare. Another approach would be to "begin" a double-flare ... the type used on brake lines ... and stop the process just as a bulge is made in the tubing.

But, normally, this hose will see only very low fluid pressures ... so a watchful eye may be sufficient.

[mark v]

Really no need for a flare, just as long as the cut line has zero sharp edges on it you will not have a hose fail.

I been doing this for years with metal to rubber lines with no issues. I even have my stainless steel feed fuel line cut and patched with FI hose and FI clamps now for approx 2 years and no leaks.

Flares are for metal to metal compression type connections.

A flared end will actually cause a bulge in the hose and can make it tear and burst faster cause it will be fatter in one spot than the required diameter of the hose and keep pressure on it, especially while sliding the rubber hose over the flared metal line. If anything the best thing would be to use a barbed end on the metal line but we all know that is impossible if using the stock metal line.