Mishimoto Performance Radiator & Auxiliary Transmission Cooler

[GREYWOLF]

Hey everyone,

Something I learned last summer is Ford stopped adding the auxiliary transmission oil cooler in 2017 with the only exception being the F150 Raptor. That means your transmission is being cooled by a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger in the driver-side end tank of your radiators which are already fairly small in volume. Compound that with high engine and transmission workload during towing and then compound that again with the turbos on the 3.5s which are cooled with engine coolant and lubricated with oil which also has a heat exchanger into the engine coolant and you can see how your original radiator can get overwhelmed very quickly.

Now, Mishimoto doesn’t list the Tremor as being compatible and I’m not sure why. I don’t think they changed anything in terms of mounting. However, I do wonder if the factory transmission cooling tubes are different.

If someone does decide to install these or you already have, can you please comment below to confirm figment.


Mishimoto F150 Radiator [ULTIMATE Tow Rig]

Mishimoto F150 Transmission Oil Cooler [ULTIMATE Tow Rig]

- Colin

 

[FanaticalKilla]

Following

 

[ApolloChurchill]

The 2021+ F-150 no longer sends transmission fluid all the way to the radiator anymore so the end tank has no provisions for the lines. Instead coolant is sent from what I believe is where the heater core circuit ties in and goes to a dedicated fluid to fluid heat exchanger mounted directly to the transmission. Adding an aftermarket transmission cooler means running transmission fluid lines from the transmission up to a new cooler in the grille and eliminating the engine coolant lines by plugging or capping. I generally don’t advise this directly because the ULV fluid in the transmission is designed around higher operating temps for optimal viscosity and when cooled directly, it struggles to reach operating temperature quick enough. The caveat to the factory setup is that it struggles to cool once the radiator bottlenecks itself from everything else making a heat load. I installed the Raptor transmission cooler to resolve this and supplement the radiators capacity to cool the engine coolant. The Raptor system uses a fluid to fluid heat exchanger still but with thermostat to allow the coolant to warm the transmission fluid until operating temp and then the transmission fluid is allowed to flow directly to the separately mounted cooler in front of the radiator. I haven’t seen any aftermarket options be able to offer this level of function yet.

 

[GREYWOLF]

I installed the Raptor transmission cooler to resolve this and supplement the radiators capacity to cool the engine coolant. The Raptor system uses a fluid to fluid heat exchanger still but with thermostat to allow the coolant to warm the transmission fluid until operating temp and then the transmission fluid is allowed to flow directly to the separately mounted cooler in front of the radiator. I haven’t seen any aftermarket options be able to offer this level of function yet.

Hey, so if I understand you correctly, you’re using the OE Raptor transmission cooler in parallel with the radiator to add additional cooling capacity/surface area?

I checked and you’re right — the Tremor only have a small aux. transmission cooler. Perhaps people could just swap the lines from a Raptor to send trans fluid to the front and then they could use an aftermarket radiator and trans cooler like the Mishimoto.

Also — on over-cooling the trans coolant, there should still be a thermostatically controlled valve in the transmission on the Tremor, so this shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[ApolloChurchill]

Hey, so if I understand you correctly, you’re using the OE Raptor transmission cooler in parallel with the radiator to add additional cooling capacity/surface area?

I checked and you’re right — the Tremor only have a small aux. transmission cooler. Perhaps people could just swap the lines from a Raptor to send trans fluid to the front and then they could use an aftermarket radiator and trans cooler like the Mishimoto.

Also — on over-cooling the trans coolant, there should still be a thermostatically controlled valve in the transmission on the Tremor, so this shouldn’t be an issue.

Here’s a diagram for the transmission cooler for a Raptor. Nothing goes through the radiator directly, there’s just coolant lines fed from the hoses that feed the fluid/fluid heat exchanger (both on Raptor and non Raptor setups). What’s on the Tremor is what’s offered universally on P702 (2021+) excluding the Raptor/Police models. The only thing the engine coolant is doing on the Raptor setup is to warm the fluid to a certain point (around 170°) and then the flow begins being shut off. With the Tremor stock setup there’s no distinct separation like that so higher engine temps equal even higher transmission fluid temps. What you said about swapping lines is exactly what I did so that it physically separated the transmission fluid once it gets hot. Not only have my transmission temps stabilized to a lower maximum temp, my engine coolant temperatures went down decently. Caveat for my specific setup is I also removed the grille shutters because I couldn’t fit the the transmission cooler in without it due to also having a Whipple heat exchanger. Hopefully this visual helps explain it a little better as I’m not the greatest at explaining and am myself a hands on and visual learner. Orange lines are the engine coolant hoses. Green lines are transmission fluid. Also the F-150 transmission doesn’t have an internal thermostatic valve, flow is open

 

[GREYWOLF]

….

This is really interesting. I didn’t realize how different the transmission cooling systems are. I’m tempted to just delete this thread but I think there’s valuable information here, both in terms of what you’ve provided as well as the general transmission cooling discussions in my videos.

For what it’s worth, I think transmission cooling is really important on the Tremor platform, perhaps even more important than the Raptor. For obvious reasons, I don’t see too many Raptors being loaded-up with gear and towing trailers, where the Tremor sits squarely in that niche.

In fast, I’ll go one step further — I think Ford does a very poor job at marketing the Trmeor and I think the lack of auxiliary transmission cooling suggests even Ford doesn’t quite realize what they have.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your info. I definitely got this one wrong.

 

[Rabidtastic]

I think they shouldve offered the Tremor with tow mirrors. That's the only thing missing that truly makes it an "workin mans raptor"

 

[FanaticalKilla]

I think they shouldve offered the Tremor with tow mirrors. That's the only thing missing that truly makes it an "workin mans raptor"

I kinda wanted tow mirrors, my 502A Lariat had them. But it's safe to say, I'm not missing them. I will install a rear facing trailer camera and have zero cares after.

 

[Rabidtastic]

I kinda wanted tow mirrors, my 502A Lariat had them. But it's safe to say, I'm not missing them. I will install a rear facing trailer camera and have zero cares after.

I just ordered some and did it myself