ApolloChurchill
Well-known member
On my off time the last two days I completed a long time goal of adding an air to oil cooler to my Tremor. Why they don't come with these from the factory is beyond me as these trucks seem like the perfect candidate for them. Word of warning: the install process is rather challenging, frustrating, and inventive. I'll start with the parts and summarize at the end how I go this wrapped up.
Ford Parts direct link to the cooler manifold
This is the key items needed, if you want to keep it OEM of course. At minimum you need the oil cooler manifold and for simplicity the supply/return tube to get you started if you were to do your own lines/air to oil cooler part. I don't know if the manifold can be converted to a normal fitting for the hoses though, they're the push connect style barbs. Also the coolant barbs are 3/4 instead of the 5/8 that supply the factory transmission mounted heat exchanger. I swapped them out with two 90° "heater core" fittings that were 3/8 hose to 3/4 quick connect. Fishing the old tubes out and then getting the new ones in was a chore, not a lot of clearance at all. I also didn't double check the tubes when going around the warehouse and wound up with the 3.5 version. Minor differences but there is a securing bracket that does not work with the 5.0. On that note, my transmission tubes came with the rubber seals attached but I'm not sure if that is guaranteed from the parts ordering side of things. Having the Whipple heat exchanger caused extra creativity as well to get the cooling radiator to bolt up but I just took some angle brackets and bent them to add the clearance I needed, this did require deleting my grille shutters but that's specific to having the Whipple heat exchanger taking up space behind the grille already. This project is definitely something for a dedicated person, I can't personally suggest doing this unless you have a real desire to have the added cooling while retaining the factory warming feature for the transmission. I have seen a few people talk about the possibility of adding this but haven't seen anyone do it so that's what more or less pushed me into the crazy idea to finally try. I also wanted to preserve the transmission as much as I could with the added power. I've frequently seen some high temps just hot rodding around off-road. While not overly concerning I knew that it needed something extra to keep temps in check.
I don't have great photos as this took longer than anticipated to get done so I was focused on finishing more than documenting. The summary of the install is you remove the grille and skid plates for access. Find and clamp the coolant lines up front that go to the transmission heat exchanger tubes and disconnect them from the tube, there is also a hanger you'll want to free up. Then you go to the drivers side of the transmission and remove the single bolt holding the park release cable (pop this off the ball stud) and transmission fluid ports of the heat exchanger to the transmission. There are also two nuts on the rear side of the heat exchanger that you take off plus a plastic retention clip for the drivers side O2 sensors you can pop up and off and then the whole heat exchanger unit can be freed. It's best to disconnect the coolant lines from the heat exchanger at that point so you can carefully dive bomb the heat exchanger out. It's a tight fit but the front driveshaft doesn't need to come out for this. Then you can unbolt the second coolant tube hanger from the transmission and begin the painstaking process of fishing it rearwards and out. It's tight and cussing and twisting and more cussing seemed to work best for me. Then the same steps to get the new transmission fluid tubes installed. Don't forget to lube the rubber seals before you push them into the transmission. Stack the park release bracket on top of the tubes securing bracket and bolt them to the transmission housing. Secure the tubes with the included hanger on the corner stud of the transmission. Back up front you'll want to mount and secure the cooler manifold assembly, the whole brains of this operation. After that lube and insert the ends of the transmission tube lines into the cooler manifold and secure with the bolts. Mounting the air to oil radiator cooler is easy enough, it snaps into the plastic frame and then bolts up against the radiator. The lines are a bit of a chore to fish through the side openings around the radiator but it's doable, mine came with the hose clamps attached. Secure any hanger brackets (I removed mine since they can't be used with the Whipple heat exchanger) and then back down at the cooler manifold you just insert the tubes in and lock them in place with the plastic collets. Change out your coolant fittings on the hoses and then you can clip those on, unclamp the hose, and you're ready to rock. You'll want to run the truck and get everything cycled and then check the fluid level. The procedure is a chore and annoying because the truck needs to be running and the transmission needs to be above 200° for an accurate level check, all while working next to a catalytic converter.
Ford Parts direct link to the cooler manifold
Ford Part Number | Notes | MSRP at time of posting |
|---|---|---|
ML3Z7869B | "Oil Cooler" - Manifold that takes engine coolant to warm the transmission fluid with a thermostat that opens and sends transmission fluid to the air to oil cooler | $375.83 |
NL3Z7A095A | The air to oil cooler that goes behind the grille | $171.78 |
ML3Z7B028A | Hose from cooler manifold to air to oil cooler - Drivers side | $180.40 |
ML3Z7B028B | Hose from cooler manifold to air to oil cooler - Passenger Side | $175.27 |
ML3Z7B142B | Air to oil cooler mounting bracket | $88.37 |
NL3Z7R081B | Transmission fluid supply/return tubes between manifold and transmission - V8 version | $256.67 |
ML3Z7R081C | Transmission fluid supply/return tubes between manifold and transmission - V6 version | $254.83 |
W712146S437 | Bolts to retain supply/return tubes to cooler manifold (pack of 4) | $13.00 |
8C3Z7Z465A | Collet latch for transmission cooler hoses to manifold (2 required) | $11.68 |
W720995S439 | Bolt to mount oil cooler manifold (4 bolts in a package, only 3 bolts needed) | $17.00 |
W520833S439 | Spring nut for mounting oil cooler manifold to crossmember (4 in a package, only 3 needed) | $13.00 |
W715798S439 | Stud used to secure supply/return tubes to ports on transmission housing and secures parking pawl release cable | $22.60 |
W720157S450 | Clip-in retained bolt for securing drivers side cooler supply hose | $17.00 |
W712741S450B | Hex nut for securing the drivers side cooler supply hose | $26.60 |
W520822S439/W705134S442 | Speed clip and bolt to secure drivers side of the air to oil cooler to radiator | $13.00/each |
This is the key items needed, if you want to keep it OEM of course. At minimum you need the oil cooler manifold and for simplicity the supply/return tube to get you started if you were to do your own lines/air to oil cooler part. I don't know if the manifold can be converted to a normal fitting for the hoses though, they're the push connect style barbs. Also the coolant barbs are 3/4 instead of the 5/8 that supply the factory transmission mounted heat exchanger. I swapped them out with two 90° "heater core" fittings that were 3/8 hose to 3/4 quick connect. Fishing the old tubes out and then getting the new ones in was a chore, not a lot of clearance at all. I also didn't double check the tubes when going around the warehouse and wound up with the 3.5 version. Minor differences but there is a securing bracket that does not work with the 5.0. On that note, my transmission tubes came with the rubber seals attached but I'm not sure if that is guaranteed from the parts ordering side of things. Having the Whipple heat exchanger caused extra creativity as well to get the cooling radiator to bolt up but I just took some angle brackets and bent them to add the clearance I needed, this did require deleting my grille shutters but that's specific to having the Whipple heat exchanger taking up space behind the grille already. This project is definitely something for a dedicated person, I can't personally suggest doing this unless you have a real desire to have the added cooling while retaining the factory warming feature for the transmission. I have seen a few people talk about the possibility of adding this but haven't seen anyone do it so that's what more or less pushed me into the crazy idea to finally try. I also wanted to preserve the transmission as much as I could with the added power. I've frequently seen some high temps just hot rodding around off-road. While not overly concerning I knew that it needed something extra to keep temps in check.
I don't have great photos as this took longer than anticipated to get done so I was focused on finishing more than documenting. The summary of the install is you remove the grille and skid plates for access. Find and clamp the coolant lines up front that go to the transmission heat exchanger tubes and disconnect them from the tube, there is also a hanger you'll want to free up. Then you go to the drivers side of the transmission and remove the single bolt holding the park release cable (pop this off the ball stud) and transmission fluid ports of the heat exchanger to the transmission. There are also two nuts on the rear side of the heat exchanger that you take off plus a plastic retention clip for the drivers side O2 sensors you can pop up and off and then the whole heat exchanger unit can be freed. It's best to disconnect the coolant lines from the heat exchanger at that point so you can carefully dive bomb the heat exchanger out. It's a tight fit but the front driveshaft doesn't need to come out for this. Then you can unbolt the second coolant tube hanger from the transmission and begin the painstaking process of fishing it rearwards and out. It's tight and cussing and twisting and more cussing seemed to work best for me. Then the same steps to get the new transmission fluid tubes installed. Don't forget to lube the rubber seals before you push them into the transmission. Stack the park release bracket on top of the tubes securing bracket and bolt them to the transmission housing. Secure the tubes with the included hanger on the corner stud of the transmission. Back up front you'll want to mount and secure the cooler manifold assembly, the whole brains of this operation. After that lube and insert the ends of the transmission tube lines into the cooler manifold and secure with the bolts. Mounting the air to oil radiator cooler is easy enough, it snaps into the plastic frame and then bolts up against the radiator. The lines are a bit of a chore to fish through the side openings around the radiator but it's doable, mine came with the hose clamps attached. Secure any hanger brackets (I removed mine since they can't be used with the Whipple heat exchanger) and then back down at the cooler manifold you just insert the tubes in and lock them in place with the plastic collets. Change out your coolant fittings on the hoses and then you can clip those on, unclamp the hose, and you're ready to rock. You'll want to run the truck and get everything cycled and then check the fluid level. The procedure is a chore and annoying because the truck needs to be running and the transmission needs to be above 200° for an accurate level check, all while working next to a catalytic converter.
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finally, someone did the retrofit!
