Blocking the tranny cooler?
 

I'm planning on trying a grill block on my Ranger. The transmission cooler sits right behind the grill though. How vital is this cooler to the transmission's operation and health? Should I leave some of the cooler unblocked?

I've heard Fords have hot running transmissions, but then, I'm not towing or hauling anything. Unfortunetly the SGII doesn't monitor the trans temp. Any idea on how close the trans is to coolant temps?

Thanks

i'd leave it partially unblocked and use synthetic tranny oil. it's lowers the operating temp. could you install a tranny temp gauge?

I wouldn't block it at all. I had an aerostar with a 3.0 v6/automatic. It ate transmissions. Well 3 to be exact. I personally don't feel that ranger automatic transmission tops the list of long lasting. I recommend playing it safe and giving it plenty of cooling. You could consider an electric fan for it. There are tranny temp gauges available but you'll spend more money than you'll save.

The ScanGauge upgrade has a PID for Ford Trans Temp. Conform with them it'll work for the Ranger.

I'd let that cooler do its thing.

Don't block a ford's auto tranny cooler. Most Ford auto trannies break, so allowing the cooler to have much air as possible will prolong the life of your tranny. You could possible relocate it.

I know I'm new on here but I'm a ford guy mainly explorers and some others and I will tell you don't block the tranny cooler at all you will be riskin having to replace your seals in the tranny or more vital parts a possible rebuild

Never block any cooling system or parts of it or anything like that, it's just asking for trouble. All it takes is you block it a little too much and it works fine until you get in the middle of some bumper-to-bumper 80-90mph I-95 style traffic when it decides to overheat and you can't pull over and then you end up with severe damage to the engine or transmission...

This kind of stuff doesn't make much sense for gassers, most of your engine is running at the temperature your thermostat dictates anyhow, so if you have a 160 degree thermostat installed then the engine runs at that temp regardless how cold it is outside and how much air is rushing through the cooling fins. Water won't circulate until the engine temp reaches 160 then the thermostat opens for a bit and once it has cooled down it closes back up.

It is even unlikely the engine will reach operating temperature faster on a very cold day, diesels benefit from it because their burn temps are cooler so they heat up quicker with a blocker, but a gasser if it takes too long is nothing you can do... If it's an older steel engine that takes 20 solid minutes of driving to heat up then that's how it is, but an aluminum engine can get to optemp within 4-5 minutes of driving, maybe a little longer, but blocking the radiator will not make it heat up faster, almost guaranteed you'd about have to wrap the whole engine in some type of thermal blankets :p

So, the way to run it hotter is get a higher temp thermostat for 5-10 bucks and experiment that way, I'd go 1-2 ranges higher than where you are, if you're already at your highest then this is gtg.
Because believe you me, even a hotter thermostat can start the repairs, but this is by far the more proper method.