Ranger Mods

According to page 307-01-10 of the Ford Service manual --

Item 7. "While driving the vehicle use the scan tool to verify that the TFT has reached a temperature of 88*C (190*F). This will circulate the transmission fluid through the torque converter and the transmission cooling system, eliminating any trapped air in the transmission cooling system."
"With the engine idling (600-750 rpm) in PARK verify that the TFT is between 80*C-85*C (176*F-185*F)

To my befuddled brain this would seem to indicate that there is a ATF temperature that can be scanned and that my Ultragauge should be able to read, yet its not on the list that come up - and ideas ??

Yes you can monitor trans temp,

Have a look here,

https://www.saeb.net/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=217

The ONLY way to get the trans running at a constant and correct temp is to remove the thermostat.
My background was telling me that but reading many posts saying all that is needed is a trans oil cooler.... WRONG
A cooler will help maintain a temp but in the Ranger's case it won't drop the temp & anything above 80 is too high.
It can't if there is a thermostat holding it at 90 deg.
Away right now and pushing into some very strong northerly winds and towing 2.5t @ 104kph I am totally relaxed regarding the trans temp.
Ambient of 24 and trans @ 62
I am sure the trans temp will climb toward 80 as the ambient climbs, but I can't see it going over 80.
A Ford tech once told me the trans is fine from 80 to 105 deg.
I asked how do I get it to run a 80deg when stock.
He said I can't, it's impossible that's why he removed the thermostat on his personal Ranger 3 days after he bought it.

Iainboyd wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:51 am According to page 307-01-10 of the Ford Service manual --

Item 7. "While driving the vehicle use the scan tool to verify that the TFT has reached a temperature of 88*C (190*F). This will circulate the transmission fluid through the torque converter and the transmission cooling system, eliminating any trapped air in the transmission cooling system."
"With the engine idling (600-750 rpm) in PARK verify that the TFT is between 80*C-85*C (176*F-185*F)

To my befuddled brain this would seem to indicate that there is a ATF temperature that can be scanned and that my Ultragauge should be able to read, yet its not on the list that come up - and ideas ??

You make custom PID's by modifying one of the "M" gauges

RossPat wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:23 pm The ONLY way to get the trans running at a constant and correct temp is to remove the thermostat.
My background was telling me that but reading many posts saying all the is needed is a trans oil cooler.... WRONG
A cooler will help maintain a temp but in the Ranger's case it won't drop the temp & anything above 80 is too high.
It can't if there is a thermostat holding it at 90 deg.
Away right now and pushing into some very strong northerly winds and towing 2.5t @ 104kph I am totally relaxed regarding the trans temp.
Ambient of 24 and trans @ 62
I am sure the trans temp will climb toward 80 as the ambient climbs, but I can't see it going over 80.
A Ford tech once told me the trans is fine from 80 to 105 deg.
I asked how do I get it to run a 80deg when stock.
He said I can't, it's impossible that's why he removed the thermostat on his personal Ranger 3 days after he bought it.

Very similar thing that I was told a lifetime ago by my then auto trans techie. The colder they run the better and longer they shall live! I always ran my Falcons cold, but they were fleet vehicles that ran hot. I don't think those BTR LE boxes had a thermostat back then.

I believe too cold is not good either.
It will dirty the fluid quickly and cause valves to stick leading to erratic gear changes.

The Auto box fluid thermostat only opens to allow the fluid to bypass into the cooler. It opens, according to Ford, between 80-85*C and is fully open at 90*C so the fluid heats up to 88*C and then passes through the thermostat and into the fluid to fluid cooler with engine coolant on one side at below 80*C - I base this temperature assumption on the Ford diagrams of the coolant flow throughout the engine, radiator, and other connections - heaters, etc. the engine coolant temperature sensor being just after the engine thermostat and on the hottest days my engine coolant has never gone above 92*C so the return temperature of the engine coolant after passing through the radiator would be around 75*C - a 15*C temperature drop being normal. If you remove the auto box thermostat you are allowing the fluid to pass directly and constantly into the cooler, this should cause it to take longer to get up to its correct operating temperature range of between 60-80*C.
Currently I have a 52mm SAAS gauge with the sensor in the bottom of the deep alloy sump. It takes a while to get the fluid temperature up to 70*C - possibly because the sump hold 6 litres more fluid that the standard sump & box but it has never risen above that - admittedly I don't tow and for safety reasons I really want to get rid of the gauge as its a tad too close to my left knee. I also think that the sensor location is possibly wrong and the tapping should have been towards the top of the sump where the fluid temperature would have been higher.

If you don't tow then you can't compare.
Newer vans are high off the ground & tall, I am 6'4" tall and have 100 mm clearance so it's like towing a brick.
You don't have a stock radiator or intercooler either from what I have read so I think comparison to a stock vehicle will be way off.
Tow 2.5 to 3ton @ 105kph on a 40 deg day and see what happens, that would be closer.

RossPat wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 6:22 pm If you don't tow then you can't compare.
Newer vans are high off the ground & tall, I am 6'4" tall and have 100 mm clearance so it's like towing a brick.
You don't have a stock radiator or intercooler either from what I have read so I think comparison to a stock vehicle will be way off.
Tow 2.5 to 3ton @ 105kph on a 40 deg day and see what happens, that would be closer.

No, I don't have a stock radiator, I have a Koyorad which has in increased capacity of around 30% and a Plasmaman Intercooler, a Forefront Industries alloy cold pipe and a Plasmaman silicon hot pipe, a modified PX-1 turbo as well as a AFE deep finned large capacity alloy transmission sump however I've not replaced or altered the OE thermostats so the coolant and ATF temperatures entering the radiator and transmission cooler will be the same as any other Ranger - the return temperature from the radiator will, admittedly, however be cooler as will the temperature of the coolant supply to the transmission fluid to fluid cooler.
Speed wise I only drive at 105 kph when I'm overtaking a slower vehicle on the highway and I don't want to hold up other traffic behind me otherwise the cruise control is set at 95 kph which I've found is my Rangers most economical cruising speed finally I seem to be a "burr under your saddle", your responses to any comment that I may make are most of the time very aggressive why is that ?
.

Iainboyd I believe it is very hard to converse in text as text does not show emotion. I try to compare it to to sitting around a camp fire having a chat and leave emotion out of it.

I dont feel Rosspats last post to be aggressive, simply stating what I am about to.

From my data monitoring towing different trailers/vans with ute loaded and unloaded and your descriptions of you driving style and loads your ute would not have any overheating issues if it were standard. I think you modded for long life, I dont intend to keep mine long so no mods other than a catch can.

I just want to drive, if conditions are favorable, to get where I am going as fast as legally and safely possible. I dont drive for fuel economy.

I don't think it aggressive, just pointing out that a vehicle that has had thousands spent on it can't be compared to a stock vehicle.
Even more so if you don't tow anything & drive at lower speeds.
I only suggested you tow 2.5tons in 40 deg heat and see how your temps go then, you may be surprised.
Friends have the larger alloy sump but it doesn't help, all it does is delay the inevitable.
No matter how much fluid you have once it's hot, it's hot.

On a side note we just got back from doing a quick 1,200 klm trip to the Flinders Rangers.
We had to be on the road when the strong wind warnings were issued, but I didn't like it.
The fuel use is 16.4 klms per ltr and I think that is good cosidering the conditions, weight and speed.
The car is happiest @ 2,000 to 2,300 rpm.
In 5th manual that is 104 to110 kph by the speedo.

With the thermostat out the trans oil will be assisted in warming up as the engine coolant warms up, engine comes up pretty quick so it's not like it's ever going to be cold for long, with the thermostat in place the trans has to get up to temp by itself, at least this way it should really get to 70 odd faster, I'll monitor mine for a week or so towing the trailer to see how long it takes to warm up before I fit the bypass, I can't see an issue with it really.

By this time next year I should be back in a manual ute which is why I dont want to mod my ranger. But as things change so much with covid and life plans in general I am now planning on at least two trips from FNQ to SQ towing the caravan in the next few months as well as shorter local trips and more before I change over the Ranger.

So on Rosspats posts that coolant temps are down with the oilcooler fitted I have one on order. If I can keep coolant temps down so I can dont have to manage temps with driving style I will like the Ranger a whole lot more.

Hilly13 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:50 pm With the thermostat out the trans oil will be assisted in warming up as the engine coolant warms up

I have a trans oil cooler so no water cooling.

Hilly13 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:50 pm With the thermostat out the trans oil will be assisted in warming up as the engine coolant warms up, engine comes up pretty quick so it's not like it's ever going to be cold for long, with the thermostat in place the trans has to get up to temp by itself, at least this way it should really get to 70 odd faster, I'll monitor mine for a week or so towing the trailer to see how long it takes to warm up before I fit the bypass, I can't see an issue with it really.

Hilly, I think you got that wrong.
With the thermostat out getting the ATF up to it's correct temperature will take longer. Cold or cool ATF will only put a greater strain on the ATF pump the numerous seals and gear clutches.
The thermostat when closed causes the ATF to circulate through the Torque Converter and the gearbox until it reaches temperature then the thermostat gradually opens a bypass valve allowing the hot ATF fluid to enter the ATF cooler, - with engine coolant flowing through it at around 70 Degrees C. From then on the thermostat should, under normal conditions, modulate to keep the ATF in the 70-95*C Degree range.

My old Land Rover ZF4R22/24 4 speed automatic operated in exactly the same way only it had an air cooled ATF radiator, which as I explained earlier the top connection broke off on the Anne Beadell causing most of the ATF to be lost on the track- fortunately I knew enough about the box to carry out the required repairs.

Iainboyd wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:16 am

Hilly13 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:50 pm With the thermostat out the trans oil will be assisted in warming up as the engine coolant warms up, engine comes up pretty quick so it's not like it's ever going to be cold for long, with the thermostat in place the trans has to get up to temp by itself, at least this way it should really get to 70 odd faster, I'll monitor mine for a week or so towing the trailer to see how long it takes to warm up before I fit the bypass, I can't see an issue with it really.

Hilly, I think you got that wrong.
With the thermostat out getting the ATF up to it's correct temperature will take longer. Cold or cool ATF will only put a greater strain on the ATF pump the numerous seals and gear clutches.
The thermostat when closed causes the ATF to circulate through the Torque Converter and the gearbox until it reaches temperature then the thermostat gradually opens a bypass valve allowing the hot ATF fluid to enter the ATF cooler, - with engine coolant flowing through it at around 70 Degrees C. From then on the thermostat should, under normal conditions, modulate to keep the ATF in the 70-95*C Degree range.

My old Land Rover ZF4R22/24 4 speed automatic operated in exactly the same way only it had an air cooled ATF radiator, which as I explained earlier the top connection broke off on the Anne Beadell causing most of the ATF to be lost on the track- fortunately I knew enough about the box to carry out the required repairs.

Ian ol mate, you could be right about the trans being able to heat the oil faster without interacting with the coolant, I'm going to monitor the time the trans takes to warm up as stock, when I fit the valve I will monitor it again to see and I will post back the findings, I have no problem being wrong, facts is facts after all.

Iainboyd wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:16 am ATF will only put a greater strain on the ATF pump the numerous seals and gear clutches

I will have to explain that to the many thousands who have done the mod and don't have issues.

RossPat wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 12:12 pm

Iainboyd wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:16 am ATF will only put a greater strain on the ATF pump the numerous seals and gear clutches

I will have to explain that to the many thousands who have done the mod and don't have issues.

You don't have to have any failures to prove that you put a strain on the components, - you should add however that that this shouldn't be advised to anyone who is still inside their 3 year warranty period though as it would negate their warranty. Ford will, and have, even used the use and fitment of a non-Ford branded filter (oil, transmission, fuel or air) to refuse an otherwise valid warranty claim, and then its expensive lawyers at ten paces.

Even so I'll all but guarantee you that there have been some owners who have fitted an air cooled ATF radiator and then had an auto box failure and haven't realized just why its failed.
The 6R80 auto box is a ZF design automatic gearbox made by Ford under license, the difference is that ZF build them to an exacting standard and supply them direct to Volvo, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar etc. Ford build theirs to a price consequently their components, seals, bearings, clutches and Torque Converter etc. have been known to fail, very few genuine ZF boxes do, they are generally considered to be "bullet proof".

My last post on this subject.
If you are straining components as you say and there are no failures, what's the issue?
Speculation is one thing, proof is another.
You guarantee there are failures and don't know why.
Again, how many failures do you KNOW of personally due to after market cooler or bypass.
Not what you were told or heard of but KNOW of.
I don't know of any but I know of many stock ones failing.
It's obvious these cheap transmissions are not built for towing.
I tow 2.5 ton at a higher speed than you drive an empty vehicle, that could be one reason you find stock ok.
The guarantee is now 5 years to my knowledge.
We just did a trip to the Flinders Ranges ans came across a Ranger on the side of the road with oil spewing from the trans.
To cut it short the torque converter bearing collapsed, a known issue.
He had an aftermarket cooler, the bypass and non genuine trans oil filters.
Ford repaired it under warranty, none of the mods would have contributed to the failure.
If the mods don't contribute/cause the problem then it is still under warranty.
What a lot refer to as a Trans oil cooler fitted to Rangers is in fact a heat exchanger, not a cooler.
We could go back and forth for ever, we make our choices.
I do know after many years of motoring that heat is a destroyer.

Post locked as it will end in tears.