To bring a topic back to life:
I just finished going through cooler pains. My trans went out last Feb. Since then it has been rebuilt AGAIN. I brought it to a local shop for the work and was warrantied the 2nd time. Their rebuild only lasted 2600 miles. Stock trans lasted 76,000 miles.
Well anyway, when they did the rebuild, they didn't install a NEW oil to air cooler or even the trans filter. This is even after I asked numerous times. I had purchased a Tru-cool cooler from Dayle at Tymar and planned to install it myself. Well when the rebuild went out 2600 miles later, they installed the trans filter and my cooler for me when they rebuilt the rebuild. Now when they installed my cooler, they bypassed the oil passage in the radiator. After some research the passage is NEEDED. Not only is it the best for of heat transfer, it helps stabalize the oil temps before going into the oil to air cooler. When the fluid was going to the tru-cool only, I was seeing crazy temps of 180°+ UNLOADED on the highway. I knew this wasn't right. After finding out about the oil passage, I flushed it out myself with brake cleaner and compressed air to blow it out. All it is is a tube that passes through the radiator. No cracks for trash to accumulate in, unlike the oil to air cooler. Once I was passing oil through the radiator again, I noticed my temps got to a more manageable range (even with ambient temps outside in the upper 80's). Even with the oil passing through the radiator and the tru-cool by itself, I still wasn't happy with my temps.
I then purchased a replacement oil to air cooler from Ford and mounted it in with the tru-cool. I must say now I'm finally satisfied with my oil temps. any aftermarket cooler is made and designed to be plumbed in with your OEM equipment. I've found out that only the tru-cool could not handle the cooling by itself. There were to many factors for the tru-cool to work on it's own. Factors like: outside ambient temps, amount of air flow over the cooler and RPMS (pumping more fluid through the trans and cooler).
Never try and flush a stacked plate cooler (oem oil to air cooler). This design has small cracks and areas that trash can get stuck in and hold itself there until it lets go and gets into the new tranny. Then the problem starts all over again. I paid $150 for the new cooler from my local dealer.
Little advice on installing the trans filter. If your installing the filter in an existing setup with an old cooler, install the filter AFTER the oil to air cooler. This prevents any trash coming out of the cooler and getting into the trans. If your installing the filter after a tranny rebuild and a cooler replacement, install the filter BEFORE the cooler. This prevents trah from entering the cooler and getting itself stuck inside the cooler. This would allow you to reuse the cooler if ever needed as you were filtering the fluid going into the cooler.
I've seen a few threads on the V10 cooler, but since I had the tru-cool already installed and in place, I went ahead and bought a factory replacement for what was on the truck and just plumbed the two together.
If I've confused anybody, just ask questions and I'll answer them as best as I can.
On Eit: I didn't notice Daryl's reply about the pre and post filter installation. Take my reply as further information to his reply.