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Hey guys, I am in the process of swapping a EFI explorer 5.0 into my EB and am using a C4 tranny. Does anyone run a aftermarket radiator in theirs that has a trans cooler built into it? I am having some trouble finding one that'll fit it and not break the bank.

Just curious... are you using the stock Explorer EFI system?

I havent seen an inexpensive one that would fit. Have you looked at the ones from BC Broncos?
http://www.bcbroncos.com/cooling08.html
I would tell you to go to West Coast Broncos first since they support us but didnt see one listed in their products. Would still be worth a call though since they build a lot of them and should have some good advice if not a source. http://www.wcb4x4.com/index.shtml

Hit up Broncodawg on here or C3R he has similar setup on his EB I believe.

ESHALLBETTER wrote:Hey guys, I am in the process of swapping a EFI explorer 5.0 into my EB and am using a C4 tranny. Does anyone run a aftermarket radiator in theirs that has a trans cooler built into it? I am having some trouble finding one that'll fit it and not break the bank.

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Both my Broncos skip the radiator heater for the auto. The EB has 2 ford 460 tranny coolers in series in front of the radiator. Same deal for the 96 except I use one B&M blower unit and the stock trailer cooler.
Caveat; If you are serious about running is real cold weather then I would suggest a couple of ball valves to bypass the external coolers and utilize the in radiator heater.
Remember the C4 is like the C6. meaning the torque converter is always generating heat. No resting like with the much larger E4OD.
PaulW

Hey Guys, thanks for all the info!

Steve G - yep, using the stock explorer EFI, however, not much of it is required to run the motor. It seems to be an awesome swap so far. Very straight forward and a bolt in deal.

Moss 2 - Yeah, I checked them out and didn't see one with the cooler. Was more than I wanted to spend, but might be worth the quality, and keeping the money in our sport.

Paul - thanks, I like that set up. Any issues with the two coolers in front of the radiator? Are you using the stock radiator?

As far as cold weather, the top and doors rotted away a long time ago, and it is HORRIBLE on the winter roads with lockers front and rear, so it is mostly a summer toy.

Few continue running tranny thru radiator and either mount a cooler in front of radiator or mount a fan cooled unit under the tub or in the bed of EBs. I'm running a copper/brass 3 core rad in the stock location with two fans pushing. Tranny cooler is between one of the fans and the radiator and cools tranny nicely.
Would be running larger radiator, but my mustang serpentine system has much less room for radiator and fan than the explorer serp which sucks everyting colser to the engine, making more radiator room.

Good luck,

ESHALLBETTER wrote:Paul - thanks, I like that set up. Any issues with the two coolers in front of the radiator? Are you using the stock radiator?

As far as cold weather, the top and doors rotted away a long time ago, and it is HORRIBLE on the winter roads with lockers front and rear, so it is mostly a summer toy.

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My 72 is not much of a test bed. Colorado never gets very hot. Mine has a Mustang 5.0/AOD. The truck coolers allow some space to allow air to get to the radiator. I also have a hard mounted flex fan and the rad is a copper thing. I have no way to tell what kind of rad it is. Anyway before I started the resto I never had heating issues.
PaulW

ESHALLBETTER wrote:Hey Guys, thanks for all the info!

Steve G - yep, using the stock explorer EFI, however, not much of it is required to run the motor. It seems to be an awesome swap so far. Very straight forward and a bolt in deal.

Moss 2 - Yeah, I checked them out and didn't see one with the cooler. Was more than I wanted to spend, but might be worth the quality, and keeping the money in our sport.

Paul - thanks, I like that set up. Any issues with the two coolers in front of the radiator? Are you using the stock radiator?

As far as cold weather, the top and doors rotted away a long time ago, and it is HORRIBLE on the winter roads with lockers front and rear, so it is mostly a summer toy.

I'm like Paul and ditched my in-radiator cooler years ago with my C4 setup (found tranny fluid in my coolant once and decided to ditch the in-radiator cooler). I also run two coolers up front - the largest B&M (Long) stacked plate cooler and a Super Duty cooler. Worked good for my C4 and continues to work well with my 700R4. Like Paul mentions, the C4 ran hotter because the converter's always slipping. My 700R4 runs cooler, particularly on the highway with the lockup converter. I live in Phoenix so I'm probably worst-case when it comes to warm weather testing. If I lived in a cooler climate, I would consider running it back through the radiator again. I run a 3 core, stock-style radiator with a slightly higher fin count than stock.

Nearly all the EB vendors sell radiators, both aluminum and copper/brass with coolers in them.

Todd Z.

Just FYI, I recently completed a project on my '69 Bronco where I installed the low profile Explorer water pump, a Lincoln MK8 electric fan and a radiator from a '95 vintage 4.0L explorer. Granted, it wasn't a bolt-on ordeal but I now have a radiator that can be replaced for cheap after a quick trip to any junkyard around. I seem to recall that my Pick-n-Pull charged me about $50 for this one and a brand new one can be had from Summit for just over $100. Plus, it has the tranny cooler built in on the driver's side.

Several years ago I bought a nice aluminum radiator from Wild Horses for around $400. It lasted a few years before cracking so I bought another nice aluminum unit off of ebay for about $250. It's still in good shape but reqired massive modifications to the stock Bronco radiator brackets and I was always nervous about it coming loose. Sorry, it doesn't have the tranny cooler and I don't think you'd enjoy making it fit anyway. Frankly the explorer radiator was easier to mount and way more secure.

I wanted to go serpentine so I needed the reverse rotation radiator pipe locations. I didn't have a fan shroud on the original engine driven fan so that's why I went with the electric fan.

And, if there are any questions about a V6 radiator cooling a V8, my engine is a 351W bored and stroked to 426 and, although it hasn't gotten super hot here in Sacramento yet, it will this weekend and I intend to test it out with a trip across town in traffic once it hits about 106. So far it'll idle nicely in the driveway in mid-90 degree temps without ever overheating. The fan just cycles on and off.

Incidentally, when that huge Lincoln fan is on, I can rest my hand on the radiator core and it barely feels warm. It pulls a huge amount of air!

Whoa! This is a sllloooowww moving forum. Just noticed the date of the last post before mine. 2 years ago. I'm guessing the OP has solved his problem by now.

It's not too slow its just only a few have older broncos.

I did get my issue resolved with an aftermarket cooler, but thank you for the info!