SOOOooo... ALL aftermarket RADIATORS are the auto-trans version, zero M/T specific models?

[lil_Blue_Ford]

IF I'm following you, this extra "reservoir" (which should just be filled w/ dead-air on a 5-spd) suffered a cross-over LEAK from the main coolant-filled part of the radiator, and if your truck had been equipped with auto trans, said trans would now be contaminated with anti-freeze and water, "milkshaked" in with the ATFluid???

It *can* happen, but usually it leaks around the bulkhead fitting or along the tank seams where coolant just leaks outside

 

[RobWigglezz]

It *can* happen, but usually it leaks around the bulkhead fitting or along the tank seams where coolant just leaks outside

The only way coolant could leak into the trans reservoir is if the the O-ring face bottoms out before the pipe thread gets tight. I wouldn't doubt a cheap aftermarket radiator would tap the pipe thread too deep and not seal as the O-ring face gets tight.

 

[fixizin]

No, it was leaking from the O-ring which seals the coolant inside the plastic tank. The pipe thread was still tight and would have kept coolant out of the transmission fluid.

The only way coolant could leak into the trans reservoir is if the the O-ring face bottoms out before the pipe thread gets tight. I wouldn't doubt a cheap aftermarket radiator would tap the pipe thread too deep and not seal as the O-ring face gets tight.

I am definitely not following (and I think lil_blue will agree)... on an auto-trans Ranger, wouldn't that threaded+O-ring plug be replaced by a pipe-fitting, at the end of an aluminum tube running to the auto-trans (with a companion/return tube lower down on the same side)... and that "reservoir" would be filled with ATF continuously circulating through it? Whereas in your case (and mine) with the manual trans, that chamber/reservoir should be EMPTY, and those plugs just there to keep dirt out, and holding back nothing but hot air...?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The only way coolant could leak into the trans reservoir is if the the O-ring face bottoms out before the pipe thread gets tight. I wouldn't doubt a cheap aftermarket radiator would tap the pipe thread too deep and not seal as the O-ring face gets tight.

Theoretically the tiny radiator inside the tank could develop a leak. That’s what I was getting at. For the record though, I’ve never seen anything other than external leaks on these radiators.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I am definitely not following (and I think lil_blue will agree)... on an auto-trans Ranger, wouldn't that threaded+O-ring plug be replaced by a pipe-fitting, at the end of an aluminum tube running to the auto-trans (with a companion/return tube lower down on the same side)... and that "reservoir" would be filled with ATF continuously circulating through it? Whereas in your case (and mine) with the manual trans, that chamber/reservoir should be EMPTY, and those plugs just there to keep dirt out, and holding back nothing but hot air...?

You don’t have to plug the ports. I try to do it to keep dirt and mud wasps and stuff out on my manuals usually. Sometimes I don’t and get mad at myself for that. I have automatics that fit the same rad, I like the idea that I could potentially pull plugs and stick the rad in another truck if I’m in a bind. For the record, I’ve never had to do that yet because rads don’t usually last long enough to be in that position, lol.

I’ve removed the tank before, that little trans cooler thing is a tiny radiator inside the side tank.

That threaded thing with the O-ring serves as a connection to pass fluid (it’s a pass-through bulkhead fitting), as a mounting (it holds that little radiator inside place inside the tank), and as a seal. The trans cooler lines thread into it or you can thread a plug in.

 

[superj]

and that internal trans tank leaking is why all those toyotas lost their transmissions for so many years in the late 90s and early 2k, if i remember the years right. same thing on nissans. i think they call it the strawberry milkshake of death (smod)