Aluminum Radiator Help

[DeadEye200321]

Hello!

I just had the plastic reservoir portion of my radiator crack and start leaking and I need to get a new one. Only problem is I have no idea where to begin to look as I always seem to have trouble finding the correct part for my ranger. I have a 2004 manual Ford Ranger XLT FX4 and all the radiators I seem to look up have a trans cooler, I do not need a trans cooler as my truck is a manual and the current radiator installed does not have ports for a trans cooler. I was wondering if anyone had done and aluminum radiator swap and if they just didn't use the trans cooler ports or if they bought one specifically without one. If anyone has done this could you please provide me with a link to the aluminum radiator you bought? Also, if you did do the aluminum radiator swap, was there still room for the mechanical fan or did you need to swap to an electric fan? Please let me know if you guys have the answers, thank you!

 

[SenorNoob]

Can't help with the all-aluminum part, but it's pretty common to use a radiator with the trans cooler inside for a manual. Just leave the little plastic plugs in the ports.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So, the factory builds the manual transmission trucks with a radiator that doesn’t have a transmission cooler. Saves them a few bucks.

The aftermarket parts world sees no reason to make and stock two different versions of essentially the same thing. So pretty much all you find for aftermarket replacement parts is the radiators with the transmission cooler. You just don’t hook it up to anything in a manual transmission truck. Doesn’t hurt anything. I’m a little particular so I cap off the ports usually just in case I would ever have to swap it into one of my automatics, but it’s really not necessary.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, that, just make sure it's for the correct engine size (not sure that matters after a certain point, the older ones the upper and lower hoses switched sizes or angles between the 4 cylinder and V6)

 

[sgtsandman]

Hello!

I just had the plastic reservoir portion of my radiator crack and start leaking and I need to get a new one. Only problem is I have no idea where to begin to look as I always seem to have trouble finding the correct part for my ranger. I have a 2004 manual Ford Ranger XLT FX4 and all the radiators I seem to look up have a trans cooler, I do not need a trans cooler as my truck is a manual and the current radiator installed does not have ports for a trans cooler. I was wondering if anyone had done and aluminum radiator swap and if they just didn't use the trans cooler ports or if they bought one specifically without one. If anyone has done this could you please provide me with a link to the aluminum radiator you bought? Also, if you did do the aluminum radiator swap, was there still room for the mechanical fan or did you need to swap to an electric fan? Please let me know if you guys have the answers, thank you!

The aftermarket world only makes radiators with the transmission cooler in them. If you find a radiator for a manual, you found a rare unicorn.

You can either leave the ports plugged off or use them for an engine oil cooler, if you are feeling ambitious. If you do decide to go that route, make sure the sandwich plate has a thermostat in it. It is possible to over cool an engine. So, you don't want the cooler cooling the oil until it is at about operating temperature.

As far as an all aluminum radiator, some have done them. When mine finally starts to fail, I will be looking into getting one. Just make sure the radiator is the right one for your engine. As some have noted, the upper and lower ports are different from engine to engine. If you can find one with a double row or triple row core, even better.

Being that you live in Arizona, the extra cooling capacity of a muli-row radiator would probably be beneficial, especially if you like to take excursions up into the mountains. The thermostat will make sure the coolant doesn't get too cool.