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 As a follow up to the original post we have information on fitting a transmission cooler to ‘E’ series Falcons. A big thankyou to Paul (Tinter) for these photos and write-up. Paul chooses to fit two coolers and bypass the original radiator cooler due to a common problem with the internals of the original cooler breaking down and finding their way back into the transmission. He has reported having no problems as long as the fluid is changed regularly (20,000km intervals is recommended). Here is a diagram he sent through of his setup -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And here is how he put it all together: I removed the front bumper from chassis and other attached areas, top plastic cover, plastic on wheel arch fronts and behind indicators. This only took about 20mins. I purchased a transcooler from an ea at the wreckers for $35 (photo 1956).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attach that with cable ties to the power steer cooler pipe and a bracket supplied or make yourself, to the left side of the radiator area. I mounted the smaller aftermarket cooler, ebay, new, $50, (photo 1953) to the right side and attached that to the centre bracket and ac pipe with cable ties. You may have to puchase additional hose, i was fortunate to have them supplied with the coolers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 PLEASE NOTE—- the tape insulations on the top and bottom of the larger cooler and r/h side the smaller cooler as they will be touching other parts and will cause rub throughs on both surfaces and cause damage and leaks. Inspect regularly, tape is cheap and replace when necessary.

 After mounting cut the metal trans pipe, just the bent off it, that goes into the rad top and plumb the appropriate hose from there to the larger cooler inlet, either inlet, i used the one on the top right, an approprate hose the from the left top of the large cooler (photo 1956) to the top of the smaller cooler (photo 1955).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 That’s the hose in front of it all (photo1955). From there to complete the circuit an appropriate hose from the small cooler outlet to the return pipe running under the front as seen in (photo 1954).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 One cooler and plumbing from the wreckers would surfice. I just wanted to make sure. Replace any fluids lost or better still change the oil as described in an earlier input to the column. Check hoses for leaks, I double clamped the main input and output.

 If you own a Falcon manufactured after Febuary 1996 chances are you have gone looking for the transmission dipstick and come up blank, and for good reason, they don’t have one! Falcons made after this date have a ’sealed’ transmission and have no dipstick, only a filler plug on the side of the transmission similar to what you would find on a manual gearbox.

 This does make checking the fluid level and condition a bit more involved however with a trolley jack, two sets of chassis stands and a good quality 16mm ring spanner or socket and ratchet it can be done without too much drama. The reason I say to use good quality tools is because the plug in the transmission is usually very tight and sooo easy to round off and the only way you can be sure that this won’t happen to you is if you use quality tools. 

 This check should be done when the transmission fluid is cold.

 The first thing to do is to jack the car up front and rear and try to get it as level as possible. It is important to use chassis stands as you will be getting underneath the car and this should not be done when the car is supported by the jack alone if you want to celebrate your next birthday!

 Once you have the car level and secure, slide underneath the drivers side about in line with the front of the drivers door. This is what you are looking for; (please note in this pic the exhaust is removed as this transmission was coming out but it will give you the general idea).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little red arrow points to the location of the plug. This particular plug was so rounded off that we had to drop the transmission down as much as possible and weld a nut to it. Shame really as the transmission was coming out but I wanted the pictures to look right!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Now with your 16mm spanner or socket fitted as squarely as possible on the plug heave on it in a anti-clockwise direction. All going well it should undo and screw all the way out with no problems. The plug has an ‘o’ ring on it to stop any fluid leaking.

 When cold the transmission fluid should be level with this hole. The easiest way to get an idea of the fluids condition is to stick a clean finger in to the hole and have a look at the colour on your finger and also smell the fluid, checking for any ‘burnt’ or overheated smell.

NOTE: ‘Dexron’ type transmission fluid is not compatible with these transmissions. The correct ‘TQ95′ transmission fluid must be used.  

 If the fluid is not a clean red colour or if it smells like it has been hot I would advise getting a transmission service done as soon as possible. Also a good idea is to fit an aftermarket transmission cooler as the factory one is limited in it’s cooling capacity.

 We have a great tutorial courtesy of Paul Taylor (Tinntter) for the fitment of two transmission coolers here. Paul fits two of them to further increase the cooling and has clocked up thousands of kay’s without a drama. Oh, and remember not to over-tighten the plug when your finished as you don’t want to have drama next time you do this job.

 

 We had a comment posted today from Zachary regarding his EL Falcon with a transmission that suddenly starting slipping and lost all drive. I am far from a Automatic expert so I thought I would throw the question out to our readers and see if anyone has had the same drama. Zachary wrote;

Talking about problems.. Mine is a 98 el Auto with only about 135 000 km on the clock. Out of the blue, and under normal conditions it started losing power (slipping). Before I could get home, lost power all together and not even one of gear settings would engage. Imagine getting stuck in the middle of a busy intersection, at night, while lights turning red and car is moving backward instead of forward!! Bloody dangerous scenario, especially if you don’t expect it. Now if I turn engine off and wait for a few minutes gears would engage, but only for about half a mile’s drive, and then same thing all over again. Went looking for dip stick but it looks like designers forgot to put one in!! Haven’t been to a mechanic yet, but has anyone else experienced same problem? I would appreciate any feedback.. 

  My thoughts are a possible fluid pressure problem caused by a failed pump or perhaps a complete overheat of the fluid but as I am not experienced in transmission repair I can only guess. 

As Zachary stated any feedback or comments on this problem would be appreciated.

Craig