Mishimoto 6.0L Trans Cooler Development & Testing

Mishimoto

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Hey guys,

Along with the development of our 6.0L degas bottle, we have also been working to develop a more efficient transmission cooler solution.

Check out the details from R&D on our blog or posted within this thread.

http://engineering.mishimoto.com/category/ford-6-0l-powerstroke-transmission-cooler-2003-2007/


Treat Your Transmission. 6.0L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler R&D, Part 1: Factory Cooler Options

Yes, that’s right, we are not quite done with product development for the 6.0L Powerstroke. Although these trucks are getting older, our team is finding more and more ways to enhance and improve them.

The factory-equipped 6.0 transmission cooler is relatively stout. In fact, swapping this cooler into the 7.3L is a pretty common upgrade. That said, we think we can provide even greater cooling efficiency and offer an upgrade for 6.0L and 7.3L trucks that tow heavy loads.

Factory Cooler Options

From 2003 to 2007, the 6.0L came from the factory with two different cooler options, a 26-row cooler and a 31-row cooler. Mounting and line connections were similar on both.

Our shop truck came equipped with the 26-row unit, so we ordered the 31-unit cooler as well for data collection.

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Factory 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler

Although one cooler is taller, they have the same thickness, as shown below.

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Factory 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler

Increasing the surface area and the internal capacity of the heat exchanger will improve cooling efficiency. We will also be making some adjustments to the external fins on the heat exchanger. Fins play a huge role in heat transfer, as they connect directly to the fluid tubes and transfer heat from the tubes to the air passing through the core. By creating more contact points, we can improve heat transfer. We achieved this by reducing the height of the fins and designing a tighter pitch, which make the fins denser.

Check out the cooler fins of the factory 6.0L transmission shown below.

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Factory 6.0L Powerstroke transmission cooler fins

This area of the cooler can definitely be improved.

Initial Data Collection

Before designing our counterpart, we needed to collect some dimensional data from the two factory transmission coolers. Each one was set up on our CMM (coordinate measuring machine) so we could gather accurate data.

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Factory 6.0 transmission cooler on CMM table

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Factory 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler on CMM table

Coming Up – First Prototype

Once our engineering team completes the design of our 6.0L transmission cooler prototype, we will be working up a unit to test on our truck! Stay tuned for a look at our first unit.

Thanks for reading!
-John
 

shmoozer

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Love seeing what you guys come up with. Great work guys!


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Mishimoto

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Quick update guys!

Treat Your Transmission. Ford 6.0L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler R&D, Part 2: Mishimoto Prototype

Now that we have designed our 6.0L transmission cooler prototype in SolidWorks®, our team has begun work on constructing our first prototype. We will be using this prototype to verify fitment on our truck and perform heat-soak testing to determine any cooling benefits provided by the larger core size.

Mishimoto 6.0L Transmission Cooler Prototype

Check out a couple shots of our first prototype unit!

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Mishimoto 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler

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Mishimoto 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler

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Mishimoto 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler

Size Comparison

We are increasing the size of this cooler for greater fluid capacity and improved heat transfer. Although the core height remains the same, we’ve increased the width to provide greater surface area for airflow. Check out a couple shots showing a size comparison of our cooler against the factory 31-row unit.

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Ford 6.0 transmission cooler size comparison

The next two images will give you a better idea of the additional width we’ve added with our prototype.

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Ford 6.0 transmission cooler size comparison

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Ford 6.0L transmission cooler size comparison

Along with adding fluid capacity, we’ve also made changes to the external fin design. Check out a close-up shot comparing the fins of each cooler.

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Ford 6.0L transmission cooler fin comparison

Compared to the factory cooler, our prototype features short fins so more rows of tubes can be packed into the core. This denser fin setup also provides increased contact points for heat transfer, which typically results in greater efficiency. Within the same core dimensions, we can fit an additional five rows of cooling tubes.

Coming Up – Testing

We are ready to test fit our prototype cooler and evaluate performance benefits. Check back next time for a look at the results.

Thanks for reading!
-John
 

Mishimoto

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Project update!

Treat Your Transmission. Ford 6.0L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler R&D, Part 3: Testing Data

It’s now time to install our prototype and put some data behind the efficiency differences we expect to see between our cooler and the factory heat exchanger. We did add a substantial amount of core surface area, so we anticipate that heat transfer will improve during a load test. Check out this shot of the Mishimoto 6.0L transmission cooler installed!

MM-Installed-1.jpg

Mishimoto 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler installed

Testing Process

We have numerous tools at our disposal to test heat exchangers. For this one, we will be using our Dynapack™ dynamometer. With a transmission cooler test, we want to apply some load on the vehicle to ensure that stress is created within the drivetrain. We can set the Dynapack to apply a specific load to achieve this.

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Mishimoto 6.0 transmission cooler testing

We then set up our truck for some runs on the Dynapack!

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Mishimoto 6.0 transmission cooler testing

We installed pressure and temperature sensors within the transmission inlet and outlet lines. This will allow our team to evaluate the cooling efficiency of the heat exchanger.

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Mishimoto 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler testing

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Mishimoto 6.0l transmission cooler testing

Testing Conditions

Ambient temperature: 60°F
Humidity: 20%
Vehicle speed: 60 mph
Load: Truck producing 600 wtq
Gear: Overdrive
Warmup time: 10 minutes
Test time: 8 minutes
Sensors: Temperature and pressure
Apparatus: AEM AQ-1 Data Logger

We spent a solid day testing both the factory transmission cooler and our larger counterpart. Between runs, the truck was cooled completely to ensure results were not skewed.

Testing Data

Time to check out our results. First, let’s take a look at our temperature data.

Temp-Plot.png

Mishimoto 6.0l transmission cooler testing

During the entire run, the Mishimoto transmission cooler kept temperatures 10–12°F cooler compared to the factory heat exchanger. The factory cooler performs well, even under this load, but we were able to produce even lower temperature numbers, making our cooler a fantastic replacement for the factory unit.

With larger volume and altered tube structure aimed at heat transfer, we do expect a fluid pressure drop when installing our cooler. The pressure sensors we installed in the lines verified that the drop was not substantial. As we know, retaining fluid pressure is vital to the life of internal transmission components.

Pressure-Plot.png

Mishimoto 6.0 Powerstroke transmission cooler testing

Compared to the factory transmission cooler, we saw a maximum drop of 0.5 psi, well within an acceptable range.

Very solid testing results!

A big portion of these gains are attributed to the increased fluid volume. Below is a comparison of core volume between the two factory-equipped 6.0 Powerstroke transmission coolers and our larger counterpart.

Core-Volume.jpg

Mishimoto 6.0 transmission cooler testing

Our core volume is 21% greater than the factory 31-row transmission cooler!

Coming Up – Discounted Pre-Sale

We now have a great fitting 6.0 transmission cooler that has proven to outperform the factory unit. We will be launching a discounted pre-sale for those interested in picking up this awesome cooler.

Thanks for reading!
-John
 

shmoozer

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Haven't missed a pre-sale yet!


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Mishimoto

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Do we know yet if this will fit in conjunction with the BPD oil cooler?

It should fit that particular oil cooler because it doesn't interfere with the stock transmission cooler mounting location. That being said, we did not have an oil cooler on our truck during testing so we cannot confirm whether that product will fit along with our transmission cooler or not.

You guys are doing great things with the 6.0, why not develop a ball bearing VGT turbo for us!!!????????

Unfortunately we do not have any plans to make any turbos quite yet, but you never know what the future may hold!

Presale updates will be up in a bit guys!
 

Mishimoto

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Hey everyone!

We are now ready to launch our presale. During this period, you can get our transmission cooler at a great discount before the kits officially hit the warehouse and the market.

Please check out the details below and please let us know if you have any questions!

Pre-Sale Link

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Expected Ship Date: May 27th, 2016
Expiration Date: May 27th, 2016

Pricing Details:
Full Transmission Cooler Kit
MSRP: $350.00
Presale: $269.95

Highlights
- Direct fit for the 2003–2007 Ford 6.0L Powerstroke
- Proven +10°F (+5.6°C) drop in transmission fluid temperature with no additional fluid pressure drop
- No modification necessary for installation, functions with all stock equipment
- 37-row stacked plate fluid cooler provides larger surface area over even the largest stock 31-row transmission cooler
- Transmisson cooler core has a 21% increase in core volume compared to the factory 31-row transmission cooler
- Increases transmission fluid capacity by 1/3 qt

Includes
(1) Mishimoto Stacked Plate Transmission Cooler
Mounting Hardware
Lifetime Warrantyy


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Pre-Sale Link

Again, please alert us of any questions, comments or concerns. Thanks!
 
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Mishimoto

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Hey guys, quick update.

We had a ship date of May 27th, which which is in about two weeks, but we have encountered minor shipping delays which will cause the actual ship date to move back to June 14th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may result, but we want to be sure everyone is in the loop and no update goes unheard.

The good news is for those who have not yet purchased our transmission cooler, there is now more time! The price will stay at the current presale until June 14th, so be sure to pick yours up at our discounted rate until then!

Again, we'd like to apologize for the delay and we appreciate your patience!
 

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