Keeping your ZF cool

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Originally Posted by prydey

Oil/air coolers are being run by many people, so like you say Dave, it's not really an unknown risk. It's just not manyfacturer tested.

The thing that stops me going this path is the fact that no manufacturers do and we all know how that like to save money if they can, so there must be a reason for the oem setup.

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Ah yes but it wasn't that long ago when oil-air coolers were a dealer fit option on a Falcon (part of the HD towing package if I recall). And some cars (XG and XH Falcon utes) had them fitted from factory. Don't forget, the "old" Borg Warner/Ion LE95 4 speed autos were essentially the same operating principle as the 6 speed ZF - an electro-hydraulic servo unit acting as the valve body. Just it only had 4 gears and not as advanced in a design sense.

A lot of it could also come down to manufacturing complexity. The block-mounted heat exchanger is essentially part of the engine and when the engine is dropped in, the hoses are hooked up along with all the others. What might cost more in parts might save $$$ in terms of man hours. The oil-air cooler on the other hand would require special parts and some stuffing around on the part of line workers assembling the cars. Don't forget these modern cars are modular, they are all assembled in modules. There's no time for stuffing around with add-on parts.

This is my overall opinion on the heat exchanger matter - even if you didn't ask for my opinion.

No one, so far, has been able to come up with a definitive and/or universally accepted cause of why the heat exchanger could fail. If someone was to come up with a cause and fix for the exchanger then I would be more than happy to listen. At the moment, people are simply deleting the heat exchanger not knowing the actual cause of the failure(s) when in fact, it may not be the heat exchanger causing the fault at all.

It's bit like chopping your arm off just in case you get a skin cancer on it one day.

The residual casting sand in the engine block theory is from the horses mouth (ford). Whether this is the sole cause or not no one can say.

I'm actually in the market for a zf equipped bf or fg at the moment, and first thing il be doing is fitting a standalone external cooler, oil to air.

Plenty of people have said the zf is sensitive to cold temps etc, but the anecdotal evidence seems to show that running a oil to air causes zero issues, short or long term.

While,the financial hit from a milkshake isn't as severe as it was even only 18-24 months ago, it's still not something I wish to pay for.

Note, if I end up buying a falcon with a btr I wil be doing the same thing, they are not immune to it at all.

I think the fact ford has regularly paid for milkshaked gearboxes, either in full or a percentage of the repair well after the warranty has ended shows ford is well aware of the issue, and it's cause.

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Originally Posted by defective

I'm actually in the market for a zf equipped bf or fg at the moment, and first thing il be doing is fitting a standalone external cooler, oil to air.

Plenty of people have said the zf is sensitive to cold temps etc, but the anecdotal evidence seems to show that running a oil to air causes zero issues, short or long term.

While,the financial hit from a milkshake isn't as severe as it was even only 18-24 months ago, it's still not something I wish to pay for.

Note, if I end up buying a falcon with a btr I wil be doing the same thing, they are not immune to it at all.

I think the fact ford has regularly paid for milkshaked gearboxes, either in full or a percentage of the repair well after the warranty has ended shows ford is well aware of the issue, and it's cause.

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I think it also shows a level of goodwill on Fords part.

If the issue was as wide spread as some are claiming Ford would be replacing a $50 heat exchanger as a precaution rather than waiting to do ZF rebuilds....

Where do you buy these $50 heat exchanges?

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Originally Posted by prydey

Where do you buy these $50 heat exchanges?

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Fords cost not yours.

At least these days wrecker gearboxes are an option, back when the zf was still a bit of a mystery to most if you wanted to run a wrecker box then it had to come out of the exact same model.

when a rebuild was 7-8k, and a wrecker wanted half that for a second hand unit. These days most wreckers are under a grand, normally well under a grand.

There was a couple of reasons for the failures that had fixes applied to them. It still happens but not compared to the b series numbers.

As for the fix. Maintain the cooling system. People bleat on about changing engine oil in the car but leave everything else to go bad. If you change cars regulary then nothing really to worry about but if your gonna keep the car for its intended life then maintenance is key....ive seen more milkshakes happening later in life.

As for which way to go for the cooler. The oem setup is the best. Ive noticed these zfs a little tempremental when cold so getting the temp up to its operating temp is vital....especially with the zf (if they have an oil change when cold they play up due to the wrong oil level). So to me the pwr cooler is the best cooler to use. Also to me service it with the zf oil.

Good thing is they can go longer between changes....its not like the 4speed which really needed changing every 40,000ks....but then again it only cost 150 to do.

I wonder if Ford's blurb in the owner's manual "sealed for life" was a factor in any of these failures...