Transmission cooler change adventure

So, after reviewing some of the threads here regarding replacing my 26row heavy duty transmission cooler, it looked simple enough.
Dorman® - Dodge Ram 2002 Auto Trans Oil Cooler
It should have been too, but there are some things not included in the threads I saw from previous posts.


So, first thing is people say use this tool to get the fittings off the cooler
Amazon.com: Lisle 37000 Air Conditioning/Fuel Line Disconnect Tool Set: Automotive
that is definitely the one you want.
I've never done this before so I found this video helpful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvngvwOy2ns

At this point, so far, so good. Got the lines off, and sort of bent the inlet/outlet lines to get the cooler out of the truck.

Something that I haven't seen mentioned is that you can disconnect the radiator mounts on the top and move it just a little to get the new cooler inlet/outlet clear so you can get the whole thing down to where it needs to be.

At this point you normally you just connect the two lines and you're done.
Well, the o-rings in one of the fuel line connector decided it hated life and came out of the connector, I couldn't get it seated back correctly. I saw at least one other or-ring in there and figured I would risk it because I was in a time crunch. Yeah, that didn't work, started the truck, put it in neutral and fluid was leaking all over the place.
So, after searching and calling around for new lines only to find no one had the lower line, aside from chrysler, and it was $150 and I would have to order it and wait. It seems Advance Auto/etc all carry the upper line, but not the lower one. Then I contacted dorman and they said some of their(Advance Auto/etc) information is wrong, they don't have lines for the 2002 5.9L, great.....

So, despite everyone's best advice here, a Pep Boys was close by but all they had was fuel injector line, bought some of that, some barbed unions and some ring clamps and figured I would just rig it up, similar to what I saw in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wvdQyb8Djg
at about 2:17 he suggests just smashing the line over the cooler fuel line coupling then using a ring clamp...so I figured I would use two, one on either side of the fuel line coupling.

Yeah, well you can't get fuel line to flex over the cooler end, and when you use a union that will fit the fuel line, it's just a bit too small for the existing transmission line, so it looks ok, but that also leaked everywhere.

So, the wife came back and I stole her car then went and bought actual transmission tubing, some barbed unions
Transmission Hose Splicer at AutoZone.com - Best Transmission Hose Splicer Parts for Cars, Trucks & SUVS

and put it all back together, and transmission line is flexible enough to get over the fuel line coupling of the transmission cooler.

So far, it seems to be holding

At some point maybe I'll get a new lower line and put it back together the way it was, but specifically for the lower line it seems silly you have to buy the entire line because a o-ring goes bad.
I think a better solution would be to duplicate the upper line, because with that one you can just replace the flexible part as it has a threaded connection between the metal tubing and the rubber transmission tubing.
Duralast/Transmission Cooler Line Assembly A61156 at AutoZone.com

So, my one question, any suggestions as to what is best to use to clean off tranny oil from the engine bay/etc?

ETHER!!!! just buy some generic, brake clean or parts cleaner aerosol can, I used it everywhere!

steermaster said:

ETHER!!!! just buy some generic, brake clean or parts cleaner aerosol can, I used it everywhere!

Click to expand...

how careful do you have to be around electrical parts (alternator etc..) with that sort of stuff?

Ok on electrical parts as it dries very quickly.