What exactly is the issue with these gassers spark plugs? Aluminum heads have been around forever with little/ no issues.....Is there something about the specific plug specd for these?....If that's the biggest issue it has then there's no real issue.
Its a combination of things, one of the biggest being a bad design from Ford. There are only a couple of threads holding the plug in. Combine that with a tendency for people to over-torque and you've got problems. And it may also be a plug design issue, as they are very specific in stating to only use motorcraft plugs.
Later heads had the casting changed to include more meat around the plug threads, so even ford finally recognized the issue, but they never warrantied or recalled the original problem. Just blamed it on bad maintenance and improper procedure (aka, customers fault!).
The fact that there is an entire niche market, just around changing these plugs, with their own special tools and procedures, means its not just a random occurrence.
As for the factory transmission cooler, you are correct, it is not enough. There are 3 or 4 sizes of cooler from the factory.
The 7.3 came with the smallest cooler. Mounts between the A/C condensor and the intercooler.
The v-10 trucks came with a larger cooler, and its a direct retrofit to the 7.3
The 6.0 came out with a MASSIVE cooler (two designs I want to say, both huge), and is a direct bolt in to the earlier models, but they changed the location and size of the cooler lines. They went from 3/8 to 1/2 hose. Get some adapters and a couple feet of 1/2" hose and its an easy conversion. My experience has been that the 6.0 cooler works better than any of the aftermarket coolers sold (trucool, etc etc). I dont know if thats because of the factory location of the 6.0 cooler, its size, or its design, but its just cools better. We've replaced aftermarket coolers and put 6.0 coolers in and had the trans run cooler. Not scientific, just experience.
I run a 6.0 cooler on my truck, and even in the hottest summer sun (we get that here in WA once in awhile!), towing, I cant get the temp to break 180*. 60 to 90 degrees over ambient temp is what the trans is supposed to run at. Depending on computer code, the torque converter will not lockup until the trans/eng has some heat to it. The unlocked TC helps make some heat faster on cold days.
