1998 Taurus trans cooler line

Well, 130k miles into it, my trans cooler line starts leaking. I noticed the Overdrive is slipping too. Any suggestions on how to get to the upper line that connects to the radiator??? From what I can see, it entails pulling alot of the radiator housing and surrounding parts before I can access the line.

is the actual cooler leaking or just the line leading to it?

to get to the lines all you have to do is take off the splash guard

it's the actual line. I changed the fitting that fits onto the engine block (trans)-still leaky. I called the Ford service department and they suggested that the line itself (going into the fitting) has a tendency to crack. I know it's the line, but getting the line off the radiator side (which isn't the leaky end) poses a problem.

If the splash guard is removed, I'll be able to get access to the lower line??? if so, that's awesome- I don't want to dedicte an entire day making a jigsaw puzzle out of the front end.

another thing....my trans is slipping out of overdrive...any ideas on how much money i'm looking at for a rebuild?