Tranny Cooler Suggestions.

[derogate]

I looked through the pinnned topics and searched for some info but found nothing of use, so here goes.

 

I see summitracing has some nice coolers for sale, and im sure alot of other people sell universal coolers. My question is, How hard is it to install the coolers? any recomendations or anything? how do you deal with air stuck inside it once its mounted and installed? what are you guys running?

 

I think the ones with the built on fans would work well when you are just idling, but do you really need it on these vehicles? (WD-21 Pathy)

 

throw me some info if you have it.

 

Thanks.

[vengeful]

I mounted mine directly to the Radiator with the supplied clippy jobs. Since it is in line with the Rad and AC Condensor, and subsequently fan, you do not need another one.

 

The easy part is mounting it, as they usually come with long zip-tight cable clips, and you can just stick it in front of the AC condensor. The hard part comes when it comes to connect the lines. You will want to connect it in series, AFTER the stock cooler (which is part of the radiator.). I don't remember exactly how I got the fluid into the cooler, but it's a similar process to flushing the transmission, just use the new lines.

 

Connect the line from the factory cooler to the new cooler, then use the line that's coming out of the and add some vacuum to it and pull fluid into the cooler, and then connect it to where the factory line went into the transmission. Took me about a half-hour because I spent 10 minutes staring at my front end trying to figure out where to mount it.

 

And the difference is amazing...my console used to get hot to the touch after driving for a long time, but now it stays ambient.

 

Also, you'll want to get the biggest one you can find that will fit...mine is 24".

[88pathoffroad]

Actually, you'll probably want to bypass the stock cooler totally. That's the main reason behind getting an external cooler. The stock ones clog up and kill your tranny.

[mws]

And hear is yet another theory:

 

I like to put an auxiliary trans cooler BEFORE the one in the radiator on vehicles that tend to have engine overheating problems. Since the amount of heat removed is dependent on the differential in temp between the fluid and the air, the cooler does the most when the fluid is hotter. By pre-cooling the fluid before it hits the radiator, the radiator water does not get as heated up by the trans and the engine is less likely to overheat.

Also, if you drive in cold areas, running the coolant through the radiator cooler after the auxiliary cooler "rewarms" the fluid back to nearer the ideal temp.

 

In my tow van, I have 3 aux coolers, two before the radiator, 1 after.

1) Big plate style mounted alongside the radiator since there is room there on a full size van.

2) Big tube and fin style in front of condenser. Yes, this pre-heats the air a little bit, but really not that much...

3) Through the radiator cooler

4) Through the biggest plate style I could find, mounted under the truck with an 8" electrical radiator fan. The fan is manually switched on when going slow and tranny is getting hot.

5) Ultra high flow filter with 1 quart reservoir

 

Of course, if you want to try to add this much stuff in line, you have to worry about fluid restriction and loss of flow. I used massively big coolers with oversize passages, fittings, and hoses, and checked the flow rate before and after installation (temporarily put a piece of clear hose in line to watch) to assure I still had adequate circulation.

 

The engine coolant temp used to get dangerously high about the same time as the transmission. Now, neither one gets even close to too hot - even on 15% grades on 110 degree days with trailer in tow...

 

 

To purge air, always mount the cooler so the outlet is as high as possible. Then they are self purging. Most trannies occaisionally whip up the fluid a bit and get some air bubbles in stream. If the inlet and outlet are both on the bottom of the cooler, the air bubbles will settle at the top of the cooler. I had to drill and tap a second outlet on one of my B&M plate coolers and plug off the original outlet because the only way to mount it meant both the inlet and outlet were at the bottom. Within 6 mos, the cooler was over 1/2 full of air.

[88pathoffroad]

Both my coolers are mounted that way and I've had 0 problems with air in the system. *shrug*

[mws]

Hmmm.... Maybe Nissan transmissions are better designed than GM?

 

Well, duh... No surprise there!

 

How do you know there is no air? I tested mine after another guy advised me I should. I ran cold water over the cooler for about 5 minutes after a long drive. Then I started it back up and put my hand on the cooler. The top 1/2 remained cool for quite a bit longer than the lower half because the lower half had hot fluid pumping through it whereas nothing was flowing in the top due to all the air trapped in there. I drilled and tapped a new outlet fitting in the top and tried the same experiment. The whole thing heated up evenly.