trannsimission oil cooler?

[americanjebus]

im making threads all over but this is a different thing than my shim thread

i have been digging arround looking for tranny coolers and found a decent one for about $30 that will bring the temp down approx 60degree F. now the issue i have is that its a tranny OIL cooler not the coolant that goes to rad. i am doing a thurough scan of my car tonight, i've got like 8 hours set aside for engine maintenance tonight and cleaning but i dont know what to look for as far as a stock oil cooler for the transmission.
anyone have any ideas of running lines from tranny to front of IC for this??? i wanna get all this stuff out of the way as soon as possible.

 

[americanjebus]

anyone??? i just wanna know if its possible to run tranny oil lines to front?

 

[mrnickleye]

If you have an automatic trans, just ad a Carquest (made by Hayden) cooler by removing the line on the driver's side that runs to the radiator. Then tie the cooler in to it, one to the radiator, the other to the line. The instructions are in the box.

I put mine in (non-turbo) using some metal brackets from hardware store, about 6" in front of a/c condensor, down in the air flow. It will cool the trans oil down some 'before' it gets to the radiator, thus taking some heat off the coolant.

 

[supraman7mgte]

i needed to install one when i put in my aluminum radiator. i just fed the lines that go to the radiator to the fluid cooler,and mounted it in the plastic under protection thing

 

[americanjebus]

since posting this like almost a month ago, i found the internal cooler on radiator my other pondering was wether to put the aftermarket cooler before the radiaotor, or after the radiator on the return line? the radiator will be hot at a constant what is it 180-190 degrees??? wont i benefit more from the aftermarket cooler after the radiator for an additional -40 to -60 degrees?

 

[mrnickleye]

"They" say to run the oil into the radiator first to get the best tranny oil cooling. (Tie ad-on cooler to line on passenger side of radiator).
I ran mine into the driver's side line because I was trying to cool it down 'before' getting to the coolant, to keep coolant a bit cooler. I suppose tho, in theory, over-all, the tranny oil will be cooler, thus not putting as much heat into the cooling system.

Probably a case or "6 of one , 1/2 dozen of the other". (makes little difference??)

 

[Asterix]

Except that you don't want cold ATF running through your transmission. What you want is ATF at the correct temperature. Using the radiator is a great way to do this, plus the thermostat for the radiator acts as the temperature control for the ATF. If you use a different cooler, you MUST put on a thermostat.

mrnickleye has the right idea for supplemental cooling while retaining the thermostat function provided by using the "cooler" inside the radiator. Putting an extra transmission cooler after the in-radiator one is asking for overcooled ATF.

Asterix

 

[mrnickleye]

More than you may want to know....from...

According to the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association, overheating causes nine out of ten transmission failures.

Under normal driving conditions, Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) will be at about 170-175 degrees F, and it could go for 100,000 miles, or more, without problems.

At higher temperatures ATF oxidizes, turns brown, and takes on a burnt smell. Excessive heat destroys the ATF's lubricating and friction characteristics. Also varnish forms on internal parts interfering with the operation of the transmission. If the temperature gets above 250 degrees F., rubber seals begin to harden, which leads to leaks. At higher temperatures the transmission begins to slip further aggravating overheating. Eventually the clutch burns out and you have an expensive overhaul. As a rule of thumb,

"for every 20 degrees F increase in operating temperature, above the design temperature, transmission life is cut in half."



Here is some info from Hayden Automotive http://www.haydenauto.com/index.htm

Q. Should the cooler be installed before or after the radiator?
A. Hayden recommends installing the auxiliary cooler after the radiator to return the coolest fluid directly to the transmission. Installing the cooler before the radiator will still provide additional cooling and may be necessary in some difficult access applications.

Q. Can you over cool the transmission fluid?
A. Transmissions are not highly sensitive to cool operating temperatures. However, in sub-zero (20-30° F) weather conditions transmission fluid can actually gel up in an external cooler and cease to flow, causing damage. Use of the radiator cooler actually helps warm the fluid under these conditions. It is critical in extreme cold conditions to use the original equipment cooler in series with the auxiliary cooler and allow the vehicle to warm up before driving.

 

[Twigger]

Old thread, but what about an aftermarket radiator with no attachment for the auto tranny. Should I just attached the cooler against the radiator for best results?

 

[mrnickleye]

Without running tranny fluid thru a radiator, I'd definately get a large cooler. Like a 18x18 or so. One that 'swirls' the oil inside to get better heat transfer. I'd put it out front of the a/c condensor, or radiator if the a/c has been removed.

They also make smaller tranny coolers with its own electric fan. Do a google to see some sites that sell them. Perhaps summit racing??:biglaugh:

 

[Twigger]

Sweet, thanks!

 

[Jetfixr757]

I am going to get a big cooler and leave the radiator out of the picture, unless you live in sub zero I think you can leave the radiator out of the picture.
Jet

 

[jetjock]

You might want to look at filter setup too. The screens in tranny pans are a joke. Permacool makes a spin on setup that goes inline. The Magnafine is OK too but small and a hassle to change. Work better for power steering. I run both temp controlled coolers and bypass filters on my cars with autos.

 

[Twigger]

jetjock, what size cooler are you running and is it with the stock radiator?
Any suggestions on coolers that will hook up to the stock metal lines?

 

[jetjock]

Sorry guy, my Supra is a 5 speed. I was referring to general principles of extending tranny life on my other (or any auto) car. Mrnickleye's post says it all. Even a little increase in fluid temp drastically cuts tranny life. I was only pointing out filtration is important too.

The tranny is a hydraulic system and contaminated fluid is the single greated killer of hydraulic systems. Keeping hydraulic fluid from oxidizing and keeping it clean goes a very long. I'm using a 8 x 11 cooler, a spin on bypass filter with temp sensor and gage, and synthetic fluid on the car I was talking about but my Supra is a 5 speed

The stacked plate type is more efficient than the tube and fin type in the fluid/air category. In fluid to air heat exchangers surface area is the key. Use a fluid/air with an integral fan if you have space issues.There isn't a whole lot of difference between oil and tranny coolers. Tranny coolers tend to have barbed hose and smaller ports. Some have an integral thermostatic valve or orifice. The B&M Super Cooler brand comes to mind.

If you get creative with the fittings you can use an oil cooler instead. Makes for a bigger selection to choose from. B&M seems to be popular in the stacked plate arena while Permacool is big in tube and fin. I personally like Earls coolers (beautifully built) but they're not cheap. There are also frame rail coolers that go under the car. The Moroso frame rail cooler with integral filter is a neat gadget but you're stuck using their filter elements and they're messy to change. As mrnickleye suggested look on Summit's website for all this stuff.

Keep in mind a fluid/air exchanger can increase the heat load on your AC system depending where it's mounted.

 

[Twigger]

Well here is what I got. It should mount well between the radiator and the ac rad.

It is 15.5x10x.75 and it was only $50+tax at Schucks while Napa wanted $76 for the exact same cooler.

 

[IHI-RHC7]

I don't care for the tube and fin, but for $50, that's a big arse cooler

 

[americanjebus]

^wow way to revive my thread thats actually what im running on my car twig... i painted mine black so you cant see it though. let me know where you mount that thing i couldnt find much room and am probably going to reloacate mine behind the driver foglight. The fins get owned infront of the ic.

 

[mrnickleye]

^wow way to revive my thread thats actually what im running on my car twig... i painted mine black so you cant see it though. let me know where you mount that thing i couldnt find much room and am probably going to reloacate mine behind the driver foglight. The fins get owned infront of the ic.

Painting the cooler (or radiator) takes away some of the cooling its supposed to do. The paint acts as an insulator, so it holds heat in.:icon_evil

There is some spray paint you can get (parts store??) just for radiators. It has metal in it to help let the heat out to the air.:biglaugh:

I mounted my tranny cooler (Hayden fin type, with swirls inside the tubing)
with some metal brackets. About 6" in front of condensor. Mounted to the center brace (that hood latch is secured to), and over to side towards headlight. There were already welded nuts on these parts that weren't being used for anything.

The coolers come with all fittings, and instruction. A/C is VERY important to me here in the desert, so I did not mount it to the condensor.

Also, you will lose efficency if you don't mount it out front in the air stream. The instructions should give you a graph. Its like 70% less cooling if you mount it behind radiator, and like 50% between condensor and radiator.:evil2:

 

[JustAnotherVictim]

^wow way to revive my thread thats actually what im running on my car twig... i painted mine black so you cant see it though. let me know where you mount that thing i couldnt find much room and am probably going to reloacate mine behind the driver foglight. The fins get owned infront of the ic.

My bro has one of those on his car and it's mounted right in front of the radiator. Works nicely.