Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

[Jer]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

I think this is the best way to go.
A frame rail cooler for the PS isnt bad if you want to use it. Is this nessesary ? does the PS fluid get so hot ?

Well, I don't plan to auto-cross it at all but since it won't be in the direct path of the most airflow then it's possible that it could get hot. Besides, for less than $40 it's good piece of mind. My only concern is that it's not enough cooling. Of there's room, I'm gonna go with the Perma-cool 24" and if I can't make enough room for that, I'll go with the Perma-cool 18" instead. I'm thinking this should be a pretty good set-up assuming everything fits. I'll take some measurements tomorrow as I spent all day working on mounting the new FMIC and the intercooler pipes and what not. I don't want to see that truck again for about twelve hours.

 

[Jer]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

I was able to get a measurement today of the distance between the front of the radiator and the intercooler and I only have about 3" so that cooler/fan will not work as it's about an inch too thick. So, back to the drawing board. Not sure if I'm just gonna do the same plan using a cooler w/o the fan or what. I don't think I want to locate it under the rear as that's a lot of extra tranny lines and fittings and places for something to go wrong. Since the Typhoon has the spare in the inside, are there more places under the rear to locate one of these? I guess it might not take too much if I do it not too far from the tranny and use the line coming from the cooler back to the tranny. I could just use that line to supply the cooler/fan under the rear and then from there back to the tranny. I'll give it some thought.

 

[Jer]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

If you have your battery relocated, I would mount the remote filter housing where the stock battery tray was mounted to the fender. You can even use the bolt that held the battery tray in place. That way, you won't have to drill/put a hole anywhere... If you opt to use the bolt that held the battery tray in place, you will have to grind a small notch in the washer to clear the casting "rib" on the filter housing at 12 o'clock. Or you could always get a single bolt from the hardware store, M8 X 1.25 by 25MM long. Plenty of room to spin the filter on and off too.

"Summit remote transmission filter part #SUM-G4980. Filter is upstream of all coolers mounted where the stock battery tray was. Temperature sender is between the lines."

Some other folks who have their trans coolers mountd under the bed will have to chime in on their installs/results. HTH's

Can you tell me brand that sending unit is for? How deep did you have to drill for it? Any chance of breaking the separation between the inlet and outlet since it goes in between them?

Also, on the Summit website it says that the fittings are 3/4-16 so does that mean that these will work with the stock size of the 3/8 hoses or do you have to use adapters on the other end of the hoses leading to the coolers?

I want to keep the largest size hoses as possible and am also looking to add this cooler w/a SPAL 7.5" fan after the stock cooler (both in front of the radiator and they'll just barely fit) and would like to keep it all 3/8" all the way.

 

[SY2932]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

The temp sender is SPA Design. However, I run an Auto Meter trans temp gauge in my daily driven S10: http://69.9.37.28/~sytynet/forums/showthread.php?t=25488 Both of my gauges are electric, BTW. Didn't have the drill and tap anything, already came that way from Summit er, I mean it used to: http://69.9.37.28/~sytynet/forums/showthread.php?t=25105 .

I have my radiator cooler between my remote filter and aux cooler on both my trucks so, i can't comment if they will connect directly together without any problems or not. However, the kits are pretty good about including plenty of fittings for just about any install. You would prolly have to connect a male barbed fitting onto the line from the remote filter and mate it to a female barbed fitting from the cooler to work. If you got the appropiate barbed fittings, you could run the same size hose without any "unions" in between.

 

[mrweelr]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Hose barbs suck. I had a tranny hose blow off while I was under boost on the freeway and it left me stranded on the side of the road with ATF all over my truck. Needless to say, I'll be doing nothing but AN/NPT fittings with braided or steel line on the new setup.

 

[mrweelr]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Wanted to follow-up on this old post. I've been driving the truck around the past few days after getting it back on the road. Tranny temp readings range between 140F and 180F, and 170F seems to be about average. I haven't done any boosted launches yet, but I'm hoping the temps don't get over 190 or so during launches...we'll have to see. I'm contemplating bypassing the radiator cooler, since it's already busy pulling heat out of the hot engine coolant. Regarding the Derale cooler under the bed, I thought the thermostat/fan wasn't working since I never heard it come on, but last night when I was messing with the electric fans, it came on full song. I was screwing with the wiring for the e-fans and the motor temps climbed up to about 200F, then I heard this whine coming from the bed area. Turns out the tranny temps were climbing from the fans not cooling the radiator. I watched the tranny temp gauge as soon as the Derale kicked on and it did its job perfectly, cooling until the gauge reached about 160F and then shutting off. I could feel the hot air blowing out from behind the truck with the Derale fan running under the bed Everything is working well, although I did have leaks at two separate locations, that I fixed with JB Weld Kwik. The NPT fitting on the B&M cooler and aux filter mount inlet were seeping. I just removed the NPT fittings that were leaking, cleaned everything really well with carb cleaner or acetone, and sealed the threads with JB Weld and let them sit overnight. The stuff cures hard as steel and no more leaks!

 

[myclone]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

The NPT fitting on the B&M cooler and aux filter mount inlet were seeping. I just removed the NPT fittings that were leaking, cleaned everything really well with carb cleaner or acetone, and sealed the threads with JB Weld and let them sit overnight. The stuff cures hard as steel and no more leaks!

Ive had issues with two B&M coolers having some kind of odd ball threads and leaking. Dunno if theyre 1/2" NPT pipe tapping set up is FUBAR or what but no brand fitting be it Swagdelock stainless, brass, or whatever has ever threaded into them correctly which means they leak. I said the hell with it and TIG'ed the AN fittings directly onto the cooler ports.

 

[jjorgensen52]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Hey MrWeelr - what size threads are on that remote filter? I'm looking to do this and I can't find the adaptor size for lines into the trans filter.

 

[Silverback]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Ive had issues with two B&M coolers having some kind of odd ball threads and leaking. Dunno if theyre 1/2" NPT pipe tapping set up is FUBAR or what but no brand fitting be it Swagdelock stainless, brass, or whatever has ever threaded into them correctly which means they leak. I said the hell with it and TIG'ed the AN fittings directly onto the cooler ports.

Funny, I’ve messed with a few of them lately (only the race coolers have the fittings, most of the rest just have normal hose barbs), and the generic brass fittings that I get from one of our parts houses or transdapt’s ones work fine. Just get some Teflon tape on them and you’re good to go.

 

[MRKING]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Just get some Teflon tape on them and you’re good to go.

People use what they use but I myself wouldnt want any extra tape getting into the lines and clogging your tranny .

 

[Silverback]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Without _something_ on the threads a tapered thread will not seal.

Used correctly you shouldn’t get any Teflon tape inside the thread (as in on the fluid end of the fitting rather then the thread/outside of the fitting). Use pipe dope, Teflon paste, whatever you’re comfortable with (I’ve never had as consistent luck with any of them as I do with tape, I did once have a plumber working on gas lines give me some stuff that worked OK, but it’s the gooiest, nastiest plumber’s dope that I’ve ever seen), but if you don’t use anything don’t blame a PT fitting for leaking.

 

[MRKING]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Yes to goop and paste , I was just saying No to tape . I have had bad experiences with it .Never a prob since switching .

 

[mrweelr]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Another update on the tranny cooler situation. Took the Sy over Highway 17 to Santa Cruz last weekend and noticed the temps were getting WAY too hot when going up the steep hills (200-240F). Also noticed the temps are always higher when on the freeway. So I decided to change some things and ended up bypassing the radiator cooler, redoing the braided lines, rerouting the high pressure (hot) line from the tranny to the aux filter (away from exhaust and headers), and replacing the filter with a K&N Performance Gold. For good measure, I also unhooked the return line on the tranny, put it in a large bottle and started the truck; it filled up with ATF in no time, so pressure is OK with no restrictions.

These changes reduced tranny temps across the board. Now the readings are 140-150F when cruising and 170-180F on the freeway, sometimes higher when going uphill. The fan on the Derale cooler under the bed only came on one time - when I had the e-fans turned off and the radiator heat soaked the fluid while idling. Otherwise, it seems the B&M cooler in front of the rad is cooling the fluid below 180F by the time it hits the Derale cooler because that thermo-triggered fan never kicks on.

This RPM 700R4 shifts great and I'm really happy with the end results

 

[Silverback]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

so you bypassed the stock cooler entirely and got cooler temps... did youhave the stock cooler plumbed in before or after the aftermarket cooler before?

 

[mrweelr]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Yep, I figured the radiator was already busy with cooling water and oil, plus I have B&M and Derale coolers, so the radiator cooler was unnecessary. The way I had it routed before was: tranny out --> aux filter --> stock cooler (radiator) --> B&M front mount --> Derale under bed --> tranny in. I just eliminated the stock cooler, otherwise everything is still routed the same.

 

[Jer]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

Yep, I figured the radiator was already busy with cooling water and oil, plus I have B&M and Derale coolers, so the radiator cooler was unnecessary. The way I had it routed before was: tranny out --> aux filter --> stock cooler (radiator) --> B&M front mount --> Derale under bed --> tranny in. I just eliminated the stock cooler, otherwise everything is still routed the same.

This is exactly why I'm front mount cooler only. I have a high performance SPAL on it too so I figured if this doesn't keep things cool better than all that rig-a-maroe then I had other issues. My only concern is the fact that the SPAL and cooling fan are both wired to ignition instead of a temp switch so it'll take longer for the tranny to get to optimum operating temp but that's better then the alternative. I never tested the aftermarket cooler only theory but glad someone did and now I know I made the right decision.

 

[Quickstop [UK]]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

has anyone got any pictures?

so you mount the aux cooler in front of the radiator and just get rid off the stock cooler?

 

[jjorgensen52]

Re: Mounting tranny cooler under bed - some questions

has anyone got any pictures?

so you mount the aux cooler in front of the radiator and just get rid off the stock cooler?

A lot of people run them in series (I did)

hiding behind the grille

The fan wouldn't fit on my truck, but most people seem to have sucess with that.