Installation Question for Transmission Cooler *UPDATE 5/23/06* Pic's

[4402tuff4u]

I purchased a B&M Supercooler stacked transmission cooler 70274 (11" x 11" x 1 1/2") rated at 29,000 btu's for my 727 on my 68 R/T and was wondering how these after market coolers are installed. I see two lines coming out of the transmission. I believe the rear one is the return line (fluid coming from the rad) and the front line is the line with fluid going to the rad, correct? Does the tranny cooler get installed on the front line - fluid going to the rad? I assume this is the way, but you know what happens when we assume things. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[firefighter3931]

You'll get lots of responses on this with different opinions. Personally, i allways bypass the rad when going with an external cooler. Done several like this without any problems. 

Ron

[4402tuff4u]

Hi Ron. I went with your suggestion on the B&M and went with the largest one I could get within reason. So, I totally bypass the rad? That 11" x 11" will be enough to cool the tranny? running a 2200-2500 B&M torque converter.

[Sledge57]

And naturally some of us, like me 
do the opposite and put it after the rad and have no problems.............................................

[firefighter3931]

Hi Ron. I went with your suggestion on the B&M and went with the largest one I could get within reason. So, I totally bypass the rad? That 11" x 11" will be enough to cool the tranny? running a 2200-2500 B&M torque converter.

Yep, that's plenty of cooler for a mild stall like yours. I've run them with 3500 stalls in the past and will be going to a 4500 stall when the car is finished....not the least bit concerned.  You'll find that your engine will probably run cooler because the rad isn't having to cool it, and the transmission at the same time. 

With respect to Sledge's response ; often folks who run a beefed up street combo and a looser converter will have engine temp issues because they're overtaxing the cooling system. Bypassing the tranny rad cooler often rectifies the problem. I've seen a 15*drop in temps on my own cars in the past when going with the stand alone external cooler. The B&M stacked plate models are top shelf.

Ron

[Steve P.]

Funny this question should come up today. I just happened to be at a converter shop today. The owner was from your neck of the woods, Ron. Toronto.. Anyway, his suggestion was to install the cooler before the rad. to take the heat out and let the rad control the temp. of the fluid going back to the tranny. This was for a small block FERD with a c-4/3500 stall and a 150 shot of N02.

I know that heavy duty trailer package systems are also set up this way from the factory.
                          Tranny -> cooler-> radiator ->tranny

I did ask him if that was just for the sake of cold weather and he said no. Then he wanted to know why I was wearing a Hemi shirt and working on a pile of sheet Ferd.....  I invited him over for a few beers.....

[deputycrawford]

Im with firefighter on this one. I run a stacked plate cooler on my 69 with a 3500 stall. My radiator is not involved with the trans cooler. I also have a trans temp guage, (good investment). That tells my that my trans temp never gets over 120*. Ever. Skip the radiator and get a guage. You will then answer all of you own questions.

[Steve P.]

He never did say if there is a reason to put the tranny IN the engines heat range. If I think of it tomorrow I will call him and ask.

[firefighter3931]

Funny this question should come up today. I just happened to be at a converter shop today. The owner was from your neck of the woods, Ron. Toronto.. Anyway, his suggestion was to install the cooler before the rad. to take the heat out and let the rad control the temp. of the fluid going back to the tranny. This was for a small block FERD with a c-4/3500 stall and a 150 shot of N02.

Hi Steve, there are lots of different ways to do it....like i said in my first post to 440totuff..."you'll get lots of opinions".    By plumbing it the "ford way" you're letting the engine determine the tranny temps. That's fine as long as the rad/cooling system is up to the task...which it should be with a newer car. Our old Mopes just aren't as (thermally) efficient as the new stuff. As for tranny temps....the lower the better. The cooler you keep the trans fluid....the longer the service life of that fluid. 

Deputy ; That's been my experience as well. A friend had a temp guage on his with essentially the same setup and it never saw the high side of 140*. We tried to get it hot....holeshots, burnouts....followed by prolonged idleing.    Those stacked plate coolers flat out work. 

The one thing i might add is that i also run a deep trans pan as well to increase fluid capacity. The MP deep pan setup is ~ $50.00 and $$ well spent, inmo.

Ron

[4402tuff4u]

Funny this question should come up today. I just happened to be at a converter shop today. The owner was from your neck of the woods, Ron. Toronto.. Anyway, his suggestion was to install the cooler before the rad. to take the heat out and let the rad control the temp. of the fluid going back to the tranny. This was for a small block FERD with a c-4/3500 stall and a 150 shot of N02.

Hi Steve, there are lots of different ways to do it....like i said in my first post to 440totuff..."you'll get lots of opinions".    By plumbing it the "ford way" you're letting the engine determine the tranny temps. That's fine as long as the rad/cooling system is up to the task...which it should be with a newer car. Our old Mopes just aren't as (thermally) efficient as the new stuff. As for tranny temps....the lower the better. The cooler you keep the trans fluid....the longer the service life of that fluid. 

Deputy ; That's been my experience as well. A friend had a temp guage on his with essentially the same setup and it never saw the high side of 140*. We tried to get it hot....holeshots, burnouts....followed by prolonged idleing.    Those stacked plate coolers flat out work. 

The one thing i might add is that i also run a deep trans pan as well to increase fluid capacity. The MP deep pan setup is ~ $50.00 and $$ well spent, inmo.

Ron

Ron is that MP= Mopar? Who carries it for around $50.00 ? I was looking into getting an aluminum one and they are up ther in price.

[firefighter3931]

Ron is that MP= Mopar? Who carries it for around $50.00 ? I was looking into getting an aluminum one and they are up ther in price.

Yep, that is a Mopar performance item. The basic non-chrome deep pan was $50.00 last time i looked awhile back. Mancini has it for $54.95 now and it comes with a gasket, filter and the spacer you'll need with the deeper pan. 

http://store.yahoo.com/chucker54/mopa719andla.html

Ron

[Steve P.]

Wow, I have spent the last few hours looking around the internet and talking to tech. people at TCI, B&M, Perma Cool and others. It's no wonder there are so many different opinions on setting up a tranny cooler. I asked the same questions of everyone and got different answers from all. The only thing they ALL DID agree on  was optimal transmission temperature.  All say it should be between 160* and 190*.

Some of these tranny guys are a bit funny. They acted as though I was trying to steel some big secret!!

I think I'm going to follow Ron on this one as well.

PS. If you are thinking about running a cooler and not going through the rad. in sub zero land, think again.  You will need the rad.s heat to keep heat in your tranny.

[4402tuff4u]

Ron is that MP= Mopar? Who carries it for around $50.00 ? I was looking into getting an aluminum one and they are up ther in price.

Yep, that is a Mopar performance item. The basic non-chrome deep pan was $50.00 last time i looked awhile back. Mancini has it for $54.95 now and it comes with a gasket, filter and the spacer you'll need with the deeper pan. 

http://store.yahoo.com/chucker54/mopa719andla.html

Ron

Tru dat! I just ordered it from Mancini, should have it Tuesday here in NY.   Thanks again Ron.

[deputycrawford]

Ron, I did forget to mention I have the TCI Aluminum deep pan. 2 extra qts. That probably make quite a bit of difference. My set up works for me and I don't drive it in the winter.

[firefighter3931]

Ron, I did forget to mention I have the TCI Aluminum deep pan. 2 extra qts. That probably make quite a bit of difference. My set up works for me and I don't drive it in the winter.

Yep, that's a nice pan ! The aluminum sump with the fins probably helps with heat dissipation...i would guess that's why you're seeing low temps 

One thing i've leaned is that looser converters generate lots of heat. Getting the tranny up to temp, even with a big cooler is NOT a problem.

4402tuff ; you're welcome. The MP pan is fine for your application....don't sweat it.

SteveP ; ya i agree....running a stand alone stacked plate cooler in -30* temps might be pushing it    I'll bet yours runs great in that Florida heat set up as described above. The engine and tranny will both thank you 

Ron

[Steve P.]

[quote author=firefighter3931

SteveP ; ya i agree....running a stand alone stacked plate cooler in -30* temps might be pushing it    I'll bet yours runs great in that Florida heat set up as described above. The engine and tranny will both thank you 

Ron

You got it bro..  Now, what about a good A/C condenser??

[Mefirst]

I run a big external trans cooler as well, I have it mounted in front of the rad. Oil lines are not hooked up to the rad. Deep oil pan for the trans. I run a converter with a stall of 3500rpm... then again I have not had the pleasure to drive my ride yet, due to some major hassles with other stuff...

/Tom

[4402tuff4u]

Last night I was in my garage until 9:30 pm installing the new B&M tranny oil cooler. I went with the HEMI "wanna be" look piping set up. I believe from reading some books the HEMI auto cars had tranny coolers piped all the way to the cooler. That's a bit to much of pipe bending and trying to fit for my taste. Many set ups just run rubber hose from the tranny lines up to the tranny cooler. I really don't care for that look, so I purchased some steel line, hydraulic fittings, some hardware and some 1/2" wide flat stock steel, 1/8" thick. I took some measurements and with the tubing bender made myself new lines that I could attach to the new stainless steel tranny lines by the radiator - by passing the radiator. I took the flat stock steel pieces took measurements, welded some 1/4" studs where openings already existed on the rad support and fasten them there. Took my B&M cooler placed it between these two parallel 1/2" flat stock steel pieces running horizontally to the rad and marked the hole location on the 1/2" steel. Welded four additional 1/4" studs to secure the cooler to the horizontal pieces.

I went as small as I could with the steel to keep weight off and keep air flow unobstructed. Painted everything "underhood" trim black and all the steel connections have rubber mounts to absorb any vibration caused by engine and/or road. I had 3/8" diameter hydraulic lines made, somehow I screwed up on the measurements. They are a bit too long, so I installed the cooler on the passenger side. No big deal. On second thoughts, if I would have installed it on the driver side, the hose and fittings would have been kind of congested to place them in an orderly way. I'm happy how it turned out. The lines are 5/16" dia. as the stock ones coming out of the tranny. Was not bad at all - it took me 3 1/2 hours to do. I can't believe how much dust my Charger has accumulated just sitting there. I have major clean up to do when it's finished. 

[4402tuff4u]

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