Transmission oil coolness

After having several transmission high heat warnings last summer, I decided to figure out how/where to mount an auxiliary oil cooler for the transmission. I found a nice bar and plate style radiator that measures 11.5"X7.5", by 2" thick. This size is a perfect fit for the area adjacent to the A/C condenser fan in front of the A/C condenser.

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I had to remove the one plastic arm the grille screws into that juts out in that area, but it doesn't seem to affect the grilles integrity. I added about 9' of high pressure transmission fluid hose from the new cooler to where I intercepted the fluid cooling loop coming from the integral cooler in the bottom of the main radiator. The cost of the specialized hose was almost as much as the cooler.

I routed the cooler lines through an existing hole in the front bulkhead to the engine compartment (also referred to as the radiator support).

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Under the truck, I intercepted the left hose as viewed from the front/top. This was randomly picked, but a good guess, because this is the return line after the fluid travels through the radiator's cooler.

I mounted the new cooler approximately 1/8" in front of the A/C condenser using some angle brackets off the shelf at Home Depot. After bending and cutting the brackets to fit, I painted it all flat black. I made sure the cooler was rigidly mounted so that it couldn't rub against the condenser or anything else.

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After reassembling everything, the new cooler disappears behind the grille.

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Of course, I haven't had the summer temps yet to test it's effectiveness, but I'm hoping it works as intended.

So are you still running the rad trans cooler and the new front cooler, or did you cap off the trans cooler in the rad? If you do drop the stock trans cooler, the engine cooling capacity of the stock rad will increase a lot. The downside is the trans oil will not be warmed by the engine hot water each morning. How did you attach to the stock trans oil lines?
Roy

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Originally Posted by newthings

...If you do drop the stock trans cooler, the engine cooling capacity of the stock rad will increase a lot. The downside is the trans oil will not be warmed by the engine hot water each morning. How did you attach to the stock trans oil lines?
Roy

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X2

I added an aftermarket Hayden trans cooler to my car, but as Roy suggested, I didn't maintain the stock trans cooling lines in the radiator. As a result, it does take awhile longer for the trans fluid to heat up on cooler mornings, but not using the internal radiator also meant less potential leaks from multiple line connections. The added engine cooling gained by eliminating the trans cooling lines from the radiator was just a bonus.

Mmmmmm-K...

How'z-A-bout plumbing it with a couple of ball valves, so the supply/return lines to the auxiliary cooler can be omitted from the circuit?

Cool in the summer months, warm during the long season.

I left the stock cooler in line. All the info I found said you shouldn't bypass the stock cooler, both to help warm up in the cold and also an increase in cooling capacity in the heat. I just pulled off the left hose to the stock cooler and replaced it with the hoses to the aux cooler.

What's this "long season" you speak of Larry?

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Originally Posted by Zu4two

What's this "long season" you speak of Larry?

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It's the one where your elders wear "long handled underwear"