tranny cooler lines Q's

[90BCk5]

im just in the middle of installing a b&m tranny cooler in the blazer to keep the 700r cool. a buddy suggested i run the fluid through the stock cooler first and then the aftermarket and back to the tranny. good idea? bad idea? good 'cause i want all the cooling i can get? second question.. which line coming out of the tranny is the feed line? top or bottom? is there a standard awnswer or do i have to unhook both lines and start it in neutral to find out which one is feed,and then plumb through to the cooler? anyhelp would be awesome......argh

thanks for the help..

 

[ryoken]

http://www.tciauto.com/Products/TechInfo/cooler_fittings.asp

 

[Teamstatic2001]

dont remeber for sure but i think the bottem line is the return, id say that it depends on the climate u live in if u should run both or not, kinda of a debate. some people in cold weather run it through both to help warm the tranny up faster and if its hot just run the aftermarket

 

[90BCk5]

kewl! thanks for the link!!

 

[ntsqd]

I'd run the aux cooler b4 the stock cooler.
My reasoning is this: In cold weather you want the trans to get warm enough to boil out any condensation. That takes at least 160* If the fluid goes thru the aux cooler last it will take a very long time to get warm.
If the fluid goes thru the stock cooler last the engine coolant will help warm up the trans.
When the trans is working hard the aux cooler will do the most good if it is b4 the stock cooler. The greater the temp difference btwn the air & the fluid the better the cooler works. Why not use the bigger cooler where it can do you the most good?

 

[4xcrazy]

as some have mentioned, i personally think it depends on your area/climate.

I have mine run into the radiator first, then to the aux cooler, but then again, living out here in Phoenix Arizona,,it really doesn't get cold enough around here to worry about it, at least for any length of time...

Living in a cold climate, i would probably do it as mentioned, aux cooler first, then radiator cooler to assist maintain a semi-constant temperature.

 

[ntsqd]

Yea, for us in the south-west we could probably go with just the aux cooler w/ no stock cooler & be fine most of the time.

I had a aux cooler line blow off the cooler in Feb at a roadside rest area north of Springfield ILL one trip. Got so cold that night that I had to start the truck a couple of times to warm up the cab. One of those times blew it off. The ATF on the ground was still pretty waxy looking in the morning. The other lesson from that was to not use those coolers with a simple barb on them. Buy those with a real fitting of some sort.

I plumbed my '79 the way I described above b/c I don't know where my future trips might take me. The '91 is in the process of getting the same thing.

 

[mrdrinksalil]

Ok, so I'm confused? That TCI site shows the bottom fitting on my TH400 as being the output line to the cooler, but my prebent lines from LMC truck send that line to the bottom fitting on the radiators built in tranny cooler. That means the tranny fluid is flowing up through my tranny cooler and out the top fitting??????!!!!!!!1

 

[ntsqd]

That would be the correct routing. You want the fluid to move from the bottom to the top so that all of the air gets purged out of the cooler. If it were to come in at the top it couls essentially 'fall' thru the cooler & never purge all of the air. An air bubble won't hurt the trans since the return dumps into the pan, but it will reduce the effectiveness of the cooler. I try to always position my stacked plate coolers with one port at the top & one at the bottom (rather than both up or down) for this reason.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that in any intercooler that you want opposing flow directions if you want the maximum effectiveness of the intercooler.

 

[mrdrinksalil]

whew, thanks a million. I thought I had an issue there for a moment.