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Tranny cooler/temp gage ?s

J

Judd

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Could one use a mechanical water temp gage for a cheapy tranny gage? Just weld a bung to the pan in a spot where the sender would not hit anything and there you go.

Second question. I've aready posted this in another thread but I'll throw it out anyway. Could you use the AC condensor as a tranny cooler? I already have a tranny cooler but I would like to use it as a PS cooler.

I am in the process of converting my AC compressor so the condensor will be coming out unless I could use it for a tranny cooler. It's huge compared to regular tranny coolers so I would run the line from the tranny to the condensor first, then to the radiator. That way it would be sure to come up to temp..

BTW, I would make sure to flush it good to get the old refridgerent oil out before running it to the tranny.

Does anyone foresee any problems with my idea? If it's a crazy idea, no problem. Just don't what to spend 50 bucks or so if I don't have to. /forums/images/graemlins/ears.gif
 
I was thinking about doing the same thing. I have a radiator sized cooler sitting here not being used... heheh I dont know if there is ehough pressure in a tranny to push the fluid through it effectively.
 
That's pretty much the question I have on useing the condensor-if it will lower the pressure to the tranny. I have a 700R that was rebuilt just a while back and it cost me a small fortune. Don't really want to mess it up with experimentation.

On the other hand, I did install a non lock-up converter and I would like as much cooling as possible. I have the radiator out and it would be easy to do right now, just don't want to spend the time to rig everything up and then have to put it back because it doesn't work.
 
Welp, I'm going to try it. I looked at the lines in the cooler and they are pretty big{something like 3/8s of a inch or so}, shouldn't hurt pressure or flow to the tranny.
If it ends up cooling too well, I could cut a few fins out of the middle of the cooler. That would help the over cooling issue {if in fact there is one, I really don't think it will be a issue}. It would also improve airflow to the radiator.

I'll let ya'll know if it works out but it will be a while as I'm doing alot on the truck right now and it will be a while before it's back up and running. Dang, I would have thought that I would not have been the first cheapskate to try this! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I believe air conditioner condensers have extremely small passages. I would think that your tranny fluid may have some difficulty flowing through it. Might want to try to see how much overall resistance there is in fluid flow. The condenser side see's extremely high pressure (usually) to compress the freon to release heat.
 
Welp, I just got done with swapping the AC condenser into a tranny cooler. I bought a electric fuel pump to flush the condenser out. The fuel pump seemed to put out about the same amont of flow whether or not it was pushing solvent though the condensor or if it was just pumping it out of a 5/16 line. Mind you I did not check the actual presure before the condensor and after or anything like that. I just looked at how far the stream of solvent went once it came out. Seemed to be about the same.

I really think the restriction is not in the condensor, it's in a line going from it {I actually think I found the orifice when I was taking thing apart}.

I have not installed a temp gage yet {spent too much money this week when I found a good deal on three 39.5 Swampers}, next weekend I'll get a temp gage, drop the pan and weld a bung to it. Untill then, I only have this evidence on how it works. The line comeing from the condensor to the tranny {cool side} is cooler to the touch than the line from the radiator cooler to the condensor according to my highly calibrated hand. /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif This is after the motor was run for about 30 minutes at idle {Stinky is paralized right now, much modification going on}. Will be a couple of weeks before I find out if the condensor is a restriction to the tranny once I get him back on the road.

I was going to run the line from the tranny to the condensor first, then to the cooler in the radiator because I was scared the condensor might work "too" good. I gave up on that idea because it was just simpler for me to run from the tranny to the radiator then to the condensor. I figure that once I get the temp gage on it and get to actually see where it's running, I'll know if it's running too cool. If it is, I'll just take a few fins out from between the condensor lines. This will lessen the effiency of my new cooler and it will allow for some more airflow to the radiator. I seemed to increase my fluid capacity by at least a couple of qrts, can't tell for sure as I lost a bit of fluid when I did the plumbing

I also plumbed in my old aftermarket tranny cooler into my power steering system. Won't know if that helped untill I get it in the woods. Idleing never heated up the fluid enough before the cooler to tell if it's helping or not. I'll see. One thing I did find out when I was fiddling around was that my P/S pump's bracket is cracked in two spots. /forums/images/graemlins/angryfire.gif The Blazer is a 1983 with a 6.2L, anyone know if a gas motors P/S bracket is the same?
 
The AC condenser should work fine. Lots of people use them for trans coolers.
I see you live in Ga. So running the fluid just thru the cooler and not the radiator shouldn't be much of a problem for you cuz its warm there. But if you go north to colder climates where it freezes. You should go thru the radiator also to keep the fluid warmer in its operating range.. Too cold of fluid is almost as bad for a tranny as hot fluid.
 
Digging up a ancient post here with a update.

I finally hooked a gage up to my tranny. As planned, I used a mechanical water temp gage as my tranny gage. I have the sensor mounted in the pan so it's not perfect. The line should be in the line going to the cooler {coming from the tranny}. It was just a jerry rig looking contraption that I had to whittle up to get the mechanical sensor in the line {basically a iron pipe "T" fitting along with a few other asorted fitting. Just looked terrible and was a sorce of future Murphy visits {leaks /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif}, so I decided to put it in the pan.

The temps at it's worst {stationary with the torque convertor stalled out for a few minutes} were in the 150-160 range. The cooler works great. The line going into the radiator was hot as all get-out {could not hardly touch the line at all}, the line coming out of the radiator was still fairly hot {very uncomfortable to the touch}.

Finally, the line coming from the AC cooler was OK to touch. This, as I said is right after having the convertor stalled out for a few minutes. This should be about as hot as the fluid should get as it's pretty dern hard on the fluid to keep the convertor stalled out for such a long legnth of time. I am positive that had the AC condensor cooler had not been on it and the previous aftermarket cooler been on there , temps would have been alot higher- bad, bad, nasty hot!

I'm happy! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
I have been told by many tranny shops in the past to never use an air conditioner condensor as a tranny cooler because the freon will hurt the tranny and you cannot completely get all the freon out by flushing. Tranny temp gauges are supposed to be installed in the tranny pan to correctly measure the temp so you are good there.
 
I don't see how there could be any freon left in the condensor after flushing it for about 15 minutes on one tank of solvent. I then flushed it with about two gallons of new lacquer thinner. Finally I then flushed the thinner out with ATF.

I think they are just giving out lawyer safe advise. They can't control how well someone cleaned it out so it's easier just to say it can't be done. Maybe not,,,I'll find out I reckon.
 
Metal has pores, even after flushing the thing there is still freon in the poers of the metal that will start to leach out back into the now tranny fluid once it is up to operating temperature. I DO NOT HAVE first hand experience with this but only know what I have been told over the years by many tranny shops. And if you stop to think about the metal having pores and how it absorbs whatever hads been run through it in the past then having it leach out into the new fluid it makes sense.
 
Hmmm, how much freon could be left in the sub-micronic pores of the metal? Dunno? /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

I'm not saying that they are wrong, it just sounds a bit far fetched to me. But hey, I've been wrong plenty of times in the past, I'll be wrong plenty of times in the future and this just might be one of them times. One thing is for sure,,, I'll find out.
 
I have never heard of a properly flushed AC coil hurting a tranny. I could see it if you didn't flush it. Because there may be forign matter in them. Espically if the AC compressor blew. But I cant see how Freon could hurt it. It is a gas at normal atmospheric pressure.I dont see how metal can absorb it and not release it when vented to the atmosphere.
A guy I know ran one in his Early Bronco for many years with no problems. I have seen them in many other off road rigs also.
 
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