Trans cooler installation

[shadowbandit]

So drop my car off to get the trans cooler install cause I just don't have time anymore so the guy at the trans shop that the trans cooler I got is well sufishiont enough just to work by itself to cool my trans so he just ran the trans cooler alone to the transmissions is that a bad thing or okay

[firebird_1995]

Yea, most trans coolers are ran like that. What size it it?

[shadowbandit]

3/4x 11 11x-5/8

[firebird_1995]

Yea that's fine

[SexyTransAm]

U got a trans temp gauge?

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[Sahara54]

Do you have a Stall?
Is if bar/fin or a plate cooler?

I was also told to always use the factory radiator cooler with the aftermarket and that was from a very good trans builder and former sponsor of the site.

[dawdaw]

Do you have a Stall?
Is if bar/fin or a plate cooler?

I was also told to always use the factory radiator cooler with the aftermarket and that was from a very good trans builder and former sponsor of the site.
yup! stacked plates are a better cooler then the tube fin ones too!

[gregpenechar]

I ran mine in series with the radiator side tank. The people I talked to recommended running in series. I'm running a Yank SS3600. After my first test drive around town I temp gunned the cooler (112*) rad. side tank (~140) and trans. pan (112*). So it's doing its job pretty well.

[firebird_1995]

If your coolant temperature stays around 195° wouldn't that add heat to the trans through a series cooler circuit?

[shownomercy]

Laser temp guns are not an accurate measure of fluid temperature when you are checking an outside exposed to moving air surface. My block on the surface running hot measures 116 degrees. Does that mean the coolant or oil are 116 as well? No. Without a thermistor in the actual fluid you are not seeing true actual temp of it.

Unless the fluid is not moving, in which case it would be accurate ;)

The truck has factory setup, so cooler up front but also plumbed to radiator, in real cold days it helps warm the trans up and on hot days it stabilizes the trans temps. For a daily driver this may be a better method.

Car gets dual coolers, one with a fan and one up front because I would much rather the trans run cold and me baby it till its warm than add heat to an already hot running trans. Just can't be beating on it till things warm up, but thats a good rule of thumb regardless.

[firebird_1995]

Yeah sure, although plastic/metal all absorb/dissipate heat at different rates, fluid moving or not. But yes, this is why most trans gurus recommend in series, because most people wont wait till its up to temp, just like all the super awesome cold start rev vids on youtube, kids wonder why their motors start tapping, eating oil, etc.

In all honesty, when my car (rest in pieces) was my daily, in traffic on a stock stall my trans would regularly go up to 210 degrees with the in series method, then went standalone, in traffic hot summer day 185 degrees maxish.....guys with big stalls im sure see higher temps more often.


Don't forget about the surface emissivity! I've found on my IR gun that shiny or light colored surfaces report incorrect temps. Example being, I'll see 190° on a radiator hose but 130° on a thermostat housing. I guess to readdress the ops question, looks like either way is fine. If you are concerned about it, have a trans temp gauge installed.

[SexyTransAm]

Im running mine in series with stock radiator. I have a 160 thermostat and the trans never sees over 180 on the hottest day sitting in traffic or cruising. At the shootout was the firat time iv really hot lapped my car and it also stayed under 180

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[CPT]

The factory radiator ALWAYS needs to be used. Any external cooler needs to be ran "in series". We did numerous tests on coolers years ago. Where they're mounted, their size, design, and how they're ran. After the test results confirmed that the fluid needs to be ran through the radiator to adequately cool it, we changed our warranty policy. Any trans not ran through the radiator would not be covered. a large "stacked plate cooler" is the most efficient. We seen "tube and fin coolers" actually heat the fluid up! The cooler needs to be mounted directly in front of the radiator so it utilizes the fans to pull air through it while it's sitting still. We spent days with different coolers and such with temp gauges on the trans in and out cooler lines.

Frank

[ZOHAN]

What if you used a trans cooler independently that had a fan on it? Looking like I won't be able to use the stock rad so have to have it independant anyway

Making you silky smooth...

[CPT]

It's not about the airflow. The stock fans are more than adequate to pull air through the coolers. It's just that liquid is a better cooling medium than air. If air was sufficient, GM could have saved a bunch of money by not integrating the trans cooler in the radiator.

Frank

[firebird_1995]

I'm not an expert but mine is ran independent, sitting in front of the radiator on the side with the number one fan. 15 mile cruise and 3 back to back passes at the shootout and my trans temp never went above 190 from the best I could tell, (didn't check it at wot). I have a 180° tstat and the fans come on at 205, off at 195. They never shut off at the track so they were moving air across the cooler. I'm running a th350 and a non lockup 3600 stall.

[SSlowBoat]

i stand corrected...

[ginoz28]

I'm going to stand up my radiator and everyone uses the same Griffin radiator without internal cooler. Cahall says they don't warranty there trans without using a radiator with internal cooler. I'm planning on getting a pro race pretty soon.

Good choice or no?http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/20/8y5ynege.jpg

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[CPT]

The only time you should use a stand alone external cooler is in a dedicated drag car that will never see any street driving.

Frank

[ginoz28]

This will be a street/strip car. I was going to get the radiator without the cooler until I read your post about testing the trans coolers.

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[CPT]

I just had a customer here Tuesday with an '05 GTO. He put the biggest external cooler B&M makes on it and bypassed the radiator. With a 3600 stall, he couldn't keep the temp below 230 degrees. I had him rerun it in series and now it doesn't get above 180.

Frank

[ginoz28]

I'm definitely going to get this radiator and run it in series with external cooler. Free external cooler with purchase right ;-)

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[CPT]

I'm definitely going to get this radiator and run it in series with external cooler. Free external cooler with purchase right ;-)

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LOL... That "free cooler" deal was several months ago. I'm sure we can work something out though.

Frank

[shownomercy]

I just had a customer here Tuesday with an '05 GTO. He put the biggest external cooler B&M makes on it and bypassed the radiator. With a 3600 stall, he couldn't keep the temp below 230 degrees. I had him rerun it in series and now it doesn't get above 180.

Frank

I have a hard time believing that one, did he stick the external cooler on the passenger seat and assume it would work fine without air flow?

I have never had an issue with trans temp and my stock cooler has never been utilized...

Regardless, if someone is wanting their warranty do what the guy warrenty-ing it says

[ginoz28]

Regardless, if someone is wanting their warranty do what the guy warrenty-ing it says

Yes sir, I certainly don't have $1500 to throw away



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