Transmission cooler question...
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 182,997
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From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Transmission cooler question...
I'll need a good transmission cooler with my new automatic transmission (TH200R4) because I'm going to use a 5000 converter and the tranny will run pretty hot... Any recommendations on a good cooler??
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,951
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From: Shore NJ
Using AN fittings? I installed a Moroso 3" pan first with studs, excellent quality, had a Derale pan on before and the rails warped...Perma cool uses rubber hoses or TCI high tech racing coolers use 6AN fittings ...keep us posted....
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Originally Posted by 73jst4fun
Using AN fittings? I installed a Moroso 3" pan first with studs, excellent quality, had a Derale pan on before and the rails warped...Perma cool uses rubber hoses or TCI high tech racing coolers use 6AN fittings ...keep us posted....
http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...tt=bmm%2D70266
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Originally Posted by LOTAHP
I use (2) 1 ft. transmission coolers from Specialty Auto Tech. 909-608-7432 plus a deep pan from STEF'S
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Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
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From: Orange Park Florida
BEST bet, go to a recycling/junk yard and get a dual/parallel running 3/8 diameter condensor or evaporator from a room a/c unit, or smaller car, mount behind your present a/c condensor, and plumb to the tranny, without doing the radiator, just that cooler.....thing is large enough to cool anything....
GENE
GENE
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Lakeland, FL
Cruise-In IV-V-VI-VII-VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Originally Posted by GrandSportC3
What type of fittings is better?? I was checking out the B&M 70266 cooler which comes with 1/2" NPT fittings... It's rated 28000 GVW. Don't know if this will be enough cooling for my tranny...
http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...tt=bmm%2D70266
http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...tt=bmm%2D70266
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Not Correctly Restored Stingray Fla.
Originally Posted by GrandSportC3
Don't remember seeing 2 tranny coolers on your car.. Could you send me pics of your setup??
"O" you have mail. The coolers are located on the back side of the main crossmember.
Le Mans Master
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From: Not Correctly Restored Stingray Fla.
I know LOTA people use those trany coolers in front of the radiator. The majority of us are always asking how to get cooler water temps. WELLLLL...get that tranny cooler out from in front of the radiator or not to have the tranny fluid run through the radiator. Some of you guys spend $400-$600 for an aluminum radiator and then just put hot tranny fluid in front of it AND it also blocks air flow through the radiator 
.
.
Last edited by LOTAHP; Dec 7, 2004 at 11:45 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Not Correctly Restored Stingray Fla.
Hey "O". I'll help you make your decision REAL QUICK. My coolers were $80 each.
QUALITY FIRST . My TH350 or 700R4 has NEVER gone over 180*
By the way, the 180* was in traffic & playing around.
QUALITY FIRST . My TH350 or 700R4 has NEVER gone over 180*
By the way, the 180* was in traffic & playing around.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,135
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norm,,where's your cooler located at? behind the radiator i suppose, reason i ask is i still never installed mine, sittin in the box for almost 1 yr now....................i wish i could sleep,this insominia is really startin to take a toll on my body
Safety Car
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,758
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From: Surrey
I'm running a B&M cooler on mine to keep my 200-4r cool. Not sure if it's the one you've just ordered or a smaller one? In the last few months I posted the model number & GVW rating so you might find it in the archives. If not I can trawl through my HUGE box of reciepts & dig it out again if you want?
I've mounted it in front of the rad & plumbed it in so that the tranny fluid goes through the cooler before entering the rad. The result is that the trans fluid runs cooler and SO DOES THE ENGINE COOLANT!!!! I keep saying this & get the impression people think I'm full of
but that is what happened. I've even removed all the old rubber seals around the rad (they were falling apart) & haven't bothered replacing them as I still don't have high temp problems. All of this could very well be due to not having the AC condenser in front of the rad.
As I've got the trans temp gauge I've found that I'm overcooling the tran fluid. In 1-3 gears (no lockup) the temp gets up to the recommended BTO value of 160(?) & not a lot higher. In OD with the converter locked the temps are 20 - 30 degrees lower. If I was to do it again I'd use the smaller of the 2 B&M coolers that were available locally (model no. in the archives
). Without a trans cooler the fluid temps were ramping right up, so much so that in heavy traffic I had to pull over once to let the thing cool down 
For driving in the low gears regularly with a 200-4r you definitely need a cooler, them temps soon start climbing if you spend any time with the converter slipping.
All testing was obviously done in this country, but we had temps of 100F locally one day & my poor engine took a hammering with no temp probs (coolant didn't get over 200 - prior to fitting the trans cooler the coolant was normally at 200!).
I've mounted it in front of the rad & plumbed it in so that the tranny fluid goes through the cooler before entering the rad. The result is that the trans fluid runs cooler and SO DOES THE ENGINE COOLANT!!!! I keep saying this & get the impression people think I'm full of
but that is what happened. I've even removed all the old rubber seals around the rad (they were falling apart) & haven't bothered replacing them as I still don't have high temp problems. All of this could very well be due to not having the AC condenser in front of the rad.As I've got the trans temp gauge I've found that I'm overcooling the tran fluid. In 1-3 gears (no lockup) the temp gets up to the recommended BTO value of 160(?) & not a lot higher. In OD with the converter locked the temps are 20 - 30 degrees lower. If I was to do it again I'd use the smaller of the 2 B&M coolers that were available locally (model no. in the archives
). Without a trans cooler the fluid temps were ramping right up, so much so that in heavy traffic I had to pull over once to let the thing cool down For driving in the low gears regularly with a 200-4r you definitely need a cooler, them temps soon start climbing if you spend any time with the converter slipping.All testing was obviously done in this country, but we had temps of 100F locally one day & my poor engine took a hammering with no temp probs (coolant didn't get over 200 - prior to fitting the trans cooler the coolant was normally at 200!).
Safety Car
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,758
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From: Surrey
Originally Posted by 1979toy
You folks that are installing trans coolers may want to look at a thermostat to warm the fluid up quicker while still cooling when needed. You can see one here 
Thread Starter
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From: Lakeland, FL
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St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Originally Posted by LOTAHP
Hey "O". I'll help you make your decision REAL QUICK. My coolers were $80 each.
QUALITY FIRST . My TH350 or 700R4 has NEVER gone over 180*
By the way, the 180* was in traffic & playing around.
QUALITY FIRST . My TH350 or 700R4 has NEVER gone over 180*
By the way, the 180* was in traffic & playing around.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 1999
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From: Reno Nevada
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
That's what I use the 8X11X1.5 B&M with 1/2 inch lines. No in and out of the water radiator and if I was worried about temp I would just go for the electric fan.
Mine is mounted at about a 45 degree angle about a foot in front of the radiator. I figured that when your not moving "Stagging" You need convection air flow. It works so well that I haven't really seen high heat levels
Mine is mounted at about a 45 degree angle about a foot in front of the radiator. I figured that when your not moving "Stagging" You need convection air flow. It works so well that I haven't really seen high heat levels
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Lakeland, FL
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St. Jude Donor '03, '06, '17
Originally Posted by gkull
That's what I use the 8X11X1.5 B&M with 1/2 inch lines. No in and out of the water radiator and if I was worried about temp I would just go for the electric fan.
Mine is mounted at about a 45 degree angle about a foot in front of the radiator. I figured that when your not moving "Stagging" You need convection air flow. It works so well that I haven't really seen high heat levels
Mine is mounted at about a 45 degree angle about a foot in front of the radiator. I figured that when your not moving "Stagging" You need convection air flow. It works so well that I haven't really seen high heat levels
I'll see how my transmission temps will be with that cooler.. If I'm not satisfied - I can always change to another cooler setup...