Tranny Cooler and valve body question

billwert

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Sep 25, 2007
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My auto went out so I bought another one and I'm gonna put a tranny cooler on it and I was wondering if the B&M Race series cooler that cools to 20500 BTUs was overkill? Should I just go for there one that does 14400 BTUs and comes with an installation kit? I'll be shimming the shift accumulators as well. Thanks Bill.
 
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Boost Lee

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When I originally purchased my Supra, the transmission held up "okay".
After making over 300rwhp, it really started to lose purpose and eventually shot itself.

After installing another transmission in good shape, I installed a B&M Transmission cooler at the same time and ever since, the transmission has held up to A LOT more abuse and has lasted twice as long as the last one. Daily driven, Brake boosting, lots of WOT shifts, even a couple fierce burnouts. ;)

100% recommend getting a transmission cooler to ANYONE with an Auto.
It will work you wonders.

You wouldn't believe how high of a percentage of transmissions fail because of heat.

The 14,400 BTU is what I'm using and it works great. :)
I'm sure others will chime in as well.

I know IJ is running one, but not sure of what kind. Maybe the good man will chime in. ;)

Jeff
 

suprahero

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Jeff, IJ probably made his own out of aluminum cans and his CNC machine............:biglaugh:

Right now I added an old oil cooler to my wifes for some added cooling, but I will get her an aftermarket one when work picks up.
 

Boost Lee

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:biglaugh: Shhh. He's lurking behind the shadows...

Jay - If I remember, I paid less than $70 for my B&M. They aren't too expensive.
 

suprahero

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That first one looks like a good one Jdub, but fiding a place to mount it looks like a bitch.

Jeff, I ain't skerrred of no Aussies............:biglaugh:
 

jdub

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On the A340E, yes you can...my tranny seems to work best with the ATF at 170-180 deg F. An option is to use a thermostat like you would on the oil system or an electric fan switched to come on at 160-180 degs. B&M makes a cooler fan combo that fits the bill.

Jay - you can fit a cooler under the drivers side head light (that's where mine is). Airflow in this area is not great, so I used a small Spal fan and switched it like the B&M cooler.
 

suprahero

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John, do you have a push or pull type fan? I'm just curious so I make sure and get the right one.
 

deabionni

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Sep 16, 2007
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I went a slightly different route for a tranny cooler.

I had an extra tranny cooler sitting around that came off a Dodge 2500HD. I figured there's no sense in letting it go to waste, so I found a spot to mount it on the Supra. The cooler is between 1/3 to 1/2 of the size of the A/C condenser, and looks something like this.

G_19353G_SW_1.gif;pvf95968a85baf1c06


The cooler was thin enough to mount it in between the A/C condenser, and the radiator. I just had to cut some notches in the bottom of the radiator support to make room for the tranny lines to get to the cooler. I've got it hooked up in series with the stock cooler, and it should have no problem taking care of the extra heat that the new found GTE swap will add.

Total price: FREE! :D
 

jdub

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^^^ That will work ;)

Did you hook it up before or after the stock rad cooler...i.e. is the return line to the tranny feeding from the rad cooler or this one?
 

deabionni

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^^^ I hooked it up after the stock cooler.

After doing some searching online, I found that the recommended way to hook up a cooler is like this. Go from the transmission, through the stock cooler, then to the tranny cooler, and finally back to the transmission. Kinda like this cheesy diagram illustrates.

cooler.gif


I know that will be fine for the summer time, but living in northern Michigan; I'm worried that the transmission might not reach operating temperature in the winter time.
 

jdub

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You nailed it...that would be my concern too. You could always reverse the connections to the tranny in the winter to tranny feed - air cooler - rad cooler - tranny return. That would help get the ATF up to temp faster in the winter too and keep it around 190 degs.

Or, you could add a 160 or 180 deg thermostat between the tranny and both coolers.
 

suprahero

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How good does the radiator cooler work for the tranny? I bypassed it on Vonda's and hooked it up straight to the oil cooler that I have. I haven't been driving the car, so it hasn't hurt anything yet if the radiator cooler is better. I may end up hooking it back up to the radiator and then installing the aftermarket one when I get it.
 

jdub

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whowouldfigga;1045102 said:
Would this be a example of a tranny / oil thermostat?

Yes, that type thermostat...personally, I would go with a Mocal vs PermaCool.


suprahero;1045300 said:
How good does the radiator cooler work for the tranny? I bypassed it on Vonda's and hooked it up straight to the oil cooler that I have. I haven't been driving the car, so it hasn't hurt anything yet if the radiator cooler is better. I may end up hooking it back up to the radiator and then installing the aftermarket one when I get it.

The air type cooler is more efficient and allows better control of temps. With a rad cooler, the best you are going to do is a temp above that of the coolant temperature. In a Supra rad, that's going to be 190-200 degs. Depending on your needs/climate, a straight air cooler is going to be better...just bypass the rad cooler all together.
 

Boost Lee

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jdub;1045419 said:
Depending on your needs/climate, a straight air cooler is going to be better...just bypass the rad cooler all together.

This is how I had mine hooked up...and it's worked flawlessly ever since.
 

deabionni

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jdub;1045012 said:
Or, you could add a 160 or 180 deg thermostat between the tranny and both coolers.

I thought about reversing the connections to the coolers, but never thought of adding a thermostat. I'll have to look into that.

Thanks for the tip. :bigthumb: