Trans cooler install

I did a search on this forum and could not find this info.
I have an aluminum radiator with an integral trans cooler. I am now installing a th400 and want it to live, so I bought a B&M stacked plate trans cooler. Should this get plumbed before or after the trans cooler in the radiator?

Thanks

 

You want the trans cooler in front of the radiator to be most effective. I have one on my convertible. I'll try and take some pics and post them later today. I also have a stacked plate, 11x11x1.5 I believe.

 

Thanks Phil

Thanks Phil, I was going to install it in front of the radiator, however I was asking if the trans fluid should be routed to the radiator cooler THEN on to the aux cooler or to the aux cooler first then thru the radiator cooler. OR should I just bypass the radiator cooler altogether and just use the aux cooler. o No:

 

Paul,
On both of my cars I use the external cooler only and have never had a problem at all. My '70 with the switch pitch has been that way for over 10 years and my '72 with a 2800 stall converter since last fall.

Ken

 

So Ken, you don't even use the trans cooler in the radiator? Just the aux cooler?

 

Paul,
Since my Ron Davis radiator was a 4 speed one and didn't have a cooler,I decided to go with a Permacool 6 pass 5/8 tube oil cooler.I installed it and ran my lines up through the framerails to keep away from the header heat. Perma cool says the cooler will cool the tranny fluid an added 95 degrees.I have a new TH 400 with a 2500 stall JW Perf convertor and will be adding a Coan manual valve body as well. I asked the vendors about the radiator cooler and all suggested to not use it. If you decide to do it though,I'd run it to the radiator cooler then to the oil cooler then return to the tranny.

 

Paul you want the trans cooler plumbed after the radiator. The way to find out which line is which is to drive the car. Let it sit for half an hour. Then start it. Put it in gear for ten seconds shut it off and feel which line is cooler. That will be the out from the radiator. Usually if they are hooked up correctly it's the bottom line.

Hope this helps. :TU:

 

Thank you!

Thanks everyone!

 

Yup- radiator cooler then aux cooler.

On the TH400, I think the lower line on the tranny is the supply, and the return is the upper. I think. Pretty sure anyhow.

-Bob Cunningham

 

That's right Paul, I don't use the cooler in the radiator. The one in the '70 has been used for everything from a daily driver to what it is now, mostly a track car with some street duty. The fluid has always looked good when I changed it and has performed great for the last 10 years.

Ken

 

Bob's right...the lower fitting on the case is hot oil out to the cooler. Top is return.

I've also bypassed the radiator completey with my setup, been that way since the late '80's. Trans temp runs 175F to 220F or so, depending on how much I run the converter in high stall and the temp outside. Works fine.

Devon

 

I hate to disagree with you guys but if you have the supply from the trans entering the bottom of the radiator and the return to trans coming from the top then you have the lines crossed. o No:

As with any thermal activity "Heat rises, Cold falls". Automotive engineers know this.

Why would you have the supply entering the coolest point of the radiator and exiting the hottest point? That's just plain backwards. Hot water from the engine enters the top and exits the bottom and so does the trans fluid.

Just my 2 cents as a student of Hydrothermal circulation. (I.E. Boilerman) :TU:

 

My service manual clearly illustrates the return to the trans coming from the top fitting on the rad.

Apparently they want to hit the hottest trans oil with the cooler water at the bottom of the radiator first. The higher the delta T between fluids, the quicker the heat transfer.

Devon

 

When I stripped my car down, and I don't believe the car was ever taken apart. I marked the lines. And they were feed on top and return on bottom. That's the way the lines fit. I put them back the same way. They have a red hash mark on the feed line where it goes over the crossmember.

o No:

 

Larry, you're right! The crossflow would pretty much make upper-to-lower delta T a moot point.

Devon

 

Sorry for the confusion. Mine is mounted in the same spot as shown above. I do not use the radiator at all but just the aux. cooler as it is so large. I found that my engine temp gauge now show's 5-10 degrees cooler also.

 

Aux cooler hookup

Paul, I live in Ga. and we have some cold weather for a short time. My auto tranny guy says for us here , I should hit the aux cooler first , and then the rad cooler. He said because some of todays coolers are so good that the fluid could be too cool for a street tranny, and this would ensure the correct temp fluid to be supplied back at all times. Sounds logical, but any tranny rebuilders out there with other thoughts...........John