[cooper30]

I was just reading another post and it made me think of something I've been kicking around.

My 90 RC (A518 tranny) has a factory tranny cooler (fluid goes into bottom of rad 1st and then to cooler mounted in front of radiator but behind a/c cooling fin doohickey).

Would it be overkill to put an additional aftermarket cooler in. Any suggestions for a place to mount it?

Or would it be redundant since there's already the factory one there?

Thanks,
Ted

 

[Slanted_Mind]

The two you have (radiator and exterior auxillary cooler) should be plenty; unless your tranny fluid consistently smells burnt. I can't imagine what you would be towing and/or crawling over to make so much heat as to justify a THIRD cooler. My .02

-SM

 

[auwing]

I run a 2nd cooler on my rc I tow my 18 ft searay with seams to help in stop and go traffic.

 

[robo51]

if you can eliminate the rad through cooler, if your motor over heats at some time it will doo the same too the tranny. stock trans coolers do the bare minimum for cooling, best way is too go by your gvw and mach up a aftermarket one. compare the two for size and you will be surprised. some people say that you can actuly over cool a tranny, this may be so ...say in alaska or yukon. hahah.... where you live dont even worry about it.

 

[cutthroat]

You might consider a deeper tranny pan. Mopar sells one for about $40 ( for a 727).
I found that a tranny temp gage with the sensor mounted so that it measures the temp from the tranny to the radiator is of value, especially when towing a #4000 travel trailer.
Check the pipe ID of ext. cooler you purchase. One I bought had a smaller ID than the rest of the plumbing & so would cause a restriction and more heat.

 

[AZ-Trailduster]

i have the hughes performance deep aluminum tranny pan and a B&M stacked plate 24,000gvwr tranny cooler. I've heard a few people call it overkill...but i dont think so. With the lines going straight into the tranny cooler, it keeps them nice and frosty...enough that i can put my bare hands on the line leaving the cooler and not feel anything. These keep my tranny happy...might be something worth considering for yours. The pan was like $115 and the cooler was $45 i think. This is with a 727 though, but the pan is available for the A-518 too.

A shot of the pan

Here is how my tranny cooler is mounted.

 

[s ǝoɾ]

yo AZ arent you running a risk of cutting the tranny line by running it through bare sheetmetal w/o a grommet?

 

[cooper30]

Thanks for all the input everyone!!

 

[ramit87]

I would un-plumb the tranny cooler from the radiator and use a aftermarket. If you ever develope a leak between the two you will have a smoked tranny in no time.

I am doing something a lot similar to trailduster-except I am question whether his hoses run through the sheet metal with no grommet. I also bought a tranny cooler similar to his-it looks more like a mini-radiator

 

[AZ-Trailduster]

yo AZ arent you running a risk of cutting the tranny line by running it through bare sheetmetal w/o a grommet?

the lines are going through some thick pieces of heater hose, so i'm not worried about it.

 

[Dodge 85 RC]

i have the hughes performance deep aluminum tranny pan and a B&M stacked plate 24,000gvwr tranny cooler. I've heard a few people call it overkill...but i dont think so. With the lines going straight into the tranny cooler, it keeps them nice and frosty...enough that i can put my bare hands on the line leaving the cooler and not feel anything. These keep my tranny happy...might be something worth considering for yours. The pan was like $115 and the cooler was $45 i think. This is with a 727 though, but the pan is available for the A-518 too.

A shot of the pan

Here is how my tranny cooler is mounted.

I just bought the BandM one like that, the 24k one. I was going to go with the 16k one that they had, but I decided for the extra 10 bucks I can get a 24k one and never have to worry about it overheating again.

 

[RXT]

I never liked the factory cooler in the bottom of the radiator. Your ATF will never get below whatever the rad coolant temp is. Also if you ever spring a leak, your ATF will have look alot like Pepto-Bismo, except you won't feel any relief.

Fortunately the cooler that came with my engine is seperate from the rad and huge, about the full width of the condenser and a few inches tall.

If you live where the summers are hot, you may want a twin cooler set-up. Perhaps you might want to put in shut off valves on one side so that if you also happen to live where the winter gets really cold you can shut off one cooler to allow some heat.

Ed

 

[SeahawkDodge]

I never liked the factory cooler in the bottom of the radiator. Your ATF will never get below whatever the rad coolant temp is. Also if you ever spring a leak, your ATF will have look alot like Pepto-Bismo, except you won't feel any relief.

Fortunately the cooler that came with my engine is seperate from the rad and huge, about the full width of the condenser and a few inches tall.

If you live where the summers are hot, you may want a twin cooler set-up. Perhaps you might want to put in shut off valves on one side so that if you also happen to live where the winter gets really cold you can shut off one cooler to allow some heat.

Ed

I don't like the tranny cooler integrated with the radiator for the same reasons...
I have an aluminum one, that is almost the full height of the radiator, and the full width. It is only about an inch thick though.

 

[macario]

I suggest you would get more bang for your buck if you take the cooler you have now and add a fan to it. If a fan does not fit where it is currently at, then move it to where the fan will fit. No sense daisy chaining all those extra coolers together when a fan will do the job.

Mac

Would it be overkill to put an additional aftermarket cooler in. Any suggestions for a place to mount it?

Or would it be redundant since there's already the factory one there?

Thanks,
Ted

 

[phoenix827]

Hell coop, you are in MAINE How hot does it get up there?

 

[cooper30]

Hell coop, you are in MAINE How hot does it get up there?

lmao

I've seen it break 80 once in a while

 

[Guest]

I was told by the tranny shop that built my 47RE that running a tranny to cool can be just as bad...it doesn't allow moisture (from condensation caused by temperature fluxuation) to be "burnt" off...it can cause the same problem as a leaking rad cooler.

I have seen several trucks that people have cleaned the A/C condensor and utilized it as a very big and direct bolt up tranny cooler. Also, go to the local JY and look for newer rams, newer jeeps, and late 80s chevy trucks...all of these can have tranny coolers, the chevy version is a big stacked-plate version (like a B&M). And all of these can be had for about $15, just make sure it doesn't appear to have leaked. You can also find powersteering coolers too that are smaller and designed just for that purpose (ford rangers, GM trucks, and even honda cars have PS coolers).

19464

 

[s ǝoɾ]

I was told by the tranny shop that built my 47RE that running a tranny to cool can be just as bad...it doesn't allow moisture (from condensation caused by temperature fluxuation) to be "burnt" off...it can cause the same problem as a leaking rad cooler.

i was reading someting a my big block che**y manual. it was a report done by smokey yunick i believe. the author who ever he was was into stock car racing. they noted that fluids seemed to do best and parts wore least somewhere between 180º-220º. which would be a good reason to route your tranny fluid or engine oil through the factory cooler. our trucks run at about ideal temps (maybe a bit cold). routing them through there helps stabilize temps promotes faster warming up.

i always hear the same argument "well if you over heat your engine, your tranny is toast" any one who continues to drive on a allready overheated engine has bigger problems anyways.

the fluid will not instantly get as hot as the radiator. as soon as you notice it over heatng it is best to pull over any ways.

 

[KThaxton]

I agree with joe, the factory did it this way for a reason, the engineers weren't stupid.

 

[cooper30]

Thanks guys.

Here's what I'm thinking. I am going to get a temp gauge in and see how hot the fluid runs. Then I can see if I have a problem.

Ted