Transmission cooler install-Chevy truck?

[saltbranch]

I would say according to the picture the bottom line is the return line

That was not a Chevy specific picture.A diagram how to plumb the cooler in. Time to make a mess in the morning and get it and the Timbrens installed

 

[SSdoxie]

I have 2 vehicles with extra trans cooler. 1 Ford with cooler installed at transmission shop, the other chevy with factory installed cooler. both connected the same. Line from bottom fitting of the radiator goes to top of the extra cooler then lower fitting from that cooler goes back to transmission.

 

[orezok]

Yea, looks like there are two trains of thought on this one. Some say before and some say after.

Chris

In a past life, I used to own a transmission shop. Let me ad my $.02.

The arrangement of coolers is dependent upon where you live or operate. If you live in a cold climate, put the cooler before the radiator. This results in the transmission fluid being heated faster upon startup as the radiator will also heat the cold fluid and prevents overcooling of the fluid during operation in the winter. Cold fluid is almost as bad on operation as hot fluid and may alter the operation of the transmission. Some transmissions change the shift operation or lock out overdrive until warm.

If you live in a hot climate or do a lot of towing, radiator first then aux cooler to get max cooling of the fluid.

YMMV.

 

[dodge man]

Yep, thats the correct line of thinking, you just beat me to it. Sometimes you actually want the fluid heated up, such as the dead of winter. I'm not 100% sure, but I think my Dodge with the Cummins has a tranny heater, that pulls hot cooant from the block, that way its heating the tranny fluid before the thermostat opens up and warms up the radiator fluid.

If you live in a hot climate or do a lot of towing, radiator first then aux cooler to get max cooling of the fluid.

 

[Stimw]

If you run to the radiator first you are adding heat to the radiator.
To the cooler first you are cooling fluid then keeping it at engine temp as it exits the radiator.
Vehicles are designed to run the trans at the same temp as the engine/radiator, not hotter or cooler.

 

[SSdoxie]

If you run to the radiator first you are adding heat to the radiator.
To the cooler first you are cooling fluid then keeping it at engine temp as it exits the radiator.
Vehicles are designed to run the trans at the same temp as the engine/radiator, not hotter or cooler.

Heat always transfers to the cooler substance or surface. In a hard working transmission I would not be suprised to see oil temps of 200 - 230F coming out of the transmission going into the cooler while the engine coolant is less than 220F coming out of the engine(if it wasn't you would be getting overheat alarms because the temp sensor is at or close to the engine outlet). Yes, the coolant will absorb some heat from trans fluid but it is quickly dissapated through the cooling fins of the radiator. The advantage of the extra oil cooler is too lower the oil temp even more. The engine flows all the coolant through the radiator but a transmission only sends a percentage of the oil to the cooler then mixes it with the warmer fluid in the pan before drawing it back up into the transmission.

 

[orezok]

If you run to the radiator first you are adding heat to the radiator.
To the cooler first you are cooling fluid then keeping it at engine temp as it exits the radiator.
Vehicles are designed to run the trans at the same temp as the engine/radiator, not hotter or cooler.

There is no free lunch in thermodynamics. If you run the aux cooler first the radiator experiences additional input air heat and is less efficient resulting in hotter output temperatures to the engine, and possibly hotter return temperatures to the trans. If you run the radiator first, more heat transfer occurs in the radiator resulting in hotter out put temperatures to the engine (probably about the same as situation 1), but cooler input to the aux resulting in cooler temperatures returned to the trans.

Again, situation 2 not ideal for cold climates, but preferred for hot.

Heat rejection cannot be altered much.

 

[SSdoxie]

Here is an idea for you inventive guys that need cold weather start up but max tow cooling. Add a 3 way electric solenoid to line coming out of radiator going to the cooler. In normal heat/working condition it will go through radiator then through Aux cooler. For cold start up, flip a switch and by-pass so oil goes back to transmission by-passing the Aux. cooler.