Transmission cooler

[OakieVett]

What cooler do you recommend, are you running the cooler in series with an automatic transmission radiator and where is the best place to mount on a '72 with AC

 

[Chas]

Welcome to the CAC!

Im using the cooler built into my radiator....
Post pics of your 72 when you can....
BTW, I have a son @ Ft. Sill in Lawton
Chas

 

[Chuck-75]

Oakievett, I placed my tranny cooler between the radiator and the A/C condenser. I asked about this placement a couple of months ago and was told by anoughter member that he also ran his this way and had no problems. Mine is still not installed yet as my moter is still out of the car.
next question is do you run the tranny cooler before the Rad. cooler or after?, I live where it gets over 105 in the summer Mos, so Im running it after the Rad.
Hope this helps.

 

[Evolution1980]

OakieVett, If you don't have one yet, I'd suggest putting in a temp sensor before you put in a cooler. You may find that you don't need the cooler.

When I put my 700R4 trans put in, I had a temp guage go in as well. I did NOT put in a cooler at the suggestion of my mechanic. At the time he told me, "Let make sure you need one first. Trans fluid needs to get up to operating temperature for it to work as intended. That's why it gets routed through the section of the radiator. That's to actually HEAT the fluid initially, and then cool it later." As I found with my car, I don't need the cooler. And yes, I drive my auto trans hard. Barely does the temp ever get above operating temp. 160° - 180°, even in the heat of August. Most of the time it barely hits 180. Putting a cooler in at this time would only serve to keep the trans fluid cooler than it should be. Plus, it's just more lines and fittings and whatnot that can leak / go bad.

You might be able to save yourself some time and money by starting with just a guage first. Then go to a cooler if needed. (All this assuming you don't have a guage yet.)

 

[RodsnRides]

That's a good point, Andre. I hadn't thought about that.

I am running an oil cooler because I'm running a torquey 383 and have a Holeshot 2400 stall converter. I have the fluid going into the radiator, then to the cooler and back to the transmission.

I also stood my cooler off of the radiator about 1" for better air flow, by using 1" expansion plugs and removing the hardware, then using the tie rods through the radiator. I also discovered I had to mount the cooler AFTER installing the radiator, not before, as I couldn't get it in the other way.

Rick
:gap

 

[Evolution1980]

That's a good point, Andre. I hadn't thought about that.

I am running an oil cooler because I'm running a torquey 383 and have a Holeshot 2400 stall converter. I have the fluid going into the radiator, then to the cooler and back to the transmission.

Do you mean trans fluid cooler?
Oil coolers are fine because you'll never really get the oil below it's operating temp with a passive cooler. Trans fluid however is a different story.

 

[RodsnRides]

I meant transmission fluid cooler, not an engine oil cooler. Sorry for any miscue.

I may be running too cool, I'll admit, so I will look into getting a temp. sender and gauge. Good advice, thanks.

Rick
:gap

 

[Evolution1980]

I am running an trans cooler because I'm running a torquey 383 and have a Holeshot 2400 stall converter

I don't know that the amount of peak torque from the engine really makes all that much of a difference, beit from a 350, 383, or 502. In my uneducated head, the difference comes when the Tq converter has torque applied to it with the friction induced during/from torque multiplication (???). When there's a load on the tq converter is when the fluid heats up. That's why you can cruise at any speed in 3rd/4th/OD and not have the fluid get hot. There's no significant load on the converter. I have a 2200 stall in mine. I don't know that an extra 200 RPM would make a significant difference in low gear temps. Even when I'm at the track with the linelocks on, which definitely puts a load on the converter, only after quite a few runs does the fluid start to get up to the 220° range, which isn't beyond the occasional range for temp fluid. 260° and up is when I think you really start to cook the fluid.