Since my wife dosent care about Trans. temps.........

[Bilgewiper]

.............since my wife dosent care about turbo 350 trans. temps, I guess I'll tell you guys. After all the fun I had puttin this in I just have to tell someone who might at least care or know what I am talking about. She needs to only have alarm bells and whistles....she dosent even read the gas gauge......or the speedo for that matter. Anyway ordered gauge and cooler from
Summit. Purposefully drove around for 2weeks without the cooler installed to get a baseline temp reading. Then installed the cooler. Here is what I found:

No trans Cooler (only factory in the rad.):
Around town normal driving (12miles) 180 degrees
Around town simi-hard driving (12miles) 195 degrees
Freeway only driving (20miles) 175 degrees

With cooler installed:
Around town normal driving (12 miles) 160 degrees
Around town simi-hard driving (12 miles) 175 degrees
Freeway only driving (20miles) 150-155 degrees

[Bilgewiper]

easy install.......used the drain plug in trans. pan for the sender

[Bilgewiper]

Temp reading were takin on the same roads and approx. the same outside temp. Same trip taking the kids to school etc.

[griesel72]

It good to know the difference. Most guys would have slapped it on and not ever know how much difference it makes.

david

[stllookn]

That's cool...no, I really mean it...that is cool!

[JHickson6]

Good Job Bilgewiper!!

Does anyone know the optimal transmission temperature, ive heard that too cool can be just as bad as too hot. Anyone have input?

[Bilgewiper]

On the back of the B&M trans cooler box it gave this:

Varnish forms at- 240 degrees
Seals harden at-- 260
Plates slip. ---- 295
Oil Turns to
Carbon, seals and
clutches burn out-- 315 degrees

tranny life expetancy:
175 degrees 100,000 miles
195 degrees- 50,000
220 degrees - 20,000
240 degrees - 10,000
260 degrees -- 5,000
295 degrees -- 1,500
315 degrees -- 800

[da-burb]

Which way did you hook it up? Do you have it plumbed so the new tranny cooler is the first or the second cooler?

[passthebuck]

Interms of what line you hook the cooler to - it depends on the tranny. It goes on the outgoing line, but after the cooler in the rad - if you have one. the cooler on my 700r4 I THINK was the top line - it said in the cooler instructions that came from B&M.

[Bilgewiper]

I installed the cooler inline after the radiator

[DennyB]

If your not sure which line is the feed and which is the return before it gets hot you can feel the lines to see which gets warm first (watch out for that fan).
If you can slip under your truck you can check the lines near the trans.

[Longhorn Man]

I'm kinda suprised you hit 195 with "simi-hard driving". That is kinda frightening. The pros say keep it under 200 to make it live a long life...just as B&M implies there.
Thanks for the info. I've been thinking of a cooler...but now I KNOW I need a cooler...considering I normally do more than simi-hard driving.

[cableguy0]

optimal temp is right at 160 degrees that is the longest life for the transmission and so on

[Bilgewiper]

I was surprised at the 195 reading too. Semi-hard driving was never full throttle or exceeding 50mph but I was heavy on the loud pedal for 12 miles with approx. 14 stop lights and 5 stop signs along the way. I have a gauge and cooler on my 98 chevy fullsize van that I tow a 24ft travel trailer in 100 degree weather up 6% grades usually with the A/C on. It usually never exceeds 190 with the trailer (160no trailer) but if I drive it hard in town with NO trailer it will run 190-200. Stop and go traffic, or stop light to stop light is what heats them up even more than pulling long hills at speed with a heavy load. I regulary pull I-80 over the Sierra's (7200ft elevation change) and can never get the tranny hot like in town

[Longhorn Man]

Hmmm, maybe I need to ese off the fun pedal.
Naaaaaaa....

[mrein3]

Bilgewiper -
I did the exact same thing.
I swapped my 3-speed for a th350 and bought a tranny cooler. BEFORE I installed the tranny cooler I made a trip from my house to Red Wing, MN towing my boat (19 foot Triton). The next weekend I made the same trip with the cooler installed.

Driving down the slab w/o the cooler the tranny didn't get too hot. Where it got hot was in the stop and go traffic in Stillwater.

Towing max temp was around 215.
Not towing 185 ish.

Now with the cooler installed I never get over 185 with the boat. It runs around 150-165 all day long when I'm not towing.

As far as running tranny fluid lines goes you want the cooler BEFORE the radiator up north here.

Down south you want to go from radiator to cooler then back to the tranny.

In the winter we need to warm our tranny fluid.

The fuel gauge in the attached picture is a JC Whitney gauge/sender that tells me where my fuel level is in my saddle tank.

[Blue Beard]

Makes me think about doing the same thing.............

[Bilgewiper]

MREIN3, That makes sence on where you put the cooler. Especially in MN where it's WAY colder than we could ever relate to in the winter. I.ve heard about coolers with cold temp bypasses but I have never seen one.

[mrein3]

I know a guy that has a bypass. I was going to mention that but my post was getting to long. He made an "H" out of his to and from lines and put some special thermostat controll in line. He claims something like 10% of the fluid still goes through the cooler but most bypasses it until the tranny is up to temp.

For my temp sender I put the autometer sender in place of that pollution switch GM started putting on trannys in '72.

In the attached picture look just above the back spark plug boot and just to the left of the exhaust manifold. I couldn't get a good picture of it so I snapped this shot from above with a light on below.

It probably isn't the best place to check the temperature but anything is better than nothing.

[andyr354]

Did you guys have to hack the lines up to get a cooler put in? Hate to cut up my cooler lines.

I bought a flexalite brand cooler at the parts store and have yet go get it put in. I don't like using those through the radator ties either, want to build a bracket out front.

I have a mechanical temp guage laying around that goes to 260. Should work the same way for trany fluid as it does in an engine. Shouldn't I just be able to weld a bung in the side of the tranny pan and put it in?

[Bilgewiper]

Just disconnect one of the trans lines from the radiator hook a hose to it, and usually there is a connector that comes with the cooler to screw back in place of the removed line from the radiator to hook other hose too. On one of my trannys i got a kit from a Pep Boys store that you just drilled (I took mine off) into the pan and installed it with inner and outer brass fittings with washers that held the sender. But welding would sure work and probably be better.

[Tom]

I bought my 200-4R from bowtie overdrives and in their instructions they state at least three times that tranny temp should never go over 150*. I have a temp gauge and cooler on mine and have yet to go over 140*. When I first installed the tranny I drive without a cooler and it hit 160* after just a little driving so on the cooler went.