Hello,

I finally got around to installing a cooler this weekend. I took some pics. I thought I would share them. I have a few comments and questions.

I read everything I could find on this project and I don't remember reading about this part of the front grill clips. At first, I was trying to squeeze the clips from the top and the bottom which was very difficult. Once I found the tabs, like the one in this picture, the front grill removal was super easy.


I decided that I wanted a hard mount. I looked at TRD's mount and the factory mounts in my dad's v8 4runner. They both had rubber mounts so that's what I wanted too. I bought lord mounts from McMaster Carr. I also decided to use 1"x1/8" type 304 stainless bar stock to make the mounting system. I decided that using stainless steel was easier than priming and painting carbon steel. I also used some brained polyester sleeving to protect the hose. Here are McMaster Carr product numbers so you can find them if you want.

Lord mounts: 9376K117

Stainless Steel: 8992K21

Polyester braid sleeving: 9142K32

In this picture you can see part of the mounting structure. It's pretty simple. It's just a homemade u-bolt. Also that's a tru-cool LPD 4589


Just another view from the bottom up


Here you can see how the mount works and where it is supported


Here is a view from the top. It is not obvious but there is plenty of clearance


Here you can see the hose going from the cooler to the tranny. You can also see the sheet metal being covered with a piece of fuel line


This is the hose coming from the stock cooler to the add-on cooler


Does anybody know if this fitting could be removed/replaced or reoriented? I would have routed my hoses differently if this fitting was facing the other way. Anyway, my hoses sort-of make a loop and they end-up on top of eachother. I think routing the hoses this way made for a very clean looking install. However, I would have preferred to have both hoses going through the hole in the 6th picture. I found this impractical given the orientation of this fitting.


So what do you think?

PS. I filled the cooler with ATF before installing the hoses. It took about 3/4 of a quart. Then I added about 2 ounces of ATF to compensate for the new hoses.

 

wow, very clean install, you covered all the bases. good mounting, 2x hose protection, and a good set of pictures

 

Looks good, I only have one comment: I'd of mounted the cooler 180* from what you have so that fluid enters and exits from the bottom. This serves 2 purposes, 1) You can drain it without removing it when you do a fluid change; 2) heat rises so if your return is on the bottom you're sucking cooler fluid back into the tranny.

Here's the cooler on my mustang, for example:


On that one fitting you asked if it could be turned, it's tough to tell in the picture, but if it's a flared tube end and a nut you should be able to loosen the nut and rotate the tube part.

 

Very true.

I don't think this will make a difference. As long as there is fluid flowing through the cooler and the car is moving, forced convection will easily overpower any natural convection in or around the cooler.

 

I'm skeptical on 2 as well, but you never know without actually being able to see inside the cooler, but I'm just anal that way, heh heh.

 

Yep, might have some heat buildup in stop and go traffic, but any cooler at all will be better than stock.

Looks good, you did a great job preventing possible hose abrasion too (not everyone does that).

 

So. . . does this mean that I pass the Yotatech test

The directions say that the cooler can be mounted up, down, or sideways. Most likely there is a unique set of pros and cons for each orientation but the differences are probably insignificant.

One question I have is about the pump which pumps the ATF. I'm assuming that this pump is a low-flow high-pressure pump and that additional head pressure and frictional loss from a tranny cooler install does not effect the flow of the pump very much.

 

great writeup, will be attempting this in october