Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys

B&M trans cooler install

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by Zero » Fri May 28, 2010 9:16 am

I went out and bought, what I believe is the same fluid cooler that comes with the PCMforless kit (Or it is possibly one size bigger).
A B&M supper cooler. It is rated at 13,000lbs I believe. So far I have seen about a 20deg difference.

It was 34c here the last few days WITHOUT humidity, so closer to 40+. It is the first time I have ever seen my trans hit 226F. So I knew I had to get a cooler.
Once the cooler was installed we had another day of the same high temps, and I ran around 206-210F....even with the A/c on. Thats a lot better!
In my opinion it is still a little high. Preferably I wouldnt want to see 200F+ unless I was towing something.
I added Lucas trans additive to top up the system after the cooler install so I hope that helps with the temps a bit.

AlekG ended up ditching his stock trans pan, and went with the deep pan but got the aluminum one with the heat sinks. I already have a deep pan stock because I am an EXT, but I guess switching to the heat dissipating cover the Alek got may help a bit as well.

I know I am gona inherrantly run a bit hotter then the short wheel base guys because there is just a ton more weight to carry on the same size system. If I find even with the new pan, I can bring the temps down a bit more, I will most likely sell my cool, and purchase a thicker cooler from B&M that is rated for around 22,000lbs I believe. Or I could always see if there is a safe place to put a "Rail mounted" or " Frame mounted" in line trans cooler.

SO in the end, the install was easy. We cut the metal lines (need to take more pics), flared them, and grooved them...slid the rubber hose over, and used a screw clamp to hold it all down. So far no problems at all. We stayed away from compression fittings because they tend to be more trouble then they are worth. Servicing them is a pain compared to my set up, which is very simple. I wanted something solid, that can be serviced in the field if needed.



Front end and headlights removed.

Image



Mounted cooler.

Image


NO brackets used. We decided to go with the rad pull through ties for now.

Image
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by fishsticks » Fri May 28, 2010 11:13 am

Great minds must think alike....as I've been looking at a trans cooler and another PS cooler very closely lately.

Nice work.
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by Trail X » Fri May 28, 2010 12:57 pm

Looks good. Which was the proper steel line to cut?
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by Zero » Fri May 28, 2010 5:48 pm

I will take more pics But I believe it is the bottom line that comes from the trans, and the top goes back to it after cooling.
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by Zero » Mon May 31, 2010 4:47 pm

Here are some more pics. I have cooler #2 below.

Also here are the correct part #'s and cooling capacity of the b&m "supper cooler" line.

1. #70255 - 11x5.75x.075 - 9,800 BTU
2. #70268 - 11x7.25x.75 - 13,000 BTU <------- My cooler.
3. #70264 - 11x5.75x1.5 - 14,400 BTU
4. #70273 - 11x5.75x1.5 - 15,000 BTU
5. #70266 - 11x8x1.5 - 20,500 BTU
6. #70274 - 11x11x1.5 - 29,200 BTU


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by OregTrailBlazin » Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:48 pm

Is this in addition to your radiator cooling, or did you bypass it all together.. From what I've seen those are made to go along with the stock Rad-cooler...!!??!! :scratch:
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by Zero » Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:35 pm

No, do not bypass your rad. You must run the cooler in series. trans -> rad -> cooler -> trans.

I am not sure I totally understand your question, but yes the trucks get their stock cooling from the rad system.
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by OregTrailBlazin » Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:08 pm

Zero wrote:No, do not bypass your rad. You must run the cooler in series. trans -> rad -> cooler -> trans.

I am not sure I totally understand your question, but yes the trucks get their stock cooling from the rad system.



Sorry the questions was just to make sure you didn't bypass your Rad.. :thumleft:
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by Zero » Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:07 am

Right on, I get ya now. I guess there may have been some confusion with the pic that has my rad cap and top of rad. I just took that one to show that I put new fittings on everything while I was working under the hood.
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by Mooseknuckle » Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:25 am

very nice :thumleft:
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by battlemode » Fri Jun 11, 2010 3:16 am

looks good.... wy should one not bypass the radiator...wouldnt it be the same as if it was just going into the radiator just cooler
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by Trail X » Fri Jun 11, 2010 8:51 am

battlemode wrote:looks good.... wy should one not bypass the radiator...wouldnt it be the same as if it was just going into the radiator just cooler


The transmission fluid should go through the radiator first, then go through the transmission cooler to further decrease the temp. The radiator will only cool the transmission to the temperature of the engine return coolant. Generally that's about 200 degrees. The temperature delta between the fluids is very small, so the auxiliary cooler helps decrease the temperature from there. That's why people cover their aux transmission coolers in the winter... so it doesn't decrease the temperature too far.
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by Zero » Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:21 pm

the b&m super coolers have special bypasses built in them to help reduce over cooling...but james is right in really cold winters, its best to cover it, if u cant monitor the temp.
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by TangoBravo » Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:02 am

wanna see lower temps ditch the lucas and get some Ams Oil, :slap:
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by Zero » Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:55 am

I am running amsoil hahaha, i only used a little bit of lucas to replace the fluid lost during the install.
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by glfredrick » Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:22 am

You should also think of adding in an auxillary filter for the transmission fluid. The screen/filter in the trans pan is not sufficient for true filtration of the oil. Especially if one is running Amsoil, adding filtration would preserve the long life of the fluid.

It just takes one of these and some plumbing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Trans-Da ... 5adb755014

That unit will take a PH1 or equivalent filter. Change it at 500 miles the first time, then with engine oil changes after that.
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by OregTrailBlazin » Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:49 pm

glfredrick wrote:You should also think of adding in an auxillary filter for the transmission fluid. The screen/filter in the trans pan is not sufficient for true filtration of the oil. Especially if one is running Amsoil, adding filtration would preserve the long life of the fluid.

It just takes one of these and some plumbing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Trans-Da ... 5adb755014

That unit will take a PH1 or equivalent filter. Change it at 500 miles the first time, then with engine oil changes after that.



:Iagree: :thumleft:
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by TangoBravo » Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:35 pm

Zero wrote:I am running amsoil hahaha, i only used a little bit of lucas to replace the fluid lost during the install.

smart man, but did you buy it from me? :poke:
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by Zero » Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:49 pm

I am a preferred customer. So I get my oil at a discounted price. And have been for years. Thanx for the offer though.
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by g wallace » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:19 am

Yeah man it's a great model transmission cooler I did the same on mine and then on the other side I put a oil cooler exactly opposite and a filter relocation kit up on the fender well am new hear I got to some pic up and my truck info
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