I always run an extra one, Just extra insurance, I make mine run through the rad cooler then over to the external then back to the trans, Never had any problems with it. Plus Coolers are inexpensive, Even my heavy duty one was only like $70.

 

Yes I would install a second cooler on the return line ( the bottom line). The trans temp should be kept @ 180* or less.

 

You should be fine with one cooler... I never use the rad cooler on any car I build..I run up to 3500 stalls on only a external cooler, I only use external coolers on all the cars I do.. Never had any problems yet with any.... Do what you feel.. But it is not needed... 2200 Is a small stall.. You shouldn't have anything to worry about..

 

That what you call a cooler in the rad is in fact a warmer upper,
gets the trans to operating temperature.Think about it the fluid is running next to hot engine coolant.
180º is a good temp, anything less and contaminants do not evaporate out of the fluid.
I´ve had no problems since I went to an aluminum rad sans trans "cooler",
just run a B/M cooler in front of the rad.

 

That what you call a cooler in the rad is in fact a warmer upper,
gets the trans to operating temperature.Think about it the fluid is running next to hot engine coolant.
180� is a good temp, anything less and contaminants do not evaporate out of the fluid.
I�ve had no problems since I went to an aluminum rad sans trans "cooler",
just run a B/M cooler in front of the rad.

You are half right. It's a warmer upper when it's cold and a cooler offer when it's hot.
When you add a cooler, read and follow the manufacturer's installation instructions as any deviation from the installation inst. will void any warranty on the cooler. :mwink:

 

No need for a 2nd cooler unless you just have to have the extra security or something. JMO



Cole

 

Since we are on the subject, when i installed my B&M tranny cooler this spring the fella at the tranny shop said that some B&M's and maybe others have an internal bypass of some sort that will divert incoming cold trans fluid. This takes the cooling effect of the cooler fins out of the picture.When the fluid heats up it is sent through the fins again? Can anyone confirm this, or was he/I misinformed? Thanks

 

big stall converters build heat. thats for sure. i would use an extra cooler if it was like a 10" converter, & i like at add a external filter in line as well. if your converter is a 11" or 12", i probably wouldn't worry about it.

 

If it were I, I would get a medium size external cooler and bypass the rad cooler altogether. Why is for the reason if the internal cooler bursts, as has happened to me on 2 occasions, the tranny gets filled with coolant and ruined. After it happened the first time I should have learned my lesson. There is other reasons also but I won`t mention them as I don`t feel like getting in a debate. Just keep this in mind: Heat is the number 1 killer of automatics.

 

You could get by without it, but considering your location (Houston) and its summer weather, an external cooler is always a good idea. It will cost you about $50-$80 for a stacked-plate external cooler, and installation is usually simple with a TH350 in an older vehicle.

If you buy the Long Tru-Cool low pressure drop (LPD) brand coolers, they come with metal mounting brackets (no ties to the radiator) and they are very solid. Most of them also have a thermostatic bypass that lets cool fluid bypass the external cooler until the vehicle is warmed up. Long used to provide the OEM trans coolers for both GM and Ford, and the B&M cooler is a rebadged Long cooler. I got the trans cooler for my truck from a supplier in Dallas.

This is one source that lists several of the coolers you can get http://www.performancetransparts.com/longtru-coollpd.aspx

Bruce

 

Why is for the reason if the internal cooler bursts, the tranny gets filled with coolant and ruined.

The main reason I don't care to use the rad cooler also..
I use these on every car I build.. I try to put in the longest I can fit..

And as far as hot days... We see well over 100* days here daily... :sweat:

 

The main reason I don't care to use the rad cooler also..
I use these on every car I build.. I try to put in the longest I can fit..

And as far as hot days... We see well over 100* days here daily... :sweat:

Now thats a decent looking cooler. :thumbup:



Cole

 

If it were I, I would get a medium size external cooler and bypass the rad cooler altogether. Why is for the reason if the internal cooler bursts, as has happened to me on 2 occasions, the tranny gets filled with coolant and ruined. After it happened the first time I should have learned my lesson. There is other reasons also but I won`t mention them as I don`t feel like getting in a debate. Just keep this in mind: Heat is the number 1 killer of automatics.

Considering the amount of vehicles on the highways today that have the tranny coolers in the radiator, you must be the MOST unfortunate person I know! Personally, I have never seen this happen on any of my car's or trucks I have ever owned which is conservatively about 30 in my 45 yrs of driving.
Dam the bad luck. I feel for you and can understand why your "gun shy"

 

Considering the amount of vehicles on the highways today that have the tranny coolers in the radiator, you must be the MOST unfortunate person I know! Personally, I have never seen this happen on any of my car's or trucks I have ever owned which is conservatively about 30 in my 45 yrs of driving.
Dam the bad luck. I feel for you and can understand why your "gun shy"

Yep i have seen it happen to a few others but like you Sqz it's never happened to me, Knock on wood. :sweat:



Cole

 

Should I add a second trans cooler since I am going to run a 2200 rpm stall converter? The car is a street use LeMans, 400 CI, turbo 350 with summit 2802 cam. Now it's using the radiator tank as trans cooler.

Thanks,
BT

For a passenger car I don't think this is a must even in Houston, and I lived just over the county line in League City for many years so I've got some understanding of the weather you're facing. As long as the the radiator is sufficient to keep the engine and tranny in a range of say 180 on those nearly 100/100 days the tranny will be fine. If you can't keep the coolant at the thermostat temp then you'll need to do something more ranging from an external cooler on the trans to more radiator up front.

If this were a truck, especially a working truck my or if you use this car to tow a boat or something equally big, my recommendation would be to add an external cooler. Also, if you spend a lot of time in stop and go traffic I'd add a cooler with its own fan. Most tranny failures I've seen happen in stop and go freeway traffic.

Something I noticed here in Seattle, a place not know for its hot weather, is that the temperature under my truck on a high 80's to mid 90's summer day can get up to 150 degrees of air temperature in stop and go traffic. I discovered that when I was going to install a trans oil pan temp gauge and ran out of time to pull the pan and weld in a plate for the sender. So I left the sender wired to the crossmember and on hot days it read a lot of air temp under there.

Bogie

 

Considering the amount of vehicles on the highways today that have the tranny coolers in the radiator, you must be the MOST unfortunate person I know! Personally, I have never seen this happen on any of my car's or trucks I have ever owned which is conservatively about 30 in my 45 yrs of driving.
Dam the bad luck. I feel for you and can understand why your "gun shy"

I never had it happen to me.. But I have seen it more then once happen to others... ain: It does happen..

 

The debates already started it seems. I`ve had all kinds of the strangest stuff happen automotive wise but it`s taught me alot in the process. My belief is still a big external cooler on it and keep getting up. Sure I`ve heard about placing the tranny in "thermal shock" that will crack the case and yeah the world will end. Being I live in the deep south I know plenty about hot tempatures and humidity. But it gets plenty cold down here as well. In 2000, I bought a used, unknown number of miles TH350 lockup tranny. It had never been overhauled either. I installed a medium size external cooler and ran that tranny until 2007, placing over 70,000 hard miles on it and about 50 drag strip runs. The car spent time in the dead of winter in michigan in Feb. Never once did that tranny ever give me any issues.
I sold the tranny in 2008 and it`s still in use by the new owner.
Why I don`t like internal coolers:
1. Dead of winter, interstate, 70 mph. Radiator splits, coolant gone, being it`s winter and high speed, you can go a considerable distance before it runs hot. But, there`s no coolant in the radiator to cool the tranny fluid resulting in a cooked tranny. Exactly what happened on a 86 buick park avenue we used to have.
2. I would rather depend on 100 degree circulating air to cool tranny fluid over 180 degree coolant.
3. If the rad`s tranny cooler has never been flushed (like, who does this?) disconnect the upper and lower lines. Connect high pressure cleaner to the upper internal cooler inlet. or just blast it with a pressure washer. What comes out is white crap that`s really thick, it looks like cottage cheese.
This was what we found when we did my fathers radiator in his 98 GMC pickup that at that time had 100,000 miles on it. But I`ve did other Chevy trucks in those same year models with less miles and got the same results.
Now, not to say any of this can happen to anyone. But it`s happened to me and I do not perfer to go through it again. The inner cooler popping and coolant getting forced in the tranny is what happened to my 79 Z28 which caused it to puke fluid out of the dipstick, land on the header and smoke out the neighborhood where I had to sink down in the seat from the embarrassment. No thanks. Not signing up for that again as I hate to do work and spend a load of money on a transmission overhaul when I could have spent $50 on a external cooler and avoided it all.

 

trans coolers

the vehicles equiped with an added factory aux cooler after the radiator have faired better upon teardown at my shop.bearings,seals etc.oem does it this way for a few reasons.in cold weather the rad will help get fluid temp up.cold fluid is hard to move through small places.in hot weather especialy performance or towing apps the fluid comes from the converter and out of the trans at up to 300 degrees.the radiator nor would an auxilliary cooler alone be able to bring this temp down.it works when you put it through the radiator first to take the first hit and on to the auxilliary to bring it further down.this is best all around for different climates.

 

I use one of these;

The trans, TH700R4, still takes a long time to heat up.
I also have an auxuillary cannister type filter in the system too.