I had a B&M tranny cooler installed a few months ago on my 01 Auto GT. Weather never really got above 60* for those months so my tranny temp never got higher than about 150*.

About 3 weeks ago one of my return lines to the tranny cooler had that tightening clamp thing come lose (don't know what it's properly called but you can either take a wrench or a flat head screw driver and tighten around a hose). So I put a new one on, added more tranny fluid to proper amount and leak went away. (Some of you might remeber my slight tranny problem couple weeks ago).

In the last week it's gotten REALLY humid and reaching low 90's here in Southern Ohio. During stop and go city driving my tranny temp gauge sometimes gets up to 200*'s after about 40 min of driving. It's reached about 205 at the highest but stays there. Usually it gets to about 195 and that's the highest. If I drive on the highway the temp will drop down to a constant 165* in less than 10 min of cruising if it's at 200*'s starting.

The weather has been abnormally hot and like previously said REALLY humid so I'm hoping it's just the humidity.

So is my tranny cooler working properly or is there anything I should do/check out? Reason asking is last summer it would get to about 210 max so if it's getting to 205 now, the tranny temp only kept it down 5*s????

I think Spike or someone said they had a B&M cooler on their F150 and it never got above 180*

 

It depends on where you mounted it and the airflow its getting. If its not in direct airflwo it wont cool nearly as well.

I had this on ym f150 never over 180* ever.

 

Your cooler is probably working just fine. Those temps aren't out of the norm for the temps you're driving in. If you placed the cooler in front of the radiator it'll work best. If you place it somewhere else and stick a switched fan on it you'll get the temps you seem to be looking for.

Don't compare your temps to other people's. You'll never be comparing apples to apples. It's all in how and where you mount it and what kind of weather and driving you're hitting it with. Simply passing fluid through a radiator shaped thingie isn't goiing to do much. Air has to pass over it in large quantities to make it efficient.

Oh yeah... and why don't you get some AN lines and fittings and convert that hose clamp nonsense to something durable and reliable.

 

It is front left in front of the raidator.

thanks guys

 

if it's off to one side you won't get full cooling effect but that's aside from the point. 200deg is ok...at least it's not 250.

Step 1, do the AN line conversion. When you don't have to worry about connections leaking you're a lot happier in general. AN isn't cheap but it's 100% worth it. Don't over tighten the connections either... that usually causes problems like leaks and severed hoses when you can least afford them.

Step 2, put a high volume pusher fan in front of your cooler (up inside the bumper cover is a neat way) and hook it to a switch. Turn it on as needed.

 

What is this AN line conversion thing?

 

Worm Clamp for what its worth.

I'm embarking on my tranny cooler install this weekend. What size cooler did you go with?

 

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

Easy install.

Again, what's this AN line conversion?

 

sorry for the lag.

AN is a reference to a military standard for such things. It means Army Navy. Basically it's lines composed of braided stainless steel around either a rubber or teflon hose core with anodized aluminum or steel hose ends that thread together. They withstand abrasion lots better than just rubber and they hold gobs of pressure. The threaded hose ends make for easy and secure connections plus there's mad bling value. I use AN lines all over my car even though I don't have to. I can always be sure that my connections are solid and my install looks tight and clean.

Check out www.summitracing.com and search for "Earl's Performance Plumbing" at the main page.

 

Same one I went with. Yeah, the install is easy. Will be taking pictures for some of the other stangs.

 

redneck... if you could be even a bigger help, could you tell me or show me the link to the exact AN fittings I need? The two I'm looking at are the two plus at the top of cooler (in the pic it actually has them pointing downwards), these are where my inlet/outlet hoses are running right now.

I think I'm gonna keep the rubber hose (if I can) and just use the AN fittings. That stainless steal braided line ain't cheap. The Earl's Performance Plumbing priced a 6' line for $31.88, that was the shortest line I saw too.

Thanks man, I owe ya one!

 

AN fittings and hose ends require braided line. No way around that. Yes they're expensive. They're the best quality and longest lasting way to do that particular job. Tranny's tend to be somewhat high pressure and high temperature items though so why skimp.

You simply have to determine the size of hose you want and that will determine the -# value of hose and fittings. IIRC -1 would be 1/16th inch ID, -4AN is 4/16ths (1/4") ID and so on. Once you have the fitting and hose sizes, then you need to get the correct adapters for your cooler which is fairly simple. I just looked at the link for your cooler and it looks like it's got 3/8" NPT to barb fittings. So all you'd need is to remove those and install 3/8" to -6AN (summit #EAR-981666ERL) on the inlet and outlet. Then you hook your braided line to that and on to the tranny.

It's been a while since I've worked on an auto trans but IIRC they use flare unions at the tranny side so you can just get the correct pitch flare union to -6AN fitting and hook your hose ends to it. That'll totally replace all the lines. You'll want to get some hose mounting clamps like EAR-171003ERL to keep everything up and snug.

Don't forget to buy your line in as close to the lengths you're going to use it in as possible. Otherwise you'll have to cut it and that gets to be a PITA. They have a braided line cutter but I always use a cutoff wheel and a vise.

 

thanks so far.

what fittings do I need? As in AN to Pipe, AN to tube, etc.?

And I only need to buy 2 fittings, correct?

EDIT: Nevermind. So I just need two of those fittings that you gave me the Item number for... the AN to NPT fittings which attach to the cooler. then on the other end i should use those two clamps to secure the other end of the braided hose to the exisiting inlet/outlet tranny lines?

If this is correct, do the NPT fittings slide over the existing "studs" that are on the B&M cooler or do these screw out and I replace them with the NPT fittings?

Thanks again, this is really helpful, I'm gonna go outside right now to take a look at this.

 

this is a total replacement of all fittings and lines. You don't want to use barbs and worm clamps with braided line it looks like azz and tosses all that strength of connection out the window. It'll probably cost you a good 70 bucks or so by the time all is said and done.

The two fittings for the tranny side you'll have to do some research to find out. A call to your local Ford parts counter can usually find at least the thread pitch. I think they're inverted flare fittings but I'm not even close to certain.

The two hoses should be probably -6 in size and whatever length you need.

The first part number in my earlier post you'll need two of, those will replace the fittings that are already in the cooler and allow you to thread on the hose end female AN fitting. Straight -6 hose ends are part number EAR-800106ERL though you may need to get at least a couple of them in a 90deg bend like EAR-809106ERL. You'll need 4 hose ends total. Usually you'll need to have 2 90deg and 2 straight but that entirely depends on your install. Buy an extra so when you gall the first one putting it together you don't hose yourself on the rest of the install.

This is something you're going to want to research and learn. It's pretty basic stuff that you can pick up in a couple hours of surfing the web.

So you have to procure appropriate thread adapters, hose ends, lines and clamps. The clamps only hold the length of the hoses away from harm, they don't actually connect the ends to anything.

If you're unsure about it, find an experienced hot rodder in your area and offer him a six pack to help you out.

 

Wow, this is very useful! I think i'm gonna go order everything now...I didnt' realize our trannies got that hot!

 

Once again, thanks for all the help. I see how this will replace all the existing tubes for my tranny cooler and the extra length of hose that came with the B&M. I also see how this would add that "bling" you spoke of when looking down and seeing that stainless braided line. I've see my tuner do some work with the braided lines and adding those AN fittings (not realizing that's what they were until I saw the pics on summit). I'll bring the car to my tuner, put it on the lift, and be able to the work there myself with his tools if needed. Of course he'll be able to help if I have questions/concerns. Again, thanks a TON for this help.

I asked a lot of questions but was hoping this would help some other automatic guys. Looks like I'll need about 3' per line (outlet and inlet).

Also, I was looking into doing an electric switch fan in front of my B&M cooler. However the A/C?? lines run right in front of the radiator (my B&M is right inbetween the A/C lines and the radiator, about 10mm gab between each) so there is no room for a fan:censored: I believe it's the A/C lines? I think that's what my tuner told me they were.

Thanks again, good friend!

BTW r3dn3ck your the $hit

 

they don't get "that hot" unless you're hard on them. Nonetheless, if you're gunna do things, do em' big. Noone will ever accuse you of spending too much time on attention to detail.

Since you have the cooling arrangement you do, you might consider something like a high flow aftermarket fan. I'll bet you can find one that'll snap right in and flow a ton more air, letting you run cooler overall.

I had it easy on mine... I just had to plumb an oil cooler. Making the lines for that was expensive as hell. 2 -8 lines at 6' each plus fittings and pipe tape.

 

The thing is there is no room for an aftermarket fan to be attached to the cooler?

 

I mean replacing the stock radiator fan with a more powerful unit. You don't need to have it in front.. a puller fan will work just as well. You just want to increase overall airflow.

 

I gotcha... I saw some tranny coolers by B&M with their own fan so that's why I thought that.

Any good new powerful radiator fan's that you recommend off the top of your head?

And is that really worth it?

 

unless you like to open track or auto cross, I don't know that you really need it. Still, you can never have enough cooling capacity in a hard driven stang.

Derale, BeCool, Flex-a-lite are all good. Check out summit's site.