Atomatic trans oil cooler mounting ideas

[LouisT]

I thought I was being pretty smart my mounting a 16 row fan powered transmission oil cooler on the right front fender. Fits really nice and looks way good. Problem is I neglected to consider the under-hood heat. You can't cool 240 oil in a 200 plus degree environment all that well. Thought about mounting it like Stroppe did on Baja Brouncos but this cooler is too large and it would hang down a little too much. So, I seem to remember someone saying they mounted one under the body between the transfer case and rear gas tank inside the frame rails. Seems like a good idea. Anyone done this or something other?

 

[phred]

Mine is mounted where the washer tanks used to be. I made a sheet metal scoop that pokes out just below the grille that allows the fan to pull fresh air from the outside. I also made a sheet metal heat shield that separates the cooler from the hot engine bay. No pics of it on my photo. Sorry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pcf_mark]

I mounted mine on the passenger side floor with a fan. Stayed cooled very short plumbing. I put a rubber washer under the mounting bolts through the floor because it would buzz/vibrate with the fan. I do not go off road but I drive in snow and it never seemed to get clogged with snow or anything. I think it was naturally too warm.

 

[DJs74]

I have two auxiliary coolers on mine - my radiator has no provisions for a cooler.
I mounted one to the inside of the radiator with an electric fan blowing through the radiator and into the cooler and one about 18" behind the transfer case on the passenger side frame.
Any location that will provide some air flow and protection from flying debris or getting poked, stepped on, kicked, etc. is probably safe.

Viperwolf helped me solve my placement strategy a while back. I also added an inline filter with a magnet in the line just before going back into the transmission


DJs74

 

[5001craig]

I mounted my Derale 15875 in the back. Everyone thinks it looks weird but it's the best place to mount it IMO. I have plans to build a tailgate that will kind of hide it but still let the heat out. Funny thing is I'm thinking of mounting my Derale 13402 steering cooler (and possibly my engine oil cooler I don't have yet) back there too.

Maybe it looks better in the dark?

 

[DirtDonk]

Maybe 904 will chime in and show pics of his recently plumbed '71. It's pretty clean and sanitary and very factory looking.
I would do it for him, but for some reason my iPhone isn't on speaking terms with my computer today.
ugh...

Paul

 

[welndmn]

I don't have a drive side AUX gas tank, my coolers are there.

 

[DirtDonk]

Here 'tis. Hopefully he doesn't mind me posting up his work.
I still owe him a stock bumper, so maybe I'm safe until delivery.



Beautiful work as always.

Paul

 

[jw0747]

Mine is mounted on the passenger inner fender and has been there for 8+ years and it does the job. You might consider cutting a hole in the inner fender under the cooler and mount a metal vent plate over the hole on the outside inner fender just above the tire. Metal vent plate like the ones at Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[broncoman1972]

Mine is mounted at the front of the LF fenderwell also. I haven't made any kind of ductwork for diverting air. After seeing the IAT readings since my EFI swap I am considering moving the cooler under the truck as well as capturing outside air for the engine. I have a fuel cell in the rear so I have both fuel tank locations open that I may decide to use. I'll be watching here for ideas and post what I decide to do.

 

[blubuckaroo]

It seems to me that the best place for a tranny cooler would be in front of the radiator.
If you replace the old rag-tag hood release with a remote hood release, it frees up lots of space.

 

[ZOSO]

I had mine mounted on the top of the drivers inner fender for many years. it worked fine there. I didnt cut out the fenderwell either. Added a 1" spacer under the fan mounts to space it up just a touch. I have since moved it to under the bronco inside the frame between the tcase and gas tank on the drivers side. It works just as well under there.

 

[englewoodcowboy]

If you have room you can ditch the electric fan and mount it in front of your radiator.

 

[savage]

I mounted mine in front, like the pic Paul posted. But I see you have a fan on yours, so it might not fit between the grill.

 

[5001craig]

It seems to me that putting it in front of the radiator just makes everything behind it work that much harder?

 

[blubuckaroo]

It seems to me that putting it in front of the radiator just makes everything behind it work that much harder?

If that teenie 3/8" coolant line for the tranny carries enough heat to bother your radiator, you have other problems.
Actually the most efficient cooling for your tranny is the factory type cooler in the radiator tank.
Sure, adding an additional air type cooler can be a good idea, but certainly don't eliminate the factory liquid type cooler.
It takes a huge air type to replace it.

 

[LouisT]

Thanks Guys! All good ideas! However, the thought that the radiator cooler is good enough is a little off I'm afraid. The radiator cooler really isn't a cooler at all but instead is really a method to warm up the trans fluid. When you look at one, it's only about 4" long and maybe an 1" in diameter. Probably just driving on asphalt at posted speeds it's ok but running in the dirt, hills, towing, crawling or pretty much anything else you would ask your Bronco to do it's just way too small. You'll burn a fluid trans to the ground running in the rough and crawling in just a very few miles. An auto trans makes tons of heat when crawling and towing. I can hit 260 after about 30 minutes of slow crawling. This is why all the truck manufacturers install heavy duty coolers with towing packages, on motor homes and commercial trucks. It's just a must have.

I think I'll try the mounting idea under the back seat area, under the truck. I would like to put it in front of the radiator but I do have AC and dual tanks but the cooler is too big and cost way too much to toss. Even with the fan removed it's still pretty thick. I'll come back and let y'all know how it went! Thanks!

 

[Viperwolf1]

the thought that the radiator cooler is good enough is a little off I'm afraid. The radiator cooler really isn't a cooler at all but instead is really a method to warm up the trans fluid.

It does cool the fluid. Just think, when everything is fully warmed up. Fluid is coming out of the trans at about 200 degrees. The trans cooler is on the cold side of the radiator (unless you have a reverse flow champion radiator) and should be around 130-140 degrees.

The radiator cooler does one thing very well that no radiator mounted external cooler can though. That is, it can quickly reduce high trans temps when the load is suddenly reduced on the cooling system. For example, say you're driving I-80 across the rocky mountains. Going up the long, steep passes will raise your trans temp. Once you start going down the pass the engine coolant quickly cools but the external cooler doesn't. It takes a long time for the trans temp to recover from those passes. If the in-tank cooler was plumbed along with the external cooler the trans temp recovers much quicker to get the trans ready for the next uphill section.

 

[broncoman1972]

The trans cooler is on the cold side of the radiator (unless you have a reverse flow champion radiator)

Now that I think about it a little more, I do have this radiator and I wonder if I should have my local radiator shop move the cooler to the cold side then attach run the fluid through there then an external either in front of the radiator or elsewhere with a fan just in case. The PO of my truck had bypassed the radiators cooler, added the external and put an electric fan in front of the radiator to assist with cooling. Coolant temps would still climb under hard crawling conditions. Now that I have the Champion radiator and explorer fan setup my coolant temps have never gone above 189* with no external fan assistance. Maybe if I correct the internal cooler position I could add it back into the loop and increase my trans cooling.

 

[LouisT]

It was way late last night! I didn't mean to say the integral oil cooler did not act as a cooler, it just does not seem to be doing me much good. But engines needing to make lots of torque have an auxiliary trans oil cooler as the general rule.

So, before I take all the trouble to relocate the Derale cooler, I now think I'll speed the water pump up a little to check how this helps. I've found even moderate periods of high idle, near 1000 to 1200 rpm functions to drag down the water temps. So, we'll just see how well an integrated trans oil cooler actually performs with cooler water. I'll be back after this gets completed Thanks!