Plumbing in a Tranny Cooler...
 

For those of you all that have added an automatic transmission cooler, how did you tap it into the system?

Thanks to DBF's schematic and photos I can see the routing. Add it before the oil transfer. But physically how do you tap in? Cut the lines? What about fittings/clamps? Can the tranny lines be "adjusted" (OK bent) to hook into new lines with fittings?

And is forward of the rear port tire the best possible location or just the easiest?

Many thanks

Well, since nobody chimed in I figured this must have been an obvious question so I dove in and here's what happened:

Removed the line from the tranny to the oil cooler. Cut it after the OD switch (to use as a temp sender later) and installed a fitting to connect to hydraulic line. Ran that to the cooler under the bed and another hydraulic line from the cooler back to the oil cooler.

Then I loosened the rear line and started the truck to pump out the fluid. Added two more qts and ran again. Didn't measure it, just assumed it was all of it. But when I added 10 qts of amsoil (figured I'd make up the difference the cooler created by checking and adding on top of that) it was already full and way over. But a quick road trip showed no leaks [laugh] .

Dang. Guess I didn't completely get the TQ pumped clean, etc. Or I didn't figure in the X number of qts sitting in the coolers/lines/etc even though it sat and pee-ed for quite a while. I'll drain off the excess today and wire in the fan.

Sorry no one answered soon enough, but here goes anyway: Hottest part of the ATF is coming out of the front port, towards the cooler under the turbo, and it is at that point after that cooler that you want to cut into your 1/2" pipe and route ATF compatible hose to your new fan assist cooler (Derale brand or BM Racing brand, anywhere from $175-$285, respectively, and can be had through JC whitney on Derale and Jegs for BM. 10" round fans, 300 cfm. Get the T-stat that turns them on at 180 degrees and power to a key'ed on source, like your power windows) and back to the line you cut into. From there it is cooled, and depending if you have it, that now cooled line will get even further cooled at the front cooler behind your front grill, then head back towards the rear port of your transmission. If you ever want to add filtration to your ATF(see my pics for auxiliary ATF filtaration with Balwin filters) you want to tie in before it gets back to the tranny. I used Parker compresion fittings with hose barb ends. these fittings with the yellow band are made to hold onto your hose so tight, once the hose is on, it is not coming out so therefore you do not need clamps of any kind. You love your 1st gen, put the best that you can afford.

Sorry for all the information. You can never give enough on this topic, I feel!

Dang, I forgot the aux filter! That was something I had seen and was going to add in. Now I'll try and figure out where to splice it in! thanks!

Did you find those pics of the filter and the mounting system in my pics? I tried to plan ahead and make filter changes easy, while also being able to monitor filter pressures. I got this kit from www.dieselsite.com. It is made for the 99 and up powerstrokes. Even though you will see that I installed a bypass, you don't need to, 'cause the kit is designed to bypass when the filter gets very dirty. The mechanical bypass system is built into the housing, not the filter. After 15,000 miles of 2 hour commutes to and from work daily since last October, my fluid still looks brand new, smells new, and feels new.
Tapped into the line coming back from the front grill cooler, a few inches down from where it turns from hose to pipe, before the clip that holds both in and out pipes to the transmission. This clip is attached to one of the oil pan bolts. You'll have to disconnect the tranny lines from that clip if you are to cut the pipe( need room for the cut off tool spinning around)Again, all Parker compression fittings.

That set up looks nice. Wish I had thought ahead and plumbed an inline filter along the rail running from the tranny to the Derale cooler.

What about reduced flow? When I was "researching" which cooler to get, everyone harped on keeping 1/2" lines and not to restrict flow. You have two bypass systems but does the filter itself decrease flow any? Or is yours not "in-line" but instead siphons off from the normal fluid flow?

Under the housing there is a rated spring that is connected to a plunger stop. When your filter is starting to plug, the spring opens with suction pressure and forward pressure pushing, in other words an excess in negative pressure with overpowering positive moves the spring, opens the plunger stop, moving the oil another direction bypassing the filter. I ran 5/8" atf hose from my tap to the filter and back to the OEM 1/2" line. My purposely made by pass set up with the valve you see on my pics is 3/8", which will pass some oil, but still force the filter bypass to work because of the downsize in line. You will understand with my pics. That way, the ATF will eventually all get filtered. I have run this for 2 years now, and have done the same for a year to my 93 W250. No problems, just super clean ATF. Temps never over 210.