B@M Hi-Tek transmission cooler

[ETomlin]

Has anyone had experience with one of these coolers, I'm planning on trying one on my truck (07 5.9 ). My TM runs about 190-195 while pulling 15k 5th wheel camper. In trafic it gets up around 215 and I cut the AC off. I looked at the ProWeld Preformance web sit, they have a complete kit advertised with installation instruction with it. Also a few testamonies a to how good they work.

 

[cerberusiam]

I would not do the extra cooler without working on the transmission. Gutting the drain back valve, shift kit, etc. It should help in the traffic conditions to cool it down. I would set it to come on at 190 degrees.

 

[ETomlin]

I don,t know much about the TM layout, is the drain back valve extenal or do i have to remve the pan and/or valve body to remove it? Thanks for the feed back.

 

[GHedger]

I have ran one on my 01 and it has been a good cooler. I bypassed the t-stat on it and turned it on via a switch. My 01 was a plow truck for many years and the cooler has held up well in the salty Illinois winters. I do agree that mods mentioned in the previous posts are highly recommended IMO. Now that my truck has been retired of its ''work duties'' it is going though a complete chassis off rebuild and I am installing a second B&M cooler next to the 5 or 6 year old B&M that been on the truck. The two coolers will be bed mounted. Maybe I will start a new thread on the rebuild.

 

[cerberusiam]

Drain back valve is in the TC cooler line under the driver side battery. It is the line with the union in it.

 

[DaveHess]

That drain back valve is a mother puss bucket to gut. I didn't complete mine. The brass is too soft to drill even holding it with vise grips. I even dulled the cutting edges of the drill bit so it wouldn't bite so quick on the valve to no avail. Needless to say but my drain back is still there. I am going to eventually remove the whole section of line and use transmission hose in it's place. I only need to replace about 6 to 8". I too was contemplating adding another cooler below or next to the factory unit.

 

[ETomlin]

Thanks for all the feed back. I think i'm going to try one. I plan on doing away with the factory cooler and TC cooler all together. I'm going to mount mine under the bed off of the frame rail. Don't mean to change the subject, but I was reading about the smarty programmer. Other members stated the trucks with AT didn't like them very well(funny shifts). Is there a better programmer for the trucks with AT?

 

[cerberusiam]

That single cooler will not be enough to keep things cool if you tow, or, in traffic. Not anywhere near enough surface area to shed the heat as the air to fluid coolers are so inefficient. If you thin it is hot now you won't like the result with that single cooler. They ar enot meant to be promary cooling, only aux. If you use it plumb it into the return line of the trans cooler so it activates when the temp gets too high. I would set it to come on at about 180 in the return line.

 

[SnoKing]

Where are you reading transmission fluid temps? Trick to keeping 47/48RE temps low when towing is to keep torque converter clutch locked. Stop and go I shift to neutral a lot each time stopped. Lower stall speed TQers build heat fast in gear when stopped. Snoking

 

[ETomlin]

cerberusiam, If i tie this exta cooler in with the stock system under my bed(off of the return line), will the pump handle this seven foot loop added in. I will check on a 180d t-state for the cooler. I want to ask you about bypassing the TC cooling block on the DS of the motor(That what i was told it was). Because the engine coolant runs through this block for the heat tranfer. My engine is running at 200d, how can this help my TM stay cool? Cant remember if this is in the return line. Will have to go look. Snoking, Ill try putting my truck in neutal at stop lights. I dont have the set up to man lock up my TC, dont know if i want it. Ive read its not good to shift with the TC locked. I get my temp readings from an edge insight, off of a sensor in the valve body. I have a magtec deep pan Im getting ready to install, I have another temp sensor i plan to install with it for a second reading. Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

 

[cerberusiam]

Without adding a shift kit to boost the pressures the extra length and friction on the added cooler circuit is questionable. Thats the real problem with doing it as the current system, flow, and pressures are designed for what is there with no additions. The return flow form the cooler directly cools and lubes all the thrust washers, planetaries, and the main drive train pieces of the transmission. Any reduction there has some real downsides. I definitely would not an extra cooler without removing the drainback check ball and highly recommend a shift kit to boost the pressures and flow.

The routing of the fluid to the cooler or back to the sump is controlled by a shuttle valve that has prest pressures fro the flow in the transmisison. In fluid coupling only about 10 psi of the available pressure is routed thru the cooler. That goes to 50 psi when the TC locks. Obviuosly TC locked is the more desirable condition for cooling. While you really can't chnage the psi on the shuttle valve the higher pressures equate to high flow thru the system so you do get a boost in cooler flow with a shift kit. That helps cool things better and allows adding extra cooling without impacting flow.

That is why a lot of people add the manual lockup switch to override in conditions where it is needed, like low speed high load conditions where you can maintain a constant speed. Doesn't work well at all in stop and go traffic but is more intended for crawling out of campgrounds on switch backs or slower gravel roads out of remote areas.

By manually selecting a gear then locking the TC you can mitigate a lot of heating problems if you encounter the above situations. You are correct, you really don't want to shift locked to locked as that is pretty hard on the stock trans. If you need to shift out the manual selected gear unlock the TC then lock it again.

The heat exchanger is the first component in the cooling system after the fluid leaves the trans. It is done that way beacuse it is the most efficienct at removing heat, the fluid to fluid coolers are somewhere in the 90% range of heat transference in a pretty small package. The air to fluid coolers like what is out front are 10 imes larger yet are only about 40% effective at transfering heat in the fluid. Even though the heat exchnager is using engine coolant at engine temp of around 190 degrees it will still bleed a lot of heat out of the trans fluid. It is no unusual to see 230-240 degrees at the fornt cooler output line in a hard pull. The heat exhanger will pull that down to somewhere around 200 degrees and the front cooler, given enough air flow, will take another 40 degrees off the fluid temp. Cooing the trans driven train and bushing will add another 20-30 degrees back so you see pan temps in the 190 range as the desired point. That is in lockup mode. In fluid coupling most of the fluid is dumped to the sump for use in the TC so it doesn't get cooled. You have 230-240 degree fluid being dumped uncooled into probably a 1/4 or less cooled fluid by volume in those conditions. Easy to see why pan temps skyrocket when the TC is unlocked.

Even with a fan on a fluid to air cooler it just will not overcome the heat generated in certain circumstances. In reality, an aux cooling system probably should have its own pump and circuit into and out of the pan for the best effect. That way you don't mess with the trans lube circuit. The downside is another pump, lines, and wiring to install\maintain.