What to do with my heat exchanger?

[ASTAR]

Ok, so I am putting a set of twins on my truck that I got from a member here. He had it on an AT truck also. I went to install the bottom turbo and it is hitting the heat exchanger. I emailed him about what to do but i figured I'd also ask here cause it is stopping me from getting my truck back together now.

What can i do? I don't want to lose any cooling efficiency from the transmission but I have to do something here.

Help!



Oh, and i did search...

 

[Hohn]

Ditch the OEM cooler and go to a relocated aftermarket piece. I like the Tru-cool and B&M super coolers myself. (stacked plate, vs fins)



jmo

 

[ASTAR]

Ditch the OEM cooler and go to a relocated aftermarket piece. I like the Tru-cool and B&M super coolers myself. (stacked plate, vs fins)



jmo

I considered that but I read this and figured I better not.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106494&highlight=move+heat+exchanger

 

[Stefan Kondolay]

I would try and keep the heat exchanger, if anything I would say that twin guys should have the heat exchanger and an aftermarket cooler.

 

[Hohn]

OK, maybe a *couple* aftermarket coolers?

 

[ASTAR]

Ok, thanks for the input and I think I'll go ahead and take that advice Stefan. Don't wanna risk any damage to my transmission.

Ok, so anyone know what to do with the exchanger? Do I just relocate it completely? I was thinking about trying to just rework the bracketry and hoses and end up with it lower, down by the frame?

Please help with this, i am not getting a reply from the one I bought it from so i don't know what he did and in the meantime, my truck is down.

 

[Morse]

Kendrick said I would need to relocate it to the drivers side. .

 

[B KIRK]

I relocated mine to the front, just under the rad. I was replacing my transmission lines and making them myself. Will be installing twins soon, so figured now was a good time to move it. Made a bracket to bolt to the front channel crossmember. You can just see the transmission lines in the pic in front of the oil pan. Then just rerouted the coolant lines. Can't see them in the pic. Also put a drain for the coolant there, as that is now the lowest spot. Works great. Now, just got to get them twins in!!!!!



#ad




Brad

 

[ASTAR]

Hey, that's the route I'll probably go. Do you have more pictures like of the bracket that is holding it up, the hose routing for the coolant lines and the hose routing for the transmission lines?

Thanks for the post!

 

[B KIRK]

First pic is the coolant hoses going to heat exchanger. Bracket is factory with bracket welded to it to bolt to crossmember.



Second pic is the coolant lines. Routed them down beside oil filter and made a bracket that bolts to AC compressor mount. Connected the lines to that bracket.



Third pic is transmission lines from heat exchanger and air cooler. Marked them to make it a little easier to see since everything is painted black.



Took some time to make, but it's stayin there for good.



Brad

 

[ASTAR]

Nice job, thanks for posting those Brad.

I removed the heat exchanger and removed all the factory bracketry. I am going to make some new brackets to bolt it into the same spot you did. Now it is just a matter of making new lines and hoses to get coolant and transmission fluid to it. I'll post pics when I get it done.

 

[justinp20012500]

Astar,



The truck the twins came off had the heat exchanger removed.



I also have mine removed and its been that way for a little over a year now with no porblems.



The heat exchanger is there for two things.



1. To heat the transmission fluid.

2. To cool the transmission fluid.



With HE in place my trans would run a constant 190* (same temp as the coolant)



Without the HE in place my truck will run at 150* cruising on a 100* day, and 190* sitting in traffic.



In the winter time it will run just shy of 130* cruising and right at 150* sitting in traffic.



Since you live in a very tempered climate (average temp of... 70*?)



It would be safe to say you can take off the heat exchanger without affecting the trans.



You do have a trans gauge right? (I use my trans gauge to tell me when the fluid needs to be chagned)







Justin

 

[ASTAR]

So, If I were to eliminate the heat exchanger, do i just cap off the ports that the coolant came from on the engine or do I route one to the other?

 

[justinp20012500]

So, If I were to eliminate the heat exchanger, do i just cap off the ports that the coolant came from on the engine or do I route one to the other?

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107208&highlight=exchanger



There are some pics of the water fitting that feeds the heat exchanger. YOu can use one from a standard trans dodge. (Standard trans trucks only have one outlet instead of two)





Justin

 

[ASTAR]

Well, I am going to end up living in Alaska for a while so I better utilize the heat exchanger. I plan to go from transmission, to heat exchanger, to stock cooler in the front, to an aux cooler under the bed like ICEMAN did on a thermal switch for the fan at 170* back into the transmission. I figure that should keep everything happy.

Thanks for the input though, I do appreciate it Justin. I would eliminate the heat exchanger if i was staying in sunny CA!