Transmission cooler installation

[dethinboots]

Want to do this myself to save some money at the mechanics. I hear its relatively easy, but i have no idea how to do it. Any help is appreciated

[0rion]

yep....pretty easy. You'll have 2 lines from the transmission to the radiator. One is a high pressure crimped line and the other is a soft line clamped over a hard line.....this is your return line from the radiator back to the tranny and the one you want. Just go from the radiator through the cooler and back to the hard return line. I had to go buy a few extra feet of tranny line when I did mine and put the tranny cooler in front of the radiator.


There's a couple ways to skin this cat. Some will say bypass the radiator altogether and just use the cooler and some will say go to your cooler first then the radiator. Personally I'd rather have the radiator drop the initial temps down and then pass it through the cooler before sending it back to the tranny. If you run it to the cooler then to the radiator the coolest that fluid will ever get is the temp of your radiator coolant.

[pajeff02]

^^ This. Very easy to do.

[dethinboots]

Will i need any extra parts?

[dethinboots]

How do i secure it in front of the radiator?

[0rion]

the cooler will come with a couple long zip tie looking deals. There's a square block that goes on one side of the radiator to anchor it and then the zip ties go through the fins to the other side to hold the cooler in place. I had to take mine out for some reason years ago and never put the ties back in. Mine just sits up there and hasn't moved in 10 years probably haha. After I pulled the ties I looked at how much movement it had and there was basically no movement without them so I just left it.
The only parts you may need are a few feet of extra tranny hose (make sure you get tranny hose and not oil cooler hose or something like that). Wait until you open the cooler and mock it up into place to see if you'll need more hose. Depends on how you route the hose and what not. The other thing you'll definitely need is more tranny fluid. Unfortunately it's been so long I don't remember how much extra fluid you would need but I want to guess about 2 quarts. Maybe someone with a fresher memory will chime in and let you know how much extra fluid you'll need.
Also....don't go all out and buy a $100+ cooler with a fan and all that....you don't need it. Get a decent permacool or B&M and you'll be fine. I want to say I run the permacool 16-18k and never see tranny temps over 180 even with the stall.

[dethinboots]

Grabbed a hayden cooler. Are these okay?

[pajeff02]

Absolutely.

[dethinboots]

Extra fitting? Cutting the metal tube?

[dethinboots]

How do i identify the transmission to and from?

[0rion]

see if this helps you

B&M Tranny Cooler Install - LS1GTO.com Forums

[dethinboots]

Different hose location for 2005 and 2006. Can anyone tell me which one is the return line to the tranny on the 2005?

[papousr60]

the return should be on the bottom or the bottom line.