Aux trans oil cooler for deep pan

ITSAV6

It's my Granny's car!
Joined
Nov 13, 2001
Saw a racer the other who had a deep pan on his turbo 400 and had 2 trans coolers up front but the second cooler had a diff cooler pump and pulled fluid out the pan thru the 2nd cooler and back to the pan. Had a manual switch for between rounds and a temp switch set foe 180.
Anyone ever try this?
 
Don't quite understand what yer describing.
Running an auxiliary cooler is always a good idea.
Cant see a transmission getting all that hot 1/4 mile racing.
Towing a trailer yes
 
Saw a racer the other who had a deep pan on his turbo 400 and had 2 trans coolers up front but the second cooler had a diff cooler pump and pulled fluid out the pan thru the 2nd cooler and back to the pan. Had a manual switch for between rounds and a temp switch set foe 180.
Anyone ever try this?


I think guys at track are doing that bc they're probably loading the trans up on the brake etc. You would have to monitor your temps to see what you need to do. I run factory and external cooler.
 
Yes. I have this set-up.

I have a standard trans cooler up front between the air dams (no intercooler scoop in that location, I have a front mount). It's a Setrab with a fan. The fan is on a switch. I just flip it when I want (mostly when I'm stuck in NY traffic on a hot day). I like to see about 180 degrees on my trans temps as often as I can make it so.

Then the other cooler is set-up like this............
I have an aluminum sheet metal pan on my 400. I had two 1/2" bungs welded into the pan. On the inside of one of the bungs (the one designated as the outlet to the pump) I had a tube extension welded on it so I could slip on an old O-ringed type stainless element fuel filter over it on the inside. This protects large particles from going through the pump. The pump is a Tildon positive displacement unit. It's about the size and shape of an alky pump. It is mounted near the trans on the underside of the floor pan favoring the frame rail. It draws fluid through the filter, out of the pan, and pumps it through #6 braided lines to a large B&M cooler I have hung-mounted out back. This cooler also has a fan on it. Both the pump and fan for this set-up are on a single switch that comes directly from the battery power with 10 gauge wire and a 30 amp fuse. This way the system can remain running even when the master is killed and the car is powered down.

This whole set-up is kinda overkill. But I had all of the stuff lying around except the pump. Then all I needed was the pump and I got that cheap from a guy who lost interest in his project. The benefit to all this is I can cool the trans down in minutes. Whether the car is running or not on any temperature day. Also it can be used while driving to help things along after a blast on the highway. And if I want to tune on the trans brake a little, I just turn everything on and I don't have to worry much about burning up the trans. Yes, it only cools the fluid in the pan. But when you start her up it runs through and helps cool it all down anyway.

The downside is that the pump is loud. But so is everything else on my ride. I would also complain about adding more weight. Possibly 25 pounds or so. But what the hell. I'm at 3535 lbs with me in it. I can afford little bit I guess.

PS. I don't have a temp switch in the mix. I prefer to handle that myself.
 
Yes. I have this set-up.

I have a standard trans cooler up front between the air dams (no intercooler scoop in that location, I have a front mount). It's a Setrab with a fan. The fan is on a switch. I just flip it when I want (mostly when I'm stuck in NY traffic on a hot day). I like to see about 180 degrees on my trans temps as often as I can make it so.

Then the other cooler is set-up like this............
I have an aluminum sheet metal pan on my 400. I had two 1/2" bungs welded into the pan. On the inside of one of the bungs (the one designated as the outlet to the pump) I had a tube extension welded on it so I could slip on an old O-ringed type stainless element fuel filter over it on the inside. This protects large particles from going through the pump. The pump is a Tildon positive displacement unit. It's about the size and shape of an alky pump. It is mounted near the trans on the underside of the floor pan favoring the frame rail. It draws fluid through the filter, out of the pan, and pumps it through #6 braided lines to a large B&M cooler I have hung-mounted out back. This cooler also has a fan on it. Both the pump and fan for this set-up are on a single switch that comes directly from the battery power with 10 gauge wire and a 30 amp fuse. This way the system can remain running even when the master is killed and the car is powered down.

This whole set-up is kinda overkill. But I had all of the stuff lying around except the pump. Then all I needed was the pump and I got that cheap from a guy who lost interest in his project. The benefit to all this is I can cool the trans down in minutes. Whether the car is running or not on any temperature day. Also it can be used while driving to help things along after a blast on the highway. And if I want to tune on the trans brake a little, I just turn everything on and I don't have to worry much about burning up the trans. Yes, it only cools the fluid in the pan. But when you start her up it runs through and helps cool it all down anyway.

The downside is that the pump is loud. But so is everything else on my ride. I would also complain about adding more weight. Possibly 25 pounds or so. But what the hell. I'm at 3535 lbs with me in it. I can afford little bit I guess.

PS. I don't have a temp switch in the mix. I prefer to handle that myself.
That's pretty much his setup.
 
That's pretty much his setup.
I'm somewhat surprised you have run into someone with a similar set-up. I got a lot of "your crazy" comments on this set-up from many hardcore racers and street guys alike.

I guess then that makes 2 of us.
 
Don't quite understand what yer describing.
Running an auxiliary cooler is always a good idea.
Cant see a transmission getting all that hot 1/4 mile racing.
Towing a trailer yes
Oh, it certainly does! Especially with 800+ HP and a trans brake. And for guys like me without a truck and trailer......I want to drive it home.
 
I'm somewhat surprised you have run into someone with a similar set-up. I got a lot of "your crazy" comments on this set-up from many hardcore racers and street guys alike.

I guess then that makes 2 of us.
Not a damn thing crazy about what you do. One look at your car and ---- well you know!
 
Thank you. :shame:

But I think, if nothing else, looking at my car definitely verifies that I am crazy!:wacky::wacky::wacky:
Joesy your not crazy, I've been around for a lot of years. Seriously you have one of the nicest bad ass Buicks I have ever seen inside and out. Damn cool car. Nobody has anything on you.
 
Joesy your not crazy, I've been around for a lot of years. Seriously you have one of the nicest bad ass Buicks I have ever seen inside and out. Damn cool car. Nobody has anything on you.
Thank you again. I don't even really know how to respond to this comment.

There are so many people I thank for doing it first and sharing what they know. I remember not knowing where the fuel cap was when I went to fill it's tank the first time! I'm running out of steam though. It's hard to keep up.

One day, I hope in my retirement, I can do it all over from scratch.
 
Ive seen joeys set up in person its pretty trick!!
 
Joey, how do you size the Setrab style coolers? I've seen several and they come in dozens of sizes. I don't see any BTU ratings like the Hayden, TruCool, etc. Earls has some nice looking ones but no info on their cooling.
 
Joey, how do you size the Setrab style coolers? I've seen several and they come in dozens of sizes. I don't see any BTU ratings like the Hayden, TruCool, etc. Earls has some nice looking ones but no info on their cooling.

Just in case you missed it obove, only the one up front is a Setrab. The one out back is a B&M. I wish I could give you some technically useful information, but I can't. I just bought the biggest one I had the space for. Actually, I bought two of them and they both have fans on them. The other one is for engine oil (Yes, I know. More overkill).

Let me explain.....
You see, I have the 4 inch outlet pipe off my intercooler exiting the center of its bottom tank. This ends up dead-smack middle of the underside of the radiator support. This of course, would normally be the factory location for the IC scoop. So using the factory air dam returns, I built my own scoop in that location. Then I placed both the trans and oil coolers symmetrically on both sides of the outlet pipe. So as it turns out, I used two of these shown in the link below.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...ahUKEwj7tJThoJXSAhUi34MKHYZkCbcQwg8IPg&adurl=
 
Ive seen joeys set up in person its pretty trick!!
As always...Thank's again!
BTW...
I'm going to have to try very hard getting back in the mix again for this spring. You won't believe how much I miss you guys. But sometimes the hits just keep coming.
 
OK, I found a chart for Earls coolers.
 

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As always...Thank's again!
BTW...
I'm going to have to try very hard getting back in the mix again for this spring. You won't believe how much I miss you guys. But sometimes the hits just keep coming.
Don't worry we are thinking bout ya, track rental is in June :)
 
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