Bypass radiator cooler or not?

[87lc2/wo2]

I've looked into many transmission merchant's for advice when running an auxiliary transmission cooler for technical information; to run it inline with the factory cooler or to bypass it (keep in mind that I live in Hawaii where its typically 78 degrees to 92 on average). I've already installed my new transmission lines (PITA), a B&M Supercooler mounted in front of the condenser and plumbed the hoses as follows: Top line (feed) at the transmission went to the lower transmission port of my aluminum radiator cooler inlet. I installed a male 1/4 inch brass fitting with a barbed end to connect the rubber hose to the top of the transmission cooler tube. At the lower port of the Supercooler port, I connected another pre-cut hose to the barbed end of the 1/4 inch female/barbed end fitting which then goes to the (lower transmission line "return") return line. According to the instructions provided this was the recommended route to go for the 2004-R. The B&M Supercooler (part #70264) kit came with the correct fitting and transmission cooler hose and necessary hardware. I got a problem with the lower transmission (feed) line that goes into the aluminum radiator transmission cooler port. It's leaking. Do yoy think teflon tape would solve this? It threaded in without resistance, so I know its not stripped. Today I'll give it a try, probably gonna get a 1/4 inch female-1/4 inch male fitting to join the cooler line into the radiator cooler fitting to prevent this leak. I hate leaks! My car has been on car ramps for 3 weeks!

 

[87lc2/wo2]

Most imperative, what's your opinion on bypassing the radiator tranny cooler and just going with an auxillary cooler.

 

[Hyboost]

I worked at a transmission repair shop & we never recommended bypassing the radiator. Think about it. You are stuck in traffic, stop and go at a snails pace, the tranny is hot & getting hotter from all the stop & go, granted, not as hot as hard starts but hot just the same. The only thing cooling the fluid is the small amount of air that is being drawn from the fan (s). You are not moving fast enough to get a good cool stream of air, all you have is the hot air coming up from the asphalt. If you have a properly sized radiator installed & the engine temp only climbs to 180 of so, thats about where the tranny fluild is going to be at. Maybe lower if you have the aux cooler after the radiator. Then it might even run a little cooler.
That's the way we did it. Just make sure you flush the radiator correctly, prevent any other problems.

Never saw a tranny fail because it was too cool.....

 

[SSedan64]

I agree^^^
This has been asked many times. There are several threads covering this.
Water cools about 30 times better than air.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

I've been running a B&M supercooler with the fan attached all season and it is bypassed. It has an automatic thermostat but didn't like the way it let the temp climb before it turned the fan on so I put in a manual switch for it. Once the temp gets up to 160 I turn on the switch and it maintains that even in the hottest weather. I am running a PTC non lock up which from I am told will increase the trans temps a bit.

I have my trans temp gauge sender in the trans pan and use Dex 6 trans fluid in my Bison built trans. So far so good.

 

[87lc2/wo2]

Thanks Gentlemen for the advice. Having great responses from experts really assures me that I understand what options or alternatives I could obtain. Now, I really wished that I bought a cooler with a fan. You get what you pay for. So I am going that route currently and installed, but I have to get the pesky transmission feed line connection into the radiator to stop leaking. I'll try with teflon tape. Then I'll try a 1/4" female-male connector to bridge the two together. I hope this works.:redface: