It is a little difficult to read but here is the rest of the first page of that thread. I think the second page is lost.
pleiad7
Joined: 04 Apr 2004
Posts: 3581
Location: The backroads of Sonoma County
PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:19 pm Post subject: Re: 4EAT tranny cooler install
Reply with quoteSuperRu wrote:
I’ve noticed about 10 degree temp drop in normal light around town driving. Prior to the install I’d see about 175 degrees, now I see about 165.
Shocked
Wow, your tranny gets hot! Is that under normal driving? Mine rarely gets over 140 degrees under normal to spirited conditions; I've got the temp sensor in the tranny drain plug.
Sometimes I can drive two thirds of my commute (~10 miles) before my temp gauge will change from displaying "trans temp low" (<110 degrees) to an actual temperature readout.
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Silke
MY04 Forester XT PP ~ "Subed"
SuperRu
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PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 4:02 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes, this is under normal city stop and go city driving. I've seen 200 when racing through the mountains twisties. The normal operating temperature for our trannys is 154 to 176 according to the owners manual, but the service manual says 140 to 176. I'm using one VDO gauge with the same type senders for both oil and tranny temp. They both seem to read consistently.
Do you think mine might read a little high and yours a little low? Do you have oil temp too? If so what type of reading do you get?
Anyhow, with my high readings I'm glad to have the additional cooling.
Do you think it might be because you are all cooler on the west coast? Very Happy Laughing
Richard
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AaronB
5th Level Forester
Joined: 07 Dec 2004
Posts: 152
Location: AZ
PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 5:10 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Great post! Especially since I will be doing this in the next week or two. I also ordered the B & M cooler you mentioned.
SuperRu
Moderator
PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2005 5:23 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks and good luck on your install.
Contact me if I can be of assistance,
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Richard
pleiad7
I'm the seventh sister
PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2005 5:44 am Post subject: Reply with quote
SuperRu wrote:
Do you think mine might read a little high and yours a little low? Do you have oil temp too? If so what type of reading do you get?
It's possible that they're reading differently. My engine oil temp is usually around 200 degrees (anywhere between 195 and 205 depending on conditions). What's yours?
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Silke
MY04 Forester XT PP ~ "Subed"
SuperRu
Moderator
PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2005 6:38 am Post subject: Reply with quote
My oil temp runs 185 to almost 220 when pushed real hard.
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AaronB
5th Level Forester
PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 9:06 am Post subject: Reply with quote
Richard,
Thanks again for the write-up. I installed mine this weekend referencing your instructions. The only things I observed are:
1. I put mine a couple inches further over on the driver's side. This actually made things more difficult as the hose routing was harder to keep them from getting kinked. It was too close to the upright support. So your location is better.
2. I used the provided hardware to install it. I removed the top radiator supports and pulled the radiator out of the bottom holes. The gave just enough room to run the provided plastic straps/clips to run through the AC Condenser and mount up the tranny cooler in front (although my hands look like a went 10 rounds with a cheese grater). I used the provided adhesive pads to space the tranny cooler 1/8" away from the condenser as recommended by B & M.
3. Have a rag or something available to collect the used ATF that will dribble out when you unhook the return line. It isn't much, but enough to make a mess if you aren't expecting it.
4. The line provided by B & M was a bit of a pain to get over the metal return line, but with time it slid on. It doesn't help that everything will be slippery from ATF.
The B & M kit is well thought out and I didn't need anything else, other than fluid, to install the kit.
Regards,
Aaron
SuperRu
Moderator
PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2005 2:06 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Glad your install went well. Smile
I had the a fun weekend of mountain driving and was very pleased with the reduction in tranny oil temp. A third gear spirited mountain climb with periodic down shifts into second resulted in a max tranny temp of only 180. Before the cooler it would it be pushing 200.
AaronB wrote:
4. The line provided by B & M was a bit of a pain to get over the metal return line, but with time it slid on. It doesn't help that everything will be slippery from ATF.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
I forgot to add to my post that I heated the hose ends with a hair dryer and then they were easier to install.
Any pictures of your install Aaron?
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silverghost
Forester Convert
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
Posts: 11
Location: Fair Oaks
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2005 1:20 pm Post subject: Hose routing Reply with quote
Great thread. I was curious how you hooked up the hoses to the cooler for the best cooling.
Incoming (hot) oil to the bottom of cooler so it comes out of the top OR
Incoming oil to the top of cooler so it comes out of the bottom port on the cooler.
Thanks!
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SuperRu
Moderator
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2005 1:40 pm Post subject: Re: Hose routing Reply with quote
silverghost wrote:
Great thread. I was curious how you hooked up the hoses to the cooler for the best cooling.
Incoming (hot) oil to the bottom of cooler so it comes out of the top OR
Incoming oil to the top of cooler so it comes out of the bottom port on the cooler.
Thanks!
Good question. For no particular reason other than it seemed right. I routed the incoming oil (the hose from the radiator) to the top of the cooler. The cooler bottom return line is attached to the metal return line.
Aaron how did you plumb yours?
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silverghost
Forester Convert
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 5:30 am Post subject: Reply with quote
I think I remember a long time ago I heard (from somewhere?) that when a tranny cooler was mounted this way if the hot oil was hooked up to the bottom hose and exited through the top, the oil would cool more efficiently because it would take longer to pass through the cooler. Just wanted to see if this was true is why I asked. Question
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AaronB
5th Level Forester
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 12:05 pm Post subject: Re: Hose routing Reply with quote
SuperRu wrote:
Good question. For no particular reason other than it seemed right. I routed the incoming oil (the hose from the radiator) to the top of the cooler. The cooler bottom return line is attached to the metal return line.
Aaron how did you plumb yours?
Richard
I hooked mine up the same way, I agreed that it just seemed to be the correct way to hook it up to me as well. I thought the B & M instruction diagrams showed it hooked up that way as well...
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MountainBiker
8th Level Forester
Joined: 29 Aug 2004
Posts: 405
Location: Sonoma County, CA, U.S.A.
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 3:01 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Silverghost has made a good point. Speaking theoretically:
If the input is on the bottom, then air will quite easily purge itself when the pump starts moving fluid. This can have the effect of keeping the fluid in the heat exchanger for longer. If the input is at the top, then air may stay trapped in the heat exchanger, since it is always trying to rise to the top as well. In this case, the fluid will "fall" through the air pocket, and be in there for a shorter period.
Speaking theoretically again, what if there is no trapped air in the heat exchanger? The hotter fluid is less dense, so it will "float" to the top. The higher density cold fluid will "fall" to the bottom. So in this case, the coolest fluid will be at the bottom, so that is a good place for it to exit and head back to the transmission.
If the fluid flow is quite fast, then air pockets may not be an issue?
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ducktapeguy
8th Level Forester
Joined: 21 Mar 2003
Posts: 415
Location: SoCal
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2005 3:23 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Both my inputs are on the bottom Embarassed I don't think it really matters too much anyway, I was wondering the same thing about what's the correct way to install them and if there is a problem with air bubbles, so I called the good people at B&M. He basically said it didn't matter, no matter how you install it, the air will purge itself once the car starts pumping tranny fluid through it. I think the fluid probably moves through the cooler at a fast enough rate that it doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the cooler, so any fluid movement due to convection (or is it conduction, no i think it's convection, shoot, I gotta go look it up, yup it's convection) is probably minimal.
Another issue that I was debating when i installed mine was where in the line do you mount the cooler? It could be series or parallel with the stock cooler, and before or after the stock one. It seems people mount them in every conceivable configuration, with good reasons for each. In parallel, you'll have less back pressure on the pump because the fluid will always take the path of least resistance, and you may or may not have better cooling, plus it acts as a bypass if something gets clogged. If done in series, some people say it's better to mount it before the stock cooler because in cold weather, the stock cooler acts as a heater to bring the tranny fluid up to temperature since it's in the radiator, so you won't overcool the fluid.
I ended up mounting it in series after the stock cooler (the most common method), because the stock cooler is a fluid to fluid heat exchanger (which is about 8 times more efficient than air to fluid), so most of the cooling is done in the stock cooler, and the B&M just provides additional cooling. I don't have to worry about overcooling the tranny, so bringing the fluid up to temperature didn't worry me too much.