Adding a new Tranny cooler to HD-MX

[Freightrain]

Cooling the fluid IS the idea behind it.
Here's the jist of the operation. With the common hookup of tranny cooling: either your set up or the other version where it goes thru radiator(actually separate tubes inside radiator), it used the temp of radiator to regulate the temp of tranny. Most auto tranny's run around 200-240(give or take) and the motor runs 195(give or take). SO, in running the tranny fluid around the water in radiator it is removing heat from tranny(since tranny temp is higher) and since the radiator is more than sufficient to disperse the added heat.
The tranny only needs to be COOLED, so plumbing the lines to a separate cooler hanging in front of radiator, gives it cool air flow. That is the only issue here, getting the fluid from tranny, out to something that can transfer heat out then return it to the tranny. Thus in turn cooling the tranny itself.

I hope this helps in letting you understand what is happening and how it works.

[DuckRyder]

I still am not sure if i should cool it with trans fluid though, I dont see why it would not work but....

I am not sure I follow your "cool it with trans fluid ", it is cooled by trans fluid now, it simply uses the engine coolant to take excess heat out of the fluid through the heat exchanger. The only difference in the MX and the C6 (or nearly any other auto transmission car/truck) is the location of the heat exchanger. The fundamental principles of operation remain the same.

I would only retain the ATF-Coolant heat exchanger if you run in very low ambient temperatures very frequently.

TCI has some good information:

http://www.tciauto.com/tech_info/faq.htm#1

[fordloaf]

[quote="DuckRyder"][quote="fordloaf"]
I still am not sure if i should cool it with trans fluid though, I dont see why it would not work but....[/quote]
I am not sure I follow your "cool it with trans fluid ", it is cooled by trans fluid now, it simply uses the engine coolant to take excess heat out of the fluid through the heat exchanger.

Let me get the straight. The transmission fluid in ANY transmission does not travel to the cooler (heat exchanger)? All coolers are just separate fluids that carry heat away from the transmission but is not THE transmission fluid?

[FORDification]

No. 99% of all automatic transmissions use the transmission pump to push the transmisison fluid through a cooler...whether it's a stand-alone cooler or it's built into the bottom of the radiator, like most are. Your Cruise-o-matic, however, is cooled with engine coolant (antifreeze) on it's return trip from the radiator, when it's at it's lowest temperature level. IT's an oddball setup that didn't work as well, which is why it didn't last long.

I've never messed with an Cruise-o-matic, so I have no idea whether or not there is some way of attaching steel lines to it so that you could have a stand-alone cooler (which runs the tranny fluid through the cooler) and get rid of the heat exchanger. However, I'd imagine (and you'll have to verify this for me) that the inlet and outlet sides of the exchanger are threaded. Once you remove the exchanger you should be able to attach steel lines in it's place and extend them up to a front-mounted cooler.

[DuckRyder]

Think of the heat exchanger as two tanks, one of transmission fluid and one of engine coolant.

[Freightrain]

I still am not sure if i should cool it with trans fluid though, I dont see why it would not work but....

I am not sure I follow your "cool it with trans fluid ", it is cooled by trans fluid now, it simply uses the engine coolant to take excess heat out of the fluid through the heat exchanger.

Let me get the straight. The transmission fluid in ANY transmission does not travel to the cooler (heat exchanger)? All coolers are just separate fluids that carry heat away from the transmission but is not THE transmission fluid?

The transmission fluid that is IN the convertor and transimision is pumped thru a "cooler". This "cooler" is a heat exhanger as described in earlier posts. The one on our old trucks uses a remote mounted "exhanger" that lets radiator coolant "remove" the heat from tranny fluid. This is done by the two lines being close to each other(NOT MIXING FLUIDS AT ALL).
So if you take the two threaded fittings on your tranny, hook lines to a separate cooler mounted in front of radiator you'll be fine.

[fordloaf]

Thanks for all the clarification fordificationites! I just wanted to be 100% sure before puting that heavy brick back in.