Snafudilligad

My thoughts as well....also thinking I am a fuggin loser in my oldER age as its 10:20 on Saturday night and I am on the net posting about trans coolers . My truck gets used like a truck and I will be driving it everywhere. Never know where I might vacation and drive to and it would suck to have any kind of issues related to being in cold weather for a week or so.

Saw the post above that external bypass units suck. Any specific reason why? I really like the size of that cooler.

OCBC

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm... do the external bypasses fail? or whats the deal with them? I will probably never need it, but if it going to fail I dont want to deal with it.

cbrich

The external fails a lot (the ones I have seen), when failure occurs they fail in the bypass mode, so the oil never reaches the cooler. I have gone to Colorado in my truck serval times and have not had a problem, however I do have my cooler set up, so the radiator cooler is the last cooler before going back to the tranny. If you plan on removing the cooler in the radiator completely (I would not recommend it) then you will have to use some kind of oil thermostat.

Snafudilligad

This is good to know. I do not spend a ton of time up in the snow areas or where its below 30 or so but will be up there for a few days / week at a time.

Another thought / Q - in a cooler of that size would the unit with no thermal bypass cause more issues in cold weather than say a 2400 GVW unit with no thermal bypass? Just because of the surface area and I would assume that the trans would run cooler with that bigger unit than one of the same config but is smaller. So maybe in a smaller cooler with no thermal bypass you would be alright in colder weather as it wouldnt cool as much as the bigger unit and outside temps would have less detrimental affects on the trans due to thickening up the trans fluid. Perhaps a cooler of that size with no thermal bypass used in a truck that is not used to tow and haul big loads on a daily basis, is not a dedicated race vehicle and is not a big HP vehicle like an STS truck is simply overkill.

Moreover, perhaps I am overthinking the issue all together since if you keep the stock routing as you have done the rad helps to maintain temp.

I dont mean to hijack the thread or anything here but just to help OCBC make a good choice as we are in the exact same boat at the moment.

OC - What temp does your trans run at now? Mine runa at 150 on average once heated up but has creeped up to 200 or so. I think ideally we would want to see the trans running at 20-30 deg. cooler than the mill temps for optimal life. Too cold and we'll do more harm than good, trans will be out of optimal temp range and we'd have spent coin to do damage.

Please let me / us know what you decide to run with. I may follow suit.

OCBC

iTrader: (1)

I went ahead and purchased the one I posted without the external bypass. I live in So cal and never see temps below 45-50 degrees. I travel to the desert, but that will never drop below 38-40*. My issues is that I tow about 7500lbs and I know my tranny is getting SUPER HOT. I have yet to get a guage, will do that soon here. I want the biggest cooler I can find to combat my towing.

unredeemed

iTrader: (2)

Don't worry you'll be in good shape with what you got.

OCBC

iTrader: (1)

thanks buddy!!!

BTW, your animation is the shiz!!!! I laugh out loud everytime I see it.

unredeemed

iTrader: (2)

Yeah if you did what I do for a living, that is how you would feel most every day. Damn users.

OCBC

iTrader: (1)

I.T. Department?

I am in architecture and use the bastard computers everyday. I fortunately know my way around them. However, our it guy is ready to kill most people around me. HAHAHA!

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

I live in New Jersey where it gets fairly cold in the winter (sometimes 0* and below, usually just below freezing though), and I'm using a PermaCool 17,000 GVW tube and fin cooler with no bypass. Didn't have any problems last winter...curious to see how the truck reacts this winter now that I have a 160* stat and efans. (had a 180* stat last winter)