Kenlowe Tranny Cooler

[nicksalmons]

I have had a quote from Kenlowe for a ATF cooler rad kit which seems very reasonable. We tow a 5 berth caravan with our KZN130. Last year in the summer going from Kent to Yorkshire the temp gauge went into red and atf light came on. No problems before or since although I have kept OD off when towing since.

Any advice on where / how to install ATF cooler would be appreciated. After taking bumper off have thought of mounting on chassis behind bumper, thoughts please.............



Cheers




Nick

[nicksalmons]

Pretty

Pretty please..................

[Tallyman]

That's where I put mine. Connect the supply from the gearbox to the auxilliary cooler first, then into the rad, so that you cool the fluid before it gets a chance to heat up the coolant in the radiator. I thought I did a write up of my fitting when I did it (about 2004/5) but haven't been able to find it lately. Alternatively I might have followed someone else's write up. Long time ago and memory isn't what it was.

[nicksalmons]

Thanks

Thanks for the advice, just need to order it now!!


Cheers

[Tallyman]

Just a thought but with the OD off you are going to use a hell of a lot more fuel on those long easy M-way runs. I knock mine off for longer hills or when the speed drops too much, but keep it on for steady M-way and dual-carriageway cruising. Fuel consumption is bad enough when towing without making it worse.

Also, make sure when you fit the ATF cooler that you've a good flow of air through it. Mine sits on the front lower crossmember so that the bottom of the ATF cooler is about level with the bottom of the radiator and takes in air through the gap under the middle of the bumper.

[nicksalmons]

Thanks Mike. Have ordered the bits today. Spanners at the ready at the weekend.

[nicksalmons]

Hello Mike

Reading through other posts I believe the transmission oil goes into the radiator on the drivers side, scrubbing heat out of the tranny oil before it gets to the cooler at the bottom of the rad. In either of my Ellery workshop manuals I cannot find any reference to the flow of oil.

I could not find your write up btw.



Thanks for your help


Nick

[Bogus]

Not sure I understood your last post, but, the transmission oil cooler is built in to the radiator. Its a small section at the bottom of the rad. Pipes might be on the drivers side, I can,t remember offhand. Thats it, thats the only source of ATF cooling on a stock truck. theres no scrubbing before it goes in there. To fit an additional cooler , you need to disconnect the hose that goes in to the stock cooler ( flowing from the tranny) and connect it to the shiny new tranny cooler. From the other connection on the new tranny cooler run a hose from there to the inlet of the stock cooler. Job done. If you follow the lines back to the gearbox from the stock cooler I think the one lowest down on the gearbox is the flow to the cooler, the higher up one is the return.
Dont want to confuse , but you can also plumb it in the other way round so it goes through the stock cooler first and then through the extra one. Nett effect is the same, I think the only reason that most go for tranny cooler first then stock , is in case the tranny cooler overcools

[Tallyman]

The problem with letting the ATF fluid go through the stock cooler first is that it doesn't resolve the main problem of taking heat out of the ATF fluid BEFORE it gets a chance to heat up the supposedly cool water going back into the engine. I believe that is what causes a lot of overheating problems on auto box Surfs that are working the torque converter hard, e.g. when towing up hill. By directing the flow into the separate cooler first you take some of the unwanted heat out of it before it goes into the radiator.

Nick, as regards your query, from memory it's the pipe that connects to the o/s (driver's side) that is normally the Flow and the n/s is the Return. Best of luck with the fitting.

[Bogus]

The problem with letting the ATF fluid go through the stock cooler first is that it doesn't resolve the main problem of taking heat out of the ATF fluid BEFORE it gets a chance to heat up the supposedly cool water going back into the engine. I believe that is what causes a lot of overheating problems on auto box Surfs that are working the torque converter hard, e.g. when towing up hill. By directing the flow into the separate cooler first you take some of the unwanted heat out of it before it goes into the radiator.

Beg to differ. The heat balance is the same either way whether the additional cooler is before or after the stock one. The Surf problem is that the stock cooler is small and when working extra hard ( Towing big things up big hills or ragging it offroad) cooling is then insufficient and temperatures build up. Put an extra tranny cooler in before or after stock and you stop this temperature build up.

For the OP, theres a write up http://www.yotatech.com/f128/trd-tra...4runner-76336/ here which may help

[nicksalmons]

Thanks to Mike and Bogus.

On balance I think the majority of posts lean towards cooling the tranny oil before it gets to the radiator. The pics from the writeup are excellent thanks bogus. As I only use the Surf for caravan towing and not any off road stuff would leaving the bash plate off aid airflow and cooling or are there some sensitive parts that could get in the way of normal road debris?


Thanks for your help

Nick