So like anything else, this info is out there but thought I would go ahead and document my install since it seems more complicated than it is and pictures help a lot. This is mainly for @GX4SEVEND but may come in handy for others. I purchased the Derale 13504 kit off Amazon for $65.

To keep it brief, I have installed two B&M 72608 coolers in my previous 3rd gens mainly to prevent pink milkshake. For my 5th gen (102K miles), it's because I am now towing a 4,000 lb camper and want to take it wherever I like (not off-road, just some long climbs out here in Appalachia-country) and I've been seeing my transmission temps climb to 210F even staying S4 which does not make me happy.

The Derale 13504 seemed to fit the bill, although the 13503 would probably have been sufficient and a slightly easier install. There is JUST enough height for the 13504 but it means tucking the lines up under the fender brace which is fine but hard on the knuckles.

I mounted the Derale on the passenger side of the A/C cooler. Seemed like easier access for whatever reason, could go on either side. The effective 10" x 10" cooler only "blocks" less than 1/4 of the A/C cooler which is 20" x 24" so not too worried about adding heat to the A/C cooler. There are 4 plastic spikes that you push all the way through the fins of the transmission cooler, A/C cooler, and radiator then fasten in the back with a disk that ratchets down on the spike. Thick foam squares sit between the transmission cooler and the A/C cooler. Four spikes, push down the disks, clip off the excess... done.

The hose that came with the Derale unit seemed like the ID was too small to go on the fittings on the cooler, didn't match the stock ID, and wasn't long enough anyway (4'). So, I got 6' of 3/8" ID transmission line hose and a straight brass hose coupler. You may get away with 5', depends on your exact routing. 6' to be safe.

I removed the stock hose from the blue hard line to the left (pass side) of the radiator. Very little ATF dripped from the hard line. It took a 3' section of hose to go from the hard line to the right (driver) side of the Derale with a loop coming down off the hard line and back up to the cooler. It took about a 2' section to go from the left (pass) side of the Derale and back to the stock hose going back to the transmission.

I first hooked the 3' hose to the right (driver) side of the cooler and routed it through a gap near the radiator to go to the blue hard line. But before I hooked it up to the hard line (and before I hooked up the return hose to the cooler) I primed the Derale with Valvoline Max-life full-synth ATF by putting a funnel in the end of the 3' hose, raising it up above the radiator, and pouring ATF in until it started coming out of the left side of the Derale. I then hooked that up to the blue hard line and clamped.

I then connected the shorter hose to the stock hose with the inline coupler and clamps. Again I put the funnel on this hose, held it up straight and poured ATF in, but this time I had to squeeze the bubbles out and up through the funnel since there was nowhere else for the air to go. Once I felt like I had added several ounces of ATF, I routed this through the gap near the top side of the radiator and connected to the left (pass) side of the Derale and clamped.

This sounds easy process step-wise, but the Derale fixtures were up near the top of the fender brace so getting the hoses routed through the brace and down on the nipples ended up being a little bloody. In retrospect I should have done a test mount, prime with ATF, hook up the 2 hoses to the top of the cooler, THEN installed. Oh well, what's a real project w/o some rad scrapes on your knuckles?

So far my normal usage temps are down 30F and I won't be pulling the camper for a couple weeks so will continue to monitor my connections to ensure I don't have an ATF leaking from my couplings.

ETA: I was thinking I might need a pusher fan, but the engine fan does just fine pulling air through this. I can put a blue shop towel on the face of the cooler and it sticks just fine so I know I'm getting airflow w/o needing a pusher fan when sitting in traffic.

Pics below, sorry they're not exactly in order...

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A couple more shots of the routing of the new lines since I can't really seem to put the pic in the proper order with the text anyway. Top pic shows the gap where I routed the hoses in/out near the top of the radiator and top view is approximate location of the cooler and the entry/exit point for the new hoses.

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Great install sir

Did you bypass the OEM cooler in the radiator?

Nope. Disconnected the blue line and inserted the Derale in series.

I bypassed it on one of my 3rd gen installs because it was the original radiator and did not want pink milkshake. I’ve not heard of this happening on 5th gens so went in series.

Oversimplified cartoon drawings:

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Thanks for the great write up.Been almost a year since install, are you still satisfied with the setup?how have your temps been pulling?

Old thread I know but how much ATF fluid did you need to add to top it off after install? And did you just put it in the Derale or also use the Trans check valve to confirm?


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I installed a B&M 70274 cooler. After mounting cooler on AC coils I attached the trans fluid hose I was using for the install to the bottom cooler barb and raised the hose end a little higher than the barbed fitting at the top of the cooler. This hose is fitted for the install so I'll just connect to system when done filling the cooler. I slowly poured trans fluid in the open end of the hose until fluid ran out of top barb fitting on the cooler. The cooler I installed has no temp bypass in it so I figured a slow pour should have fully flooded the cooler. It took almost an entire quart however this is a big cooler, 13" x 11". I plan to do a drain and fill soon to make sure levels are good and clean up the fluid, but I'm pretty confident I'm good for now.

Thanks! I am going to get 2 quarts to be safe.


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Sorry, for some reason I didn't get notification of a new post in this thread. :dunno:

My temps have been 20F cooler overall, and even when I do have a long pull of the camper up an incline (like I recently did to Boone, NC), the temps never went over 210F and dropped much more quickly after leveling off than before. So, I'm very happy with the performance of the Derale and quite sure it is extending my transmission life with cooler temps.

So basically the cooler is a "pre-cooler" as it cools before entering the radiator cooler.





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If you do it right, it is the "post-cooler" as it cools the fluid after leaving the radiator cooler. There'd be minimal benefit in cooling the fluid before entering the radiator cooler, and much greater impact if you cooled it after (which is immediately before it returns to the transmission).

You're pulling heat off, whichever side it's on. It is working with the section of the radiator that is also providing cooling... not sure why it would matter as both are running in series to cool the transmission fluid.

The only concern I've ever heard is that the external tranny cooler placed in front of the radiator is pre-heating the air entering the radiator.

And per the install diagram, it’s getting fed by the cooler side of the radiator cooler, which is still first in line after the transmission. So, in my case it’s a POST cooler.

It’s downstream from the radiator section transmission cooler (blue = cooler) so guess that would be “post”.

I shoulda added directional flow arrows.

Thanks for this. I used the same cooler you did and bought 10ft of 3/8 transmission hose off Amazon.

I used the output line from the OEM cooler on the drivers side and ran that into my Derale cooler (bottom connector) (2 photos in that Flickr link). Then ran the new return line (which is the top of the cooler) into the OEM transmission return line.

With this Texas Heat I could climb up to 205F driving 15 minutes to work. I reached 221F idling in a drive thru.
Now with the cooler I haven't surpassed 176F driving to work.