B&M 70266 Transmission Cooler and 5757 Temp Gauge Install

[Socco]

So after hearing of the design flaw in the factory radiator (see: Pink Milkshake) I thought it was time to look at auxiliary coolers. I was going to order the smaller cooler that everyone seems to put in around here, until I found this note on B&Ms website:

If the radiator in your vehicle does not have provision for a transmission cooler you must use a larger fluid cooler, than you would normally consider, for the vehicle. Typically the smallest cooler you should consider when not using the radiator provision would be the B&M #70266 or #70272 Universal SuperCooler.

Unsure of what the BTU rating of the factory transmission cooler was, I opted to err on the side of caution and go with the big boy. I figured that one day I'll be up in the mountains when its 98 degrees, crawling in 4Lo, 1st gear...and I won't be wishing that I spent a few extra bucks. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with any installation kit. So I picked up some ATF hose and some brass fittings. I had enough flat bar lying around to whip up some brackets. I used some mining-grade abrasion sleeving that I had to run the hoses through the hole with the A/C lines. Toyota couldn't have been nicer to us the way they connected the cooler to the tranny. I was expecting to have to cut the steel lines off beside the motor. Boy was I smiling BIG when I found the hose clamps there! I only had to drill one hole in the core support bracket (under the hood latch) and take the dremel to the dash panel. I painted the gauge body flat black to match the bezel, as you can kind of see the sides of the gauge when its mounted in that ridiculously useless hole. For lighting the gauge, I used the wiring for the ashtray lamp. Just bucked the plug off, crimped to the new bulb base, done. Even works off the dimmer too, bonus.

So here she is:

 

[Rc4r]

Dang so is the super cooler better?

The gauge looks sick

 

[quicksilvr]

Cool! That thing is beefy. It's about 2 inches wider than the 70264, which a lot of people run, including myself. And the BTU rating is quite a bit higher....20k vs 14k.

Main difference is the 264 is designed with hose barbs built in, so you don't have to use the screw in brass fittings. But there's nothing wrong with those. Nice install!

 

[96743runner]

Nice install! I did the bypass a while ago and ran the smaller TruCool 4454 and it wasn't enough for my driving conditions...the coldest it gets in the mornings here is 50* at the lowest (don't drive in the early morning anyway) and the days are almost always in the 70's-90's. So, I ordered the biggest one B&M had, the 70274 :biggrin2: The thing barely fits back there but it has worked well for me. Always have smooth shifting and whenever I do the touch test on the cooler it is noticeably cooler than the 4454 when I had that on. Right now I don't have a gauge for the ATF but I really should get one.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

One thing to note on the Universal Super Coolers is that they do NOT include the low temperature bypass feature, which allows the transmission fluid to bypass the cooler during the warm up process. The benefit of that feature is a reduction of the drop in line pressure due to cold ATF trying to push it's way through the cooler.

However, they do sell in-line bypasses that you could install between the send/return line and the cooler which would give you that feature in addition to the extra cooling capacity.

I'm running a TRD cooler on one of mine, and a B&M 70268 on the other and I'm starting to wish that both had a little more cooling capacity.

Also, regarding the temperature sender for your gauge. I'm not sure if you've got it in the inlet or the outlet side of the cooler there, but ideally, you would want it on the inlet side so you can read the highest temps that your ATF is reaching. You will only get this high reading if you install the sender in the SEND line coming from the trans TO the cooler. If you install the sender after the cooler, you'll be seeing post cooler temps which is not truly reflective of what your transmission is seeing.

 

[Socco]

One thing to note on the Universal Super Coolers is that they do NOT include the low temperature bypass feature, which allows the transmission fluid to bypass the cooler during the warm up process. The benefit of that feature is a reduction of the drop in line pressure due to cold ATF trying to push it's way through the cooler.

Also, regarding the temperature sender for your gauge. I'm not sure if you've got it in the inlet or the outlet side of the cooler there, but ideally, you would want it on the inlet side so you can read the highest temps that your ATF is reaching. You will only get this high reading if you install the sender in the SEND line coming from the trans TO the cooler. If you install the sender after the cooler, you'll be seeing post cooler temps which is not truly reflective of what your transmission is seeing.

I wasn't too concerned with the bypass. My wife drives the truck to work twice a week, a round trip of 10 minutes. It's not even warm by then anyways. Besides, it doesn't get cold enough around here for ATF to thicken up.

The sender is in the return line. I want to know what the temp going to the tranny is, this way I can tell how well the cooler is working.

 

[bikerjosh]

Nice install. Already have the trans cooler installed, but just got a gauge yesterday that is sitting on my work bench waiting for the install.
Still on the fence about putting the sender in the line from the tranny, or to the tranny. Most likely I will put it in the line from the tranny so I know the true temp of the fluid from the tranny, in case something goes haywire or the tranny starts heating up.
Josh

 

[Socco]

Nice install. Already have the trans cooler installed, but just got a gauge yesterday that is sitting on my work bench waiting for the install.
Still on the fence about putting the sender in the line from the tranny, or to the tranny. Most likely I will put it in the line from the tranny so I know the true temp of the fluid from the tranny, in case something goes haywire or the tranny starts heating up.
Josh

Yeah, there's no right or wrong answer on placement of the sender. B&M recommends it in the return line, that was good enough for me.

 

[Pikeman]

There will always be a debate about where to put the sender. I once read a very indepth article on a guy that played with the three common locations and ultimately left it in the pan. The out put temps varied by almost 20* and was not very consistant. The Input side he monitored just to make sure the cooler was working but also fluctuated. The Pan location gives a more consistant reading and is the combination of the cooled and heated fluid a more accurate representation of overall temperature according to the author of the article. If I can find it I will quote it in this thread.

 

[the great him]

i have the B&M 70264 cooler and its not even enough... in stop and go traffic it will just climb and peg at 250 then the idiot light comes on in the dash... even with easy/moderate crawling it will peg out and hell climbing hills yeah done it there too... so i just went and ordered another cooler, this one is a perma cool 10x14x2.5 w/and 10"electric fan, and shroud(3200cfm) on it so when im in low speed situations i will have some air flow over it... something that all of our coolers need to work properly. at freeway speed in open air i will see temps of like 150-160 and thats ok with me, but its the low speed that im concerend about. the electric fan is on a thermo switch and kicks on once the temp reaches 180 and wont shut off again until it drops to 160, and i have the power hooked up to an over ride switch for water crossings -i can cut power to it. i figure with the added weight of all my armor and the bigger tires without regearing(yet), my trans is doing a lot of extra work, and there fore creating a lot of extra heat. so the added cooler not only helps cool but add a bit more capacity as well and that will help too.

 

[SIKHILUXSURF]

any socal guys with trans temp gauges or scanguages that read atf temps have funny readings the last few days hereis socal or cali for that matter?

i have a trd cooler on my 99 and yesterday for the first time after my new radiator was installed i hit 203 atf temps. and for the last 2 months while driving i notice that i hit mid 190 temps on my drive home from work i work in walnut and live in alhambra about a 20 mile commute 1 way. is this normal? i am not towing Trailer or anything. before i changed radiators i was only about 179 atf temp driving it hard.