Black798
New member
I know there are several write ups on this topic but I wasn't able to find one for making a mount for the B&M coolers so i decided I would throw my experience out there. So after about a month of searching through just about every toyota forum and reading every post i could find regarding the pink milkshake i decided to install a B&M 70268 transmission cooler on my 98 limited t4r. After a lot of research on the best place to mount i decided to go with a similar mount to what BigFishAllDay did in his write up here. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...oler-transmission-cooler-install-3rd-gen.html
I was leery of the zip tie method because of the plastic fatiguing and breaking and also if i ever had to replace the rad or condenser id have find more of those zip ties. The method i used was done using some 1/8 scrap metal I had laying around, this could be done with the brackets that B&M normally supplies but my cooler didn't include those or the zip ties, I dont know why. I also will give you fair warning that this method will take much longer than the ziptie method, took me about a full day.
Also besides the cooler (I purchased mine on O'reilys website for 75.99) you will need roughly 7 ft of 3/8 inch fuel injection line, cost me around 10 dollars at autozone, 2 self tapping screws, 4 nuts and 4 bolts. I didn't use bolts because i made studs for the nuts out of some all thread. There is a picture later on.
To get started you will want to remove the skidplates and the front grille. The grill is held in by little black clips that you can push down with either a flat blade screwdriver or your finger. hers a link to a video on how to take it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4u89_bZzvk
Next I made the first bracket that is on the upper driver side. I acheived the proper spacing between the ac condenser and cooler by using 3 1 inch bends. The mount should look like this
After I got this bracket in i bolted the cooler in so it was easier to get the rest of the measurments. Thenext two mounts will be the easiest since all you have to do is cut a straight pice of metal to go from the two mounting holes that i used on the condenser.
For the last mount it will be essentially the same as the first one, 3 1 inch bends, but the last leg will be a little longer.
Here is a shot of the 4 mounts after paint and the cooler all bolted in.
For hose routing and connection i decided to use gravity to help the fluid through the cooler to minimize pressure drop, so i connected the send line to the top and the return to the bottom. When you go to connect the cooler lines at the steel lines coming from the trans, pictured below, the driver side is the send line. I found that for getting the old lines off the only way your going to do it is by getting a little razor blade and slicing the old line to slide it off.
Here are the connections to the metal lines
I also used the small section of rubber hose included with the cooler to connect the two ends of the old cooler together so that in the event the radiator fails i will still retain the coolant.
After I had everything bolted down and routed and shrouded I went for about a 15 minute drive to get to operating temp, check fluid level, and check the temperature of the trans. I checked the fluid level with the car in neutral and running and it had dropped an 8th of a quart. Now for measuring the trans temp, i didn't have a temp gauge for the actual fluid, so i just used a a laser thermometer to measure the external temp of the pan.
I found that installing the cooler dropped this temp by about 10 to 15 degrees. Original temp was 170-175 after cooler 155-160 when it was 65 outside
I also forgot to add in, because of the spacing i used for the cooler i had o relocate the horn to the other side of the car.
Additional Pictures:
Mounting Stud on Bracket
Shrouding around the A/C lines
Driver Side Mounts
Passenger Side Mounts
Before
After
Hope this helps someone out there. Let me know what you think
I was leery of the zip tie method because of the plastic fatiguing and breaking and also if i ever had to replace the rad or condenser id have find more of those zip ties. The method i used was done using some 1/8 scrap metal I had laying around, this could be done with the brackets that B&M normally supplies but my cooler didn't include those or the zip ties, I dont know why. I also will give you fair warning that this method will take much longer than the ziptie method, took me about a full day.
Also besides the cooler (I purchased mine on O'reilys website for 75.99) you will need roughly 7 ft of 3/8 inch fuel injection line, cost me around 10 dollars at autozone, 2 self tapping screws, 4 nuts and 4 bolts. I didn't use bolts because i made studs for the nuts out of some all thread. There is a picture later on.
To get started you will want to remove the skidplates and the front grille. The grill is held in by little black clips that you can push down with either a flat blade screwdriver or your finger. hers a link to a video on how to take it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4u89_bZzvk
Next I made the first bracket that is on the upper driver side. I acheived the proper spacing between the ac condenser and cooler by using 3 1 inch bends. The mount should look like this
After I got this bracket in i bolted the cooler in so it was easier to get the rest of the measurments. Thenext two mounts will be the easiest since all you have to do is cut a straight pice of metal to go from the two mounting holes that i used on the condenser.
For the last mount it will be essentially the same as the first one, 3 1 inch bends, but the last leg will be a little longer.
Here is a shot of the 4 mounts after paint and the cooler all bolted in.
For hose routing and connection i decided to use gravity to help the fluid through the cooler to minimize pressure drop, so i connected the send line to the top and the return to the bottom. When you go to connect the cooler lines at the steel lines coming from the trans, pictured below, the driver side is the send line. I found that for getting the old lines off the only way your going to do it is by getting a little razor blade and slicing the old line to slide it off.
Here are the connections to the metal lines
I also used the small section of rubber hose included with the cooler to connect the two ends of the old cooler together so that in the event the radiator fails i will still retain the coolant.
After I had everything bolted down and routed and shrouded I went for about a 15 minute drive to get to operating temp, check fluid level, and check the temperature of the trans. I checked the fluid level with the car in neutral and running and it had dropped an 8th of a quart. Now for measuring the trans temp, i didn't have a temp gauge for the actual fluid, so i just used a a laser thermometer to measure the external temp of the pan.
I found that installing the cooler dropped this temp by about 10 to 15 degrees. Original temp was 170-175 after cooler 155-160 when it was 65 outside
I also forgot to add in, because of the spacing i used for the cooler i had o relocate the horn to the other side of the car.
Additional Pictures:
Mounting Stud on Bracket
Shrouding around the A/C lines
Driver Side Mounts
Passenger Side Mounts
Before
After
Hope this helps someone out there. Let me know what you think
