Agree. No launches for me, and smooth shifts.

 

same here. i never launch the car. since i don't, i'm not worried about breaking any gears from torque. all the talk does have me worried about heat from extended 4th gear pulls around the race track, though.

has anyone successfully built a transmission cooler?

 

Trans cooler is simpler to do than you think.. just have to relocate the ACD pump for you US guys..

I am in a process of installing mine..

 

Have you posted a how-to? I know how it needs to work...just not sure of parts, details, etc. Seeing an example would help greatly, if you don't mind.

 

will do so... when I am done with the car.. with pics..

in general you need:

Pump.. I bought a tilton one, although now I'd really buy a gear pump, there are several on the market
Oil cooler.. I am using a original engine oil cooler because I upgraded mine to a larger oil cooler so I had it laying around but anything similar will do..

Oil is taken from the gearbox via the lower drain hole.. for that you need 18x1.5 to 10 AN adapter and then 10 AN hose to the oil cooler (there you need two 18x1.5 to 10 AN adapters)... then another 10AN to the pump... Pump oil inlet is usually 3/8NPT so you need 10AN to 3/8 NPT adapters there. and then back to the gearbox.

Normally people used the fill hole to get the oil back to the gearbox, but I found another 18x1.5 plug right on the top of the gearbox so I will use that... The fill hole on my car has a oil temp probe so we will use that to install a thermostat to turn the pump on... or use the temp sensor for testing purposes..

type of AN fittings, straight or 90 deg... that depends on how you mount the cooler... I'l let you know the exact recipe when I am done.
The oil cooler will go in front of the driver side wheel.. mirror iamge of the oil cooler mounting... My car is EUDM so I do not have a ACD pump there... You could move the pump or have the oil cooler sit on top of the IC

If you take a look at the SSP evo X trans cooler that is a similar setup... just the fittings on the gearbox itself are smaller..


EDITED for propper fittings...

 

what about volume issues? if you dont have the pump running constantly you will either have to little or to much fluid in the trans? i was discussing this with a friend and we found cheaper alternative gear driven scavenge pumps like the one that was posted for $400 but we then were discussing volume issues if you dont have the pump constantly running

 

Some notes and some advice from the rotating machinery engineer at work who I asked about this:

1. Use a gear based oil pump, not the tilton diaphragm pump
2. Use an inline pre-filter before the pump. 50-150 micron will work fine. Don't make it too restrictive.
3. Do not pull suction through the cooler as tilton advises

You can use an M18x1.5 to -6AN banjo fitting on the transmission. These are common 40R Garret turbo oil feed fittings. Otherwise, have fun paying out the *** for 2x M18x1.5 to AN adapter fittings and then doing a quick 90° all while hanging off the bottom of the transmission.

Some may be concerned that -6AN is too restrictive. Well, you don't need to cycle the oil 8 time/minute through the cooler. If you are concerned about cavitation, then you can put a smaller line on the cooler to transmission return line.

Mounting the pump and cooler in the front driver side is ideal but requires relocating the ACD pump.

Expected cost: ~$600 for materials

 

there are no volume issues..you fill up the trans and then run the pump to circulate oil... that will fill the system.. then just fill the trans to the propper level and you are done.. no shortage of oil in the box...
MAde a mistake.. nollj is right it is 18x1.5 not 22... sorry.. .. the bottom fitting is a straight one..

I agree on the pump.. gear one is better.. SST uses a gear pump also... Tilltons reccomendation is done because their diaphragm pump will not stand high temps so they reccomend pulling trough the oil cooler..

 

Awesome info, guys. Thank you.

 

I will post pics when installed... you can turn the pump via a thermostat or manually...

for oil return to the gearbox you can use the fill hole... I will use this plug on the top of the box

 

If you return the fluid through the top, may there be any lubrication issues? It wasn't meant to have fluid rained on top of it. Seems there could be a windage problem? I guess if you had extra fluid that would help with any issues regarding it getting back to the bottom quick enough.

Just thinking out loud.

I am gonna fit one those banjo fittings to the top or fill hole right now, while my trans is out. Then I can hook it up at any time.

Wouldn't it be easiest to run an on/off switch? I mean, you know when you're going to want it circulating. And I can't imagine a time where I'd think, "holy crap! I'm driving with the pump running. Nooooo!".

Just thinking out loud some more LOL

 

yes, manual switch for me... but you have to understand that some people do not like to have to think about it much..

 

for sure. i like to simplify. the less things i have to go wrong the better. i'd hate to have my thermostat go out and have issues. if you are at the point you need a trans cooler, you should probably be to the point where you are willing to turn on batt/ign/cooler/etc switches? LOL
but in all seriousness, i know what ya mean. and it is kinda fun to find ways to make things work automatically.

 

i've started piecing a cooler system. any suggestions on a pump?

i'm looking at the "small" pump on this site:

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/oilsystems.htm

 

That is the one I am intending to use.