Nice work, looks very clean... I have some friends back in our metal shop here at work, so fabricating a bracket would be as easy as taking the measurements and buying the right 6 pack of beer... (:

One question I had that was sort of answered by razorlab... What about switching the pump on/off for cold days? You don't necessarily need or want the pump running when you're driving around in 10°F temperatures with snow on the ground...

If the pump is switched off will it drain or backflow back into the transmission? Would it be possible to use a couple inline high-flow check valves to prevent this?

 

I have thought about duplicating my efforts (and changing the things i don't like) and building it as a kit. Mostly to help the other guys out as it will work with either the 5-spd or the 6-spd...

As for the switch, i have mine mounted on my dash. I turn it on after a few laps around the track and once i can see the temps up in my datalogger (I have a full view of my data on my dash). It works well. And I don't go to the track when there's snow on the ground

As for the backflow into the tranny - I believe there is a check-valve built into the pump head. If there's not, it's really not an issue since there isn't *that* much fluid in the system. When you prime the pump for example, from a completely dry state it is pushing fluid out in around a second. It can't be much more than 1/2 qt.. Suppose if you're really worried about it you could put in some check valves.

One other thing i would add (and I have one sitting on my bench at home) is a small in-line screen filter - just to keep things out of the pump head..

 

Ah, ok. I guess having the trans overfilled by 1/2qt or so wouldn't really cause any issues...

I was curious, does the pump fill the radiator from the bottom up? I'd assume this would work better from a flow standpoint, since it would automatically bleed any trapped air right out through the upper hose.. Or would it even matter?

 

Well, the other thing is that I really don't run it that often with the pump off. I only track my car, so it spends 95% of the time on.

I personally do it that way since it makes the routing a little cleaner. Since the pump isn't pressurized, having air in the system isn't guaranteed. It just does a suction draw from the tranny. You'd need a way to make sure the pickup is submersed under all conditions (high-g cornering). I highly doubt this situaion would happen though (unless maybe i flipped it on its lid)

 

Nice install. When is the next event so you can check the temp changes? (unless you have already and I didn't notice the post)

btw. I have a bunch of the parts from my list for sale as I went to a 5spd and will not be installing a trans cooler.

 

Well, i just got back from Barber down in AL 2 weeks ago. I still saw temps of around 200 on track (steady 180-190s for ~30 mins, saw 200s peak). This was in 85-95 degree ambient weather and I drive the car hard.

I have another event Oct 12th at Watkins Glen, and then another one Oct 26/27 at WG again and will be doing full datalogging on all of them..

 

Steady 180-190 ain't bad. I was seeing 210f+ with my 6spd and no cooler.

 

Yeah, i have no idea what it was running before the cooler. Those numbers were after the cooler was installed..

I'd hate to think what it was before the cooler... - but it saw 10 track days before the cooler..

 

Wow, that's a bigger difference than I had expected.

Once the oil breaks down at the point of contact it's simply a snowball effect. So it would seem that the combo of the cooler plus a higher heat tolerant, thicker oil would be enough safety for someone to run 20 minute sessions (such as HPDE) without worry... Looks like I have another winter project... (:

 

Mine saw about 12 days before 4th gear said buhbye.

 

Wow, only 12 days before it bailed eh? That'd suck. I'm glad i got my cooler in there as i have a turbo kit waiting for me to install it. I figure if i blow the tranny though, i'm just going to go to a 5-spd.

Anyway, i'm thinking of building this cooler as a kit. Other than the bracket, there really isn't much to it except for assembling the parts. I have to figure out if i can re-fab the bracket without too much hassle though..

 

Can you setup the bracket so that the cooler mounts to it with rubber isolation inserts?

 

Well, there really isn't enough room in that part of the bumper (in front of that pump that my tranny pump is mounted to) for a good sized cooler. I suppose i could try and put one there somehow, maybe a more-square cooler (like a setrab) than the fluidyne one...

My only concern is the way the bumper wraps around. Things start getting tight in there. I'll have to test fit that over the next couple of weeks.

 

Sorry, I meant the pump. :-)

 

Oh, ha ha...

Well, the pump is already mounted to the bracket with rubber isolators. I'd hate to hear wht it sounds like without them..

Honestly though, the vibration/noise really isn't that bad. And completely unnoticable after the fluid is warm and the motor is on. When i pull into the pits i generally forget to turn it off until i shut the motor off.