Aftermarket/oem transmission cooler

Hi friends. I have a 16 without the tow package. Can anybody recommend a aftermarket or know where I can get the OEM transmission cooler. I don't plan on towing much more than an occasional uhaul or riding mower but want the piece of mind. Would this be a hard install for a semi mechanically inclined person such as myself?

Does anybody have a picture of where the cooler is mounted in a truck with the tow package and A/T on a 16? Thank you

 

It won't be hard if your transmission has an oil sending unit. Does it?

 

Pardon my igorance. I have no idea if it has an oil sending unit. I assumed all auto trannies pretty much have their transmission fluid circulated through the radiator and therefore have some sort of pump , no?

 

the tow package has both

 

I know, I don't have the tow package. That's why I asked.

 

B&M 70264. Lots cheaper and better than oem in my opinion.

 

Took these from a 3rd gen sport with tow package today. Small trans cooler on drivers side. Looks very easy to install if I could buy the oem kit or parts.

 

your truck won't have those metal lines coming from the transmission, though. The cooler is the easy part

 

I think the metal lines are just a connector piece. The main lines are rubber hoses that go into and out of the regular radiator on my non tow equipped limited.

I wasn't able to see the back side of the radiator in this tow package pictured. But would assume that the trans fluid hose going out of the radiator just connects to the metal line which then goes to the block trans cooler couples via those metal tubes? Anybody able to share a pick of this? Thank you

 

This is a pic of the genuine trd trans cooler kit (yikes $300). I think what you are calling the "metal lines" from tranmission are actually just those coupler pieces.

 

any notes of how to install this?

looking at getting for my 2.7 SR

thanks

 

B&M coolers are good. I’ve purchased them before, but returned the last one I bought using Amazon Prime because I discovered that you can purchase the exact same cooler from ‘Long Manufacturing’ which sells ‘Tru-Cool’ coolers.

B&M coolers are made by ‘Long Manufacturing’ which is stamped on the B&M. Tru-Cool and B&M coolers are exactly the same, just in different packaging.
Save about $40.00 by purchasing a Tru-Cool. A stacked plate model is said to be a bit more durable than the plate and fin model. They sell both.

I installed the 8x11x1 1/2 inch LPD 4589. The LPD 4590 will also fit. You can buy some sturdy aluminum
strips from Home Depot, cut, bend(by hand with large pliers) and drill and install with some nuts, bolts and rubber washers.
You can do it!

 

Drilled out holes in this aluminum bracket a little larger to fit. Not perfect but it works. I just used a tape measure for approximate length and eyeballed it also. Used marker pen on aluminum and cut.
You can drill holes in other side brackets a little larger also to allow for some play in installation, and tighten them down.
Right side of picture lower bolt goes thru existing hole in front support/crossmember.
Aluminum straps are a bit stiffer than thin steel straps supplied with some coolers and may cut down on vibration a little. Either will work.

 

Been looking into this too and trying to keep it somewhat factory. Found this diagram online. Anyone have the part number for #8? That's the pipes to pass thru the rad core support.
But what is part #9?

 

Skid plate has been removed. Picture was taken from in front of drivers side tire. Sway bar has factory pink stripe.

Part #9 marked with blue tape is an intermediary line set that sits right behind the bottom of the radiator. It connects to rubber transmission fluid line with hose clamps at either end.

The stock transmission line runs rubber hose from the transmission, then hard tubing along right bottom side of engine, to short sections of rubber hose, to hard cooler line #9, back to short sections of rubber hose up to left side of radiator, then around left/drivers side of radiator with hard tubing and then to cooler in front of radiator with rubber hose.
Either well engineered, over thought or both!

I’m not an engineer.
I’m not judging but it is entertaining. They are possibly allowing for body movement and flex.
It’s more back and forth with hose and tubing than I’ve seen on some vehicles, but it looks durable and the short sections allow for easy repair in case of damage anywhere on the line.

A lot of people would just use the rubber line from as far back as possible, or at any point in between, running the hose all the way to the transmission cooler up front.

For the stock setup, fluid of course goes from transmission into the radiator, out of radiator to cooler and then back to the transmission.

You could pick any spot on the hard line below engine to connect to and it will work. 12 feet of hose or about 6 feet for either direction would do it so you would have plenty of hose for the job. Or, connect closer to the front at the left side of radiator and use just a few feet of hose.

I would recommend a stacked plate cooler as it is sturdy and doesn’t succumb to bent fins from handling, road debris or rocks like the radiator fins on the stock cooler. I’ve used tube and fin, and also plate and fin coolers before and they worked fine and without failure for me also.

No one but you will know it’s there if it’s aftermarket. Heavier, stronger and more durable than stock.

Stock is better than no cooler, but a larger aftermarket cooler is probably a bit better than stock for cooling capacity if you run in really hot climate while towing, idle a lot in stop and go traffic in hot weather, or you do some really heavy rock crawling.

Even with a stock cooler, people on TW have reported some high transmission temperatures. It can happen with most automatic transmissions unless your vehicle has some serious super duty transmission cooling capability.

Be kind to your transmission and give it some cooler fluid to run on. Perhaps our Tacoma 6 speed autos could use all the help they can get!

A good aftermarket cooler is around $70.00. It’s an easy mod for any do-it-yourselfer.

Whether you use stock or aftermarket, I’d say it’s a fun and easy project and you’re helping to increase the life of your transmission if longevity is a concern.

 

Small stock transmission cooler on F150. For the F150 owners checking out Tacoma World. Here’s the setup that I did on the 2016 F150 with 2.7 ecoburst. I think it more than doubled the cooling capacity in BTU’s by using a stacked plate 11x11x1.5 inch aftermarket cooler.
Local temperatures around Interstate 5 in central and northern California were 113 to 115 degrees last summer while traveling north.

I removed the stock transmission cooler housed in a plastic crossmember and replaced it with Home Depot aluminum as it seemed like a good way to support the cooler.
There was a lot less room to work with in comparison to the Tacoma because of the large, heavy grill with active shutters for the radiator and intercooler on the Ford. The cooler just cleared for space between the radiator and grill shutters. I removed one shutter at the bottom of the grill.

Traded it in. The next owner is ready to tow in some hot weather!

As for all the oil in the intercooler, air pipes and air filter....who knows. Only time will tell.

 

I found part #9 on my truck. It connects via runs of hose on the driver side to the radiator.
Which of the hoses connected to the pipes that you marked with blue hooks up to part #8 from my diagram above? And which hose from your radiator connects to part #8?
I also found a better diagram for retrofitting a factory trans cooler

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transmission-coolers.526283/

 

Rear blue marked tube/hose goes to upper radiator.

Lower hose on radiator goes to lower #8 tube.

Front blue marked hose/tube goes to upper #8.

——Fluid flows from rear blue marked hose into top of radiator.
——Fluid comes out of bottom of radiator into bottom of #8 and forward into fluid cooler.
——Fluid then flows out of cooler back into top of #8 and back out to transmission.

Top or bottom of #8 doesn’t really matter. As long as fluid is coming from the transmission into the radiator, then out of radiator into the cooler, out of the cooler and back to transmission, then of course you will be ok.

The diagram is a bit confusing because they placed the left side of #9 rear tube right next to lower radiator nipple which goes to bottom of hose 32943. I did a few years of drafting in High School.
Diagram could be better. They could have drawn somewhat of a radiator, not just the nipples there.

Top and bottom of radiator connections/nipples are at bottoms of pennies.

 

My 2nd grade sketch might help for visualization.

I think looking at the sketch makes it easier to see. The flow should work either way top or bottom on either the radiator or cooler, so you probably can’t screw up!
Mechanics are welcome to chime in. I’m not a mechanic.

Some cooler manufacturers say to put inlet and outlets of cooler on the top or sides when installing so that air pockets don’t develop and so that air is pushed up and out. Kind of makes sense to me.

I’ve done some on the top, and some on the sides with the inlet to the cooler on the bottom pushing air up and out, like I installed it on the Tacoma and my last truck.
The only coolers I’ve done with connections from the bottom were for two separate engine and transmission coolers on my first car back in the 70’s. It never blew up and made it past 200,000 miles.

Of course some people say it doesn’t matter.
Toyota puts the inlet and outlet on the bottom of the stock cooler. Oh well....