To get rid of the spring and check ball, take the section of hose with the ball and spring in it out of the truck. Use some stiff wire, a coat hanger works well, bend a small hook in one end of the wire and stick it up the hose to hook the spring. It takes a little bit of playing but once you pull the spring out the ball will follow. Then you can just reuse the lines unless your adding an external cooler.

 

That's why I totally redid the lines. There's no need for those types of fittings to be used on a tranny cooler. If the ever fail on you, you need to get new lines at the dealer, or find a hydraulic shop to make up new hoses for you. You'll spend a lot more money than you need to, and you need to have the correct spring clamp tool to replace tem, so there's another added expense. No thanks. If mine ever fail, then I'll spend $3 for the hose and replace them with a screwdriver. Just my two cents.

 

what diagnostic plug do you pull out to install a temp gauge?, it would really help if somebody could get a pic of this. i know almost nothing about automatic trannys except they suck and i wish i had found a manual to buy. thanks for the great updates on teh trans cooler too. id like to put a temp gauge in first though to get a baseline reading. any help and pics is much appreciated.

 

Ok, here are two. Both using the same port, just pics taken from different angles. Mine is the second picture. I like to always run my wire through a conduit, unlike the wire in the first pic (you can see the blue wire comes out of a wire conduit before it attaches to the sending unit). Routing the wire is tricky so as not to get to close to exhaust/engine hot spots or moving parts.

Also, here is the thread I went though on another Dodge forum as I was working my way through the install. I think it will help you. Feel free to PM me too if you have questions. I just finfished doing this on mine a few weeks ago.
http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/show...8&page=1&pp=20

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Here are some pics of my cooler, and the thread in DodgeForum that I talked about it. Hope this helps too:
https://dodgeforum.com/m_189927/tm.htm


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Here are my thoughts on your questions:

I would use your aftermarket trans cooler in conjunction with the current factory cooler.

I would be cautious installing an external trans fluid filter. The stock filter does the job nicely, and your system should be flushed every 25,000 anyway. Not much need for additional filtering. That is not really the problem area with the 46RE/47RE auto trans. I have heard that it can actually slow down fluid movement, causing:
-fluid to actually heat up more
-the pump to work harder to move fluid (the pump is one of the weak spots in these trans)

A shift kit, in my opinion, is a good idea anyway (if you can live with harder, faster shifting). Good move to prolong the life of your transmission. Probably need to have a tech install it though. It will void your factory or extended warranty too, if you still happen to have one.

The rubber lines are more then capable of handling the temps that trans fluid gets to, escpecially if you are running a cooler. Heavy duty braided lines would look cool though.

 

The rubber lines are more then capable of handling the temps that trans fluid gets to, escpecially if you are running a cooler. Heavy duty braided lines would look cool though.

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You may want to reconsider that...the pressure in the trans cooling system can reach upwards of 50 psi when the torque converter locks up. Not something I would want to rely upon long term. Rubber breaks down after awhile.