So i went to AAMCO to get my tranny, t-case, a rear diff fluid changed and the bands adjusted. And all went well until they unhooked the lines from the rad to drain it and they were crossthreaded. So they ended up rerouting it to only the Aux cooler. Is this going to cause any problems?

 

Depends on how good of quality the aux trans cooler is. Typically, bypassing the radiator will actually result in lower trans temps (which is a good thing) since running the fluid through the radiator can actaully heat it up to the temp of the engine, 195 or so. But the bad thing about using only the aux cooler is that if your trans does start to get hot, and your aux cooler is small, it will not cool as effectively as the radiator cooler would, and may not be able to keep the trans temps from going off the chart, which is very bad. Also, if you live in a cold climate, escpecially now that we are approaching winter, it is sometimes good to run your trans fluid through the radiator to help get it up to at least a minimum operating temp. In the Colorado winters here, my trans will sometime never get over 150, and that is with going through the radiator first, then into my aux cooler.

Have you considered that maybe it was the AAMCO tech that cross threaded your lines? I would have demanded they repair it if it were me. If it had been crossthreaded before you got there, it likely would have leaked at those connections. I bet they did it.

 

I don't even know, they called me to tell me i was cross threaded, i have no proof and it was quite low on fluid.

 

Was it ever disconnect in the past that you know of? The above is good advice.
Brad
Aiurcraft Maintenance Engineer

 

Great info. I agree. A radiator shop could likely repair the tank with new famale fittings, especially if your radiator is aluminum like mine. If you live in a warm climate and the temp never really gets to freezing..... you COULD run only a large RV sized aux cooler instead of the puny stock unit. I wouldn't run my trans on only the stock aux cooler.

 

i'd ditch the cooler in the radiator and get a stacked type cooler with the highest rating you can find. better way to go IMO.

 

Or bypass the radiator, but get an aux cooler with it's own integrated thermostat and fan. That is another good way to go in my opinion. Either way, Flex-a-lite has a nice selection of aux coolers and integrated fan coolers if your interested.

 

Well i can't really afford much, this truck had a towing package, i just got it a few weeks ago. It's gonna get cold soon so i'll call a Radiator shop and see if they can't rethread it.

 

how big is the aux cooler? size wise?... you may be fine w/o the radiator one for now since it's cooling off outside

 

It's whatever came factory on the 97, since i'm no doing much hard work with it and it's cool out i'm not too worried, i do think i will do a tranny temp sensor, and maybe i'll put once of those fan controlled ones on as that might be the best way, that way the rad/tranny don't exchange heat in the summer and i can tow all day long and keep it ice cold.