That poor guy who had that truck...wow! But it's looking good now...looks like an exciting build for you...nice! I just got finished putting rad cover back on to see first hand what we had. Yeah that may be a good cooling system being that it runs through the condenser which is not as hot as if it were running through the rad...but it ain't no heavy duty cooler like Dodge claims, lol! What is that electric fan on the inside for? Anyway...your truck is looking "awful" good, he he...hope you are doing this to keep it!

 

Every vehicle, for years, that has an automatic trans has the built-in cooler that has piping inside the radiator.
Most of the time this does the job. Radiator fluid temp does not cool like an outboard cooler because of the temp of the antifreeze. An outboard cooler is not perfect either. Unless the truck is moving, very little air passes thru it.
Why does the Chrysler shop manual show a trans cooler just above the pwr steering cooler? I was looking at my engine model manual.

 

If you look in the AC section of the manual, they show the tranny cooler lines going into the condensor. I see what you are talking about in the other section - maybe the cooler info in the cooling section is for non AC trucks (assuming you can buy them without AC)

 

I don't care what anybody says...this is NOT a heavy duty oil cooler but I can certainly live with it. As far as which type is the best...it's definitely a solo front mounted cooler. You don't need much more than your radiator fans pulling air to cool your tranny while you are sitting still anyway. It is still a deception from Chrysler as heavy duty (it's not!) and what's worse...what's that funky looking tube running up the driver side of the rad...your oil tank, he he!!! EDIT: I forgot to ask...what's that electric fan mounted inside the rad cowl for...anybody know?

 

Seems "Heavy Duty" enough. Tranny temp stays nice and low even when towing for long distances in OD with 3.21 gears.

 

yes I am going to keep it. my friend owns the scrapyard that I got it from, and gave me a smoking deal. My current truck (89 toyota) is on its last leg(body), so I saw this and picked it up. A new one like this is $45k plus tax etc. here in Canada, and I should have this on the road for less than half of that with all new mopar parts. It only has 17000km (10000m). So it should last me a while, I keep my cars till there ready for the junkyard.

 

I agree with you jeep...it's better than running through the rad. I just took a trip to the store and heard that electric fan come on (engine running) with my engine temp cold at about 150 but the outside in the 90's it seems. The electric fan must be an added precaution there for outside temps which is a plus for the tranny cooler as well as your ac so thumbs up there!

 

I looked at the manual again and it states "an air to oil transmission cooler is standard on all engine packages".
I still don't see anything that looks like the one in the manual.

 

I just looked on the window sticker that was on the truck when i bought it. It says standard equipment (among a lot of other stuff) includes Heavy Duty Engine Cooling and Heavy Duty Transmission Oil Cooler.

 

OldJeep had it right. I took the plastic cover loose at the top of the raditor and i could see the piping.
The trans oil cooler looks to be integrated with the a/c condenser. The top part.
Thanks to all,
Jack