Heat exchanger removal and derale install?

ehines218

ehines218

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Apr 16, 2014
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So one of my cooler lines cracked last night and dumped atf everywhere. Im taking this as my time to ditch the factory setup and run a derale cooler. My problem is im having a hard time figuring out what all i will need and this is my only rig so i need to do this somewhat quickly. Any and all help is appreciated.
 
If you are on a tight budget or like you said its your daily, you could remove the line that is cracked and take it to a hydraulic shop and have a new one made to get you up and going again.. I'm in the middle of a manual to auto conversion so I've been doing a lot of searching the last few weeks. Most people who go aftermarket are running a pair of Derale's either 15950's or 15870's.

https://www.summitracing.com/compare

You can go to google and type in site . http://www.competitiondiesel . com derale cooler and have tons of reading! (take the spaces out between the periods ;)
 
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Those were the coolers i was looking at. The problem im having is how to delete heat exchanger. What fittings ill need. Sizes and what hose would be best

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If you tow any or drive alot of stop and go all day you'll regret removing the exchanger, they do a good job. If you go with derale coolers you'd need two with the fans. By the time you buy all that and install it its better to fix what you have.
 
For hose u can use 1/2" pushlok , hydraulic hose, or steel braided. The fittings at the trans will be 1/8 or 1/4 npt can't remember to -8 jic or a/n both will interchange most jic fitting are steel and cheaper than a/n there aluminum.

Hyd hose will have a bigger od and a larger bend radius making it harder to route depending on we're u mount your cooler. I like stainless braided for that reason. The fittings at the cooler will depend on the cooler.
 
Keep the heat exchanger. You will be sad once it is gone, I was.
 
jasonc said:
If you tow any or drive alot of stop and go all day you'll regret removing the exchanger, they do a good job. If you go with derale coolers you'd need two with the fans. By the time you buy all that and install it its better to fix what you have.
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jlbayes said:
Keep the heat exchanger. You will be sad once it is gone, I was.
Click to expand...

I will have to agree with these gentlemen.
 
Cause from all my buddies who converted from manuals to autos have zero issues

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If you tow heavy with this truck at all you will want to keep the heat exchanger from all of my searches here. Quite a few have removed them, then they attempt to to tow heavy or get caught in stop and go traffic on a hot day and its hard to keep trans temps down.

The exchanger uses the engines coolant system to help pull heat out of the transmission fluid. The fittings on the lines themselves are 1/2" JIC where they screw into the exchanger and the case. There is a 1/4NPT to 1/2" JIC adapter that is between the lines and the case though.

I just went through all this yesterday getting my lines and exchanger ready to install on my 97. Local hydraulic shop charged me $50 for two 3/8 NPT to 1/2" JIC adatpers, and to cut off and fix one of my lines that twisted when I tried to remove it from the heat exchanger for installation. He used a compression fitting and made up a hose about 6" long probably close to foot overall with compression fitting and crimped hose fittings.
 
This truck is a daily but its highway to work and then track on the weekends. I will be using at least 1 40 row derale cooler and will add another if need be

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It is an extremely efficient fluid cooler. There is no reason to remove it.
 
And how is a heat exchanger running at 190+ efficiently cooling 140° atf?

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Keep the heat exchanger, I removed mine and installed the big derale cooler with the fan and the fan literally had to run all the time to keep the trans cool. I'm rebuilding my truck from the ground up including the engine and trans again and I will surely be installing the heat exchanger


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The exchanger gets ATF from the converter.
If the ATF in the converter/exchanger is 140, then pan temp is about 90-100. Too cold.
The exchanger ensures coolant and ATF are within a few degrees of each other.
Overheated ATF will dump heat into the cooling system.
As the first gen rad is marginal for anything but a somewhat stock truck, I increased coolant capacity by about a gallon by putting in a Mishimoto rad.

ehines218 said:
And how is a heat exchanger running at 190+ efficiently cooling 140° atf?

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Click to expand...
 
ehines218 said:
And how is a heat exchanger running at 190+ efficiently cooling 140° atf?

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ofelas said:
The exchanger gets ATF from the converter.
If the ATF in the converter/exchanger is 140, then pan temp is about 90-100. Too cold.
The exchanger ensures coolant and ATF are within a few degrees of each other.
Overheated ATF will dump heat into the cooling system.
As the first gen rad is marginal for anything but a somewhat stock truck, I increased coolant capacity by about a gallon by putting in a Mishimoto rad.
Click to expand...

This. Coolant is not being fed to the exchanger from the engine outlet. Look at hose routing if you do not understand.
 
ehines218 said:
And how is a heat exchanger running at 190+ efficiently cooling 140° atf?

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Follow the path of your lies. Trans to the heat exchanger, then to the cooler in front of the radiator (where you get the additional temp drop) then back to the pan. The atf is not 140 going into the heat exchanger.
 
Coolant outlet from top of block going into the heat exchanger -

IMG_4271_zpsgy01p1dy.jpg
 
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