Replaced OEM external tranny cooler w/ B&M Hi-Tek 70297

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goblue90
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Location: Philly

Replaced OEM external tranny cooler w/ B&M Hi-Tek 70297

Postby goblue90 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:50 am

I finished wiring up my B&M Hi-Tek transmission cooler with fan to a Spal relay last night. Initial results are amazing (based on the Bully Dog GT readings)!

Here are my intake, coolant, and transmission temperatures when I got to work yesterday morning (25 minute stop-and-go commute) before I had the fan hooked up:

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Here's a picture of the temperature readings after my commute this morning (same amount of time and hit the same peak mph):

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That's a ~30 degree drop (it's important to note that I've been radiator cooler bypassed for over 20K miles)!

Here are some pictures of my install:

B&M vs. OEM
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No space for additional cooler:
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Had to make 3/8" to 5/16" adapters since the fittings I used on the cooler have size AN-6 barbs and the OEM hard lines use a 5/16" I.D. hose. Alternatively, you can use an 11/32" ID transmission hose that will work with both 3/8" and 5/16" barbs, which is what I plan on doing. The white parts in the picture are 1" nylon spacers found at the orange big box hardware store
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Here's the distance between the puller fan and radiator:
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Spal relay mounted above the right headlight (yellow wire connected to fuse holder and then to battery + terminal; orange wire connected to switched +12v circuit; red wire connected to the red wire from the fan; grey wire connected to one of the wires on the sending unit (use the other wire from the sending unit to ground it to the chassis):
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Grounding location for the fan (bottom left corner); you can also see the blue loom (carrying the orange wire) that's running along the passenger side of the engine bay:
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Grounding location for the temperature switch/sending unit:
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The thicker red cable holds a 15amp fuse and is connected to the yellow wire of the relay, which provides power to the fan:
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I used a fuse tap/add-a-circuit (max of 10amp fuse in each slot) in the ECU fuse box... tapped the reverse lights:
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Also had to notch the lid of the ECU fuse box to allow the wire to pass through:
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Total time of install was ~ 4.5 hours. You can't hear the fan running from the cabin, but it's neat watching the transmission temp dip while sitting in traffic! :D
Last edited by goblue90 on Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:00 am, edited 1 time in total.


NYPathfinder
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Postby NYPathfinder » Wed Jun 29, 2011 7:24 am

nice work. 30deg drop is insane. guess the fan helps out alot.
BTW what air horns do you have there? i've been looking for a set

pandarturo88
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Postby pandarturo88 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 7:38 am

How much was it and hour long did you take? Nice write up btw.

goblue90
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Location: Philly

Postby goblue90 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 7:54 am

Thanks guys.

NYpath, I unfortunately have no idea what airhorns they are. I had them installed with my alarm system 4 years ago.

PandarTuro, I split it up into two days...

Day 1: Removed the stock cooler and installed the new one. I had to fabricate some brackets to accomplish this. Time ~ 2 hours.

Day 2: Wired the relay, which involved crimping wires, running looms, and drilling holes to ground the fan and temperature switch. Time ~ 2.5 hours (triple checked everything).

I paid ~ $225 for the cooler and $35 for the relay kit:

Here they are on Amazon (you can find the cooler cheaper elsewhere):

http://www.amazon.com/70297-Hi-Tek-Cool ... 126&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Spal-FRH-Fan-Rela ... B003PB4AY8

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disallow
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Postby disallow » Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:15 am

Is your rad transcooler bypassed?

goblue90
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Postby goblue90 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:26 am

disallow wrote:Is your rad transcooler bypassed?
Yes.... been that way since I had 35K on the odometer which was 20K miles ago.
Last edited by goblue90 on Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

pandarturo88
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Postby pandarturo88 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:47 am

Sounds complicated :(

goblue90
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Postby goblue90 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:18 am

pandarturo88 wrote:Sounds complicated :(
It sounds more complicated than it really is.

pandarturo88
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Postby pandarturo88 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:05 pm

I guess we will just have too wait and see.

pandarturo88
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Postby pandarturo88 » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:13 pm

Could you post pictures of your relay please.and what did you use as spacers? Looks like plastic tubing and some washers

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volvite
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Postby volvite » Wed Jun 29, 2011 7:28 pm

Nice write up. Looks to be a great transmission saver.

goblue90
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Postby goblue90 » Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:02 am

pandarturo88 wrote:Could you post pictures of your relay please.and what did you use as spacers? Looks like plastic tubing and some washers
I updated my original post with more details and pictures. I used 1" nylon spacers found at Home Depot to create the spacing needed for the fan.

pandarturo88
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Postby pandarturo88 » Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:33 pm

Thanks!

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dawgn86
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Postby dawgn86 » Sat Jul 30, 2011 11:20 am

Go blue

Great work!!...looks like you have the V-8 ?

I am going to try this once the weather here in GA cools off some..I may come back and ask you some questions if you dont mind..

One quck question...how did you get the grill off? I have an 06 Pathfinder and I did the bypass today...The exteranal trans cooler is easy to get to to remove if you can get the grill off...any quick way of doing it?

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volvite
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Postby volvite » Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:31 pm

It's not the V8. He has an 05 and the V8 was not offered than.


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