Makarov

After having to cut off the radiator-end quick connect of the transmission line, AND having my XJ stuck in the shop overnight due to the transmission side quick connect failing, I've decided I want to COMPLETELY do away with the factory lines, and route appropriate rubber hose in it's place. I really hate those push connect ends, in fact, in my garage they are known as "f*ck you fittings". I want something more easily serviceable. To top it off, the factory steel lines are getting pretty rusty. Does anyone have a part number for a barb fitting that will fit in the side of the transmission?


http://www.mscdirect.com/product/det...rItem=80258445
I think these may be the ticket?


Does anyone want to make an argument for KEEPING the factory metal lines with the f*ck you fittings? Anyone that has experience doing this, I would appreciate your input.


Thanks all.

Stabsthedrama

I've said this a million times here...it's worth the $60 to just get a B&M trans cooler on amazon, and run hoses straight to it (mount it in front of the AC radiator) and just run double hose clamps. And ya, just angle grind or somehow cut the metal lines back a bit near where it is just about to go under the oil pan from the trans (passenger side).

Then just don't use your transmission side of the factory radiator. Some people will say that you need to run the factory one with the auxiliary B&M, but at that point if you live in a cold weather climate you actually run the risk of having it stay TOO cool, and there's no way that the stock radiator cools any more than a B&H, and if it does it's a nominal difference.

I'm sure people will, again, chime in about how this isn't Kosher...but trust me...there's nothing wrong in doing this. It will get rid of the hellish quick disconnects both at the radiator and on the line, and also it will make it easier to drop the oil pan if you ever have to since the lines are out of the way.

I'm not the only person to have ever done this.

ehall

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1045807

djb383

Don't think anybody said eliminating the factory tranny cooler and replacing it with a stand alone aftermarket cooler is a bad idea AS LONG AS u have some means to monitor tranny fluid temps. U know the Factory tested/monitored performance of the tranny cooler they used before going into production/selling the XJ to the public. How did they do that?.....they monitored tranny fluid temps in their tests. Their tests showed them that the set-up they went into production with would keep tranny fluid temps with-in their specs under all driving conditions with no need for a dash mounted tranny fluid temp gauge.

When eliminating the Factory tranny cooler, one needs to know/test, kinda like the Factory did, that the aftermarket tranny cooler set-up will perform at least as well as the Factory set-up. If u can't monitor tranny fluid temps after eliminating the Factory set-up, how r going to know if the aftermarket set-up performs as well.......trust somebody by taking their word for it that it works as well????? NOT.

If u install an aftermarket auxiliary tranny fluid cooler in-line with the OE Factory tranny fluid cooler, u know tranny cooling performance is going to be at least as good as Factory........99.999% chance it will be better. Again, that's the way the Factory did it with their optional auxiliary tranny cooler that's available in their optional "Trailer Tow" package.

R there problems with "too cool" tranny fluid?????......there seems to be a shortage of articles on the Internet discussing "too cool" tranny fluid.

Stabsthedrama

I have read here and there on forums of living in cold climates that having too cool of a setup for your trans can cause issues since it will take much longer for it to get up to operating temp. Makes sense to me at least, though it doesn't seem like being TOO cool would ever be an issue. My main reason for not running in-line with the factory is, again, to eliminate the connections at the radiator, which is 75% of the reason I do it.

You're really tempting me to install a gauge. Not because I doubt that it works fine, but just to see. I have been running it this way for months now, and my last 96 had the same exact setup for probably well over 100,000 miles, and at least 3 other friends do the same thing and have for years. I trust those results, yes.

Not arguing, just saying this is a very easy solution to exactly what OP was looking for.

djb383

Again, I'm not saying eliminating the OE Factory cooler and replacing it with a stand alone aftermarket cooler is bad UNLESS the aftermarket stand alone cooler does not perform as well as the Factory set-up under ALL driving conditions. Only for sure way to tell it is performing as well as Factory set-up is to monitor fluid temps under various driving conditions......like the Factory did.

Stabsthedrama

So what you're saying is I need to install a gauge and settle this once and for all?

How would I even go about doing that? Genuinely curious...

djb383

What I'm saying is, don't recommend in a forum to eliminate the Factory tranny cooler without some way to monitor alterations to the OE Factory set-up. Installing a gauge is not to "settle this once and for all", it's to verify the alterations cooling ability/performance. There r dozens of aftermarket auxiliary tranny coolers out there......with probably dozens of different performance levels. Without a temp gauge, how r u going to determine an aftermarket cooler's performance level under all kinds of different driving conditions?

How would I go about doing that? Start with using the "search" function. Sending unit MUST be mounted in the "hot" tranny fluid line exiting the tranny and as close as possible to the tranny. Don't mount the sending unit in the tranny pan.....that's the reservoir of "cooled" fluid. Mount the gauge wherever u want.