Hey guys. I havn't done a writeup in a whiiile so I decided to post one up.

This weekend, I FINALLY had time to change my tranny fluid again and install my transmission cooler i've had sitting in my garage for 3 years haha. Plus, I've received a couple emails from people asking me to do this so i'm like what the hell.

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself, koolkevin1107, nor FITFREAK.NET take any responsibility for the outcome of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Alright.... I've had this cooler for a while. I ordered it from summitracing.com.

Summit Racing SUM-G4960A - Summit Racing® Transmission Coolers - Overview - SummitRacing.com

The reason why I chose this one is because it fits PERFECTLY in front of the a/c condenser (on one side of the support bar in the center), BUT.... you can use ANY fluid cooler (transmision or oil) with 3/8" openings (because the stock lines use 3/8" barb fittings).

Alright.... start off by jacking up the car and removing the front bumper. Here are instructions on doing that:

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...relocator.html

Now, remove the lowersplash guard. Here are the mounts to do that:
One near the lower control arm:


There are two in the fender wells:


Once you remove that, unhook it from the fender wells and remove it.

Now looking under the transmission, remove this bolt. You need a 1/2" rachet, no socket needed!


Now let the fluid pour out. Approximately 3.5 quarts will flow out. This is what we call an "transmission fluid change." If you wanted to do a full fluid change, that's a different story. I can help with that if needed, but the 3.5 - 4 quarts is definitely enough. Once drained, put the drain plug back in. Don't forget to clean off the magnet on the end of it!

Okay... now for the cooler. These are the two locations you can mount it, on the left or right side of the a/c condenser. You COULD also mount it in another location, but there is a reason why I mounted it here on the right.



This is what it looks like behind the bumper... STEALTH!




With flash:




Now, I mounted it on the right hand side b/c the transmission lines are on the right side of the engine bay, plus I could feed the lines on the side w/o cutting or anything.


Now look under the motor by the radiator... See those two silver lines? Those are the transmission lines going through the radiator. I decided to not bypass the stock lines, but to tie it into it. So, in the picture below, remove the line with the blue arrow (don't worry about the orange arrow, that is the return line).



Get ready b/c there will be fluid pouring out of the silver nipple portion. This is b/c the line is gravity fed and it's coming back from the return line. Catch the fluid.

Once all the fluid is drained, you can remove the red clamp in the above picture. Now you should have the two ends.

My kit came with enough 3/8" fluid lines for the cooler. What I did was cut it in 1/2, then did my test lines. I ran mine right above each other. As you can see, there is plenty of room for the lines to go to the side of the condenser. I made sure of this before running the lines this way.





Once I got my placement, I had to figure out how to mount it. There are nylon rods that the kit comes with. I decided to mount it this way because I have mounted oil coolers before and they have never failed. Unfortunately, I broke 2 of them (stepped on them haha) but I still had two of them left to use. I did a test push and pushed them through the condenser AND radiator. The other side came out behind the fan. Once I made sure that the self-locking button would clear the fan blades (and that I could cut off the excess nylon rod), I proceeded to remove the cooler.

I took it to my dope Harbor Freight seat and installed the hoses. LUBE UP THE ENDS WITH ATF FLUID BEFORE PUTTING ON THE HOSES!! IT'S SUPER TIGHT (that's what she said!).





The kit came with 4 hose clamps, but I wanted this as clean and OEM as possible, so I reused the stock spring type hose clamps for the cooler end (b/c they are black and blend in muuch better)





Now, put it back into where you want it to sit. Push the nylon rod mounts through both the condensor and radiator and make sure it sticks out through the fan shroud! If it doesn't, you will NOT be able to tighten it! Yes, the nylon rods will bend some fins, but if you've seen your condenser lately, they are bent a LOT more bent fins from debris.

MAKE SURE TO PUT THE RUBBER MOUNTING PADS BETWEEN THE OIL COOLER AND THE CONDENSER. This will prevent them from touching, but will still keep it firmly mounted. Check out the diagram below b/c you are probably confused by now haha.



Again, you can mount it by bolting it to the frame (includes tabs and screws in the kit), but I wanted it easy to install and as clean as possible without being visible.

After you push the nylon rods through, have a friend hold the cooler against the condenser and you can push on the locking ring. This is kinda difficult since you have to do it behind the fan blades. But it is definitely possible.

Once the tabs are done, you can go ahead and take wire cutters and cut off the tips. Spin the fan to make sure it clears (the buttons are only 1/4" tall and the fan blade has about 3/4" from the blades to the radiator, so you don't have to worry that much).

Now, pull the hoses and organize it so they sit between the fan shroud and the radiator drain valve:


Once you do that, identify which is the upper (feed) and lower (return) hoses. Slide the supplied hose clamps onto the hoses.



Attach the feed line to the block's nipple. Make sure to give it enough slack before cutting the hose! Also, make sure you have a NICE pair of scissors or cutters to cut them!



Attach the return line to the radiator nipple. Make sure to give it enough slack before cutting the hose! Also, make sure you have a NICE pair of scissors or cutters to cut them!


Once again, APPLY ATF FLUID TO THE NIPPLE ENDS!! It is very hard to slide them on when they are dry!

Hose clamp them tight!

Once you do that, zip tie both lines to the other line (identified here by orange arrow):


Here is an engine bay shot... LOOKS STOCK!!!


Now, remove your stock airbox (or aftermarket intake) to access the fill plug:


Look down, you can't miss it! It clearly reads ATF on it. IIRC it's a 16mm socket.


Now fill it up however much you drained. I drained out approximately 3 full quarts and 1/4 of the other one. I refilled it with 4 quarts, only because now I have more fluid running through the cooler.


Of course, once your done filling and you put the plug back in and the intake back in, FIRE UP THE CAR!! I'd recommend you put it back on the ground then turn it on. Check for any leaks!!! This is very important!!

After everything is cleared for leaks, you can put your car back together in the reverse order of taking it apart. YOUR DONE!!!


I hope I educated everybody and didn't miss a single step. If ANYBODY is confused, please feel free to PM me and I will be glad to help!!



Next writeup: Oil cooler with sandwich plate!! Anybody want this done?!

 

How long did this take to do Kev? What fluid are you using? I need to change my ATF soon but I'm being lazy, I'll probably just get my mechanic do it .

 

With the transmission cooler install, roughly 4 hours only because I was deciding a lot of the time how to run it and everything. If your doing a transmission flush, 45 minutes.

I used (and only have used) oem honda ATF Z-1 fluid. I've done a flush 4 times so far, two of those times being a full flush.

 

Thanks Kev, subscribed for future reference...

 

Awesome write Kev, appreciate it. It's just what I needed since I plan on during a tranny flush, add a tranny fluid cooler and an oil cooler soon. The price of the cooler is not bad at all. I guess I will be driving to Summit this weekend. Thanks

 

Great DIY write up with helpful pics. Even on my phone they make locating the components easy. Thanks!!

 

+ rep for another great DIY!