B&M SuperCooler Transmission Cooler install


Required materials for this install:

(1) B&M SuperCooler (#70255 from CarParts.com)
(1) 4-foot of hydraulic hose. (approx $3.00 from any hydraulic hose shop)
(1) roll of teflon tape
(1) flare tool (can be bought at any hardware store)
(1) flare nut fitting (about a buck)


    This write up gives instructions on how to install a B&M tranny cooler on the frame rail that runs across the top of the radiator. Before doing anything, remove the negative battery terminal from your battery.
   
    First, remove the plastic cover that displays the belt route information from the car. This is done by taking the plastic screws out of it. Be careful here. If the screws do not come out, try to pry them up a tad bid. Just pry up the screw itself and not the housing. Then they should come out ok.

Now remove the crash sensors (shown below). These signal your airbags to inflate in an accident. When you have these removed, lay them off to the side.

Next, remove the hood latch assembly. There are four bolts you must remove to take this off. Lay this off to the side also.

Now you should have the top of the radiator exposed and the metal frame piece that you will be bolting the transmission cooler to. Take one of the mounting rails that comes in the kit and measure it how long to cut the mounting rail and mark the position on the frame rail.

Next you might want to drill some pilot holes on your marks even though the screws B&M gives you are self-tapping. This is so the screw doesn't wander off when you do to screw the mounting rail in. After you have drilled the holes, you will want to decide where you want to route the hoses and attach the hoses to the tranny cooler. I ran them around the right side of the radiator. You will need to access the lower part of the radiator, so make sure you leave plenty of slack.

Next, use the self tapping screws to fasten the tranny cooler to the frame rail. This should be easier because of the pilot holes that you drilled.

    After the cooler is mounted and the hoses ran around the radiator, you will want to disconnect the lower factory cooler line from the radiator. This should be a 5\16" fitting. When you have this out, use the male brass 5\16" fitting that B&M gives you. Wrap the threads with teflon tape, to get a good seal. Then install the fitting into the radiator.

    After the fitting is secure, take one of the hoses from the tranny cooler and hook it up to the fitting that you just installed in the radiator. Secure it with a hose clamp provided by B&M.

Next you should see that the fitting that B&M provides for hook up to the stock cooler lines will not work. The threads on the stock flare nut start too far up and the provided fitting is too short. You can try finding another fitting with longer threads, that would work. I could not find one, so I did it this way. 

First, bend the cooler line a little towards the outside of the car, this will provided a better angle. Then, cut the tranny cooler line just after the stock flare nut. Then place the new flare nut on the tranny cooler line. Next take the flare tool (very easy to operate) and flare the new end of the cooler line. You can now wrap the new flare nut fitting with teflon tape and screw on the B&M fitting. Make sure it is nice and snug. We don't want no leaks!!! Then attach the other hose from the cooler to the fitting you just assembled. Secure with a hose clamp.

Start the car and look for leaks. Let is run for a couple minutes. If they are any, fix them!. You are done!