Installing a factory transmission cooler + Stat + Magnefine

[CNGBiFuel]

RT: Stat for you and most out there is overkill. Yours appears to be is a garage-queen, with under 90K on there, none of this is required. Simply flush it every 30-40K. As we agreed, there's better cars to put 100+K on, else it might rather defeat ownership?

These mods are for the bloke with any neglected box. If it's got burnt orignal ATF, damage has been done. It needs to be caught now: Thus either / or /and:

1) A neglected box, 120+K has it already on the downward slope - Caught now, cooler & filter will save it from the brink, and get it to 200K+
2) A high-mile user like yours truly.
3) A combination of 1 & 2.
4) Stat is for grinding down to 300+K. But if its first ATF flush comes at 150K, and it's flaring now.... you give it a stay of execution, but nothing gets it to 300K. Damage has been done.

There's always the lucky few that have a 250K car running burnt ATF with a 'perfect' box, but not many. This issue is a P80/P2 killer.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks CNG.

TBH I'm in favour of anything that can extend the life of my car - having sold my last 850R a decade ago (and having regretted ever since), I'm going to be keeping this one until they stop selling petrol I bought this one as I wanted one in as good a mechanical condition as I could find - and at 82k miles its barely run in.

I've fallen in love with happy diver's XC90 jobbie - it looks like it was designed to be fitted there. In fact, I loved it so much that I did a quick search and found one for sale locally, so I er... well I bought it



Update - Its literally just been delivered. The picture in the advert showed it as a new item, still in the box, but it was described as 'used'. So I was expecting a used item, but no, its actually a NOS, boxed cooler! I'm stunned - that was a bargain! So thanks again happy diver - I would never have thought of going down this route.

[CNGBiFuel]

Long-term the day will come when you won't be finding a replacement box at any price, and if yours is a long-game keeper then you'd be right to see it done.

That XC90 rad: never seen one, but actually looks better than the intended item. And a rad is a rad is a rad. And XC90s are hitting the breaker-pile about now, thus easier to source.

Hosing (it appears to ahve same quick-release fitting as 5-speed? Thus, might be easier to plumb as well?

The rad is the cheaper, easy to get section. Now it's hoses and fittings. As said, best to cobble these together using your existing, plus those from a XC90 breaker-car? In my part of the world that means Lakes at Wyboston. Where you are, I'm not sure. If you've got to this stage, it'd be pointless not to follow thru' with a Magnefine. And because you can be pretty certain of the pre-history to your rad, (other than production-swarf), you can be more confident than most about placing the filter. If it was a ropey used rad, filter after rad, which dependent on flow-direction variant, makes placement easier or harder.

Note: Don't ask me to say which does which, too long ago, but four speed boxes have flow direction in reverse to five. What you see in my pix is a five.

The stat is a tad nerdy, yet comes into its own on cold mornings, aiding the integral ATF 'warmer and cooler' rad, in getting fluid to optimum temp quicker, and then keeping it there on hot days or when you're raggin' the thing. Thus hte stat is extra-kind. Without the stat, and with the cooler, ATF actually takes LONGER to get to optimum.

[RollingThunder]

This is the XC90 cooler that I've just bought. Its a pretty wide one, but nice and shallow - I'll be following happy diver's fitting location as that will keep the bottom of the cooler at the same level as the bottom of the radiator pack, which should mean it'll be out of harm's way.





This is actually a fuel cooler rather than a transmission cooler, and comparing this to happy diver's pic, the mounting brackets seem to be slightly different, so I might have to 'adjust' them a bit. However, as you say, a rad is a rad is a rad and as long as it doesn't impede the fluid flow it'll be fine. Its aluminium, so despite its size, its actually very light.

I have a Magnefine winging its way to me as we type - as you say, it would be madness to go to the extent of fitting the cooler without one.

Re the hoses/pipes, I'll need to get the car up onto ramps to check the available space and take some measurements - I suspect the tidiest option will be to get some hoses custom made. It should just be a plug n play upgrade that way, and if the original hoses don't need to be cut, then I can always revert to factory std if needed.

The annoying thing is that I have no idea when I'll have the time to actually fit these. I suspect it'll be next spring to be honest, so in the meantime I'll do a fluid change before we go north of the border to Bute on our jollies. I'll need the car to be A1 for that.

[CNGBiFuel]

The annoying thing is that I have no idea when I'll have the time to actually fit these. I suspect it'll be next spring to be honest, so in the meantime I'll do a fluid change before we go north of the border to Bute on our jollies. I'll need the car to be A1 for that.

Shouldn't fret. The important thing at the mileage on your box is the flush. Once done, you've 20-30K minimum to visit the Jockinese, and/or decide to find the arsedness.

Surprised you've not said. It's an 'R'?? You never mention it. Here's opportunity to sashay in ever more lengths of blue-hosing. There's always room for more blue hosing.

Is it an 'R'?

Well I never did

[Bob Meadows]

Any use ?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313536586...wAAOSwnulgp~2u

Bob.

[CNGBiFuel]

Piccy added before link goes dead.

Don't know Bob, seems highly probable it'd be right and if not can be cobbled to fit, and it's cheap enough to take a punt on. RT: At that price, perhaps you should be ready to have his hand off.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks for the tip I did see that earlier, and googled the part number - its just a rubber hose unfortunately, not the one with the metal fitting.

I've dropped Hudds Breakers an email, so I'll see what they have in stock.

BTW, re the arsedness (great term lol), I wish it was just down to that. I have many demands on my time, mainly supporting my Mum who is very frail, disabled, deaf, almost blind and has many many health issues following covid. (Our family was hit badly by covid earlier this year - Dad died, Mum has been in hospital many times due to the damage it caused to her, and I'm still recovering from it, albeit 70-80% there). So I'm doing what I can as I can, but I'm being realistic about doing anything reasonably major - I just don't get a whole day free very often and need the car to be drivable at short notice now that we're down to just the one car (the S70 was a very handy standby car but we don't have that luxury any more).

On a positive note, the Magnefine filter has just arrived And the ATF is due tomorrow - I've gone for Fuchs 4000 which is a quality Dexron III compatible fluid. I'd like to go with a fully synthetic, but thats rather expensive these days! I put AmsOil synthetic ATF in my last 850R - it cost over £100 a decade ago. To run 12 litres of that through the 850 would cost over £200 nowadays lol. So Fuchs it is

[CNGBiFuel]

Sorry to hear the woes. Prices for your ATF seems OTT. The 5-speed uses JWS3309 which is fully synth. It used to be a crazy £250, and only Mobil made it. No good to you, but for the benefit of those with 5 -speed,.... now it's delivered, all in, £57 for 20L on the bay of E.

Some idiot will along in mo' to say he'll only consider Volvo branded (...in his Toyota box). Sometimes branded Aisin Warner or Toyota Type T-IV, same spec.

Careful of ATF with wide, 'fits all' labelling.

[RollingThunder]

The problem with Dexron is that it could only be classed that if it was licensed by GM - and they stopped licensing Dexron a decade ago, so it can only be called something like Dexron III compatible. Its all about the $$$ anyway, so you have to be careful what you buy as nobody actually checks it nowadays.

I've used Fuchs before - its a reputable brand along the lines of Castrol, Mobil etc so it'll be fine. It gave the courier a work out when he delivered it yesterday - I'm guessing its around 20kg in one box. Had to smile when he asked what it was - the box had OPIE OILS printed all over it

I've negotiated a 'car' day with wifey, so I'll be able to crack on with a few jobs some time in the next week or so - we both noticed the aroma of coolant in the car yesterday, so I'll get the heater matrix swapped out and the ATF changed.

Hudds breakers didn't have any fittings, so I'll be visiting Pirtek in due course - I'll take the cooler to them along with a diagram with measurements - may as well have them make up the entire lines with nicely formed bends in the metal pipework rather than just the end fittings.