Just Installed A Cooler, Have A Few Questions
07-14-2013, 10:24 PM
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Just Installed A Cooler, Have A Few Questions I had a hell of a time installing the B&M 70264 today. I didn't find the instructions until after I finished, it was hidden in a flap in the box it came in. It took me several hours because I had trouble mounting it the way I wanted. I used the brackets on the top and the bottom and installed it with the ports pointing to towards the passenger side. I also mounted it left center if that matters. The instructions also placed emphasis on finding which is the return line and showed pictures of the cooler pointed upwards and indicated which one was the return line, yet no markings were on the cooler itself to indicate this as it can be flipped around for different mounting. Does the cooler really have a specified inlet and outlet that cannot be switched? Because if so I may have mixed them up, but I don't see how that can matter, especially when it's not marker for inlet and outlet or even front or back. Seems to me it goes in one end and comes out the other. Once I finally had it done, I had a hard time getting the two plastic shrouds from the top and the bottom to go back in correctly. They're in there but not exactly as they were. They aren't clipped in the middle and I had to trim some of it because the new trans cooler hose was getting in the way. Still it didn't sit exactly right, but I took it to 60-70 mph and it didn't seem to flop around. I bypassed the radiator in hopes of even cooler temps, as I was seeing 185-200 temps, the longer I drove, the hotter it got.
So I tested it for leaks, and all was well and I just let it run a bit to get up to temp and checked the fluid and added less than 1 qt of trans fluid. After checking it later it was still within spec so I added no more. Just a quick driver after letting it run it got up to 135* faster than I thought it would. Then about 30 minutes later I took it on 2 seperate 10 minute drives with about 15 minute rest between and the temp got to 160*. I have yet to take it on the freeway and take it on a long drive, but I thought it would rise slower than this. Or maybe I'm doing good so far. It was 81* outside when I was driving it.
Do my temps seem ok so far and did anyone else have trouble getting the plastic radiator shrouds back in? Also is there a specific inlet and outlet on the radiator or is it universal and it doesn't matter where the return line is?
So I tested it for leaks, and all was well and I just let it run a bit to get up to temp and checked the fluid and added less than 1 qt of trans fluid. After checking it later it was still within spec so I added no more. Just a quick driver after letting it run it got up to 135* faster than I thought it would. Then about 30 minutes later I took it on 2 seperate 10 minute drives with about 15 minute rest between and the temp got to 160*. I have yet to take it on the freeway and take it on a long drive, but I thought it would rise slower than this. Or maybe I'm doing good so far. It was 81* outside when I was driving it.
Do my temps seem ok so far and did anyone else have trouble getting the plastic radiator shrouds back in? Also is there a specific inlet and outlet on the radiator or is it universal and it doesn't matter where the return line is?
07-14-2013, 10:37 PM
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I guess it doesn't matter, but that cooler is designed to have the ports pointing up, not to the side. If they are pointing to the side, you should have the inlet on the top and the return on the bottom. If you point the ports up, it doesn't matter which is in/out.
07-15-2013, 10:02 AM
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General practice is in the bottom & out the top to get maximum btu removal efficiency if mounting with the ports to the side.
Especially with a plate type heat exchanger.
(Tube & Fin type is going to flow completely thru anyway. no matter how you mount it.)
Fittings on the bottom on a plate type is not recommended at all. The fluid could go in one side & flow across the bottom to the exit right away & not get any heat transfer.
Similar thought pattern on the plate type, is that if you go in at the top, the fluid could go directly to the bottom port & out with out any heat transfer. At least if you go in the bottom, you push the fluid thru the plates & then it flows out of the top to get maximum btu removal.
Especially with a plate type heat exchanger.
(Tube & Fin type is going to flow completely thru anyway. no matter how you mount it.)
Fittings on the bottom on a plate type is not recommended at all. The fluid could go in one side & flow across the bottom to the exit right away & not get any heat transfer.
Similar thought pattern on the plate type, is that if you go in at the top, the fluid could go directly to the bottom port & out with out any heat transfer. At least if you go in the bottom, you push the fluid thru the plates & then it flows out of the top to get maximum btu removal.
07-15-2013, 07:28 PM
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Well then it appears I did it right then, as I matched the factory locations of feed on the bottom and return on top, if the cooler were larger, it would almost be parallel with the stock radiator locations. I started worrying today thinking about it as being harder for the fluid to flow up from the bottom and out the top as I had it, but it's good to know I have it right. I noticed a small amount of fluid on the ground this morning but I think that's leftover from the radiator, I need to plug it soon but I don't think much more will come out. I'm still not happy with how the plastic air channels went back in, and I've noticed the coolant temps seem a few degrees hotter, maybe from the cooler being in front of the condenser and rad?