5.7L Transmission Cooler Kits

Finally ordered my kit yesterday. Can't wait to get it installed.

 

Got cooler kit installed.

Decided to leave T stat pinned.

To add to the knowledge base:

--Before cruising in 90 deg ambients with speed at 78 mph temps would climb to 212-218F. Now the temps are in range of 178-185F. This is with pinned t stat.

--Under heavy acceleration pan temps would rise about 2-3 degrees. TC temp would flash up to 195F and then sink to being equal with pan temps in less than 2 seconds.

--No a/c issues.

--Coolant temps seemed to be lower by about 3 degrees.

Hardest part of this was getting TRD PRO skid plate off and on by myself on the ground.

Hardest technical part was routing and securing the upper and lower thermostat hoses. (I scanned the instructions and didn't register the to/from part well. I got it figured out but it took a while.)

 

Just Ordered a MHX-14 kit from Nick , hopefully will get a chance to install it next week.

 

Got my cooler installed. @chasenicholas93 your kit is awesome.

I used this pump to fill the transmission. Way better than the bottle pumps and cheap too.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/HyperTough-Multi-Use-Pump-Universal-36200WD/345121918

 

How long did it take you and how mechanically inclined are you? Mine arrived today and debating doing it myself or having transmission shop do it for $200

 

It’s not too bad but $200 is a good price.

 

It’s pretty easy if you’re used to turning wrenches. $200 is cheap for an install if it’s quality. It took me about 4 hours working at a slow pace.

 

On the mechanical difficulty...

I got a wobble socket 13 mm and a long extension to get to the hard line bolt near the alternator. Go through the frame where control arm attaches.
And long reach needle nose work very well on hose clamps for the thermostat.

Installing the thermostat may look dauting to folks but it is way easier than it looks. I decided to sandwich the puck and thermostat with the bolts and start them into the transmission. Made it easy.

You can also "tip over the puck" when removed to dump as much trans fluid out as possible.

And of course make sure you don't double o-ring the thermostat and also put a bit of trans fluid on o rings prior to installation.

Without including the epic fight getting trd pro skid plate on and off, the cooler scope took me 2 hours and 30 minutes of that was me being confused over the inlet/outlet hoses.

 

I called a local transmission repair shop that had a lot of good google reviews and they quoted me $150-$250 which from what i've seen on this post is a good price. I figure they work on transmissions all day and know what they are doing. I think I may go that route.

 

I had a transmission shop do mine, they said they knew all about coolers and installs. Bring them the install instructions, they'll need them.

 

Yeah that’s my plan. Done got them printed up.

 

So i called the shop back. Apparently the young lady that gave me that quote last week is no longer employed there. Apparently she was an office assistant and was giving out quotes on work (like mine) by pulling numbers out her ass LOL. Talked to manager and he apologized and I gave him the website with the cooler so he could look it over and see what work was needed and called me back a couple hours later with a quote of $480 which seems more in line.

Though the wife wants me to take it to dealership and have it done there, she trusts our dealership more than transmission shop, don't think this is an argument worth having. So hopefully in next couple of weeks I can get it installed.

 

It is really easy to do and save yourself some coin. I don’t regularly work on my vehicles to fix things, but this was an easy install, in large part because you’re just adding stuff that was designed to be there (t-stat, hard lines) rather than doing a repair or modification that brings an existing component out of factory spec.

 

Thanks @chasenicholas93 ! You helped get the rig to TX in some tough conditions! About 900 miles of towing travel trailer from IL to TX. Truck has 37's. Ambient temps were 88-100F. Pan temp was typically 190-195, and highest I saw was 205 when purposefully letting it run in 5th convertor up a continuous grade when it was 100 outside just to see. If I left it in S4 I don't think it would've exceeded 195 but truck has been regeared and can hold 5th lock-up quite a bit and sometimes 6th so let it do so and would switch it down to S4 if I heard it stay in 5 convertor for much or on a hill...gave me something to do monitoring the OBDII app lol. Interesting the Tundra engine coolant stays consistently cool...only spiking a couple of degrees when encountering very steep grades. She was thirsty but the 38gal tank made is no sweat on ability to get to top tier gas stations with space to maneunver.

 

Finally got my Setrab kit installed, some observations below (pretty much reaffirming what others have said).

Rationale: I live in California. In SoCal heat, inclines, and speeds (75-80 mph), I was usually running 230F in the pan. In NorCal mountainous areas, which are often curvy, very steep, and paved (can't use 4LO here), I was getting 250F+ in the pan with the TC unlocked in low gears.

Install: The hardest part of the install for me was getting the truck level and the outrageous level check procedure (cats are right next to the trans and they get hot fast). Installing the hard lines was actually pretty simple after i laid fully under the truck and was able to get hands on both ends of the lines (one on the front and one in the rear by the oil pan). There is one wiring loom in the middle and a few hoses at the front end to watch out for getting caught on the hard lines, but beyond that it was simple. For the soft hoses, I put ATF on the hose ends and heated it up with a hair dryer, and as a result the hoses went on pretty easily.

Results: It hasn't been that hot recently and I haven't gone up the mountains, but with the thermostat unpinned I generally am around 185-190 in the pan no matter highway or city. The TC will spike on inclines as usual, but the pan temps really do not move. Overall I am happy with the result.

 

Additional information.

93-94 degree day. High humidity. 3600 ft elevation ( thinner air reduces mass flow of air and therefore convective cooling impact).

I ran truck hard for two hours. Up and down some slight hills.

multiple full throttle runs 60-95 mph.

( rural area with no traffic)

highest TC temp was 210. Previous recordings showed 255.

highest pan temp was 181. Previous recording was 238.

this is a 57 degree difference at peak load.

steady cruising at 78-80 mph ( legal limit out here) pan temps stayed under 177 and TC temps quickly reached same temp.

stop and go traffic I only saw 179F at pan and 190 on TC.

I also am now convinced the cooler is taking heat out of cooling system by about 3-6 degrees.

No leaks.

these readings were with pinned thermostat.

 

Hey guys, Genuine Cooling Systems is having a labor day sale that ends today.

10% off all kits.

Please contact me at genuinecoolingsystems@gmail.com if you have any questions.

 

Dang i should have waited a week, oh well.

 

Same here !!!

 

Hey everyone just got my kit for the mhx installed last week. First week never saw temps above 185 for more than a couple of seconds. I took a 2 hour trip to my parents house in Pennsylvania this weekend almost all highway driving. 80 Deg ambient. Going 65-75 mph. But my temps only coming down to 187.4 or 188.5. I know it’s only 2-3 deg from 185 but isn’t the cooler and thermostat supposed to run until it gets down to the 185? Do I have something weird going on here? Just curious because it was fine the first week but I didn’t take this long of a drive. Could the cooler not be able to get it down all the way back to 185?

 

I have one of the earlier cooler kits, (June 2020) but I wouldn't expect much difference in overall performance. My truck has not really ran under 190 deg at all, I would say temps are mostly mid 190's unloaded and at least upper 190's to mid 200's when towing. These temps all summer weather examples.

It seems to me your running on the cool side and certainly nothing to be concerned about.

 

Your kidding correct? You expect a mechanical thermostat work within 5 degrees. If you are looking for that type of accuracy you will spend 200K for your cars.

 

@chasenicholas93 I was window shopping and daydreaming about getting one of your two kits someday, and I saw a few things that sparked some questions. These are just an idle mind wondering, so don't think you need to rush a response to please a customer. I'm broke right now!

1. I see the Setrab cooler is noted as compatible with a Whipple Supercharger while the MHX is noted as compatible with a Magnusson Supercharger. Are they incompatible with the other Superchargers?
2. The MHX cooler says there would be additional instructions and hose protection for a Magnusson SC install. How difficult would it be to add those items later if you are not SCed right now, but may do it in the future?
3. Do you know if having the MHX cooler anodized (the silver is an eyesore IMO) would affect it's performance?
4. Is the MHX superior to the Setrab in performance?

I apologize if these are answered somewhere back in the previous 30+ pages, but I'm being lazy. If anyone else has followed this thread closely and wants to point/link to the answers in previous posts, it would be most appreciated.

 

Those temps are without towing anything though

 

Keep in mind the transmission fluid is warmed by coolant and coolant temps are a pretty consistent 190-195 no matter what. I expect normal operating range for the transmission to be 185-195 which is fine. Lots of anecdotal reports of the transmission holding these temps even towing with the aftermarket cooler.

 

Yeah I’m going to be happy with 190-195 temps. Currently 210 plus after city driving. 2 more weeks and I get mine installed. Can’t wait

 

With city driving and nothing towed, im at around 185 pan avg. TC can get up 210 easy, but gets back down to 185-190 when in motion. Freeway I can easily get as low as 175-180 on both pan and TC. Did great on a Vegas summer day at 110 deg F ambient temp.

I'll report my numbers when I unpin the T stat for the winter.

 

is that with the thermostat pinned open or in normal operation?

 

Pinned.

 

Setrab vs mhx. I want to get the mhx one (seems better) but inwant the cooler to be black in color for stealth. Also damn i missed the sale(figures lol)