General Turbocharger Thread (formerly "Turbo Charging A Tundra!")

Removing those lines is a no brainer, regardless of what people choose to do with the other transmission bits. And they were definitely the silliest heatsink I have ever seen. lol

 

Good catch! I will replace both the thermostat and warming puck therefore no more need for coolant down as you mentioned.

I will need both hoses for coolant and oil.

The end state will be:

1. A direct rubber coolant hoses from the front of the engine to the firewall. Remove hard lines.

2. Remove both thermostat and warming puck. Remove hard lines. Use new oil hoses.

Maybe is time to do a full coolant and trans. oil flush too.

Today I'm going to take a close look at all of these things to make sure I understand everything correctly and plan the action plan.

 

No issues with mine removed for over a year. You should be good down in your warm climate.

 

Drain and fill only on the TRANSMISSION. Do not FLUSH or replace all fluid at once.

 

10-4 will do!

I didn't imagine why but now I understand why.

 

You'll need to at least top off both Trans fluid and Coolant as both levels will drop when removing the warming puck/adjusting the lines...there's no harm in doing both as long as you keep everything straight. When I removed the Trans thermostat and warming puck I did a full drain and fill on both.

 

This is the first time I am doing something like this and have no experience with it at all lol. Just for precaution, I will do the mods, top off the coolant, and full flush to trans. I will do the coolant flush after few more days having it running and tested.

 

Never heard that and if you do each independently shouldn't be an issue. I've never done just a drain and fill. I've always exchanged as much fluid through the cooler return line. But it's not a flush.

 

I think that is a difference that has been thoroughly discussed though. Purging (via cooler line) is different than pressurized forcing (via flush). You know, like using a squatty potty vs getting a hernia from grunting. Same, but different.

 

After all, I'm considering removing both coolant lines entirely and just closing the circuit/loop in front of the engine. I've never used the heater, defroster, or seat heater. So, in my case, there's no need to keep the heater core circulating coolant. The trans thermostat and warming puck will be eliminated too.

I am investigating if there is any problem other than not having hot air inside the cabin?

Thoughts?

 

I honestly don't know about impacts of bypassing the heater core, except that you should figure out how to close it off. Caps, it's own closed loop, whatever. I don't know enough about where sensors are located or anything else.

 

Id leave the heater in place just because once you bypass it, you’ll be guaranteed to need it come winter time and it won’t be hooked up and you’ll be pissed. No way I’d be without my heater even in Texas.

 

Here in Puerto Rico winter temps can be from 70f to 80f. Rarely 60f to 69f.

 

That's what I did, took out the thermostat and puck and now it's going straight to the heat exchanger up front...it doesn't get real cold here either, but if it was too cold to warm up I'd put an in-line thermostatic valve like the Improved Racing model that @Mdl has. If you change the coolant circuit there is a 90* hose that gets removed and will work for connecting from the heater core to the hard lines on the valve cover, you just need a 5/8" coupler.

It won't affect the cabin temps, just the transmission warm-up time, after it's warmed up the puck is useless.

 

Good point. That's the way to go if I decide to keep the firewall heater core used for the cabin heater, defrost, and seat heater. If I eliminate that then there is no need to run coolant hoses near the turbo/pipes. Also, short distance more coolant cycles. But I am not sure about the negative side of doing this.

 

No ill effects here. Cabin heat is just as before. I had a left over 90 deg gates hose and just used a straight 5/8 connector.

 

I am sorry maybe is the way I am saying it. In summary I am planing to eliminate all that no replacements. My heater will no longer work after that. Coolant will no flow by that core because it will be disconnected.

 

For ECTs, those hardlines need to be bypassed. They run directly under the turbo at its closest ppint to the engine.

 

Then you could get rid of the hard lines on the valve cover as well, your seat heaters should be electric, not sure if the heater core has any effect on the defrost, but I don't believe it does.

 

Yep, Nice! I will give it a try. At least looks easy to do and undo if needed.

Used AI to remove the hoses. It should look something like this at end.lol

 

Yup, misunderstood you. Should be able to control any defrost/defog with the a/c.

 

Let me clarify something: removal/bypass of these lines were only found to be required with prolonged pulls associated with towing an 8k lbs brick. Temps would quickly recover once out of boost. Wrapping those lines did prove to help in those situations. Same for the section of hard line down by the trans warmer puck which run along the uppipe.

So, if you aren't towing, probably not required. But it's def one of those "while it's accessible" it's highly recommended they be bypassed/replaced. More space, less heat transfer, better ECTs.