Manual transmission Cooler?

[icdred]

I have been contemplating building a cooling system for my M50D-R1 Ranger manual transmission. Just wondering if anyone has tried this or if it is even worthe the time? I know these are very weak trannys and am wondering if heat has any factor in blowing gears up prematurely while offroading.

I am thinking about installing a feed line into the drain plug, run an inline pump and filter, trans cooler, and have the return dump back into the fill plug. Anyone with experience think this will work and be beneficial?

-Scott

[movindirt]

As someone who has beat on a few of these trannies my opinion is this. Failures of this tranny are caused by 2 main reasons, 1) Clutch not bled properly due to system being very hard to bleed. 2) Low fluid level, can be due to failure of rubber plugs of shifter housing.

I have only blown one trans and it was for reason #1. When you are skippin whoops you need a gear and missing due to faulty clutch is not cool. Result= teeth gone from 1st gear. I had 33"s and 3.55's at the time..

I have yet to hear of any heat related failures, not saying it has not happened. Just seems like a cooling system is just going to and complexity to the system, create more potential for leaks and failure for reason #2. Have you run temp test to determine how hot the trans is running? How much heat might the exhaust be inducing and can that be minimized? I have never raced with a M50 so I don't have info for that environment. If it were me I would machine up a new plug for the drain that would allow the installation of a temp gauge and would get temp data. If you are not exceeding the operational temp of the fluid you are running then I would think a cooler would have little benefit. If trans failures are haunting you I would go with a stronger trans (T5 or ?) before investing time and money into a cooling system that would give marginal increase in reliability if at all. Hope that helps some.

[Byrdman]

Those tranny's suck period.. Cooling it won't help a small 3rd gear that will come apart if your on it hard. T-5's are tricky as well. I've considered trying to run a cooler on my T-5, but just increased the amount of fluid by 1/2 quart and it seems to be holding up. P.M. me for more info...

[HarleyR]

Aside from the transmission comming into question the cooling method you described would work... Setrab makes a nice sized coolers Tilton offeres an electric pump,just dont forget to prime the system then add more fluid so you dont suck the trans dry...

[icdred]

I do agree that the temperature is probably not the biggest factor in destroying trannies but, the added fluid is what I think would be the biggests help. The last trans blew 3rd gear....there was no fluid loss and the clutch was bled properly. The last time I drained the trans I am running now, I found a few, larger than normal, chunks in the drain pan so I am a little worried that this one is going to grenade on me sooner or lalter.

As for the cooler, I was actually thinking about using an A/C condenser as a cooler and make y own lines.....(budget talking here):) Thanks for the replies guys!