Hey guys. I've got an 84 Trans Am with a 305 and 700R4. I went to begin changing out the Radiator when I noticed the original radiator has a tranny cooler in it with the tranny lines running out of it. Sort of. The one on the top is there, but there is no line running to the cooler spot on the bottom. I traced it back and best as I can tell, it looks like some one some time in the past, cut the tubes and sealed them off (both of them). How detrimental is this to the tranny and where can I find any replacements? Autozone sells a set of rubber hoses, will those work?

 

So both tubes from the tranny are capped or does it have a chunk of hose connecting the 2 and just the tank on the rad capped?



If your saying both lines from the trans have a chunk of hose or similar connecting them. Then yea that will cause alot of heat buildup in the trans, heat is the #1 killer of a trans and just the slightest increase in temps can take thousands of miles off its life.

If they are just plain capped off so their is no circulation, im sure you may as well throw that trans in the garbage...

 

Well, the Trans Runs...and has been running well. over 10000 miles since rebuild and the fluid is still a nice bright pink. It looks as if the lines are connected together.

I picked up a trans cooler with my new radiator which I will install next weekend. I'm also going to pick up some new rubber hoses to fit everything together since the metal lines are shot and I don't feel like bending anything.

 

Ok, well you will definately need to get some sort of cooler on there ASAP!

Heat kills!




Here, i grabbed this from 88_import_slaye's thread

Every one with a 700R4 should really read this. This is critical and the main reason ppl really hate 700R4's.

The transmission has a "half-life" factor as you can see from the chart below.

Always run the transmission lines through the radiator FIRST, then to a secondary cooler (if needed). If you are not getting 175 all of the time, then you have some problems that need to be fixed. Get a new heat exchanger in your radiator, or a new radiator period. Make sure your lines are not bent or crimped anywhere.

Temperature -> Life
==============
175* -> 100,000 miles
195* -> 50,000 miles
215* -> 25,000 miles
235* -> 12,500 miles
255* -> 6,250 miles
275* -> 3,000 miles
295* -> 1,500 miles
315* -> 750 miles

Above 300*, clutches and seals burn and transmission metals warp and distort.

Put a temp gauge in your pan. There are plenty of kits for installing a drain plug in your pan if you dont have one already. That will be the "coolest" place in your system. Inside of the converter, the fluid can get up to 400 degree's so your cooling system will need to be abel to bring it back down.

Change your fluid (all of it, not just the pan) every 7,000 miles with dextron III fluid. We tell our customers "Buy cheap and change often". dont waste money on expensive fluid, it wont help.

Your transmission fluid temperature should always be a constant 30*-50* cooler than your engine temp. Remember that your water temp gauge for your motor is located at the hotest point on your motor, right before it goes into the radiator, so it gets cooled way down. The heat exchanger for the transmission fluid is located on the outside of the radiator, so it is covered by the now cooled water going back into your motor.

I hope this information helps you. There is another thread you should look at for more 700R4 info: https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/show...hreadid=124536

 

Ok, I got up under the car today. I finally got off work in time to take it to the hobby shop on base and put it on a lift. The lines are in tact...but one of them is a hose. It looks like the line that goes to the bottom of the tranny was cut at one time and they replaced it with a hose. It was routed in such a way that I couldn't tell it was there until I actually was able to get a good look at it. So...after much panic, all is well in the world of Ozz...