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Fitting an Automatic Transmission Oil Cooler
Article kindly supplied by Tim at TPC Trailers.
Please note this article relates to the LN130 Surf (2.4 Turbo Diesel).
Tools/Equipment Needed
- 2m of pipe (3/8" bore)
- 6 jubilee clips
- 2 fittings for oil cooler
- Spanners
- Sockets
- ATF Fluid
- Screwdrivers
ATF Oil Cooler – Inline with original cooler and placed BEFORE.
First I removed the 2 screws (phillips) from the sidelights, then the units slide forward and then I disconnected the cable from the back. |
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| Then I removed the grill, done by unclipping (and usually breaking) the clips along the top of the grille, and the two at the bottom of the grille come out by pushing in with a long screwdriver. |  |
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| Then I removed my spotlights and disconnected the wiring and then removed the A bar (4 big bolts, two each side). The A bar 'slots in' and will sit on its own with all bolts removed on my vehicle. |  |
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| After this I removed the bumper indicators by removing the 2 phillips screws and pulling them out and unplugging the wires. |  |
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I then started to remove the bumper, 4 main bolts, plus two nuts that are accessible from a hole in the wheelarch (if any of yours are stuck like mine were there is another nut you can access from underneath on a rubber bush that will also allow you to remove the bumper. Now is a good time to remove all the mud from previous muddy lanes etc, this particular example sports mud from Salisbury Plains! I also at this point removed the bash plate for my underslung air con rad (2 bolts at front of car and 2 or 4 underneath + maybe some plastic clips if still present). |
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| Cleaned for 30mins or so with a low pressure hosepipe! |  |
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| I have removed the air con rad for the moment as it is unused and I have a leak to sort, if you do this please have the system degassed if there is any left by a professional. I removed the bolts and aircon pipes and the vacuum tube, this I plugged with a screw and zip cable. |  |
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| Here is my new (2nd hand) oil cooler ready to fit with all the fittings already bought. |  |
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| Cooler held in place, I had to measure and check to make sure it cleared all mounts and the bumper. |  |
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| This picture showed the plumbing afterwards but dont worry about that for now. Its the two pipes to the left that are the oil cooler pipes and run to and from the rad cooler. The left pipe can stay connected. The pipe on the right of this is the feed to the rad from the gearbox on my car, this was diconnected and run to the left side of the new oil cooler. Once connected i started the engine with a bucket on the outlet of the new cooler, when the ATF fluid came out the rad was primed and I stopped the engine, the other pipes and connectors were connected up as per diagram below using Locktite and Jubilee clips. I did not need pipe extenders as I fitted onto the rigid piping from original pipes using 3/8” bore pipe. |  |
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| I chose to hold my cooler in place with cable ties
as it was a snug fit, you may want to make brackets to fix correctly.
With the remaining pipes connected I checked all the plumbing and added around 1l of fresh ATF fluid (you may need less/more depending on your cooler). |
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| I checked the pipes and routed them to avoid rubbing
and secured with cable ties. I then started the car again to check for leaks and correct fluid levels and added fluid as required. |
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| As they say in the manuals, refitting is the reversal of removal but I checked the cooler did not foul the bumper/brackets etc. It was a very snug fit and I am very happy with the position of my cooler. |  |
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| All my parts were from Pirtek, take the cooler with you to get perfect fittings, mine were a very rare German thread. | ||
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