Thread: 80 series landcruiser transmission cooler

Just got a reconed trans fitted and am running it on a after market trans cooler at the moment. Want to plumb in the factory cooler on the bottom of the radiator too, but want it clean as first. Any tips on flushing it out ? I have gently blown brake cleaner through it and got a lot of crap out .but seems blocked in one direction. Do they have a non return valve ? I can't see any . Just checking if any forumites may have done something similar.

I used some second hand coolers once, and the trans shop who rebuilt my trans sold me a couple of aerosol cans of "flush" stuff.
The cans had a bit of hose attached to them that fits onto the cooler input etc, all I had to do was blow that stuff through.
no idea what they were called sorry.

You could get a couple meters of hose attached to the cooler, fill the hose with wax and grease remover, then put the air duster into the hose and blow it through.
And repeat until it comes out clean as.
Might pay to start with petrol as it is cheaper, then flush it all nice and clean with the expensive stuff at the end.

Be careful it does not blow back in your eyes though.

thanks guys. mimms2 , looking online a lot of people reccomend keeping the factory cooler that is part of the radiator as it works as a preheater too.

Don't do it. There's a risk of it splitting and filling the trans with water. We don't get cold enough in wellington to need to preheat. Are you towing heavy loads? If so you will be adding heat to the trans from the radiator.

I put two trans coolers on the last three yank wagons I have run.

That's towing 3.5 ton from minus 25 ish up to 30 deg up mountain roads.

I replace the hard lines with braided lines and simply add another cooler on the front of the radiator.

In total I have towed nearly a million km in total using that set up.I change utes at 300k and have never had a single transmission problem.I change the oil and filter yearly.

Originally Posted by 2post

Don't do it. There's a risk of it splitting and filling the trans with water. We don't get cold enough in wellington to need to preheat. Are you towing heavy loads? If so you will be adding heat to the trans from the radiator.

The company who supplied the recon trans wants it done like that otherwise no warranty. there seems to be people with both trains of thought unfortunately .the splitting of the old radiator does worry me too.

Do you have a temperature gauge on the trans?

I like to have one,my current wagon has one as standard and I installed one on my previous wagon.

If for no other reason than it might remind you to run the trans down to cool off.

Last year I drove over a mountain pass at 2000 meters in about 30 minus with the wind chill. My trans with two coolers plus the circuit in the radiator was reading 20 deg c.

Cruising on the flat in top year towing a loaded trailer at say 20 deg ambient,the trans reads about 40 c.

So there must be alot of warm fluid in the friction parts of the trans despite the three coolers if the difference through a 50 degree spectrum is only 20 deg in the actual transmission.

All the ones I've seen are just a pipe in the bottom tank with no valve in them. There's a guy in Plimmerton that been doing autos since the 80s Zane is his name I can ask his advice if you like. Wasn't him that supplied it was it?

Originally Posted by norsk

Do you have a temperature gauge on the trans?

I like to have one,my current wagon has one as standard and I installed one on my previous wagon.

If for no other reason than it might remind you to run the trans down to cool off.
2 post , ask him if you see him no pressure.
, no it was a guy in hamilton who did it.

Last year I drove over a mountain pass at 2000 meters in about 30 minus with the wind chill. My trans with two coolers plus the circuit in the radiator was reading 20 deg c.

Cruising on the flat in top year towing a loaded trailer at say 20 deg ambient,the trans reads about 40 c.

So there must be alot of warm fluid in the friction parts of the trans despite the three coolers if the difference through a 50 degree spectrum is only 20 deg in the actual transmission.

I have ordered one so i can keep an eye on the temp. dont want another big bill for cooking a trans,mind you it is a pretty old wagon.

They do all seem to go at a certain age as wear and slip generate heat, if really worried could get new tank put on so you know it is clean and material is sound. They are similar to boats in the sense that every job seems to be measured by the thousand rather than hundred but still love mine
I try to work on 3k per year loss in vehicles, either in depreciation or maintenance spend, given they hold their value well it makes me feel more ok with spending money on it...

This is what the 80 series oil cooler looks like to FYI

I had an oil cooler fitted to my series 80 when I bought it at 25k km.

Now at +350k km, and had had the tranny fully serviced every 100k or so. Still running strong.

My 94 80series was getting a bit clunky and jerky with gear changes in low box, took it in and got trans serviced in chch. When I picked it up they were asking how long I had had the truck, but 5 years but was in the family for the last 15.... o that's interesting as it has the factory filter still in the trans and the caps were still sealed..... only done 350km and towed a tandem trailer with a couple of ton on a regular basis, go the Toyota!!!