This is my first write-up. I figured i would make one so people arn't clueless on what to do. Even though it's not difficult at all. I know i have a 1990 NA AT. I did this to help prolong the life of the transmission, and fluid. As most of you know the 90 models' AT is even a weaker slushbox compared to later years. I've already rebuilt it once, I had time off and i got most the parts for free so i went for it. 5spd conversion will happen sometime.What you need some sort of transmission cooler of your choice No less than 6 feet of transmission fluid hose, i used 3/8 size. (You MUST have hose made for transmission fluid) 2-4 clamps for the hoses.(depending if the old ones are still in good condition) Something to mount the cooler. some needle nose(to help get old hoses off) phillips and flathead screwdriver.
This is everything i used to do this install. I just happened to clean the airfilter at the same time.
You need to take your air filter/box out, Auxilary fan, and the metal support brace(not sure what it's exactly called but it's behind the aux fan. Also your ptu if you had it temporary rigged up like i did. (It's now securely mounted) I would go ahead see how your new cooler is going to fit and get an idea of where you want it exactly mounted, etc. The mounting kit i bought consist of pieces of nylon which are similar to a zip tie but go through the fins and hook up to a back piece. (Not sure how long it'll hold, i imagine not too long, but it will do until i get some metal brackets)
Go ahead and hook your hoses up to the cooler before securing it. I routed my hoses through an opening left of the radiator. When you route your hoses make sure you can get them so they don't kink and prevent flow. Also try to find a pathway to where the other ends can connect without being loosely mounted. Basically speaking, get some zip-ties and secure the hoses.
As you can see, i connected my cooler tied to the the stock one, so hopefully it can provide extra cooling instead of a replacement.
Once you make sure all the clamps are nice and tight and you've run the car to check for leaks, then you can put everything backtogether. The foam ring on the aux fan if you have one will have to be removed as it'll push the fan away from its' mounting points.
After i had it all hooked up and while i was running the car, i was amazed by how hot the cooler got. It wasn't blistering hot, but about 150 degrees. I imagine it should keep my transmission cooler.
This is some of the fluid that came out of my hoses, looks pretty rough transmission fluid. It's alot darker than the fluid at the dipstick. I let a good amount drain out and put fresh dexron III in. And no, the clumps of dirt did not come out the lines.
ALSO: while your doing this and have everything removed, it's a great time to get some degreaser, and clean your condensor and radiator fins. Hopefully this works for everybody and is worthy of a Vote to FAQ. I'm just trying to give back to the community. Those pieces of plastic on the fan shroud, are being cut off and sanded down to make the shroud smooth on the top instead of those squares. I know it needs to be on.
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