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2014 Rav4 Limited transmission cooler

12K views 23 replies 7 participants last post by  Mainia  
#1 ·
I want to install an aftermarket transmission cooler on my Rav4.
Does anyone know which line is the return to the transmission from the so called cooler/warmer that is mounted above the tranny.
If anybody did the install , I would appreciate some help.


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#2 ·
Can't answer your specific question but IMO the flow direction or whether the auxiliary cooler is before or after a factory cooler should make no difference.
 
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#6 ·
Explain your logic..... Just as you basically have a the hotter flow water line coming from the water pump going into the radiator and cooled down from the radiator out back to the cylinder head. You basically have the same going on in the hockey puck. 4 lines in the puck and 4 lines in a radiator application. Water in, water out, trans oil in, trans oil out. Then you have the hot side of the tranny line going into the side or lower radiator for a common radiator car/truck application and is EITHER cooled or heated depending upon if the car was just started or long term running and if the weather in 10 degs of winter or 90 of summer. Here too, you have a choice of what " transmission line" to use on the return line of the hockey puck oil exit just as you would if the RAV4 was using a radiator for cooling or heating the trans fluid. So yes there is a difference where you put the finned trans cooler in the "flow" scheme.

If you are hauling a boat or trailer the time the hot pan fluid is in the dinky puck or even a radiator may not bring down the temp to engine water temp. So doing it in the right order makes sense, just as it does when adding and external cooler with a radiator based trans cooler flow scheme.
 
#7 ·
Explain your logic..... Just as you basically have a the hotter flow water line coming from the water pump going into the radiator and cooled down from the radiator out back to the cylinder head.
If direction of flow is that important are you saying that if someone switched the radiator in & out hoses it would heat instead of cool the water?
 
#8 ·
I hooked mine on my 05 after the factory transmission cooler (line flowing into the transmission -aka return line) since that is what my B & M cooler instruction say. You would need to consult the instruction manual for your aftermarket transmission cooler.

Here is a thread I started which may guide you. Also look here which shows where the return and supply line is for a 4.4 (post #10 pictures).
 
#11 ·
I will be adding a cooler this summer to my wife's Rav4 when I get my boat, and then I will dump the crap WS and put in some nice Redline D6 ATF that is a Group 4 (PAO) /Group 5 (POE) ATF. To stiffen up the shifts, I will then cocktail in some Redline Racing regular and lightweight to get the viscosity to match the D6 that is speced for using to replace the WS garbage ATF.

I also plan to add an external trans filter, a Magnafine or this one that I will be adding to my Honda Fit next week. Made out of a solid piece of aluminum. This is the best external trans filter I could find anywhere. You can have a fully clogged filter and it will flow 95% to 100% to never starve the trans. I bought the gauge as to monitor when it is getting plugged. It comes with a 22 micron filter, with a crap beta ratio so after a couple of weeks I will change it to a synthetic Donaldson filter with a 17 to 22 micron rating beta 1000.

http://www.dieselsite.com/transmissionfiltration.aspx


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#12 ·
I will be adding a cooler this summer to my wife's Rav4 when I get my boat, and then I will dump the crap WS and put in some nice Redline D6 ATF that is a Group 4 (PAO) /Group 5 (POE) ATF. To stiffen up the shifts, I will then cocktail in some Redline Racing regular and lightweight to get the viscosity to match the D6 that is speced for using to replace the WS garbage ATF.
You're definitely on you own coolaid with that!

I also plan to add an external trans filter, a Magnafine or this one .... You can have a fully clogged filter and it will flow ... 100% to never starve the trans.
Nothing short of a miracle! Wonder who wrote that ad?

I bought the gauge as to monitor when it is getting plugged. It comes with a 22 micron filter, with a crap beta ratio so after a couple of weeks I will change it to a synthetic Donaldson filter with a 17 to 22 micron rating beta 1000.
Where is all the material coming from that's going to potentially clog the system? Does someone add some dirt to the closed system every once in a while? If not there would have to be an internal failure inside the transmission. (Or maybe an issue caused by your fluid cocktail.)

I've had two serious transmission fluid issues on Ford pickups. My '01 F-250 Diesel clogged itself to the point I actually started losing gears and had slipping so bad I had to call a friend to rescue me with my '99 and tow my dyno trailer home. I replaced the clogged transmission pan filter and had the fluid flushed. After it happened again twice and the material was non-magnetic and probably coming from the clutch of the aftermarket torque converter the previous owner had installed, I had it replaced. No issues since.

The second was on an older F-250 gas we bought solely to plow snow at our church. Probably since there was very little air flow thru the transmission cooler due to slow plowing speeds the transmission would over heat and start to slip and puke out fluid. I added the biggest cooler that would fit and was reasonably priced and installed it in series whichever way was easiest - I don't remember. That definitely solved the overheating problem but by that time the transmission had been abused so much by guys driving it until it wouldn't go anymore that it lost all forward gears and we sold it for parts. I'm sure someone replaced the transmission and now has a cool running plow truck.
 
#13 ·
I think I understand Mainia's logic and reasoning.

If you install the aftermarket cooler AFTER the cooler that is in the radiator, then the ATF will be cooled to a temperature that is slightly LOWER than that which is coming from the cooler that is built into the radiator.

If you install the aftermarket cooler BEFORE the cooler that is in the radiator, then the ATF will be heated by the coolant in the radiator, and any cooling effect that was caused the the aftermarket cooler is slightly negated.
 
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#19 ·
Mania, rather than multi-quote your post 14 I'll just make a few short comments. I'm a DOD electrical engineer retired from the Data Acquisition & Recording Department of a USN Lab, so I absolutely love data collection & analysis. I'm still always designing something mechanical or electronic. Of late tho I've started to give consideration to how the next owner of my cars and trucks, and yes my house, will be able to live with my various gizmos they will probably consider overkill.

In your case these mods to your Honda & Toyota do have an overkill flavor to them but suit yourself and have fun. Just be ready to deal with any hiccups they may cause with the service or warranty departments. Or in my case the wife department.
 
#20 ·
There are zero issues running Redline on a warranted Toyota, The Magnuson–Moss Act is on the consumers side on running different brand oil use as long as it is equivalent or better during warranty. And with WS, it's not hard to beat the quality there. I figure you have seen the posts of the other guy here that hates WS too, that as long as the oil manufacture approves the use for WS you have a standing. Yes, there "might" be an issue with the filter setup, but it is on their side to prove it caused the problem. We have science on both our sides ....so I could still win if they chose to say no. I have experts I have connections with that are tops in the field as my war chest too I know exactly who to call if they wanted to play hardball. I know they have all the money, so yes they can out leverage me with ease....But they know they have to adhere to the Magnuson–Moss Act too. I am willing to gamble because the fluid is the cause for a lot of issue in these transmissions. OEM oil is crap for most things sold, except specialty products where the engineers/owners/ top principals decided to go with top quality oils from the start. Just a note: Hyundai has used Group4/Group5 ester based ATF in their auto trans since mid 2013. They all should do this. My wife's old Hyundai had nice smooth firm shifts with little slip. It was obvious the engineers in their auto trans dev. did a great job at demanding quality OEM fluid. Som of the best in the industry. But then again the trans are their own design so the engineers "had their name on the design" so guess what they did................. demanded an ester based Group4/Group 5 ATF. Toyota and Honda Group 2/ Group 3 ATF.

As far as next owners.........They wont see it, because I will be pulling them because I can very easily move it on to the next car or truc I buy. Plus at least as far as the next owner of the Rav4.....I would consider them lucky. My Honda is a wash I would say. That car gets driven hard, but is well maintained. It has 55,000 miles and I dumped the crap Z-1 ATF at 20,000 and have had 2) 3 dump and fills each with the last fill of the dump getting a cocktail of both viscosity's of Redline Racing (Type F) non slip. Honda is notorious for adding way too much slip agent in their auto trans that in turn shortens the life of their transmissions. Slip = wear and heat.


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https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2708887

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#24 ·
I changed my tranny oil last week to Redline D6. I used 11 Qts and just barely made it. I pulled the pan and and cleaned the magnets. Then I pulled the return line and added 3 Qts and pumped it till I heard the pump grab air., fill and repeated till I got red fluid. If I would do this again I would buy 12 Qts. When I got it to around 105+ degs with all the fluid in I drain a shot glass full while running in park. Good to go!!!!!

The return line is the left exiting pipe out of the hockey puck. To find what side was "the pump side" I pulled both lines that come out of the tranny, the 90 degs elbows. The rightside was the pump side here.

I owned a hobby Audi repair shop years ago 60 clients and I have never smelled such bad ATF in my life. My garage still sticks like a skunk a week later. Here are some pictures of the oil with 21,400. Am I glad I got this crap out of there. Big time burn't. I will add the cooler in a month or so. I added a NTZ TransProtector filter too.



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