Manual Trans Cooler pump| Grassroots Motorsports forum |

Izzy's Cages New Reader
2/14/12 7:33 p.m.

We're looking to add a manual transmission cooler to our 1st gen Taurus SHO. We're running our SHO in the CHUMP series and are proving beyond a doubt that the transmissions are glass. Our last one got so hot when it failed that it melted the (throwout bearing) pivot bushings outside of the case.

Obviously, it'd be easy to simply add a 12v Tilton style diff pump and cooler etc but we're wanting to stay w/i the spirit of the series and not simply throw money at it.

What's to stop us from using a second power steering pump to draw the fluid out through a cooler and back in?

81cpcamaro Reader
2/14/12 9:41 p.m.

Don't know if a power steering pump would last doing that. They can burn up easily if the suction side doesn't get fluid easily.

Check for used circle track/nascar parts and look for the pump they use on the rear axle. Uses a simple belt drive setup, might be easy to adapt to your car. Here is an example http://www.circletracksupply.com/Johnsons-Rear-End-Pump-Assembly-Used.html

Nashco SuperDork
2/15/12 12:26 p.m.

I bought a 12V pump I found under the hood of a Cavalier in a junkyard that I absolutely couldn't figure out. It was in the transmission oil cooler line and was a pretty sizeable pump...confused, I paid $10 or so for it and took it home. After getting home and looking up the company, I figured out it was used to pull a car with automatic transmission behind an RV (from a company called Remco). Basically, any time the RV is hooked up and sending power to the trailer circuit, it would run the pump to keep the trans from asploding. As I had hoped, this should make a great electric pump for a diff or manual trans cooler where you don't need a ton of flow.

With that said, I'm not giving mine up for your cause. However, this might give you another idea for a cheap source of a robust electric lube pump if you watch ebay/craigslist/junkyards for RV parts or automatic cars that were towed behind RVs.

As mentioned above, power steering pumps really don't like having to pull a lot of suction on the inlet side. In the spirit of the event, getting a used oil pump from a chebby tree fiddy, making a simple case for it, and attaching a belt drive to it in some fashion would be a cheap and easy way to do but would take some sweat.

Food for thought...many times, using really good fluid and nursing the trans can make all the difference between a failed and a surviving trans.

Bryce

stuart in mn SuperDork
2/15/12 1:17 p.m.

Nashco wrote: Basically, any time the RV is hooked up and sending power to the trailer circuit, it would run the pump to keep the trans from asploding.

I've always wondered about those cars being flat towed behind RVs, and how they avoided burning up the transmissions. I learned something today.

81cpcamaro Reader
2/15/12 1:56 p.m.

Nashco wrote: In the spirit of the event, getting a used oil pump from a chebby tree fiddy, making a simple case for it, and attaching a belt drive to it in some fashion would be a cheap and easy way to do but would take some sweat. Bryce

A Mopar 383-440 oil pump would be a good option, they were on the outside of the block with a oi filter mount built in. Just a thought.