With the fan pre-wired and its hose connectors installed, it is time to install its mount to the Jeep’s frame. The top part goes inside, the smaller part slips over the frame from the outside.
The mount leaves plenty of room for the fuel lines and wiring that run along the frame.
The cooler is attached to the clamp with three bolts. Its angle can be positioned from flat to angled. Once it is at the angle you like, tighten the bolts. For me, it worked best by sliding the mount a bit further rearward and using the forward-most mounting bolt holes. It gives you a choice between two positions, the most forward position worked best for me.
The mount itself is well designed and purposely made from two gauges of steel. The heavier side securely holds the cooler to the frame and away from the fuel and electrical lines underneath. The other half of the mount is still a heavy-gauge steel but it is designed to provide a clamping effect when it bends slightly to conform to the frame and inside mount as the mounting nuts and bolts are given those final turns. The mount holds the fan very securely.
For some, that position may seem to be exposed. However, it’s not as exposed as it may seem to be since it has the frame, skidplate, and control arm bracket on three sides of it. I will likely fabricate an additional guard to provide a little added insurance against a rock being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If this makes you feel better, I had my previous TJ’s on-board air tank in the same position and after nearly ten years on the rocks, the rocks never touched the air tank.
The electrical line plus coolant lines are attached and tightened before the fan is clamped into its final position and passed forward. They are routed next to the frame and above the transfer case skidplate.
Coolant hose routing and connections
The two coolant hoses are routed along the driver’s side of the frame towards the radiator. The two hoses are connected to the radiator's transmission cooler output side, so the Derale system cools the ATF flowing back towards the transmission. Which side of the radiator's transmission cooler the Derale gets connected into, passenger-side or driver's side, depends on your TJ's model year and thus its transmission type.
For 2002 and older models which use the 3-speed 32RH or 30RH transmission, the Derale cooler lines connect to the passenger-side transmission output port and the hard line the OE passenger-side hose used to connect to. Entirely remove the OE short hose that connected the passenger-side transmission cooler port to the hard line, connect the new Derale hoses to those fittings.
The current Derale instructions do not address the change in which way the ATF flows through the radiator transmission cooler for 2003 and newer TJs so the following modification to where its hoses connect should be followed:
For 2003 and newer models which use the 4-speed 42RLE transmission, the Derale cooler lines connect to the driver's-side transmission output port and the hard line the OE driver's-side hose used to connect to. Entirely remove the OE short hose that connected the driver's-side transmission cooler port to the hard line, connect the new Derale hoses to those fittings.
The Derale kit does not otherwise need any additional parts or modifications other than the supply hose leading to the Derale (the plain hose) now has perhaps 6" of extra available length. I left the additional length in place and located the small amount of extra length above the t-case skidplate. Those extra inches of available hose for 2003 and newer TJs may come in handy years down the road.
I expect Derale to add a section to their instructions to cover the 2003 and newer TJ whose transmission cooler flows the ATF through the OE transmission cooler in the opposite direction of the 2002 and older TJ.
The below photo shows the 2003 and newer hose layout, the Derale cooler is connected into the driver's side. For 2002 and older, connect the Derale into passenger side instead.
The first hose from the Derale cooler connects to the radiator’s return line. Derale includes two stainless steel hose clamps to be used here and on the other line but I reused the factory constant-tension spring clamps.
Derale provides a cool way of attaching the coolant lines to the frame rail which serves to keep them parallel and out of the way of damage. Also provided are zip-ties to secure the hoses and wiring the rest of the way to their destination. Take pain now to insure everything is well secured and out of the way of potential harm.
The two (+ and -) electrical connections are made now.
The negative ground wire, remember, is the blue wire coming from the fan. NOT the black wire which for us electrical types keeps you on your feet. Connect the fan’s blue ground wire to a suitable ground connection. I simply drilled a 9/64” hole in the floor pan above the cooler for the supplied hex-head self-tapping ground screw.
To assure a good solid ground connection, be sure to grind any paint away from what you choose to ground the fan to as shown below. A Dremel tool makes quick work of this.
Sorry about the fuzzy photo, it’s just to show to take care in how the wiring is routed.
I connected the cooler’s +12v lead to an auxiliary fuse panel I installed last year.
The last thing to be done is to add a quart of Valvoline ATF+4. This is needed due to the added capacity of the new Derale transmission cooler.
Don’t do what I did and pour the ATF in faster than the transmission fill tube can accommodate it! Within a minute or two, I had ATF dripping all over the floor and it scared the crap out of me. I had been careful about all the hose connections so it was a scary few minutes until I discovered the ATF had simply overflowed the fill tube. Add the quart of ATF+4 slowly and this won’t happen to you.
Voila, it’s ready for the test! I simply temporary bridged the connection at the thermostat switch and the fan came to life with a definitely audible satisfying roar. You’ll be able to hear it come on if you’re doing low-speed trail work, maybe not on the highway towing your trailer.
Start the engine, let it warm up and check for leaks. I put my hand on the new cooler once it was good and warmed up and it was definitely hot… but not up to 180 degrees because the fan was still off. It took some driving to warm it up enough that the fan came on. Good to go!
This is the final product. Even though I know from past experience that particular location is quite safe, I’m a bit anal about over-protecting everything underneath so I’ll add a protective barrier before too long since this Jeep sees some big rocks once in a while.
So in summary, the benefits of installing this transmission kit are...
- Longer transmission life
- Reduces the transmission’s ATF temperature by a very significant 30 to 40 degrees
- Easily installed, completely bolt-in with no special skills needed
- Thermostatically controlled 500 CFM fan
- Peace of mind when towing, rock crawling, or just heavy traffic.
The quality of the stacked plate cooler itself is outstanding. This is not the cheap type of cooler that NAPA pushes for everything that is easily damaged by even flying insects. Its design is truly heavy-duty without the cheap aluminum fins that get squished together which reduces cooler efficiency. It’s a first-class stacked plate cooler that you have to see to appreciate.
The fan is big and also obviously built to last in the elements of water, mud, and dirt that will inevitably be flipped up onto it. When the fan turns on, it really pulls the air through the plates with authority. 500 CFM (cubic feet/minute).
Last step in the installation... drive it for a week and then get back underneath and check for any leaks where the hoses connect to the cooler. I found one that was weeping a tiny bit, probably from when I had to temporarily disconnect it to reinstall the fittings after learning that I had the two o-rings installed incorrectly. Give the AN fittings a quick test for tightness and re-tighten as needed.
What would I change if this was my product? Basically not a thing, it’s truly a great kit as is. If I had to come up with one enhancement, it’d be slightly longer hoses to give a bit more leeway on hose routing. The hose lengths are technically “perfect” as they were designed but just a tad more length would allow more flexibility in hose routing.
The below B&M transmission temperature gauge will be added fairly soon as well, the gauge itself will be placed in the center console just ahead of the t-case shifter.
Next in line to be cooled with a Derale cooler, with a few cool locally provided enhancements, is the Power Steering system. Stay tuned.
Check out Derale Performance at
http://derale.com/
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Keep your automatic transmission alive, review/installation of Derale's tranny cooler
