That $180 trans cooler kit barely fit my Jeep, but it saved my summer

Spent a whole Saturday wrestling the brackets in my 2004 Grand Cherokee only to realize the lines were 4 inches short, so I looped them with a $9 hose fitting from AutoZone and now my temps dropped from 230 to 190 on the highway, anyone else had to hack a cooler install just to make it work?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessica9213d ago

That 230 to 190 drop is exactly what mine did once I got the routing right. I had a similar mess on my old ZJ with a cheap Hayden kit, the bracket holes lined up with nothing and I ended up drilling new ones into the radiator support. The lines were about two inches short so I cut them clean and used a double flare tool, not the prettiest fix but it never leaked. You did good with that hose fitting, most people would have given up and sent the kit back. Just keep an eye on that splice every few hundred miles, the heat and vibration can loosen those clamps over time. If it holds through the season you are set, and next year you can always swap in proper length hoses when you have the patience.

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fisher.thomas2d ago

Ditch that splice before it ruins your week. Ive seen too many of those fail right when you are miles from home with no tools, and the fluid runs out before you even notice the gauge spike. Cutting corners on hoses might work for a few months but the heat cycle turns those clamps into a ticking clock. You spent all that time getting the routing right, so why leave the weakest link in the middle of it? Get the proper length lines now, bite the bullet on the cost, and flare them right the first time. Its boring work but you wont be reaching under the hood every other weekend checking for damp spots.