Oil Cooler

[silverback02]

Hi Guys and Gals,

I'v been considering fitting an Automatic Gearbox Oil Cooler to my 2004 C70 2.4T GT Conv.

I Don't (Often) do any Hi speed driving anymore but do help my pal out towing now and then.

My thoughts are Just to try and extend the life of the box (I changed 3 on my S80s and 1 on my pals V70 T5). By dropping the box temp slightly. (I know too much can kill them as well, so maybe a thermostat on a sandwich plate might come in handy).

But as you probably all know, Volvo made to measure parts cost the earth. Universal ones are a lot cheaper. Just require a little modifying.

So after my search on the Bay, there are loads of different styles, from Basic Heat Exchanges to full blown Radiators of various sizes, But the easiest and simplest design seems to be, A copper pipe in a multiple S design with the input at the bottom and output at the top back to the box (or wherever).

As I have about 3mts of both 15mm and 22mm Copper pipe sat in my garage, why should I not just put a few bends or Solder / Braze the bends in, add a couple of brackets, Cut into the Return pipe to the box (Lower pressure than input) and attach to them, resulting in One Homemade Oil Cooler, (Un Regulated). If Extra cooling is required then add fins or even just pack / wrap with wire wool and spray with nice black paint....

What do you guys recon, Possibly a cheap round-a-bout that could save me money in the long run, cos like I said. it doesn't get hammered anymore.
cheers
joe.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by silverback02

Hi Guys and Gals,

I'v been considering fitting an Automatic Gearbox Oil Cooler to my 2004 C70 2.4T GT Conv.

I Don't (Often) do any Hi speed driving anymore but do help my pal out towing now and then.

My thoughts are Just to try and extend the life of the box (I changed 3 on my S80s and 1 on my pals V70 T5). By dropping the box temp slightly. (I know too much can kill them as well, so maybe a thermostat on a sandwich plate might come in handy).

But as you probably all know, Volvo made to measure parts cost the earth. Universal ones are a lot cheaper. Just require a little modifying.

So after my search on the Bay, there are loads of different styles, from Basic Heat Exchanges to full blown Radiators of various sizes, But the easiest and simplest design seems to be, A copper pipe in a multiple S design with the input at the bottom and output at the top back to the box (or wherever).

As I have about 3mts of both 15mm and 22mm Copper pipe sat in my garage, why should I not just put a few bends or Solder / Braze the bends in, add a couple of brackets, Cut into the Return pipe to the box (Lower pressure than input) and attach to them, resulting in One Homemade Oil Cooler, (Un Regulated). If Extra cooling is required then add fins or even just pack / wrap with wire wool and spray with nice black paint....

What do you guys recon, Possibly a cheap round-a-bout that could save me money in the long run, cos like I said. it doesn't get hammered anymore.
cheers
joe.

You already have a heat exchanger for the auto gearbox in the radiator tank , It is entirely adequate for just about all occasions except a fast trip to the Alps in mid summer . Remember this is also a heater to get the oil up to temperature quickly , if you add another external cooler , the oil may not be able to reach operating temperature in cool conditions , resulting in internal corrosion due to condensation .

[silverback02]

Hi there,
I know about the internal oil cooler within the Radiator.

But the same was also fitted to the Two S80s and the V70 T5 that required 7 boxes between them, ( 3 for my 170BHP 2.4 S80, 2 for the 2.9 S80, and 2 for the V70 T5.

I don't believe Volvo's claims about sealed for life and do think Overheating is the main reason for failure.

As you say Over cooling can also cause problems, So an inline Thermostat / sandwich plate type setup will help control that. so that the external pil cooler Only comes into operation when required.
Joe.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by silverback02

Hi there,
I know about the internal oil cooler within the Radiator.

But the same was also fitted to the Two S80s and the V70 T5 that required 7 boxes between them, ( 3 for my 170BHP 2.4 S80, 2 for the 2.9 S80, and 2 for the V70 T5.

I don't believe Volvo's claims about sealed for life and do think Overheating is the main reason for failure.

As you say Over cooling can also cause problems, So an inline Thermostat / sandwich plate type setup will help control that. so that the external pil cooler Only comes into operation when required.
Joe.

Volvo never have made any claim that their boxes are sealed for life , They recommend oil changes around 50000 miles if the car is used for towing or other " arduous tasks " ...

If you have got through 2 or 3 gearboxes for every volvo you have owned there must be something wrong with the use they get unless you are doing 100's of thousands of miles or lots of city driving .. out on the open road cruising along there is nothing going on within the box at all . Funnily enough the most troublesome autobox on the old T6 always has cherry red fluid even when it expires at 100000 miles or so .( unless it dumps it's fluid into the left driveshaft CV joint of course !)

[silverback02]

Unfortunately the S80s were 1999 / 2000 with both the 4 and 5 speed boxes.
No Towing but one or two Very High speed runs. We flushed the 4 speed twice and changed the filter, but the box just gave in, (And the colour of the oil was Jet Black).
The same with the 170Bhp S80 N/A, again after a high speed autobahn run, the boxes just gave up with No Drive at all.

The V70 though was a workhoures, that was a 2001 V70 2.3 T5 that would drag anything.
That got the usual harsh change that got worse and worse.
Tried flushing, The oil was that dark you could not see through it when held up to the sun in a glass jar.
All where pre used cars, so don't have any history on any of them.
The V70 is still going strong,

In the words of the great TRIGGER.
I still have the original car,
Just had Two replacement Engines (Bearings) and Two Autoboxes...lol

[rogerb]

Volvo used to sell an extra oil cooler for these cars.
And if it was not good for them or would cause problems then I doubt that Volvo would have sold them.
There are lots of older volvos in the scrap yards with a dead automatic gearbox.
They normally last long enough to be outside the main dealership network.
It is not just towing that heats up the box, town driving does to.
I have seen lots of boxes with cooked oil. The only ones with rust or water damage is where the internal cooler in the rad had split.

[Joe of Loath]

Solution:

Swap to a manual transmission...

[silverback02]

Originally Posted by rogerb

Volvo used to sell an extra oil cooler for these cars.
And if it was not good for them or would cause problems then I doubt that Volvo would have sold them.
There are lots of older volvos in the scrap yards with a dead automatic gearbox.
They normally last long enough to be outside the main dealership network.
It is not just towing that heats up the box, town driving does to.
I have seen lots of boxes with cooked oil. The only ones with rust or water damage is where the internal cooler in the rad had split.

Just backs me up slightly on the boxes Not getting enough cooling based on the factory fitted internal cooler.
An extra external cooler that is thermostatically controlled cannot hurt but might in the long run help.

[Christerart]

Originally Posted by silverback02

Hi there,
I know about the internal oil cooler within the Radiator.

But the same was also fitted to the Two S80s and the V70 T5 that required 7 boxes between them, ( 3 for my 170BHP 2.4 S80, 2 for the 2.9 S80, and 2 for the V70 T5.

I don't believe Volvo's claims about sealed for life and do think Overheating is the main reason for failure.

As you say Over cooling can also cause problems, So an inline Thermostat / sandwich plate type setup will help control that. so that the external pil cooler Only comes into operation when required.
Joe.

I've been thinking of doing this:

https://www.amazon.com/Derale-25719-...ith+thermostat

to my 2002 V70 Auto D5 - and hook it up to a suitable cooler of course.

[silverback02]

Yup,
That looks like the kind of thing that I'm on about. or one set to open at an higher temp to keep it cooler.
If you get my drift.

Yours will warm up quicker (which is also good) but then if it gets too hot mine would then open and allow the oil to go through the extra pipes to cool again and bring it back down to within range.