Low Cost External Filter, Why Not?

[manaen]

OK since transmissions are nothing more than hydraulic systems with some friction modifiers in the oil, ok ok, I'm oversimplifying things a bit. But I was doing some tool shopping the other day and I noticed these filters on northern tool and I thought that they may make a perfect low cost external filtering solution for our transmissions.

You can check it out HERE

Shoot they even have one that does 35GPM or for the price of these babies you could buy two and get 40GPM. Seems like they even include the cold bypass valve to ensure oil flow.

So am I missing something here? Or would this be the perfect low cost solution?

 

[BrooklynBay]

It's not a bad price, but add fittings, and a mounting bracket to the final cost. WWW.TransmissionPartsUSA.Com has a low cost remote filter. There is also an inline filter which is disposable, and has an internal magnet.

 

[BrooklynBay]

The cold bypass feature is already incorporated into the 4R/5R valve bodies, so it wouldn't have ATF going through the remote filter until the transmission warms up anyway. The A4LD does not have this internal bypass. Here is a link to a remote filter kit: http://www.transmissionpartsusa.com/Remote_transmission_filter_mount_p/600-000013005.htm

 

[manaen]

It's not a bad price, but add fittings, and a mounting bracket to the final cost. WWW.TransmissionPartsUSA.Com has a low cost remote filter. There is also an inline filter which is disposable, and has an internal magnet.

Cool I'll need to check this out Thanks.

 

[manaen]

well after some reasearch I ordered the unit from northern tool. When I started to compare them, the one from northern comes with a filter and that makes up the difference in the fittings ($6 from home depot). And I don't need a mount I have plenty of ways to mount the thing. Anyway when it comes in I'll post some pictures of it and it's quality. The other reason I decided to get that one is they have a pressure gauge that I ordered (0 to 300 PSI) I would like to hook it up to the line pressure port on my tranny so I have a constant monitor of what is going on. I will also post a progress report on that one as well. Hopefully everything will be in this week and the weather will begin to turn warm and I can start to tackle all these misc things I need to do (tranny shift kit, Filter, PSI gauge, finish testing/replace bad fuel injector(s), finish welding up a canoe rack, blah blah blah)

ahh the tweaking is never done.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I saw a 0-300 PSI gauge in Home Depot today. It could also be used. How much was the gauge from Northern? I think it was around $8 in Home Depot.

 

[manaen]

I saw a 0-300 PSI gauge in Home Depot today. It could also be used. How much was the gauge from Northern? I think it was around $8 in Home Depot.

it was $5.99 HERE

so I figured for 6 bucks I'll give it a shot..

 

[BrooklynBay]

The picture in the link says 0-100 PSI, but the specs say 0-300 PSI. It also says that it's temporarily back ordered.

 

[manaen]

OK so I wonder if a normal line used to connect an oil psi gauge will hold 300PSI, I'm guessing since engines run a max of 90 psi I would be pushing it. I'll need to reasearch that a little.

 

[BrooklynBay]

What do you mean by a normal line? Is it a rubber hose or a metal pipe?

 

[manaen]

The picture in the link says 0-100 PSI, but the specs say 0-300 PSI. It also says that it's temporarily back ordered.

yeah they have a whole range of 1.5" back fed gauges, they used the same picture for all of them. it is back ordered, but I'm in no rush I have too many other projects going on now anyway.

 

[manaen]

The Filter just came in.

Here is the Filter from Northern. It has two ports, one on each side that could be used for pressure pickup or whatever you want. They look to me like 1/8" NPT plugs

The inlet and outlet are 3/4" NPT so I needed an adapter to reduce that to 3/8" jag for the tranny line. heres what I needed
1) 2ea 3/4" NPT to 1/2" NPT reducers
2) 2ea 1/2" NPT to 3/8" Jag (tube) connector

There are two mounting holes on the top of the filter so I will either make a quickie bracket out of some SS I have laying around or mount it directly to the body. I will tackle this in the morning.

edit: thanks BB for correcting me on the NPT thing

 

[BrooklynBay]

I would recommend not using those bushings unless you get brass ones. I think you could get the exact size brass barbed fitting so that you don't need a bushing. BTW, it's NPT which stands for national pipe thread.

 

[manaen]

I would recommend not using those bushings unless you get brass ones. I think you could get the exact size brass barbed fitting so that you don't need a bushing. BTW, it's NPT which stands for national pipe thread.

NPF, NPT heh, it was late

any specific reason I shouldn't use those bushings? It's not that I am questioning you, well.. I guess I am but.. , it's just that if I don't know the reason I gain no knowledge from the situation. But if I know why then I can apply this in the future.

Thanks..

 

[manaen]

What do you mean by a normal line? Is it a rubber hose or a metal pipe?

I've already decided that I will use steel line with rubber hydralic line on the ends for flex. But what I was talking about is the small hard plastic line that comes with mechanical oil pressure gauges. I have some in my shop and thought about using it, but I think it's better to pipe it a little more permenant than that. I'm sure it would take the pressure since it is such a small diameter there is much less "working" force in the line to blow it. But I feel safer with steel

 

[BrooklynBay]

Certain materials are considered "clean" when working with fluids such as brass, bronze, aluminum, and stainless steel. Copper could get oxidized (look at a green penny, or the Statue of Liberty), although they use it in home piping. Galvanized fitting could eventually rust, but take longer than unfinished black iron. To sum this up, dissimilar metals interact, so try to keep them the same. The barbed fittings are brass, the bushings are either galvanized (silver colored), or black iron (it's hard to tell from the above picture), and the housing is aluminum. Try to get barbed brass fittings in the 3/4" size, or use a brass 3/4" X 1/2" bushing.

 

[manaen]

Certain materials are considered "clean" when working with fluids such as brass, bronze, aluminum, and stainless steel. Copper could get oxidized (look at a green penny, or the Statue of Liberty), although they use it in home piping. Galvanized fitting could eventually rust, but take longer than unfinished black iron. To sum this up, dissimilar metals interact, so try to keep them the same. The barbed fittings are brass, the bushings are either galvanized (silver colored), or black iron (it's hard to tell from the above picture), and the housing is aluminum. Try to get barbed brass fittings in the 3/4" size, or use a brass 3/4" X 1/2" bushing.

Well I got it together, but I'll try to find a set of 3/4"NPT to 3/8" jag (or barbed).

I also got the pressure gauge hooked up to the filter, the pressure reading are really strange. But I'm going to post that into another thread. I want to get a better picture of the "how's and why's" of fluid flow through the cooling lines. pick your guys heads a little...

 

[BrooklynBay]

What was the pressure reading? Write down the pressure in all gears, and post what you get. Do you want to hook up a temperature gauge as your next project?

 

[manaen]

What was the pressure reading? Write down the pressure in all gears, and post what you get. Do you want to hook up a temperature gauge as your next project?

the temp gauge was one of the first things to go on the truck.

at idle the pressure is very low, almost 0

when cold and I rev the engine in park it jumps to about 7 PSI

when I put it in drive and pull out it will go to about 10 - 20 PSI

when cold if I pull out hard, it stays at 10 to 20 psi for a few seconds (~10s) and then later jumps to almost 40 psi which I assume is the thermo valve in the tranny opening and dumping more fluid in the tranny cooling lines. I really don't like the idea of this cooler bypass valve.

I have not had the truck on a long highway trip (will be tomorrow though I will report back after I return) but when the temp is up over 100 in the tranny then the pressure only rises to a max of 35, I assume this would account for warmer, thinner oil flowing through the filter easier.


even whent the truck is warm if I take my foot off the gas the pressure goes down to almost nothing. So the pressure in the cooling lines is not tied to engine rpm like I originally thought. But I guess fluid flow in the tranny has more to do with horse power (or tourque in this case) going into the transmission thus pushing the hydraulic pump. Or I guess more acurately it is a combination of RPM and Tourque (or heat) in the tranny.

I will be curious to see how this all reacts when I tow something. I'll find out tomorrow and will report back later in the week.

Thanks for all the input !! you guys are great!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Maybe there is a way you could remove that thermal bypass in the remote filter? I would recommend connecting the pressure sensor directly onto the plug on the transmission, not onto the remote filter. You will get a more accurate reading this way. The plug is located on the driver's side of the transmission behind the shift linkage area.