HerNameIsSway

Has anyone swapped a radiator in a V6 mid-90s S10 pickup or Blazer?

I'm doing a radiator swap in a 1996 V6 Blazer and the radiator is set up to have an internal tranny oil cooler built inside it. The tranny cooler hose fittings are different sizes in the new radiator from the old one so I have to get adapters. I went to a store to get the right adapter coupling to connect the hard tranny lines (its some x/32 measurement UNDER 1/2 inch) to the radiator (its some x/32 measurement OVER 1/2 inch) and the guy there said theres no such adapter to fit, but I can take rubber hoses and clamp the radiator end to the tranny lines.

He said that the tranny cooler lines are NOT pressurized so rubber hoses and clamps are ok. This never sounded right, but tried installing the said setup. I started the Blazer and the tranny oil is spewing out of the bottom radiator connector. If it's spewing, its definitely pressurized, as I suspected.

Am I wrong?

Anyone have similar issues? are rubber hoses a bad idea for pressurized systems? The hoses I'm using as couplings are NOT built like oil cooler lines.

redhotcivic

i dont know how you hooked it up but i have ran cooler lines with rubber hose to the hard lines and it worked fine. but when i was moving a trailer with one hell of a load that the truck could not handle is when the supply hose blew off. but why dont you see about summit racing or jegs because they have a lot of adapters you might need. i think the lines are pressured just not that much to have hard adapters.

aacjohnc

shouldnt have no prblem using rubber lines . my 94 ford explorer 4x4 had rubber lines stock like your trying to do but dri rotted . so i swap them out and put new ones in . but yes they are pressurized a little but not that much just make the hose as short as you can and no kinks in it .. jsut roll the ends of tranny lines metal /alumin rods so that it has a lip on it for the rbubber hose to hold onto . i took a small screw driver and rolled it around 360 inside the the metal line to make a lip . just incase any pressure built up it would have something to hold onto (SOUNDS LIKE YOU DONT HAVE A LIP ON YOUR LINES ). never had any prblems since . i ran this truck this way over 6 yr before i solld it .

i also had a buddy that did the same thing above and but put a alumin fuel line inside the rubber hose for a more solid application not sure if it makes a diff but he felt more secure that way .

just make sure you put a LIP on the end of the tranny lines (BOTH SIDES )and you should be fine . I WOULD USE A BRAIDED RUBBER HOSE OR A THCKER HOSE THAT IS HARDER TO BEND CASUE TRANNY FLUID DOES HEAT UP SO SOMETHING WITH A HEAT RESISTANCE.

tranny lines are just pressurelized enough to move the fluids from point a to point b . nothing extreme

HerNameIsSway

Well the rubber hoses I used are 3 inches long and both connectors meet up in the middle of that hose. I used 2 clamps on one end of the connector, the radiator side. That side does not have a lip, but is super tight fit. The tranny hard line side has a lip and one hose clamp, and that's where its spewing out. I should probably get 2 hose clamps and see what it does.

Working in tight places FTL.

aacjohnc

+1 for two hose clamps .but still put a lip on both ends .

HerNameIsSway

Well what I'm gonna have to do is get a flare-making tool (already got one) and I'll have to cut the old tranny line's flare off and swap the nut for the bigger one, then remake the flare, then I'm done.

Stores are SUPPOSED to give you an adapter kit and everything to make it all work, so check and make sure they do that.

uglyDC2

IIRC i think fuel hose is rated to 50psi or so

HerNameIsSway

The tranny fluid line runs somewhere around 30-40 PSI.

There was nothing I could do to get the line to connect into the radiator. I ended up getting it towed to a shop. I am gonna bet that they will have to change the tranny lines for a bigger upgraded version. That's the only way I see this working out. They updated the radiator configuration so they'll have to update the tranny lines...