I planned this project out so I could hit many birds with one stone. The driving factor was the fact that my transmission cooler lines were rusted very bad. I read how it is a real pain in the *** to install the OEM tubes so I opted to replace everything with new high-temperature rated rubber hose. I also pulled the pan and replaced the filter.
This took me about four hours total. I removed the front bumper-grille assembly which only really takes about five minutes. The Tru-Cool kit comes with mounting hardware which you can see in the photos. I used my Milwaukee M18 cutoff wheel tool to trim the strapping style brackets to size. I drilled a couple pilot holes for the metal screw to fasten the bracket to the A-framing in front of the radiator. Note how I moved the temperature sensor forward using a piece of the bracket material.
Note how I reused the tubing manifold that attaches to the transmission. Unfortunately the billet adapter plate I bought is quite high and when I test fit it with the Russell -6 AN 45 degree fittings it was
extremely close to the front driveshaft. Like millimeters. So I decided to dig the factory manifold out of the trash and flared out the ends and stuffed on the Derale 3/8 rubber hose with stainless clamps. It is quite possible that this would work with 90 degree -6 AN hose fittings and a shorter AN manifold (I have seen these on eBay).
Dropping the pan was interesting. I'm thankful I watched the correct
YouTube video today that gave me some sage advice I haven't read/watched yet: use a pry bar on a jack to pry the exhaust down toward the ground thus creating a small enough gap to pull the pan.
Word of advice about the Wix 58369 filter kit: it comes with the WRONG gasket. I was pissed as my local parts stores didn't have the proper gasket in stock so I had to use the original 10-year old one, that had cracked rubber, with some RTV. Mine needed a ATP JG-140 which also is AC Delco #24224781. The angled corner is "softer" whereas the wrong design has a perfect 45 degree angle.
You can see in the photos that I used a Hayden 397 brass adapter that has the GM swage end and a barb end on the other side. I use clear vinyl hose and secure it so it'll pump the fluid into a container. After I install the new filter, gasket, and cleaned pan I refilled the transmission with about six quarts of genuine GM Dexron VI (I bought the gallon jugs of it from
Tasca Parts for $14.36/gallon). I started the engine and let the pump dump out several quarts of nasty dark fluid. While the engine runs I fill the transmission through the dipstick tube while it continue to pumps out. You can take a short break to check for fluid color change - it is very obvious when the fresh stuff starts to pump out as its cherry red. Shut the motor off. At this point I began the new hose installation.
