4R100 External Screw-on Filter Installation

[woodnthings8]

I completed my external spin on filter install. I had been planning on doing it for quite awhile now. Attached is an Adobe file with the steps and parts I used. All the links in the file should point you to the appropriate website.

Feel free to comment or ask questions. And most of all install one for yourself with these instructions..

Thanks

[blackout]

WOW! Excellent work. Excellent Documentation.
I will be copying your design, thanks.
Now what about pressure loss? Why that filter? Change interval?
Again, thanks.

[scratcherky]

Great writeup and pictures! I will probably take advantage of your work.

[lance1955]

By the way iyou can get a pressure guage for that filter housing its designed to work with that filter setup. From memory its around 20 bucks and screws on to the side. Its bladwin PN# PG1326. You can goolge it baldwin pressure guage. It will come up for hydrolic but thats whats in mine. And yes, it does work and tells you when you need to change it. I just change mine every 15K. The filters are cheap and I just add the tranny fluid to the filter and screw it on. Good to go

[woodnthings8]

Now what about pressure loss?

I do not have any reliable information on the pressure loss. That is one bit of information that I need to get from Baldwin Filters. I have an e-mail into them about flow rates between the two different filters. I will say when I blew into the inlet side, there was very little resistance and full flow on the outlet side. I realize that is not very "technical" and air will flow much easier than oil. I am ordering an Autometer trans temp and oil pressure gauge for the two ports to keep an eye on it. To check it properly I will need to put a pressure sender before and after the filter.

Why that filter?

The Dieselsite kit uses the BT839. When I was checking prices I found the BT839-10 and the BT839. I contacted Baldwin Filters about the difference, they gave me the the difference, which was the micron rating. 18 for the BT839 and 12 for the BT839-10. There is a good amount of information on the web for transmission filter installs. A few of them go into detail about the micron rating and why they use a specific filter. Dieselsite says there filter is a 22 micron rating, but Baldwin lists it as 18 micron. No matter what it is smaller than any passage in the transmission, so I doubt it matters. Mark K is one of the few who have seen a fully instrumented transmission and the analysis that goes with it. I know I have read some of his posts about pressure in the cooling system and flow rate. My manual states the cooler flow test to be 32 oz in 15 seconds. If the filter can keep up with that I don't believe it would be a problem. I may try this post filter and see what I get.

Change interval?

I imagine I will change it yearly. I haven't been putting large amounts of miles on mine, so a specific mileage like 15k may take me three years. I change my coolant filter yearly now, so it makes sense to do it at the same time. My transmission only has 10k on it now. I will probably drop the pan at 15k to replace the pick-up filter and fluid. Then I would think pulling the pan would be a waste of time with the external filter working good. Also I may send the folks at Blackstone a sample, to see what they say. I do use my truck mostly for towing. So I tend to go overboard on preventative maintenance since I do not put a ton of miles it stays affordable.

By the way iyou can get a pressure guage for that filter housing its designed to work with that filter setup. From memory its around 20 bucks and screws on to the side. Its bladwin PN# PG1326. You can goolge it baldwin pressure guage. It will come up for hydrolic but thats whats in mine. And yes, it does work and tells you when you need to change it. I just change mine every 15K. The filters are cheap and I just add the tranny fluid to the filter and screw it on. Good to go

Thanks! I looked that up, I may order it through my local Grainger. A little cheaper than an electric gauge, I just need decide if I want to see it in the cab or not.

[lance1955]

No problem. Yeah thats the olny pain with it. That you have to have the rig running and poke your head under there to see the guage. Assuming your filter is on the outside frame rail. Mines been on there for several years and I just take my thumb to the glass and you can read it just fine. What ever thats worth. But in all honestly Ive never seen the guage go into the danger zone. But its a nice feature to quick check the opp pressure. I swear by these aftermaket spin on kits. I made one for my dads expedition. Hes pushing 240K on the original tranny. Of course with reg maintenance. I just think it catches more junk than that screen door the call a internal transmission filter.

[woodnthings8]

What pressure do you normally see?

[lance1955]

On the guage itself its always halfway in the green even with a new filter. So I cant really give you a number.

[woodnthings8]

Here is the Flow Rates for the BT839 & the BT839-10 from Baldwin Filters.



As you can see the BT839 flows more fluid than the BT839-10. With that and the requirements for the cooler flow test, I would think that there should be no problem at all using either filter. The BT839-10 looks to flow about half the amount of the BT839 at pressures between 5 & 10 psi. The cooler flow test only calls out 1 gallon per minute for the flow. Both of these will exceed that, so that is what I am basing my opinion on. If the fluid pressure is between 10-15 psi the flow rate of 21-25 GPM is more than sufficient. I am by no means an engineer or physics major, so if those assumptions are wrong please let me know.

From what lance1955 has posted; He is seeing around 10 psi on his gauge with a new filter. This is the pressure from the cooler (unfiltered fluid). I will need to install a pressure gauge on the outlet side of the filter to measure pressure loss between the inlet and outlet ports.

[LTG]

Great job just one question
why did you run the line that comes out of the trans cooler into the inlet side of the filter?
wouldn't it be better to filter hotter oil that comes right out of the trans and send filtered oil through the cooler= better filtering and no particles into the cooler and then you wouldn't have to 180 the outlet line back towards the tranny

[woodnthings8]

I toyed with the idea of filtering pre-cooler. I had a few concerns when I was putting it together. One was the pre-cooler lines are not as easy to tap into. Would have required modifying the lines. This was not a huge deal but I thought doing it post-cooler would make for an easy install.

Another point is the filter has a built in by-pass, so if it were to get blocked, I would still get debris in my cooler. If I get to that point I would guess the transmission is toast, so a new cooler would be in order anyway.

I installed a temp sensor in the outlet of my filter. The fluid temps are usually about 10-15* cooler than my trans temp sender registers. Filtering the fluid when hotter may have a slight better value, but the filter is rated at a specific micron rating. I cannot see a big difference in the filter capabilities due to the fluid being warmer. Maybe it would, but probably not from what I have found out while researching filters.

I still plan on replacing the rubber line with stainless or aluminum rigid tubing. I just have not had the time to crawl under it and re-do it since I have installed it. Too many other projects going on.

Great questions and I appreciate the feedback!

[LTG]

You really did a nice job... even with the pdf. file ....
Question
will the new external filter contribute to cooling also?
would it be better to install the temp gauge on or in the trans itself- yielding truer temp readings?
Thanks

[woodnthings8]

Originally Posted by LT.G

You really did a nice job... even with the pdf. file ....
Question
will the new external filter contribute to cooling also?
would it be better to install the temp gauge on or in the trans itself- yielding truer temp readings?
Thanks

I am sure that the filter does help drop the temps a small amount, maybe a few degrees, but nothing more than that.

You should install the trans temp sender in the transmission, preferably in the test port for better temps. Mounting it in the pan is also an option, but that fluid may read a small amount cooler than the test port. I have two senders in my set-up. The only reason is to see the difference post cooler and compare it with the test port temp. I am considering mounting a sender in pre-cooler too, just to see how much the temp drop is with my cooler. I have thermocouples for my multimeter so I may just bond a surface temp thermocouple and do some tests while towing. It will be easier than using a sender and I can just run the wire into the cab to my meter. Just hasn't been a priority as my temps are great, even when towing.

[txgp17]

Originally Posted by woodnthings8

I am sure that the filter does help drop the temps a small amount, maybe a few degrees, but nothing more than that.

I have a 99' GMC that I installed a similar setup using a kit from B&M Racing. I once had a mechanic at the GM dealer tell me that I needed to remove it because it was cooling the transmission too much. I gave the mechanic my best "What-chu-talkin'-bout-Willis" look. The mechanic worked for Parks Chevrolet in Kernersville, NC. That was my last time ever going to them for anything.

[Stonecutter]

Nice work, again.