Need some advice with tranny oil cooling lines

[Nascar83Fan]

Today i got a nice surprise waiting for me as i came out of walmart walking back to the car ( which is just a couple miles from where i stay ).
Had noticed some fluid under the car affer i had put the stuff i bought in the car and had put the cart in one of the cart returns.

So i put her in neutral with the engine off and pushed her back a spot as there wasnt anyone parked behind me to see if it came from her or a previous car that had parked there before i got there. Anyways had noticed it was transmission fluid, so i fired her up and looked under to see if it was from her or not. Sure enough i had a slow leak of tranny fluid. It was slow steady drips, but not gushing out.
So got her back home, parked her and after i got the stuff i bought inside, took some paper towel back outside with me to try to find where the leak was coming from exactly. Had ruled out it wasnt the easy rubber hose that joins the 2 hard lines. It wasn't leaking from there so i kept feeling around and looking. Once i noticed it was dripping tranny fluid near the oil pan, i started looking through the digital service manual on my tablet, finding the diagram for the way the oil cooler lines run and figured out the leak is coming from a hard line that runs from the oil cooler between the frame and engine before it meets up to the hard lines coming off the tranny.

It won't drip tranny fluid unless i attempt or start the car, so it's either the return line from the oil cooler or the sending line to the oil cooler that has a hole or crack in it somewhere. No other tranny fluid leaks in any other part of the lines but between where i noticed which was under the engine behind the crank pulley where the lines run and frame meet.
It's a stock oil cooler and stock radiator, with original cooling lines none of which have any rust. Also is the factory 200-4r she came with.

What is the best way to replace the lines coming off the cooler that eventually meet up to the hard lines coming off the tranny?

What am i looking at ball park in
spending to buy the stuff to fix it?

What should i be buying and who should i get it from to fix this?

Could i re-route part of the lines by chopping alittle off before it routes under the engine where it still is good and running something to meet up with the hard lines coming off the tranny?

If splicing off of the hard lines is possible to fix the problem, what will i need to cut the hard lines to do so? Want to do it right, not half rear end it.

I've read through tons of threads to see if anyone had this happen but all i could find was about the rubber hard line joiner issue. So that's why i started a new thread here.

Appreciate whatever info that comes my way.
I hadnt drove her 2 days prior to this and then all of a sudden got nailed with this issue. Had no leaks of any sort before today, must of happened once i had got parked at walmart because at the bookstore i stopped at before heading to walmart there was no issues.
I didn't lose more than 1/2 to a quart of tranny fluid, but want to fix this before it could turn into alot worse.
Which is why i haven't moved her since i parked her. Outside of this, she was running great so once this is taken care of there won't be anything else needed to be able to drive her around.
Thanks.

P.S. Sorry for the long post, didnt want to leave any details out so i could get proper feedback back to resolve this.

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[Nick Micale]

I recently replaced a split tranny cooler line on a 1987 GN, and all you need to do is remove the pass header and motor mount, remove the line at the tranny and radiator and slide it out.

Oh, possibly you may have to remove the starter?

If you have the car on a lift, figure a couple hours, on the ground, make sure you have nothing else planned that day!

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Is there any other way to approach it, i don't have lift access. I stay in a college apartment complex, with a fairly flat blacktop parking lot to park in.


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[Nick Micale]

Is there any other way to approach it, don't have lift access........

Pick a nice day, couple good friends and a set of strong jack stands, then have a "fun" day working on your GN!

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Unfortunetly all the good friends i have live over 400 miles away and that doesnt do me any good if they aren't here. Wished i had access to a pit, that'd help. I could hug the people that designed the routing of the lines right now. Why couldn't it of been the easy to get to rubber line that joined the hardlines like it was alittle over 2 years ago. thanks for replying nick, appreciate the help.
What size wrenches etc did you use to remove the tranny oil cooler line off the radiator? If it still was all stock radiator etc, like my 87 T is.


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[v6turbo87]

The turbo and crossover pipe needs to be removed when taking off the passenger side headder too.

 

[OneQuikSix]

Or do what I did, a bit more costly, but better in the long run. I cut and removed every one of those God-forsaken metal lines that rattled and leaked. I now have braided -6an hose from summit running to and from the transmission to an external cooler mounted in front of my FMIC. It looks nice, cools better, doesn't rattle, and is one of the only fluids my car doesn't leak!

 

[Nick Micale]

.... I now have braided -6an hose from summit running to and from the transmission to an external cooler mounted in front of my FMIC. It looks nice, cools better, doesn't rattle, and is one of the only fluids my car doesn't leak!

That is a good option as we are installing a set of braided cooler lines on a GN now, but using -6 adapters which allows us to connect the braided lines the stock cooler.

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Just took another look at it 2 minutes ago, i found exactly where the puncture is. The line that hooks upto the bottom hole on the oil cooler. The lower line coming off the oil cooler is resting against part of the engine block where it begins to run under, my guess is the line banged into it over time and it finally poked a hole in it yesterday. I can see where the line has the issue too.
Checked the top line and it isn't hitting anything nor damaged. So now at least i know which one it is, it gurgled from the puncture spot after i for about 6 seconds let the car run and shut her off too. So now i know it's the return line.



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[1fastcobra]

Transmission hose
A few clamps
And a small pipe tube cutter
15 bucks in parts and your good to go
Not the o.e. way but in a pinch its all u need

Make sure u double clamp each side

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Transmission hose
A few clamps
And a small pipe tube cutter
15 bucks in parts and your good to go
Not the o.e. way but in a pinch its all u need

Make sure u double clamp each side

Thanks, i had a chance to of picked gnEric's brain earlier today about the issue and he suggested getting from lowes or home depot a small tube cutter. Said make sure to double clamp each side and that i can get 3 or 4 ft transmission line kits to do the job from one of my local parts stores.
He had to do this with an 8 inch section on his gn and said it works great. So hopefully by tomorrow will have everything to start fixing it. Gonna price what the cutter runs and also gonna see how much of the transmission line i'll need to connect upto the transmission return line coming off the transmission.
So you and he both had the same idea.
He had said there's 45-65 psi of pressure going through there, so it'll leak if it isnt clamped down good enough. Which is why i'm not gonna rush any part of it and make sure everything is right.

Alot cheaper to come up with a couple plans of how to solve the problem and do it right once than to jump right in & spend tons more fixing other stuff too.

Especially when it comes to these Buicks, which are a combo of outside the box and conventional thinking but lean alot more towards different type of thinking than most anything else that conventional thinking covers.

Some of the things gm did on these cars o.e. wise wasn't the best place for them.

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[Nascar83Fan]

Today i picked up a 5 dollar small pipe / tube cutter tool. Bought 3ft of transmission line hose and 2 packages of 4 clamps ( total of 8 clamps ) at the very nearby autozone for $9.58 after tax. Was maybe a ten minute walk each way.
The clamps were $2.49 per package and the transmission hose was $1.29 per ft.
Had bought extra clamps just to have spares on-hand, just in case i have one break on me while tightening them down.
If i have some spare clamps handy, won't have any break on me.
Now i can begin the fun in the next day or so, as long as the weather continues to play nice.
Before i cut any part of the hard return line or transmission hose, gonna take the transmission hose i bought and going to decide on the best routing for it to meet up with the return hard line coming off the transmission. Alot easier with the hose in-hand to determine that the 1st time and not have to do it all over again for a second time.


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[David Husek]

Today i picked up a 5 dollar small pipe / tube cutter tool. Bought 3ft of transmission line hose and 2 packages of 4 clamps ( total of 8 clamps ) at the very nearby autozone for $9.58 after tax. Was maybe a ten minute walk each way.
The clamps were $2.49 per package and the transmission hose was $1.29 per ft.
Had bought extra clamps just to have spares on-hand, just in case i have one break on me while tightening them down.
If i have some spare clamps handy, won't have any break on me.
Now i can begin the fun in the next day or so, as long as the weather continues to play nice.
Before i cut any part of the hard return line or transmission hose, gonna take the transmission hose i bought and going to decide on the best routing for it to meet up with the return hard line coming off the transmission. Alot easier with the hose in-hand to determine that the 1st time and not have to do it all over again for a second time.


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I wouldn't use transmission hose under the engine. You are looking for a bigger problem down the road as the engine oil that will leak on the hose will cause it to fail. Bad idea. Fix it correct the first time and never worry about it. I have seen cars crash from a failed hose. I have witnessed two cars burn to the ground. Just my opinion. There is just no room for cheap short cuts. Replace the lines or the bad section with steel line....

 

[TurboSmart]

Use a thermal jacket as well..
That area will get extremely hot with all the radiant heat sources nearby

 

[Nascar83Fan]

It's actually the tranny oil cooling line that starts from the upper tranny port that feeds into the bottom oil cooler port at the radiator that had rubbed on the bottom of the engine that caused a small hole in the line, not the return line which would go from bottom port on tranny to the upper port on oil cooler at radiator on our 200-4r setups. Glad i verified for what felt like the 20th time which line it was that had the hole in it from rubbing before i proceeded to perform alittle surgery.


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[Nascar83Fan]

So between now & sunday i'm gonna come up with a battle plan and figure out how i'm gonna approach it. Feel like i almost want a few drinks or something, had a plan of attack worked out earlier this week and then murphy showed up today so i had to go back to the drawing board before i even began to do anything. I really wished murphy would of bothered someone else, and left me alone.


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[GNONYX]

My opinion, but once you get your transmission lines replaced and all is working great, don't park your GN in Walmart parking lot or any parking lot without your eyes in sight. Heard too many stories of members leaving their car park in parking lots, just for a few minutes, return to find the car is gone.
Not trying to scare you, just making you aware of the sick bastards who don't appreciate someone else property.

 

[Nascar83Fan]

I think alot of the reason no one has bothered her is because it just looks like an old med charcoal metallic exterior & chrome bumpered late 80's regal from a distance. Since the only badging is the header panel emblem, the blacked out hood emblems,the T emblems on the front fenders and the buick on the grill; she doesn't unless you're fairly close to her even stand out as a Turbo Buick. Some around here never seen a non black TR, and have no idea what she is. Think having blacked out GTA rims with the WS6 center caps ( how she came from previous owner ) adds to the being incognito so to speak. Since she'll need a repaint eventually ( sun damage and clear coat going to heck ) she doesn't appear to be a hidden gem in some shady eyes in the last year. I suppose i've been lucky not to be a victim of someone five finger discounting her, especially with there being such a demand for our cars.

Probably in my top 10 of the most frustrating things to of had to do to her since i've owned her is gonna be the trans cooler line, my luck it had to be the feeding from tranny line that had a hole wear into it from vibrating on the engine instead of the somewhat easier return line would be to deal with. I'll get it figured out, just going to take longer to do it with it being harder to get to the supply line going to the tranny oil cooler laying on my back.



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[GNONYX]

I remember when I was replacing the rear end seal, I had a hard time trying to remove one of the oil pan cover bolt since it also hold the transmission lines clip.
This clip holds both transmission lines from bouncing around, and it was just as PITA to put back.
After the rear end replacement, I was thinking of eliminating that clip but then again too many vibration and movement will cause other issues that I don't need.
If look at the PDF file, you will see what I'm referring about the transmission clip, (#4).

 

[Nascar83Fan]

I knew what you had meant by the clip, there's a somewhat detailed diagram picture in the digital version of the 1987 service and chassis manual someone had posted a link to somewhere on the forum i had downloaded last year. Under section 7 which contains tons of information for our 200-4r's, on page 19 of 112 it shows the clip that is held on by a nut which is torqued to 13 ft lbs that you were referring to. It also shows the oil cooler pipe routing for lc2 vin 7 and also had ld5 vin A routing also.




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