I finally got around to installing a transmission cooler in my 2014 Camry SE (7th Gen) 2.5L 4-cyl and thought I would describe the process. The engine is the 2AR-FE and the transmission is the U760E. Disclaimer: Please understand if you decide to do this to your car, you do so at your own risk. I make no representations of the results you may achieve and of course working on cars can be risky. I decided to do this to my car because I think the transmission temperatures run hotter than optimal and fluid life and possibly transmission life may be extended by temperatures that are mostly below 180 deg F. For information on the temperatures I encountered before installing the cooler see this thread: https://www.camryforums.com/forum/ge...ii-port-50389/ and particularly posts 5, 13, 18.
OK, let's get started. I used a Hayden 698 cooler which is available at Rock Auto for a very reasonable price. It includes an internal thermostatic bypass which is typical of many Transmission Coolers but is not typical of general purpose oil coolers. It is said to be necessary for colder climates and also helps the transmission come up to operating temperatures faster.
First, let's first consider how the cooler might be mounted and the hoses routed:
The first thing I did was take a few coverings off the front, top and bottom of the car and take a look at where I might put the cooler. The following link has three photos of what I saw before doing any work: https://imgur.com/a/zUMzXLm The top Photo 1, looks at the AC condenser from the front of the car looking down. The arrows note two M8x1.25 bolts on the subframe that seem to be a gift from Toyota to DIY’ers. I used these to mount the bottom of the cooler. Next, I need a way to get the hoses from the cooler in front of the condenser to the engine bay. The next picture down, Photo 2 is a view from in front of the condenser looking to the left (driver-side). Note the gap on top of the black plastic wind guide. This gap is the entrance to a perfectly sized channel sufficient to route both transmission hoses from the cooler, thru the gap, under the left front head lamp and into the engine bay. It's not necessary to drill any holes! Photo 3 is a view from the engine bay, left-side, looking forwards. It shows the other side of the channel where the hoses will emerge into the engine bay from the front of the condenser. The hoses will route under the left side headlamp seen at the upper left of the photo.
Now, let’s look at the mounting of the cooler before any plumbing was done:
This link has two photos: https://imgur.com/a/7sVx3SK The top photo shows the cooler fully mounted in position firmly placed about two-tenths of an inch in front of the condenser. I made the top bracket using some pre-drilled pipe hanger from Home Depot. I had to drill a 1/8” hole in the subframe to accept a #8 self-tapping screw but the sheet metal tore apart the threads for a zinc and a stainless screw! Its more or less acting now as a pin held in by gravity and later a little duct tape (humm..) but nevertheless its holding fine. The bottom photo shows the cooler bottom-side mounts looking up from under the car. I cut the two brackets from Home Depot tie strap using tin snips. Bolts on the subframe are the M8x1.25 bolts mentioned earlier.
Now let’s take a look at the final result after installation is completed:
The following link contains 5 photos showing the installed cooler: https://imgur.com/a/oe5D2EG The air box bellow is removed for visibility. Starting at the top with Photo 1 note the stock “Tin Can” cooler. This is still part of the system. Arrows indicate direction of ATF flow. The new auxiliary cooler is plumbed in after (downstream from) the stock cooler. The hose pair routing to the lower right of the photo delivers ATF to and from the aux cooler. Looking at Photo 2, the lower-left hose barb on the stock cooler originally returned ATF directly to the upper transmission (return) barb. This line now sources ATF to the aux cooler. The output from the aux cooler returns cooled ATF to the upper (return) barb on the transmission. Photo 3 shows the hose pair leaving the engine bay (left) and routing via the channel beneath the left headlamp (upper right of photo) on its way to the aux cooler in front of the condenser. Photo 4 (view from front of condenser looking left) shows this hose pair emerging from the channel into the region in front of the condenser. Photo 5 shows the aux cooler mounted in front of the condenser.
How does it perform? I’ve driven about 500 miles since the auxiliary cooler was installed and at all loads ranging to moderately high including a 5700-foot gain over maybe 20-30 mins. Before the cooler installation this kind of driving (after warm-up) would have resulted in temps probably ranging from ~190 to at least 215. The range I saw with the aux cooler was ~148-177. So far this seems like a good result to me. I haven’t yet been able to see what happens under heavy loads in hot weather. For now, I’m happy with it!

 

Excellent write up and photos!

Thanks for posting your efforts as the question of an oil cooler does up at this forum.