I've got a 2000 jimmy 4 dr 2 wd. I just rebuilt the motor and put it back in. It's all back together and driving with no issues except that I have not bolted the transmission cooler lines to the right side of the oil pan yet because it seems like it puts the lines in too much of a bind when I have the clip bolting them to the right side of the oil pan tightened.

they seemed like they had a little bit of tension on them when I was taking everything apart to pull the motor, but they didn't line up very well to the radiator connections when I was putting everything back together. I am comfortable with the amount of tension/bind on the cooler lines when I have them hooked up without them being bolted to the oil pan, but when I try to bolt them to the pan they are really bound up and I feel like the quick connects on the cooler side are going to leak in the near future if I leave that much tension on them.

they are the original lines and the only thing that might affect how the lines line up are that I replaced the motor mounts and transmission crossmember mount when I put the motor back in it. The new motor mounts appear almost identical in geometry to the old ones when I was comparing side by side (except the new ones didn't have the ripped polyurethane that the old ones had) and the transmission crossmember mount looked like it was about 1/2" taller than the old one (which probably had given up some of its height in its 16 year 235k mile life).

anyways. The lines seem secure without being bolted to the oil pan, and there is a starter wire with a clip that should bolt to the same spot which is currently just hanging there, but it doesn't have much room to flap around either. i'm not sure how I feel about leaving the oil line clip off and not bolting them to the right side of the pan. is it worth trying to bend the lines manually to get them to line up to the cooler better? the lines seem like they are brittle. I guess I could always cut the line and use a 4-6" section of flexible hose to let the lines float in their happy home. I know its not a high pressure application.

its kind of funny that I rebuilt the whole motor and changed out all the a/c parts/pieces and put it all back together and this is my biggest issue. it could be worse I guess.....

any thoughts?

I will post another thread detailing how the OEM fuel injector spider screwed me and how the mpfi conversion fixed it also soon.

 

Cooler line pressure can go as high as 50-75 psi. So rubber hoses are not so good unless they can handle that kind of pressure. If the lines are bent a little from when you removed the engine, then bend them back. They might collapse if you bend them too much, but they aren't going to snap.