transmission cooler

[etlsport]

in another recent thread there was talk about heat destroying transmissions... so naturally i want to put in a transmission cooler, can anyone who has done it chime in as to how its done and how difficult it is? is there an entirely new radiator system for it, or does it just tap off of the existing radiator? if so how does that effect the water temp for the rest of the vx?

also, anyone know if having skid plating keeps more heat trapped in/on the transmission?

[CoastieCosta567]

in another recent thread there was talk about heat destroying transmissions... so naturally i want to put in a transmission cooler, can anyone who has done it chime in as to how its done and how difficult it is? is there an entirely new radiator system for it, or does it just tap off of the existing radiator? if so how does that effect the water temp for the rest of the vx?

also, anyone know if having skid plating keeps more heat trapped in/on the transmission?

hey bro, well I asked my father in law about it and he said its easy and there are diffrnet kinds for it, he said u put it in between a hose, don't where exactly but u need to know how to weld so u can weld it on the fram, he knows alot ob a,ll this cuz he's had over 100 cars and works with them all the time, so i know he is telling the truth. he said he will do it for me while i'm gone buy he said it's simple and not expensive.

[Y33TREKker]

Generally, adding an aftermarket trans. cooler isn't that difficult. This how-to explains the basics of what is trying to be achieved, and includes suggestions for making the install as trouble-free as possible. This is just one of many how-to's I found by running a search for "transmission cooler".

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/transmission_cooler_install/

The size of the aftermarket cooler is usually determined simply by how much physical space is easily accessible on the radiator. While just about any sized aftermarket cooler you go with will generally provide more cooling capacity than the stock coils running through the radiator, going with the biggest one you can without running into clearance issues from existing radiator mounts and/or brackets is a common rule of thumb.

[Kenny]

Instead of a second trans. cooler, why not try to improve the one we already have at the bottom of the rad?

Maybe an electric fan, or some ram-air setup to make it cool better??

As I said, just a thought..

[k4tmc]

I like Kenny's idea. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Henry

[Tone]

More airflow would be good but unless you are doing a lot heavy duty towing or racing, I'm not sure you'd see much benefit. I used high flow dual electric fan kit on mine for awhile and but not keep it as cool as with our standard fan. You could possibly mount another small pusher fan (like the one there for the AC) that would push some more but I wonder if the area blocked by the fan would minimize or eliminate any increase.

Weld it to the frame? Where ever does he come up with this stuff! ;)

[Ascinder]

Also, make sure you read up on how to properly shroud out whatever fan system you decide to use. From building my own watercooled computer, I learned that a properly shrouded fan system can almost double it's cooling effectiveness. Just a little FYI.

[ZEUS]

I have been doing a lot of towing lately so I hope anyone who figures out a good mod will post up! The lower gears in my VX help tremendously but the tranny could definitely use a cooler. I just towed 2000 lbs of stuff after all! And BTW, running a quality synthetic ATF should help keep things cool as well - just my opinion, I have no proof. Speaking of tranny mods though... Tone offers that in-line filter for the tranny. Would it be possible to run a cooler off of that somehow?

[dkmiller68]

I installed a tranny cooler a couple of years back. There are several sizes (capacities). What is going on is that you are adding a small radiator that mounts (typically, and in my case) onto the front of the radiator (in my case the lower drivers side). The kit was about $60. The tranny fluid lines that goes to the existing cooler in the base of the radiator are tapped into and the new cooling unit is connected "in series". There is a preferred flow of the oil into either the new cooler first or second...the instructions will guide you.

My unit is about 5 X 8 inches. I do not have a tranny oil temp gauge but do get a good feel (pun intended) for whats going on just by touching the shift lever. You can tell warm from hot.

[Chopper]

they are sometimes mounted under the vehicle by tapping into the fluid lines in an out of the way spot. You won't get as much airflow, but this is an enhancement to the existing setup. It's not handling the heavy work, just stripping off a few calories before the charge enters the main radiator. Easy job...hour or two tops.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

I installed a tranny cooler a couple of years back. There are several sizes (capacities). What is going on is that you are adding a small radiator that mounts (typically, and in my case) onto the front of the radiator (in my case the lower drivers side). The kit was about $60. The tranny fluid lines that goes to the existing cooler in the base of the radiator are tapped into and the new cooling unit is connected "in series". There is a preferred flow of the oil into either the new cooler first or second...the instructions will guide you.

My unit is about 5 X 8 inches. I do not have a tranny oil temp gauge but do get a good feel (pun intended) for whats going on just by touching the shift lever. You can tell warm from hot.

Many years ago I owned an '82 Pontiac Trans Am that was the first year for the "knight rider" style of car. The first year had inadequate air flow through the front nose plus the darn trannie lines going to the radiator core and the return line back to the trannie were routed almost touching the Y-pipe exhaust. The fluid would get too hot just on a joy-ride.

After experiencing a transmission failure...I decided to install a cooler. The above quote is right-on with what I remember. The instructions in my kit had 2 options for installation.

option 1: connect cooler to front of radiator (simple install) and plumb both transmission lines directly to cooler thus eliminating radiator from the equation. The transmission is now cooled entirely by the cooler you installed.

option 2: connect cooler to front of radiator (simple install) and plumb it in series with the stock radiator.

option 2 was the method I used as you are still using your stock set-up but, now the cooler is providing auxilary cooling. My set-up was as follows: The hot transmission fluid was sent into and out of the stock radiator and then into and out of the transmission cooler and back to the transmission.

My Trans Am went from having fluid too hot to touch on the dipstick to just luke-warm. Hope this helps.