Ok I hope this is not a stupid question, but what is the point of a tranny cooler on a car that is making 130hp? (I hope that there is a good reason because I'm running out of things to do...)
A tranny cooler is mainly for a vehicle that has a SC or Turbo, due to all the force and high temps in the tranny. But can also be used on a stock engine if the driver is heavy on it or does alot of highway miles.
In general you need a tranny cooler if the impellor in the torque converter is turning much faster than the turbine. In this situation a lot of the engine’s output power is dissipated in the fluid and it really heats up. The most extreme condition is when doing a stall test on the transmission – you cannot do that for more than about 5 secs at a time. In normal use you can heat up the fluid by doing full throttle starts, towing or driving up steep hills. Once the TCC has applied there should be much less heat generated in the fluidUnless you do these things or live in a very hot climate a cooler should not be necessary. You can test how hot the transmission gets by using a temp measuring strip on the oil pan. It will record the highest temp reached by the transmission. You get them from most transmission parts stores for a few $.
Quote, originally posted by ajflan »Wouldn't highway miles be easier on the trans because it is not shifting as much? Yes, the TCC should normally be applied on the highway so the coupling should be mechanical at that point and so there should be much less heat generated.
Sweet, that sounds affordable, easy to install eh? Btw, I'm looking at transmission coolers because I've been towing a good deal of weight lately and I want to protect my Vibe as much as I can I went from a V8 4x4 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited to the Vibe, and I'm impressed with how much more I like this vehicle
Quote, originally posted by AKLGT »Hayden tranny coolers. universal and can be found on ebay for about $50 shipped. Got mine at Advanced Auto for $30. No shipping costs! But total for bigger zip ties, tranny fluid, and some other stuff (tools I didn't have) was around $50.
18" Enkei's & Kumho Ecsta's-------UNICHIP Eibach Sport springs----------Morroso oil pan Injen CAI & Oil cap----------Stage 2 FI cams Custom Exhaust-----------TRD Supercharger AEM alt. pulley -------JSP Carbon Fiber hood 380cc injectors----DC Sports ceramic header