To fit a transmission cooler, or not, that is the question.

PurgaEd · Veteran Member

To fit a transmission cooler, or not, that is the question.

Mike196 · Senior Member

Never towed with an auto without one, it's cheap insurance.

Brenda and Alan · Guru

With 30 odd years as a motor mechanic I can tell you for a fact that hot hydraulic oil (auto trans/PS fluid) is bad news for transmissions and power steering. The extra work done when towing does put a lot more heat into the oil. If you tow without extra cooling for your transmission oil you will shorten its life span. I strongly suggest it is well worth the cost of fitting one.

Alan

johnq · Guru

Could be a vehicle-specific requirement.

I asked transmission repair experts in Milton, Brisbane, who do fleet as well, about my 2005 Landcruiser TD auto and reply was a flat and firm "No, they already have that well sorted" and strict advice to stay away from aftermarket because, "If anything is going to fail on a LC it will be an aftermarket part".

Haven't towed with the beautiful carport queen anyhow, but that is another story.

03_Troopy · Guru

PurgaEd wrote:
How many people have fitted transmission coolers to their automatic transmission vehicles? I have a 2011 Ford Ranger 3.0ltr TD and using my hydraulic engineering background experience, I can see that it would be a beneficial addition, if not a mandatory one. And please, I'm not interested in smart !@#$ responses from the Toyota / Nissan / Holden etc owners. I don't care what you own - just interested in serious responses from people who may have installed one and can pass on their experience. Thanks.

PS. If you've seen this post on the Grey Nomads of Australia Facebook page, please disregard.

Great way to start a post

Jaahn · Guru

johnq wrote:
Could be a vehicle-specific requirement.

I asked transmission repair experts in Milton, Brisbane, who do fleet as well, about my 2005 Landcruiser TD auto and reply was a flat and firm "No, they already have that well sorted" and strict advice to stay away from aftermarket because, "If anything is going to fail on a LC it will be an aftermarket part".

Haven't towed with the beautiful carport queen anyhow, but that is another story.

Hi biggrin

I was a mechanic also and "in the good old days" it was always recommended to fit an extra cooler. However autos have changed a lot. All modern autos have lockup torque converters which lockup in all the higher gears at least. Because of this there is not much heat generated like the old days. The computers also manage the temperature of the transmission oil by controlling the bypass oil through the standard heat exchanger and also warm it up during start up phase. Where in this system does the extra cooler fit ??

Having a cooler fitted to my modern vehicle with computerised everything, by some salesman at an aftermarket shop seems like a dodgey idea to me now. hmm

Jaahn confuse

Olley46 · Guru

I have an 03 Prado Deisel had a problem with Auto Transmission getting hot oil expanded and came out the breather hell of a mess,recommended to fit a Transmission Oil Cooler ,have done biggest one I could get from Repco has fixed the problem, one happy tower.

Lance C

Baz421 · Guru

03_Troopy wrote:
PurgaEd wrote:
How many people have fitted transmission coolers to their automatic transmission vehicles? I have a 2011 Ford Ranger 3.0ltr TD and using my hydraulic engineering background experience, I can see that it would be a beneficial addition, if not a mandatory one. And please, I'm not interested in smart !@#$ responses from the Toyota / Nissan / Holden etc owners. I don't care what you own - just interested in serious responses from people who may have installed one and can pass on their experience. Thanks.

PS. If you've seen this post on the Grey Nomads of Australia Facebook page, please disregard.
Great way to start a post

Agree Troopy, he's ex RAAF as well. Was gunna post a constructive post myself last night and decided not to waste my time. I've withdrawn from a lot of things in the last few months and don't bother helping some anymore. Waste of time IMHO.

Mike196 · Senior Member

Tend to agree with both your posts, actually sorry I replied to the OP now seeing some of the replies. Seems to me there's a bit of "attitude" crept into the Forum of late, it's not a friendly discussion any more..

johnq · Guru

Baz421 wrote:
03_Troopy wrote:
PurgaEd wrote:
How many people have fitted transmission coolers to their automatic transmission vehicles? I have a 2011 Ford Ranger 3.0ltr TD and using my hydraulic engineering background experience, I can see that it would be a beneficial addition, if not a mandatory one. And please, I'm not interested in smart !@#$ responses from the Toyota / Nissan / Holden etc owners. I don't care what you own - just interested in serious responses from people who may have installed one and can pass on their experience. Thanks.

PS. If you've seen this post on the Grey Nomads of Australia Facebook page, please disregard.
Great way to start a post
Agree Troopy, he's ex RAAF as well. Was gunna post a constructive post myself last night and decided not to waste my time. I've withdrawn from a lot of things in the last few months and don't bother helping some anymore. Waste of time IMHO.

Whoops, I must be going blind because I did not see the section now highlighted in red when I drafted a reply. However I don't suppose it hurts to let owners know that it is always worth a visit to a reputable expert for an assessment and to fit if needed.

While I did all maintenance and many repairs years ago, I do not have the same confidence with the modern electronic/mechanical refinements.

deverall11 · Guru

We have a scangauge fitted to our 200 series Landcruiser. The transmission temperatures on display at times can be quiet concerning when towing. Having said that, the 200 series has been around since 2007 and to the best of my knowledge there has not been any report of transmission failures. One of many suggestions made by a forumite was to fit an extra or bigger transmission cooler if you have big driving light sitting on your bull bar or the equivalent. Big driving lights have a habit of blocking the air passage to the transmission cooler on some vehicle.
Obviously PurgaEd, this is not specific to the vehicle you are posting about but I think is relevant to the subject.
Larry

subaru · Veteran Member

smile smile About 12mnths ago was in a line of stop start traffic going over the blue mountains when the trans light came on for a split

second,on my return went to auto transmission mechanic and he suggested that i should fit one if i was really concerned

that i could have problems with overheating in the future.so i had one fitted and (touch wood) have not had the light come

on since.i am not for or against just telling you that i was happy to have one fitted. smile smile

johnq · Guru

We put a bigger copper radiator into our earlier Falcon and an external by-pass transmission oil cooler.

That was an early strike against the likelihood of the original radiator (actually the oil cooler I believe) developing a problem.

Doubtless automatic transmission repair shops would be able to advise.

chopit · Senior Member

We had our fingers crossed regarding the previous life of our tug. Pre-purchase checks showed a strong motor etc.
On a particularly hot day going up & down / up & down the Bruxner H/way ( NSW ) the auto pushed oil out the breather.
After a mechanic checked it over he found more oil seal leaks.- - Pushed it just a bit too far.
Got another 300Kms to home base, checking & topping up oil along the way.
Now, with a rebuilt auto and the biggest oil cooler that could be fitted we are confident the auto won't give us trouble.
The auto specialist recommended an external cooler.
The tug is a '95 Commodore V8 ute.
That's our experience.

Friar Park · Senior Member

Been towing vans over 25yrs always with autos current tug 21yr old falcon fitted with cooler 250k on clock never a problem. Wouldn't tow without Friar

Radar · Guru

Purgaed.

The last 2 vehicles purchased both standard with oil coolers. Land Rover Discovery 2002, Nissan Navara both purchased to pull caravan.

Don, t drive hard back off going up long hills to help keep everything running cool. Just a tiny bit old fashioned. Ralph

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

It pays to manually pull auto back to lower gears .
Especially automatic turbo diesels ..
One issue with latter model vehicle is the heat exchanger has coolant going through it..
This often fails inside and coolant ends up in auto..
The idea for better fuel consumption is to heat ATF as soon as possible..
But if I was towing most the time..
I would by pass the cooler and add your own ..
Service the auto more times than Manu say..
They only want the auto to last the warranty period..
Most don't have dip sticks anymore so checking ATF condition isn't easy..

03_Troopy · Guru

03_Troopy wrote:
PurgaEd wrote:
How many people have fitted transmission coolers to their automatic transmission vehicles? I have a 2011 Ford Ranger 3.0ltr TD and using my hydraulic engineering background experience, I can see that it would be a beneficial addition, if not a mandatory one. And please, I'm not interested in smart !@#$ responses from the Toyota / Nissan / Holden etc owners. I don't care what you own - just interested in serious responses from people who may have installed one and can pass on their experience. Thanks.

PS. If you've seen this post on the Grey Nomads of Australia Facebook page, please disregard.
Great way to start a post

In fairness to PurgaEd, he has posted on my profile wall that it was a mistake, and that he just cut and pasted from his facebook page without realising that line was in there. I think you'd be pretty game posting serious questions on Facebook anyway... haha

Jaahn · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
It pays to manually pull auto back to lower gears .
Especially automatic turbo diesels ..
One issue with latter model vehicle is the heat exchanger has coolant going through it..
This often fails inside and coolant ends up in auto..
The idea for better fuel consumption is to heat ATF as soon as possible..
But if I was towing most the time..
I would by pass the cooler and add your own ..
Service the auto more times than Manu say..
They only want the auto to last the warranty period..
Most don't have dip sticks anymore so checking ATF condition isn't easy..

Hi,

To follow up on what I previously wrote.

All autos old or new have an oil to water heat exchanger. Old types usually had it in the radiator tank, newer ones have it sometimes seperate or on direct on the transmission. There has been no change here except to the location. If they fail its a disaster but this is usually caused by poor coolant maintainance. However that is not the question here. confuse

It seems that the older vehicles do benefit from the fitting of a seperate cooler as people here have said. Not so sure about new ones though. I certainly would be having any one fitted by an automatic transmission shop who knows what they are doing, if I had a new expensive tug. hmm

I also liked that warning about how big driving lights and other things may restrict the air flow. Worth thinking about, particularly at slower speeds ! Perhaps a manually operated extra fan would be a good idea.

Jaahn

-- Edited by Jaahn on Friday 9th of January 2015 08:43:30 AM

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Hardly poor coolant maintenance on vehicle under warranty .. That would be an excuse the dealership would say..
On our motor home we fitted driving lights each side of the grill so if anything forces air into radiator..
Hardly any negatives fitting extra trans cooler.. Air to air has far less issues..

Onedodger · Guru

I have a 2011 Mazda 3ltr TD auto and it has a factory fitted auto transmission oil cooler next to the intercooler.

I suggest that yours may be the same also.

And yes I for one would not tow with an auto unless it had an auto oil cooler.

Baz421 · Guru

03_Troopy wrote:
03_Troopy wrote:
PurgaEd wrote:
How many people have fitted transmission coolers to their automatic transmission vehicles? I have a 2011 Ford Ranger 3.0ltr TD and using my hydraulic engineering background experience, I can see that it would be a beneficial addition, if not a mandatory one. And please, I'm not interested in smart !@#$ responses from the Toyota / Nissan / Holden etc owners. I don't care what you own - just interested in serious responses from people who may have installed one and can pass on their experience. Thanks.

PS. If you've seen this post on the Grey Nomads of Australia Facebook page, please disregard.
Great way to start a post
In fairness to PurgaEd, he has posted on my profile wall that it was a mistake, and that he just cut and pasted from his facebook page without realising that line was in there. I think you'd be pretty game posting serious questions on Facebook anyway... haha

Yeh he contacted me as well ,,, all OK as I'm not upset I just explained the angst we have had on the forum over the last few months. No Probs here. Great of him to do so IMHO.

Outnabout · Newbie

I have a new Bt50 mazda so same as ranger. Previously had a 200 series. Scanguage fitted to both vehicles and set to record auto trans temps. The cruiser used to sit on abou 70 degrees not towing and fluctuate yo to about 100 degrees when towing up hills. Always towed in sport mode. Pick was a bit concerned with the Mazda because without the towing temp is around the mid 90's so I thought when towing would go way above 100. I was quite surprised that over Xmas the highest it went towing up a long 7 degree gradient was 104. I tow in sport mode with the mazda as well. I am not going to fit a cooler but I would suggest for $200 invest in a scanguage and set it to read auto temps if you see the temp rising then either slow down or drop down a gear plus the scanguage is us full for a host of other things. Although the mazda is new to me I feel the mazda keeps the torque converter locked for longer than the cruiser so I guess that is why the temps are more constant. Just to clarify the sport mode bit. I tow most of the time in the normal sport modewhich holds the gears longer than in drive. When I get to hills I then manual shift by pulling or pushing the lever. Hope this helps

David

Baz421 · Guru

Outnabout wrote:
I have a new Bt50 mazda so same as ranger. Previously had a 200 series. Scanguage fitted to both vehicles and set to record auto trans temps. The cruiser used to sit on abou 70 degrees not towing and fluctuate yo to about 100 degrees when towing up hills. Always towed in sport mode. Pick was a bit concerned with the Mazda because without the towing temp is around the mid 90's so I thought when towing would go way above 100. I was quite surprised that over Xmas the highest it went towing up a long 7 degree gradient was 104. I tow in sport mode with the mazda as well. I am not going to fit a cooler but I would suggest for $200 invest in a scanguage and set it to read auto temps if you see the temp rising then either slow down or drop down a gear plus the scanguage is us full for a host of other things. Although the mazda is new to me I feel the mazda keeps the torque converter locked for longer than the cruiser so I guess that is why the temps are more constant. Just to clarify the sport mode bit. I tow most of the time in the normal sport modewhich holds the gears longer than in drive. When I get to hills I then manual shift by pulling or pushing the lever. Hope this helps

David

Sounds like good advice to me, drove a White tandem prime mover years ago with Allyson auto, torque and lockup temps can very considerably.

rayn_boh · Veteran Member

whoa, I have a 92 Delica van have had overheating issues have checked everything , all is good & clear, don't know where to go from here now vis fan is good thermostat is good all mechanical checks are good, seems to be all good until I go into od then I overheat think fan not going as fast, so can I install a turbo fan?? also heard about transmission fan? do I need one of those? sorry I am a single female & want to hit the road but keep hitting these obstacles grrr sorry guys :)

Baz421 · Guru

Hi RB

Have a look at the link below and see if the symptoms are the same as yours. I think they are reasonably easy to understand, but if seriously concerned need to take to specialist BUT you can read the tech terms and at least know what to say.

Sometimes it's good to copy info and show the guys you have an idea what it "could" be. Often this will save you some money as it could be a simple sender/light/electrical fault.

Where are you located, as someone MAY BE ABLE TO RECOMMEND A REPUTABLE BUSINES FOR YOU - ANYONE????

http://www.delica.ca/forum/automatic-tranny-over-heat-light-problem-anyone-107.html

Cheers baz

rayn_boh · Veteran Member

Hi Baz, hunter valley nsw here, I will check out that link, thank you so much appreciated :)

Baz421 · Guru

Bringing this to the top can anyone assist with name of reputable company in Hunter Valley area for RB????

rayn_boh · Veteran Member

thank you so much Baz for that link, lots of information on that site, lots of good advice & things I can check :)