pauls

85 3rd gen. 170* t-stadt. Cooling fan on toggle switch. I usually keep coolant in 160*-200* range, even in heavy traffic with A/C on. This is much cooler than factory set-up of cooling fan not engaging until 220* or more, with a 195*t-stadt. Therefore, my Tranny temp would also be in this range.........do I really need a Transmission cooler? Thanks.

V8Astro Captain

iTrader: (1)

I'd get one just 'cause.

I have a 70268 B&M trans cooler. My trans fluid usually runs about 150*F when it's hot outside and around 125*F at night. I can tell you from experience that the shift quality gets worse and worse when it gets to 180*F and above. But that doesn't happen anymore since I relocated the cooler to the grill area and put the B&M in series after the stock radiator cooler.

Intercepter

Yes you need one. Heat is the number one cause of automatic transmission failure. Very small price to pay for insurance.

pauls

Hey V8Astrocaptain, so you run it through the Radiator FIRST, then the B&M cooler? Why not just the B&M cooler? That would cool the fluid MORE efficiently, would;nt it?

AlkyIROC

It varies. The engine coolent is "usually" 180 degrees. If the tranny oil is hotter and goes through the rad cooler first, it will lose some of it's heat into the coolent. If you cooling system isn't efficient enough this can cause engine overheating.

Running a stand alone tranny cooler isolates the heat from the tranny oil to the engine coolent. Run the biggest cooler you can in whatever limited space you choose to put it. It doesn't "have" to be in front of the rad. You could mount it horizontal with a fan over it. Just as long as there's air flow across the cooler, it will work.

Tranny oil operates around the same temperature as the engine. You should never let it get above 250 degrees.