I'm killing AC and just wondering, can I use AC radiator as a tranny cooler?

 

Maybe if you had it flushed, but why would you want something that big? You'd need at least a couple quarts of fluid to fill it.

It's dramatically overkill, I'd just go with a large towing cooler. I picked up one used for $20 locally. It's done me good so far.

 

There is no such thing as overkill for a tranny cooler. And more fluid seems like a good idea to me, although i doubt it would take much more than a quart.

 

added capacity is good... but there IS such a thing as overcooling.

if you have a stall, transbrake, or some other way that addes massive amounts of heat to the trans, put a gauge on it and go for it.

if you're still running the stock stall (or only a mild performance one) then pull the AC one out and run a smaller trans cooler. more airflow to the radiator that way too.

 

I'm running 2400 TCI.

 

put a thermostat to the cooler that opens at a certian temp

like this guy http://67.104.247.214/jmb/firebird/home.htm

 

Before you do anything, get a gauge in the tranny pan first and foremost to see where your at. There is/will be arguement over this, but you/me whomever should be concerned with the temp of the fluid about to be run through the tranny.

We've always just bought the biggest aftermarket cooler we could get and called it a day, but your idea has crossed all of our minds at some point. A 2400 stall is'nt that big in the scheme of things and for street driving you want to maintain around 150-180* tranny temps. Alot of my buddies racing with an 8" convertor/transbrake will be around 190* at the end of a run, and other with decent stalls footbraking going round robin will be over 220*-that's when an tranny cooler with a fan comes in handy.

My freind was thinkning about going overkill on a cooler with a fan until a guy told him to gauge it to see where he was at first. At the end of a run in his 8" convertor footbraked BBC chevelle he's right at 160* and when driving on the street, at most is 180* which is optimal. Just like a motor, these trannies have a optimal temp that should be maintained, if you keep it too cold it will still work but not as effeinctly as if it were in operating range.