Hey all,
The integral trans cooler on my replacement American Eagle radiator has let go - the unions to the outside world gave up.
Seriously, this radiator has been more trouble than it's worth!

Anyway - next move looks like being fitting an external trans cooler.
As someone deleted the AC, it seems logical to fit a trans cooler in place of the AC cooler, in front of the radiator.

Any thoughts? Should it be ok with the single cooler fitted in that location?

 

A new radiator is probaly cheaper, easier, and better, than a trans cooler.

Common sense.

 

Seriously?
Over here, an OEM-type plastic tank radiator is about £170 new.
A transmission cooler should set me back about £70-£100.
As much as a POS this rad's turned out to be, it is much better at cooling than the stock design.

 

Over here, a new radiator is about $110; and a COMPLETE trans cooler setup (not talking about just the "Internet price" for the cooler itself, talking about drive-in to drive-out with all the lines, fittings, and so on) ends up being closer to $200.

Haven't really found one that's much better than the stock design, at least for a stock(ish) motor & car setup.

Try radiators.com. Located close enough (although in a small country like the US it's not all that unusual) that I can pick up from their warehouse in less than an hour. You'll probably have to have it shipped though.

And then, guess which works better, over the long haul.

But, you could do the add-on thing instead, if your tolerance for general aggravation is pretty high.

 

took some custom fabbing and adaptations,but i have
been using a cooler salvaged from an early '90s ford
explorer on mine for years(about 18) didn't like the
original flare fittings as i couldn't find any suitable AN
fittings to plumb it to -6 braided hose-carefully drilled
out the "flare"seat area and tapped for 1/4" pipe.
At first the cooler was mounted horizontal under the
battery area with it's own 8"fan,but a couple years ago
relocated it under the hood vertical inthe battery tray
with some baffles so it could pull air through the
holes behind the headlights and the opening to the
right of the battery when the fan is on.
The ford cooler is stacked plate design and with it's
high fin density,i recommend forced air fan as ram air
might go around rather than through the cooler-dont
know if ford used this cooler in series with a radiator
tank cooler or not.

 

Just checked again, and the OEM type is £175 with £12.50 shipping, that'll probably take a couple of days to get to me.
The rad that's fitted is an American Eagle model that I spent about £200 on back in November and it took damn near 3-4 weeks to get here.

I can't see what the issue's likely to be fitting an external cooler - surely it's going to cool the transmission better than stock, being exposed to the cooler air rather than being sat in the hot radiator?

 

Well if that's the way you want to go, then go for it.

Works at least somewhat OK for lots of people.

The stock cooler isn't in "the hot radiator"; it's in the cool tank, after the coolant has been cooled down.

Also keep in mind, an auto trans has an "optimum" temp range to run in, which is NOT "as cool as possible". Most of the mfrs will tell you that around 160°F give or take is the minimum operating temp, and then every degree above 200°F reduces the trans life by some amount; and the "optimum" temp is something around 175° - 180°. As long as you can keep it near there, life should be good.

As far as "issues", the typical things I've seen go wrong, mostly involve the lines; people run rubber hose and either it leaks at the fittings or bursts after a while, or it has to bend too tight and it crimps, and cuts off the flow. I'd say, basically any external trans cooler is probably OK, as long as it's installed RIGHT, since most of them contain an internal thermostat that bypasses it if the incoming fluid temp is below 160° or so. The source of trouble is not the cooler itself, so much as the installation.

But in all honesty, I'd suspect that by the time you get one in there and working, you'll have more money tied up in it, than buying a radiator; and more fiddling around with it as time goes on, as well.