Lewspike69

In general, do transmission coolers extend tranny life? Would one be a nice investment in any build?

8t2 z-chev

they can extend transmission life- depending on how hot the transmission fluid has been running and if the radiator tank cooler can keep up with the tranny usage situation. I would upgrade the tranny cooler for high performance usage-i have cooler from ~1993 ford explorer on my car with a fan mounted to it.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Generally so, yes.

But, with the caveat that, if the stock one is already "adequate" (to the point that the add'l one doesn't make the fluid any cooler), then it's a waste.

An auto trans can definitely be TOO cool. The fluid needs to be at around 160° absolute minimum for all of its ingredients to work right, so most aftermarket coolers have a thermostat in them that bypasses the cooler until the fluid reaches that temp. (which is why "flushing" an aftermarket cooler is basically impossible) Something around 175 - 180° is near about "optimum"; so again, if your fluid stays in that range ALWAYS under ALL conditions that you use the car in, you'll gain nothing by adding another.

The main thing that will make a stock cooler inadequate QUICKLY is a high-stall converter that spends alot of time "stalled". Whenever it's not fully "hooked up", the difference between engine speed and input shaft speed generates heat in the fluid. Unless that's carried off, the trans will not live long.

With a stock converter and a PROPERLY WORKING stock cooling system, an add'l cooler is usually not needed; and instead is just another opportunity for unreliability such as leaks.

Lewspike69

Great insight. So maybe a trans temp gauge would be a better purchase than a trans cooler, to see how hot things are getting

Reid Fleming

iTrader: (2)

I think the two biggest questions are:

1) What part of the country do you live in?
2) What kind of traffic do you see?

I had a giant cooler put in my car before moving to Texas. (I used to live in Canada) My theory being that the summers are long, the humidity is high, and traffic may or may not be bad in Houston.

Fortunately I work at a time of day that tends to avoid rush hour traffic. But I have gotten stuck in some mean ones before.

Having said the above, I would recommend a cooler for ANY vehicle down here. Stock stall or not. Now if I still lived in Canada, and only drove the car during mild summer weather under light traffic (as I used to), I don't think a cooler would have made any difference.