for cars with automatic is the radiator function to cool both the engine coolant and the auto trans fluid? Looking at it I can see that the upper coolant and overflow hoses are attached at the top of the radiator and two? transmission fluid lines attached at the bottom. If that's true then only a portion of the radiator is being used to cool either fluids at a time?

Hoang,

 

it is a dual cooler...the upper portion is for the radiator..the lower is for the auto trans...
not much cooling for the auto trans...ok..well maybe I am wrong....but it does not hurt you much..except for the 40 something bucks and the few hours and a quart of trans oil you spent to add an extra trans cooler...
Hope that helps.
Good luck

 

thanks Zprime...I was also thinking about adding a separate tranny cooler and since u mentioned only the upper portion of the radiator is being used for the engine coolant, what if we swap that original radiator with one being used soely for the engine coolant and one for the tranny? Or would this be too costly or wouldn't help much with cooling the engine coolant? Thanks!

Hoang,

 

Honestly....I have never seen anyone complaining with engine overheating with stock radiator....though tranny is a different story
your best bet and cheapest alternative is to run an extra tranny cooler in series with the existing cooler...
Try NAPA or Autozone autoparts to buy these cooler...get the one for full size car...
note, you can do a search on this subject in this forum for more info
best of luck and enjoy the ride

 

...cool i think the tranny cooler will be my next project for next month. The reason I'm so zealous when it comes to optimum care for my car is that I'm planning to keep it till whenever the engine gives, cause I already have 69k+ orginal miles on it and it's not even 2 years old yet and I wont be getting much money for it with the mileage it'll have in the next 2+ years. BTW any tips on keeping the car in optimum shape? I've already done the complete 60k service myself, upgraded the brake pads to porterfield's, APC 80/100w bulbs and harness coming in the mail..this is why i gotta wait til next month to save up money for the cooler. Anyway thanks again!

Hoang,