after my tranny cooler sprung a leak, i took it in to my mechanic (who happens to be a big fan of oem parts and quality) who told me that the tranny cooler is actually a detriment in daily driving since it's so much smaller than the radiator. also, since mine happens to be mounted smack dab in front of the condensor, he said that it actually inhibits the performance of my a/c.
is this thing even worth it unless driving at 100+mph? the installer just left the stock inlet/outlet to the radiator open, so i suspect that there's debris in there now that'll have to be flushed out. i'm ****ed at the shop that installed it and i want to just go back to the stock setup now. what a waste of money.

Are you saying that the installer of the 'cooler' installed it such that you aren't even using the original radiator? That doesn't sound like a proper installation to me. All of the trans coolers and oil coolers that I have seen have been little radiators in ADDITION to the regular radiator. If they disconnected your 'regular' radiator, I'd be a little concerned, that you haven't been getting proper cooling with a tranny sized cooler. You may want to check with others that have tranny coolers and see what they say.

Tranny coolers are generally used in vehicles used for towing where, there is extra stress on the tranny causing excess heat. I suppose you could also use one in a performance vehicle too. Personally, I don't think I'd get a tranny cooler unless I was S/C or Turbo or something like that. But then even in everyday driving, I don't think you'd need it.

well, that upsets me a bit more. upon inspection, the radiator connections to the tranny are just open, no hoses at all.

serin,

I don't know which tranny cooler you have, but all the ones I've seen here B&M, hayden are designed to be installed in serial WITH and AFTER the OEM cooler in the radiator. NOT a replacement for the stock cooler.

Also, a member here measured the temperature our tranny fluid reaches and it basically showed our max's would benefit from a cooler to prolong the life of our indestructible tranny if you live in a summer climate region.

turbo dreams
woosh

Aftermarket coolers are "supplementary" coolers-ALWAYS.

They should never be used alone; the person who installed it either misunderstood your instructions or is ignorant.

Because i have been receiving phone calls from customers about this thread I feel I have to comment. This is coming directly from my transmission tech who has been building and modifying transmissions for over ten years. "The tranny cooler in the radiator cools the ATF with the engine coolant. Engine coolant is typically around 215 deg. The use of an (quality) external cooler will significantly reduce the temp of the ATF because it sits infront of the a/c condensor and is cooled by air. An external cooler should not be used in conjuction with the radiator cooler as it will reduce the efficency of the external cooler. It is ok to remove the hoses from the radiator and plug the ports. If your not satisfied with this, next time your at the track see how many auto's have tranny coolers in the radiator." This is coming from a guy who does nothing but tranny work and I can assure you he is not ignorant. Cheap coolers (hayden) may advise you that they are to be used with the stock cooler because they are very low quality and can't handle cooling alone. you should expect to pay at least $50 for a good quality cooler.

I don't buy it. Logic has to prevail. These coolers are merely metal tubes, connected to fins which dispurse the heat of the fluid. And the fact is: more surface area of fins (2 coolers) will dispurse more heat.

The external is more effecient, due to the cooler air it receives on it's fin surface. But, the internal cooler still cools the fluid significantly before it gets to the external cooler, allowing the external to do it's job better.

The reason you don't see track cars with 2 is weight reduction. Racers opt for only one (a more expensive external) to reduce weight, thus getting a smaller unit that can accomplish the same job. But, that doesn't imply that having 2 wouldn't do an even beter cooling job-it's a weight-to-benefit tradeoff.

Us daily drivers are buying coolers that only cost 40-70 dollars, which I wouldn't consider expensive, and we aren't going to remove our internal coolers anyway (we aren't driving race cars), so we should be utilizing both coolers to get the most fin surface area, and thus the best cooling results.

But that's just my opinion... I could be wrong.

is there a particular tranny cooler you'd recommend for my 5th gen?
I need one asap considering I want to get my VB mod done by you asap
as well....

I got the B&M cooler.. It's roughly $50 or so.. I would definitely recommend this one over the Hayden. The heatsink design is just more superior.

Check out Permacool.com. Superior design also, pick the size you want. I got mine from Dario on the org, and I'm quite happy with it.

130-70264 this is what I have

Unless you live where its always hot out you need the tranny fluid to run through the main radiator core at least on startup to get the fluid in the operating range. And yes stock tranny cooler is pretty much a heater that's why you would run aux cooler inline after the stock core with the main goal of protecting the tranny from extremes of overheating fluid when you race but keep the normal operating temperature close to what it was. That's why they sell external thermostats to make sure you don't overcool you tranny(B&M "Super coolers" have similar stuff built in) Benefits and side effects of hot fluid and tranny coolers was discussed at length here.

Edit: Fixed the link

thanks for the info and the links you guys