This is for those of you who have experience with an AT tranny cooler. I am looking to do a VB mod sometime, but not anytime soon. If I was to install a tranny cooler prior to the VB mod how would that affect my tranny performance?

Right now I am not particularly hard on the tranny and it has been fixed for the slippage in the past. I live in a temperatre climate in Southern California so it does not get exceptionally cold or hot.

Would I start to experience some rougher shifting because of the cooling effect? Would the tranny still be within operating temperature?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Ryan

 

You won't see any drawbacks. It may shift rough in the mornings because the fluid won't warm as quick. But it will keep your fluid nice and cool once the car is at operating temp. I had my tranny cooler before my vb mod.

 

Sweet. Thanks for the reply. That's all I needed to know.

 

Remember to add fluid after adding the cooler! You're adding more volume to the tranny system so you have to add more fluid. Check your manual for instructions on how to check the fluid levels.

ZuM

 

Are these things hard to install?

 

no

 

If you buy a B&M it will not run any cooler in the winter because it bypasses when the fluid is cool. Until it warms up that is.

 

You just need a few basic hand tools. The instructions that come with the cooler should be more than enough. Do a search for "transmission cooler install". You may find pictorial instructions on the install for the maxima.

 

At least not if you have the right fittings, right Jeff?

I also installed mine pre - VB mod and noticed nothing different.
D

 

Ahhh...no wonder my tranny shifts a bit rough on these cold mornings!

 

I know that's the way is supposed to work, but I have the B&M Supercooler and it takes a long time for warmup of the tranny (lack of smooth shifting at throttle - Auto) on very cold days (freezing temps - 20 mins of driving at least). I've actually considered unhooking it except for racing or until the spring gets going. Looking forward to the summer though.

When you install it be gentle against your radiator when you mount it - the radiator fins are VERY fragile and bend easily.

Otherwise, it's just a tight fit to mount the cooler itself with the retaining ties - everything else is a breeze.

 

I have the largest one they make and even at -25 yesterday it was fine so maybe your by-pass is not working properly.

 

Which one did you get and where did you get it?

 

How long does it take you to warm up where the tranny (at WOT) shifts smoothly? Surely it's not immediate.

It may be my bypass because it does take some time for me. However, to be honest, it took a little while before the cooler was installed. I just wasn't noticing the amount of time then. Plus, I changed to Amsoil Sythetic at the same time and that's supposed to be much lower in temp.
Might be a combination of things.

 

I bought mine at Canadian Tire in Canada, its 11x11x3/4 and rated at 24,000 GVW. I figured since it had the bypass I would buy the largest one they had.

Shaydz

I don't go WOT when the car is cold but it shifts very quickly right away at part throttle and I don't let my car warm up any longer than 30 secs or so.

 

I do the same (around 30 secs - 1 min). And I never WOT right away either. But I do test it around 5 min intervals to see if it's warmed up for full throttle. Seems in cold weather (<32deg) 20 mins is the magic number. I have the same cooler. I got it from jegs.com for $49.

Today it's high 50's in NC. Should be much better.