My wifes gxe now has a transmission cooler,so hopefully her vg auto will last a little longer..

I got the cooler from a 94 dodge dakota(free) also,i had some metal tubing laying around from a few previous repair jobs So i decided to cobble it all together..

Cost all together..$5.45 for 2 ft of hose/and a few clamps..

Turned out pretty nice imo..

 

looks nice and will hopefully prolong dreaded VGauto syndrome. There was one on my VE when I got it.

 

hmmm I believe the gf and I should install coolers as well. Soo wheres the write up?

 

They have a factory one running throught the radiator right? I know the external ones are much better

 

Hmm, this looks like what Aamco installed on my 93. Only yours looks like you installed it properly instead of Aamco's installation using little plastic zip-ties that are touching a scalding hot radiator. Man, do they know how to cut corners. I'm still surprised that they didn't melt.

 

You know the tranny writeup you need to be following...

 

you callin me a cross dressin homo?

 

Mine has a zippy tie holding it on.

Write up is pretty simple,just route the return line to the trans(passenger side line on the rad) into one of the lines on the cooler,then route the other line from the cooler back to the metal return line on the trans,all done.

This way you have double the cooling effect. I used some metal hard line i had laying around for part of the install,you however will need to buy about 5 ft 5/16 rubber hose from any auto parts store to reroute the return line off the rad/back to the transmission.

A more detailed write up will be coming..(it's early,i'm still sleepy )

 

Good man! I put a cooler on my old VG when I bought in 2001 @ 111k. I proceeded to beat the snot of the car for the next 5 years and 75k miles and zero problems with the transmission. I also drained and refilled it every few oil changes.

 

Speaking of the VGauto syndrome, how can you tell if your tranny is goin bad?

 

I'll take this one folks....since it just happened to me.

Basically, you'll start getting s slight shake when you stop at red lights and stop signs when the engine is still cold. This shake will get progresively worse. Eventually, you will loose overdrive and 3rd gear on cold startups for about 15 minutes, so you'll have to drive in 2nd at 4500 rpm's untill your tranny decides to shift into third....just to keep up with traffic. Then, you will take a long trip, and upon arriving at your destination will loose all ability to reverse the car. The transmission will go into safe mode and not be able to rev over 2000 rpm's. That's when you rev it as high as you can in neutral, and kick it into reverse untill it catches, and feels like your car just exploded. Reverse will then continue to work on and off untill you do a swap. This will all happen over the course of 2 months....roughly.

 

Mine did this too except it never shook at red lights. Guess I'm lucky LOL. One more thing, whenever I was cruising at 45MPH and I'd punch it, it would shoot up to 5000RPM and act like a CVT until the tranny finally got a hold of itself.

 

wow that just sounds really scary so far I dont have any of those symptoms. But last night my car would not shift out of 2nd gear. I went into walmart for like 15 mins, came back out went and drove around and it was back to normal. An today I just got back from like an 1hr and half trip and nothing bad happend. So I think its fine...for now

 

My tranny is weird
From 1st to 2nd gear it suppose to change at around 2700 RPM i drive like that but it revs to 3100 RPM then its shifts. Its like i got blank RPM when i am shifting. Also from 2nd to 3rd is the same. and from 3 to 4th takes a lil while. I was driving on the highway doing 55mph at cruise control theyre was a lil hill so when i started to loose MPH the cruise tried to raise up RPM so it would keep up at 55mph but instead it went all the way to 5000rpm. Engine roaring car not getting any speed. So after that it shifts terebly. i changed my trans oil but seen no better in the transmision. Looking for a car as we speak on stick. NO MORE AUTOMATIC FOR ME unless a brand new car. Thats my 0.02C

 

Difficult to understand, but from what I made out of it, it sounds like your transmission is slipping. Welcome to the VG autotragic.

 

i can't remember, does the pan have a plug?

 

Yes,it has a plug.

 

Ya know, I have heard so many issues about the VG auto and many other cars, vans, truckes etc saying they are "crap, junk" etc I am however, a firm believer in you get out what you put in. Like any other mechanical system.. Don't come crying to me when your transmission fails at 100,000 miles if you have never done proper maintenance as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. Soooo many people say, blah.. 100 bucks for a (professional) transmission flush every 30-50,000 miles is too expensive, too time consuming or a waste. If you ask me, it is money well spent in my book.

 

Yeah, even my 2nd gen 88 VG auto had a tranny cooler. I believe that is the reason my tranny lasted so long too. It was still going when I sold it last year with 211k miles on it. I had the Hayden 404

 

sometimes i will slow to 20 around a turn and get back on it and i'll spike to 3k and then come back down to 2.5k. Or if i slow down in heavy traffic (or someone turning in front of me) it'll do the same thing. Is this definitely a bad thing, or maybe i'm just getting onto it hard enough where it goes into 2nd for a split-second before upshifting to 3rd?

 

Mine did the same thing, never shook, did the CVT thing, now it slips all over the top gears, never had a problem in reverse . Now, (since August 2006) after i dumped about $1000 into the suspension, it sits under a car cover between my 240sx & DelSol, dreaming of the day I get a new tranny for it. Anyone know where to find a good one? If you have tranny problems good luck to all

 

This very true and well put, "you get what you put into it"

 

I just put mine on and it was THE BIGGEST PITA ever. fins got bent, couldn't wrestle the stupid hose on and i was losing fluid at the same time....... i really hope that clamp is holding that hose on otherwise it's gonna fly off and there goes ALL my fluid. i got it pretty tight though. I'll just check up on it. Should have removed my bumper though, would have made it alot easier.

though mine had the pipes on the short side, not on the long side.

 

umm tranny cooler install is NOT hard- at least if you bought a cooler that's properly sized to fit.


you guys will also want to block off the cooler in winter to make sure the tranny gets up to proper operating temperature. the fluid in an auto tranny has a certain rainge of temp it works best at- something like 120 to 180* IIRC. if you run a cooler like this in the winter, you can do more damage than good because the fluid never gets warm enough for the tranny to shift smoothly. simply placing a sheet of cardboard over the cooler for winter will work fine.


also, greeny... your antifreeze only gets up to about 210 deg. plastic melts around 350*. those zip ties will last longer than your radiator.

 

Yeah matt,i figured the zip ties would work fine,but you how "some" people in here are about duct tape and chewing gum fixes

Also,winter months here are not too harsh(average temps 40-50f,Yay global warming ) so i am going to leave mine hooked up year round.

Oh btw: For guys wanting a write up on this mod,here is a write up link on how to do this install (the car is a 4th gen,but the basic setup is the same on a 3rd gen )


http://tinyurl.com/ro7sb

 

i think i will redo it sometime. I just couldn't see how i was going to fit it behind the hood latch according to the 4th gen setup, or just how to get everything in place without really messing it all up. I will go back when i have time next saturday, and remove the bumper and everything, to have a wide-open shot at installing it properly. I also am going to be much better about the hose getting on. i was losing fluid though and my hand was slipping.