Auxiliary tranny cooler

[blackvortec]

Alright heres the deal...
Ive had a bunch of transmission problems with my tahoe the last year and a half...ive went through 3 tranny's and my 4th is being rebuilt...i have chosen a diff. Transmission shop.since I dont have a waaranty on rhe obe that just burned up...i recently installed a bullydog chip to monitor my trans temp. It averages at 190 and has reached 210f. Im looking to do a tranny cooler on this new trany...which I believe is being done the right way with a vetter servo and an hd2 shift kit...i am confused as.how to install it.....

Should I completley bypass the factory cooler (which is by the way the bottom part of the radiator)....or run it in series with it. Amd also shoud I get one witha fan or without...
Has anybody done this?????

 

[jdpber]

You need to totally bypass the integrated radiator trans cooler and add the cooler on the from.. this is mine.. now dont get confused.. i have 4wd and the tow package so mine came with a factory separate cooler. this one is aftermarket and about 4x larger than the OEM cooler..

 

[Sickblutahoe]

Wow 190! I have the separate factory cooler and a bully dog tuner also the hottest I've seen it is 166.

 

[M3PO]

Alright heres the deal...
Ive had a bunch of transmission problems with my tahoe the last year and a half...ive went through 3 tranny's and my 4th is being rebuilt...i have chosen a diff. Transmission shop.since I dont have a waaranty on rhe obe that just burned up...

WOW, 4 trans in year! sounds like going to a different shop is a step in the right direction. It sounds like you have more major problems than needing a larger cooler, you need to find out if your old shop wasn't rebuilding right/good trans, or find the other issue.

Have you added substantial horsepower?
Bigger wheels/tires?
Lots of 4 wheelin and/or towing?
After all 4 of the trans failures, did you completely flush the trans cooling system?

I good rebuild on a stock truck should go at least 100k if you take care of it.

 

[bottomline2000]

I would run new lines to a seperate aftermarket cooler. My cooler is literally as tall as my grill. I think 11x11 and no seperate fan, but I have efans. I replaced my trans a year ago and put all new stuff in to eliminate the chance of contaminating the new one. good to go so far.

 

[chevy_man]

I vote for keeping the factory cooler and adding another cooler to the return side. The anti-freeze will help pull the temps down much quicker than air, and then you have the air to give you an extra few degrees. The denali's have a aux cooler from the factory, and I never see more than 150* on my trans which is stock at 160K as far as I know.

Even at that hot, there has to be another cause to the failure. How many miles are you getting out of them?

 

[Jay]

The stacked plate coolers are better than the tube-in-fin coolers as far as temp reduction and pressure loss.

What year is the truck in question?

Three transmissions in that time period is a builder problem, not the transmission's problem. 200-210 temps on these transmissions is not ******* them as long as you change the fluid and filter every 50-70k miles. It's 240* and up that causes problems.

As for the HD2 kit, get a corvette servo (~$20) and new separator plate (drill the shift holes to the smallest recommended), replace all the factory steel check balls with Torlon .250" checkballs, and NO MORE than one spacer in the 1-2 accumulator. The pump will have to come out to install the slide spring... however, if you do not plan to turn more than 5500rpm on a regular basis then you can leave this out. Trans has to come down to remove the pump.

It's mandatory (in my opinion) to get the aluminum accumulator pistons (three of these: forward, 1-2, and 3-4) before installing a shift kit... the factory plastic pistons are weak enough (if you have more than 100k miles I guarantee yours is starting to crack) and adding the more stiff springs of a shift kit will take them out quickly, causing burned clutchpacks and the need for a rebuild. The sonnax pinless accumulator pistons can not be used with transgo's accumulator springs just so you know.

My last bit of advice, if you've never handled a valvebody from a transmission before, let a reputable shop do the work. All it takes is one little mistake here and all your work goes up in smoke. Additionally, to get the most effect from the shift kit, get a custom tuner to eliminate the adaptive shift program and reduce torque managment 30-50%. Over time the adaptive shift function will soften up the shifts and can cause issues as line pressures are affected.