hey guys... I called rallye acura here in LI to schedule an appointment so i can have them install the comptech transmission cooler. the technician i talked to advised me strongly NOT to install the tranny cooler, because it'll do absolutely nothing in terms of increasing the life of the transmission. he said that a stock transmission cooling system existed, and it was a part of the radiator. Seeing that he would serve to make money from installing the tranny cooler, i didn't think that he would bsing me. what do you guys think?

 

It's pretty much true. There have been some documented cases where the cooler didn't seem to do anything at all for the longevity of the transmission. For the newer models, there is a cooling system from the factory. Then again, the good old principle of "cooler parts = better performance" still stands. Either way, it's up to you. I notice that your car is an '01. If you haven't had any transmission problems, why mess with it now? Just leave it alone.

 

They might say that also because some dealers might try to void your warranty.

 

lol im on my 3rd tranny...

 

doom i asked about the warranty they said it wouldn't void the warranty, but it was unnecessary. after all, the place would make money if i installed the cooler there, why wouldn't they want my business?

 

Maybe that's what he was taught. Maybe everyone with a cooler got ripped off. I think because if they installed it and the tranny blew they might have to cover it instead of Acura picking up the warranty claim.

 

The tranny cooler is not all about trying to save the tranny. Some things we do is for quality of life or in this case, quality of the drive. My cars just flat out shift better and smoother with the tranny cooler (along with a flush at the time of install). Shifting is consistent and does not change in cold or hot weather even up to +110 degrees. Shifts are more positive - even after a hard run. I highly recommend and you definitely are not wasting your money.

It will not void your warranty as long as the cooler is installed in series with the stock cooler. Transmission coolers are added regularly as part of a tow package (like with the MDX or Pilot) to deal with the additional load through the tranny. As we add HP to our cars, we are also increasing the heat load through the tranny. We all agree that we loose around 25% of our HP with an Auto. Stock 260HP X 25% is 65HP. Where do you think this 65HP goes? Heat is energy - energy lost through the tranny.

As far as the tranny cooler being part of the radiator, it is not true in the CL-S/TL-S. Tranny fluid is cooled by coolant from the radiator but it is not routed to the radiator like it is in my 99 TL-P.

I'm not saying that the cooler will keep the tranny from failing, I'm just saying it's a mod worth doing to enjoy driving your car. It's flat out a cheap mod that only has an upside - no downside from a performance/drivability stand.

Just my

 

quick question...Who did u speak to cause the techs don't speak w/ customers over here at Rallye ever unless the customer is in the shop. I have a feeling u spoke w/ Mike Denfeld just cause it sounds like a bullshit answer. 00-03TL's and 01-03CL's dont have tranny coolers in the radiator. They have a self cooling system w/ the pump circulating the fluid thru itself, it's actually not really a cooling system to be exact. Anyways...the 99TL and the MDX have radiator/trans coolers but u got a 01 CL!!!. Anyways...just wondering who u spoke to...and hardly anything voids ur warranty over here

 

I absolutely feel my tranny is shifting smoother after the cooler was installed. I am running the SC and the shifts are as smooth as butter. I can honestly say it used to shift harder b/f the cooler and I only had a CAI and headers. If you are not modded and you don't drive your car very hard I wouldn't bother with the cooler.

 

All these time I thought that the cooler is there to warm the trans up faster in am and keep it cooler when trans gets hot!.

 

What are you talking about?

Just because the stock unit is an ATF-to-coolant intercooler, doesn't mean that it's not a cooling system. In fact, the engines radiator is a kind of ATF cooler by proxy. Since the ATF gets cooled and warmed by the engine’s coolant, it depends on the radiator for cooling And, the stock beer-can-sized ATF-to-coolant intercooler does perform as dedicated cooler/warmer to warm up and cool the ATF; it “tries” to keep the ATF near the engine’s coolant temp. IOW, it tries to keep the ATF at a constant temperature and leverages the engine’s cooling system to do this. IMO, it is just too small to do a great job under WOT and other stressful conditions..

I'd agree that the answer is BS.

Just because there is only so much coolant that you can get through into the clutch packs to deal with the "spot heating," doesn't mean that it is worthless.

I've have mentioned on numerous occasions that there is a problem with quality control issues and with the rate of ATF flow as it impacts clutch pack cooling. (This data came from Acura’s NHTSA reports.) As the fluid gets more viscous, it can't flow as well into the clutch pack. It creates a situation where a thicker fluid will reduce the actual flow into the clutch pack, while increasing the cooling by the very nature of it being cooler. The unknown is how the viscosity of Honda's fluid changes at the temperatures inside the transmission -- and more importantly into the clutch pack. If the viscosity only impacts flow rate by 3% (for example), but drops temp by 20% (for example), there should be a net gain in clutch pack cooling..

So, if the cooler just keeps the temperature of the ATF, close to the nominal value, and the factory unit is left in the loop, I can't see why there should be a problem.

The Comptech unit uses the B&M cooler and has some amount of cooling control based on viscosity; this point alone should help transmission life.

OTOH, it would be foolish to tell users that there will be no more failures and/or that the clutch packs will never overheat if they add a transmission cooler.

 

[QUOTE=Allout]It will not void your warranty as long as the cooler is installed in series with the stock cooler. [QUOTE]

I know and you know it won't void your warranty. I'm just saying that some dealers are and will try to pull that crap.

 

i've heard good things about rallye and keeping warranties for our cars... its just that for installation of parts they charge an arm and a leg

to install my comptech springs they wanted $800 to install.... i'm looking elsewhere for the installation

 

Did you do a tranny flush at the same time your Cooler/SC was installed? I'm assuming you did them both at the same time.

 

Just ordered the comptech cooler and will also keep my trans oil as this

http://www.amsoil.com/products/atf.html

I'm nearly at 70k miles on my first trans and hope it lasts until 200k..

 

just talked to the same guy at rallye i talked to yesterday.. i think he said his name was "lee", and he said that at rallye they won't install the transmission cooler because its "messing with the internals of the engine" and that it would void the warranty.



maybe i'll call park ave acura.

 

I'd wait and see what happens with the tranny recall before installing anything.

 

well i called park ave, they said that they would install it (and keep warranty) for $350. with the cooler and everything it would be about $500 for everything.... i wonder if i should just install it elsewhere, but that might void the warranty?

i still dont get why rallye won't install it

 

So Rallye straight up said they wouldn't install it?

When i asked them about installing my S/C they said they would do it and that they highly recommend getting the Tranny Cooler. Only problem was for them the S/C would void the warranty. But they still would do it.

 

I installed the cooler myself and did a flush while I was at it. I put in the Comptech recommended Redline stuff. The S/C went on the car a few days later.

 

Cool deal. Gonna go with the Redline ATF as well.

I think you made a thread on it but how much ATF did you go through for the fill?

 

Dude...who the hell did u speak too????We don't have anyone named Lee at Rallye...and we'll NEVER void a warranty cause of a trans cooler and how the hell would it mess w/ the engines internals. Like chaptorial said...we've done superchargers, headers, intakes, everything. tHE ONLY MOD THAT WILL AFFECT UR WARRANTY is the S/C!!!And we sure as shit don't turn away work!!!Please find out who ur speaking to...even make sure your talking to the right dealer??

And to Eric...i said they have a self cooling system that IMO isn't really a true cooling system. I'm only saying this because "supposidly" some one at my job told him that TL's and CL's have a front mounted cooler thru the radiator and it's NOT true. I know the stupid beer can sized pump is garbadge and doesn't cool as we would all like it.

 

ant im gonna call tomorrow and find out who this guy is and then we'll both go and straighten this guy out. because i know that rallye has great customer support, but this guy is seriously messing up the reputation of rallye! he specifically said that the tranny cooler will void warranty because you are "messing with the internals of the engine" which sounded like to me... but i assumed he knew much more than i did about the car so i didn't argue.

i'll call tomorrow, and post what i find out.

 

I was having some problems I thought w/ my tranny so I took it to a guy who we have had build all our hot rod trannies and he has built a good amount of trannies for people I know.


Well I brought my car in one day to have him check it out, the minute he saw I had an Acura he kind of went "uh oh". He said he's done nothing but replace trannies in these things for the last 2 years. He's even been outsourced by the dealer to replace some when they are to busy. Well we determined it wasn't my tranny and he noticed my tranny cooler and said it was a VERY VERY smart move, that he's opened up the bell housing to all these trannies and says that honda and most other japanese companies are doing a HORRIBLE job at cooling down the trannies. He also mentioned to me to change fluid w/ every oil change since it's just a simple drain fill. I've been doing so for the last 3 changes and my tranny is very healthy.


This is my 3rd tranny, my first 2 went before 30K. This one I installed a cooler on right after they installed it, this is the only tranny i've raced and juiced on. It's been stout for 50K.







Now as far as warranty goes, technically I can totally see Acura voiding a warranty on a car w/ a cooler. Most dealers probably wouldn't do it. But you are messing w/ the way it was setup from the factory and can be done not appropriately.

 

I've gotten this info from "some" dealers. It just depended on the person I got at the dealer. One said it was ok; another said it was ok if the unit was from Comptech; another said it was ok from Comptech but not OK from B&M (same parts but DIY kit); and I definitely got a few "your warranty will be voided” replies. I even got “...the car doesn't need an ATF cooler." When I called Acura Care – this was some time ago -- the idiot read me the standard boiler plate crap re: any changes would void the warranty. (So much for the M/M act – hey?)

You do need to be careful about finding a person and dealer that realizes that this is a properly engineered device that will NOT do any harm. I believe that there is a certain amount of reticence on the part of Acura to "acknowledge" and support a product that would "hint" that there was inadequate ATF cooling in their current system. They have a bunch of lawyers, and if they are like some of the ones that I've worked with, they are covering the angles to keep Acura out of any trouble (hey, that's what they get paid to do, they aren't part of the marketing or engineering departments).

Make sure the dealership that puts the unit in, has a mod-friendly policy and you might be well-served by having two people at the location sign-off on the job. (Hey, people leave -- don't they? So, who is that verbal agreement with?)


BTW, never assume that the tech and/or dealer know more about your car than you do. I'm talking from experience. You may find some people that are really good and really do know more, but there are some real goofs that just don't know how to say, "I just don't know ... let me find out for you."

 

I hope you realize that you can do a really safe and effective flush now that you have clear access to the ATF lines (via the cooler).

Change if you like to replenish the additives. OTOH, your new configuration makes hooking-up to an ATF exchanger very easy...

 

would any of you guys advise installing the cooler at a place other than a dealership? i've been told that any decent body shop can install it, that the installation is pretty straight forward - park ave said they'd do it for 350... but im not sure..

BTW - Thanks to everyone for your responses. you guys kick ass

 

Ask Park Ave -- or the dealer that you're going to be taking the car to for a "possible" tranny exchange. If I was in the area, I would sure head to Park Ave based on the bulk of member comments.

You might simply ask Park Ave if they will service and handle an exchange at some point and mention the cooler.

OTOH, I know it sounds like a bit of cash, but what would be more convincing at a time of trouble: a receipt showing an authorized Acura dealer putting the part in (this assumes there is no verbal or written waiver added in) OR a receipt from a body shop?

Heck, you could probably find a good butcher shop or shoe store with some guys with enough tools in the back of their car or truck to do the job for you -- it all depends on the folks doing the job -- hey?

 

including parts, it would be $500

$350 just for labor

 

WOW!

OTOH, you would probably get new ATF, effective flush, test, whatever.

Seems a bit high, but ask them what you’re getting. I'm pretty sure that's would buy "peace of mind."

What's that worth to you?

And, you might ask some of the other members what they paid. My pricing info is at least a year out of date...

 

don't know how much easier it can get then doing it through the drain when you do an oil change Isn't this as effective?

 

If you tap into the line, you can exchange the entire fluid and its dead clean. You don't have to do an iterative process. I'm talking about the total exchange (AKA flush). And, I'm not talking about those morons that run some brutal solvent through the gearbox...

IOW, if you want to “clear out ALL of the old”, you can just tap into the cooler line and get it completely exchanged. You can still run through a gear or two, but you don’t have to repeat the whole iterative process to get ALL of the muck out of the box.

BTW, I’m saying you have to do it or should, only commenting that it is easier with the cooler…

 

you have got to be kidding me... $350 for installation? HAHAHAHaHAHAH!!!!

I bought my tranny cooler for $45 shipped, and installed it myself. I ahve never done anything to my car before. Never even an oil cahnge by myself, and I had no problem installinghte tranny cooler. It took me about an hour since I didn't have any metrick sockets, but once I got some it took about 40 minutes to install.

If you actually pay that I'll kill you.