JokerABC

well, i personally went to like 4 acura dealers asking them about transmission failures and asking them if i should install a tranmission cooler on my auto CLS. basically all of the service managers just shrugged their shoulders and said i could if i wanted to and that the tranny problem is not that bad. i then told them to give me some numbers on how many CLs they've actually seen with tranny problems. in total, the numbers added up to about 1% of 2001 and 2002 CLS' that came in with tranny problems.

these dealers are not too enthusiastic about preventive maintenance. i wonder if i should even install one considering the tranny problem is overblown and if bound to fail, why prolong it?

shaHn78

no one knows the problem which is causing the trans breakdowns, so no pt in wasting money on the coolers.

If its bound to happen, it will and if its not, it wont... Guess i believe in fate

SilverBullet_RENAMED

Putting a tranny cooler on your car is not wasting money. The cooler the fluid, the better the tranny will do. Known fact.

If you pay for a 31k car, you expect it to come with one, but it doesn't another 60 bucks is not going to kill you.

Water Rabbit

Been there, done that.

I prefer to take a hand in the fate of the transmission at this point.

When Comptech's cooler is available, I'm getting one.

dustbuster4

In my book, $40.00 is not too much money for preventative maintenance. Cooler costs less than $40.00 and installation is pretty easy.

russianDude

Can I ask dealership to do the installation?

SilverBullet_RENAMED

I tried, my dealer would not do it.

shaHn78

We're not talking about transmission happiness, we're talking about transmission breakdown. And putting a cooler is no guarantee that it's going to save the trans. Its just a THEORY and SPECULATIONS that it will make it last longer.

Ppl always add additives and other junk to their cars in hopes of having some kinda profound positive effect... and it does nothing but put THAT PERSON at ease. I'm sure ur one of those who puts stp and other shit in their car.

Show us proof that the cooler will save the transmission and ppl will may much more then 40 bucks. And i wouldnt be surprised if ur trans went down on u with the cooler blowing cold air up ur a**

russianDude

Silver, I sent you an email. Anyway, I was asking about sway bar... I had losely tight bolts on the same wheel that clanks... I've driven total less than 1 mile before noticing it and fixing it... do you think this might loosen up sway bar end links ??
My wheel is perfectly fine and spins even...

SilverBullet_RENAMED

I guess you don't have much experience in working on cars or how things work.

Putting a Tranny cooler on a auto tranny is a preventive maintenance idea. Keeping the fluid cooler helps the fluid last longer. The cooler the fluid the less heat is built up in the tranny. The more heat, the more the belts will slip, in which case will eventually burn up.

It is a fact not theory or speculation. Why you think MOST cars have Tranny coolers installed from the factory? Why you think part of tow packages have a tranny cooler installed for additional cooling? To help keep the tranny cooler because the hotter it gets the more of a chance you have for a failure.

And obviously your some know it all wanting to call people names like a**. Please grow up and read a book. You might learn something more than what you actually know for once.

For your info, additives like Slick-50 are junk. But using a Synthetic, is the real stuff. It is a better way to protect your engine in the long run, and depends on driving conditions its just better for it. That has already been proven on tests as well from labs.

Please, until you have proof on what YOUR OPINION is, I don't want to see your comments again.

SilverBullet_RENAMED

I replied to that email a while back.? Anyways, have the dealer fix it if your car is under warranty. They can't prove you caused it. Something came loose from the vibrations of the wheel I am sure. Nothing is damaged I am pretty sure

russianDude

Hmn, I've got no emails from you... Maybe something went wrong.
Sure, my car is under warranty. Its probably better if I ride together with the technician... cause they will most likely have 'Could not reproduce'. Thanks for the response!

SilverBullet_RENAMED

Good idea....

JokerABC

All of the dealers I went to were willing to install a tranny cooler. so you should be able to find one, russiandude.

dustbuster4

I don't have proof! I'll guess I'll just take the risk!

BTW: What's up with the hate. If you don't agree fine; but the hate isn't necessary! :thumbsdn:

NOVAwhiteTypeS

at one point we had 6% of our members w/ tranny problems recorded. when we had around 5000 members

Mint Julip

I was told by more than one service manager at different dealerships that if you install a cooler and the trans fails, your warranty is void. Period. The reason cited for this is that insertion of a cooler changes fluid path and introduces additional potential contaminate areas (such as lines, cooler itself, etc) that may lead to failure.

randomwalk101

I hope this was not your assertion..because whoever service manager told you this need to go back and finish high school. How could fluid path be changed from adding a cooler? 2nd, the cooler is clean from factory. It even has a cap to block dirt out. As far as the hoses, just run some fresh tranny fluid through it before install.

Pappy

I'm not surprised that the dealers hate preventive maint., as they're thinking about their jobs. They don't want you to do jack shit about preventing problems.

russianDude

Why can't Acura manufacture ALL of the cars with tranny coolers built in?
Had Acura engineers done some research and determined there was no need for a tranny cooler, or it is simply a mistake?
Somebody got drunk and forgot to include it in the design of the car ?

JRock

And what's the #1 cause of transmission breakdown? Heat.
And what's the one thing our tranny doesn't have that most other car transmissions have? A real transmission cooler.
Gee, that's quite a coincidence.

JRock

Plus the percentage is always going to increase because more and more people's transmissions are dying plus some people are on their 3rd, etc.

Water Rabbit

That's right.

Since this car came out as a 2001 model year. I think most owners have under 50,000 miles.

The consensus seems to be that the transmission failures are due to an inadequate design and the burden of excessive heat over time. The percentage of failure should begin to climb as time goes on.

The percentage of owners who report on the failures that are actually occuring should climb even more. I don't expect to hear serious squealing until folks start being asked to pay for replacement trannies themselves.

JokerABC

can anyone please tell me what model of Hayden tranny cooler I can use for my CLS? how about the 401? i think i will go for Hayden rather than B&M because of price. (i know about the extra features of the B&M)

randomwalk101

There are two kinds of Hayden, one is the cheap silver one and a more expensive black one. GET THE BLACK ONE.
I bought a B&M but if you go to Pepboys, they carry Hayden. I compared the B&M and the Hayden, they are exactly the SAME...down to the label on the cooler itself (made in Canada). Apparently both companies do not make their own cooler but rather bought from a Canadian company and put their name on the box and sell them for a hefty profit. As far as the valve or whatever B&M claims, I think it's just a marketing scam (on the website) as I do not see such claim printed on the box nor did I see it on the Hayden (and the coolers are the same).

shaHn78

If i'm not mistaken, the cigarette lighter didnt come with our cars, it was OPTIONAL. :sqnteek:

i dont smoke so i could careless but even if geo didnt give that then it would be a shame, let alone a company like acura.

So no surprise they didnt bother to add the transmission cooler

shaHn78

and sorry if i sounded rude before, didnt mean to

Its that time of the month ya know

SilverBullet_RENAMED

Hayden 676 would be fine, I think the 401 is a black one as well, it should work. I went to alot of autopart stores no one had either in stock. So if I had to order I got the B&M.

SilverBullet_RENAMED

The valve works. You can tell when teh car is cold, you will notice teh whole cooler does not get warm. I had a hayden 404 on my last car, which is a black one as well. It got hot, the whole thing right away.

The design is identical to be efficent.

Eggplant-EX

a cooler might just help your tranny break 50K and then you are out of warranty......

EricL

Or, you could not do it and be on #2 when it broke it 51K...

By similar reasoning, probably best to make sure everything in the car blows-up at 49K...

JokerABC

haha, good one! has anyone ever thought about 3rd party warranties or something after 50,000? i didn't get the extended Acura warranty.

SilverBullet_RENAMED

Due to the fact I getting a Waverunner and be towing it with thsi car, I am not sure if I will keep my car past the warranty or even worth getting a extended. I might get a SUV in 3 or so years.

1st_import_jl

My dealer said that they would install a transmission cooler if I wanted them to. It would only void the warranty on the transmission but the rest of the car is still covered. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

russianDude

Not sure that 6% is an accurate random sample. There is more bias towards reporting tranny failures.

Think of it this way, when your transmission fails... you get really pissed, and I mean REALLY PISSED OFF, you will go to internet, do all kinds of searches, will create user name and start posting messages. I am not saying that there is no problem, our trannys fail more offten then they should, that's clear... but I am sure that 6% is to high, its probably somewhere between 1-3%. Also, some of the people drive their car hard, do racing and etc... so you have to subtract those cases as well.

So I think if you drive your car gently and change your trany fluid every 15K miles, the chances are like 1-2%.

randomwalk101

I honestly don't see how the dealer could possibly claim that they will void warranty on a tranny cooler (if installed properly). I mean it is a PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE..ei it supposed to prolong the life of the tranny!!! It's like saying "if you clean and wax your car, we will void warranty on your car's paint". But again, if I were a dealer, I guess I'd try to void as much responsibility as I could

randomwalk101

6% is high..but even 3% is still high. 3% of all the millions of car sold with tranny failure is crazy..and some even with 2nd, 3rd tranny coming in. I mean if 3% of minor failure like windows, radio etc is nothing but transmission is a major component...it should be designed to last! We bought Japanese car because it is known for the reliability for God's sake!

russianDude

Could not agree more... I went on Nissan Maxima and Toyta Camry internet forums and did a search on "transmission".... There were at most 1-2 isolated cases where owner stated that his/her tranny failed on 2000-2001 car. And their forums have many more members than we have here... So I guess its obvious that the rate of failure is much higher on Acura than on other cars like Nissan, Toyota, BMW 300 series. Its very sad... I had plans to keep my car for long time, but now I am not sure. If I ever need to buy new car it will be Toyota or Maxima. To me reliability is more important, I am getting older and when you've got wife and kids you can not afford to spend a lot of money on cars.
Other than tranny worries the car is great, I love it!!!!

I hope that dealers will start installing tranny coolers and still keep your tranny warranty! This seems like a solution.

russianDude

Chances of condom breaking is also 1-3%