Allout

I'm surprised at the difference. The shifts are smoother and much more consistent. Also flushed out the old burned out fluid while I was at it so I'm not sure if I'm feeling the new fluid or the result of the cooler (pumped 12 quarts through before I was satisfied - clear and reddish). I'm sure the cooler is a majority of it. Used a B & M Supercooler mounted in a similar way as the Comptech tranny cooler (but larger capacity). Flushed the system using the method used on this site:
http://home.satx.rr.com/silverbullet/tranny.htm
It's definitely an upgrade worth doing if you're planning on keeping your car for a long time. I added my cooler in series after the stock tranny cooler so I wouldn't interfere with any warranty issues (as compared to Comptech's bypass of the stock cooler).

showgunz

You're seeing more of the firmer shifts from new fluid. The tranny cooler will help you maintain that nice feel, though. Congrats on the install.

Tatewaki

How much was the cooler?

Tatewaki

doopstr

Umm...If your old fluid was truely "burned out", you better take a visit to the dealer because you have a tranny issue.

Tranny fluid should never look burned out. No matter how old it is.

Atleast that's what the dudes on the TV tell me

ghost31711

they do turn black...... im guessing thats what he was refering to.

randomwalk101

Haha..welcome to the TL world (the REAL world buddy)
I bet that you also bought that "tornado" from TV cuz the guy told u so? hahaha

Allout

I bought the raw cooler from carparts.com for around $80 after coupons and fabricated my mounting brackets (using Comptech's as a guide.

Depending on how much you want to mess with it, the Comptech cooler may be an option. I had this B&M cooler laying around that I was going to install in another car so I went for it. I couldn't see spending another $150 on the Comptech kit when I had this one laying around. I used B&M's 70264 which is good for 24,000 GVW. I think B&M's 70255 ($60) which is good for 16,000 GVW is sufficient (which is the one I think Comptech uses as a stand alone system).

Allout

I think you guys are right that it's the fluid mainly. My hope is that the cooler maintains the fluid at the current level and feel. I heard some statistic that you want the fluid below 180 degrees and for every 10 degrees above that, fluid life is shortened by around 10k miles.

pianoman41

If your tranny fluid turns black, you have a problem. Tranny fluid should *never* be black. It should always have a pinkish color to it. A burnt smell or color indicates abnormal wear. I changed my '97 Maxima ATF for the first time at 100,000 miles and it was still bright pink and smelled fine. In contrast, my tranny fluid in my TL went from nice and pink to dark brown in 750 miles and my tranny went shortly thereafter.

KJ32

Could it be different additive in different brand's ATF? I have seen a Corolla with very old ATF and the fluid is black like used motor oil. The color should change over time depends upon the flush interval. However, it should never smell like burnt.

samkws

our cars should have mini computer to show the oil life...