Ok, I am going to change my transmission fluid in the next few days. I have searched the forums and have seen mixed reviews as to the worth of a transmission cooler. Some have said that it is useless and that if it’s going to happen it will, and some think there tranny wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the cooler. What’s the final verdict; are they worth it?

 

Its not worth it. Fluid boiling isnt the problem nor is cooling a issue. (dont forget i had 4 failures with teh cooler installed)

 

Welcome aboard, this question has also crossed my mind. I looked at the the B&M cooler for under $50.00

Anyone else here have a B&M cooler installed?

Thanks, great forum here!

 

A lot of people said it didnt matter with the old trannys because they sucked. However with the new ones who really knows since the post 02/05 trannys have been good so far. So maybe since they have been redesigned a cooler will make a differnece with those. All im going to say is a cooler wont hurt it thats for sure.

 

No. Tranny fluid most likely won't boil unless you're driving hard around a track, and even then I'm not sure if a tranny cooler would help prevent tranny failure.

See fsttyms's post. Then see all of his other posts, and it'll all make sense.... I didn't know it was 4 failures btw, no wonder you went with the 6MT swap.

 

I'd do it if I were you. Have one on the '03 accord and '03TLS. The TLS still failed with it installed. This second tranny still has it installed. It can't hurt. Cooling IS part of the problem, but these trannys are doomed to fail because of a defect. Slap one on, but make sure you have warranty coverage on the transmission for the long term. Unless you have a recently remanufactured one like I do, your in trouble.

 

Ditto. Not worth it. Under normal driving condition, the transmission oil should not be boiling or stay at high temperature. The tranny failed because of bad design parts, not because the oil failed !

Just my $0.02

 

Here's my philosophy on the topic. Not all tranny's will fail. If you're a long term owner, hope that you've got one of the tranny's that doesn't fail and get the most out of your car. If you've got a tranny that's not one that fails in the first 100K, a cooler will extend it's life. There is not a 100% failure rate of the transmissions.

In the summer, it gets well over 100 degrees in the summer. With the tranny cooler and synthetic ATF, my tranny fluid stays pink and shifts are more firm and consistent. It may or may not have helped the tranny to live but it sure has made the car more driveable. I'm one who appreciates when a car drives to the best of it's ability.

 

A tranny cooler will not keep a trans that is due to fail from inferior parts from kicking the bucket - it is that simple.

But, keeping your trans fluid 18 degrees cooler (in a regular, strong trans), will allow you to run 2x as much mileage as one that runs 18 degrees warmer.

I have the B&M cooler in my Camaro (been in there since 1990) and it keeps the fluid at a proper temperature even with 550hp on the juice. I'm sure it would have died at least once if there was no external cooler.

The only thing you need to make sure of is that the fittings/hoses that you use to conenct your trans cooler do not leak - low fluid will kill a trans in record time.

 

I didn't realize it was that significant. 18 degrees cooler yields 2 times life? I've always heard that heat kills a tranny but I didn't know 18 degrees would make that much of a difference.

Good info

 

Actually it was 5 failures, the first didnt have the cooler on it.

Cooling of the 3rd gear is the problem, not cooling of the fluid, you could cool the fluid to 10deg and it still wouldnt help. The part just doesnt get enough fluid to it, and IMHO the 3rd clutches are too small

 

My first trans failed at 48,000miles, with the cooler on it(+oil jet kit!). The fact is, I still left it on the reman-trans because, during the summer when you touch both hoses, you can definitely feel a difference. Honda themselves heated up the 3rd gear clutch packs to 350-400 degrees on a normal day, by just doing 2-->3 WOT upshifts, and downshifts. A trans cooler, can't hurt, IMHO, but it definitely won't save a tranny thats starting to experience the 2-->3 shimmy!

 

Oil jet is for a completely different part. Its designed to spray fluid on the 2nd gear shaft

 

I can say this--I have a cooler on the transmission, and the passive B&M ones work fairly well in keeping the temp down when the car's moving--but in traffic, it'll start to cook the oil. I installed an inline trans fluid temp gauge and a few times I've seen it spike above 220 while in traffic, and mostly in SF. A few years back I installed an active cooler inline with the passive where the resonator once lived; it has a thermo switch that kicks on a fan when the fluid hits 165. Since then, the fluid has stayed below 180 even in hot summer stop and go days.

 

Clutch packs are cooled by the fluid! Read this article:

http://www.hogantire.com/tctransfluid.htm

 

yeah, My friend john has one of those heavy duty ones, activated by an independent thermo switch. When we race during the middle of the summer, the fans are always going off like crazy! this car had basically, NO means of cooling the trans fluid! His tranny still went though. Although it took heavy shots of nitrous before kicking the bucket. '01 CLS by the way.