auto transmission cooler - too cool?
#1
JK Junkie
Thread Starter
auto transmission cooler - too cool?
I am considering an auxiliary cooler for my automatic transmission. I have seen the write ups and read as many of the threads as I could find and I am convinced that heat is the enemy of these trannies. My question is will it be too cool in the New England winters.
Background: this is my first automatic so I am pretty ignorant about them. 2-door, stock '08 Rubicon, light wheeling for now because it is my DD for another year or two. I do not tow. I plan to keep it for a long long time (I hope) and plan to mod and wheel it harder, so I want it to age gracefully....
I am going on a long road trip later this summer to Montana/Idaho so I'll be racking up some serious highway miles getting there and back not to mention the mountains out there. A transmission cooler is probably a good idea but...
What about winters back home? Can the tranny be too cool? I read about problems where the fluid won't flow so the tranny actually overheats. Should I worry about that? This is NE, not Alaska, so I won't see more than a few sub-zero 'F days.
Any advice or opinions? Thanks!
Background: this is my first automatic so I am pretty ignorant about them. 2-door, stock '08 Rubicon, light wheeling for now because it is my DD for another year or two. I do not tow. I plan to keep it for a long long time (I hope) and plan to mod and wheel it harder, so I want it to age gracefully....
I am going on a long road trip later this summer to Montana/Idaho so I'll be racking up some serious highway miles getting there and back not to mention the mountains out there. A transmission cooler is probably a good idea but...
What about winters back home? Can the tranny be too cool? I read about problems where the fluid won't flow so the tranny actually overheats. Should I worry about that? This is NE, not Alaska, so I won't see more than a few sub-zero 'F days.
Any advice or opinions? Thanks!
#2
The tranny fluid will flow at 15 degrees F. I know this because I was stupid enough to change the filter on such a day last winter.
I had a tranny cooler in all last winter with no problem. However, I don't use the cooler fan during the winter.
It was stated in another post that the tranny needs to hit about 82 degrees F for the TC to lock up. So that should be your biggest concern. I can tell you that I had no problem with this all last winter.
I had a tranny cooler in all last winter with no problem. However, I don't use the cooler fan during the winter.
It was stated in another post that the tranny needs to hit about 82 degrees F for the TC to lock up. So that should be your biggest concern. I can tell you that I had no problem with this all last winter.
#3
JK Enthusiast
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 199
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Since the torque converter won't lock up until 82 degrees the slippage of the converter will put heat into the fluid pretty quickly.
Heck if you've got a gauge monitoring the transmission and it doesn't get up to around 100* or so then you can always cover the add-on cooler to keep the heat in it or cover the factory cooler during the coldest of winter months - doesn't need to be fancy - a simple piece of cardboard will work - and if it's that cold the blocked airflow through the radiator won't make a darn bit of difference to engine cooling either.
Heck if you've got a gauge monitoring the transmission and it doesn't get up to around 100* or so then you can always cover the add-on cooler to keep the heat in it or cover the factory cooler during the coldest of winter months - doesn't need to be fancy - a simple piece of cardboard will work - and if it's that cold the blocked airflow through the radiator won't make a darn bit of difference to engine cooling either.
#4
I am considering an auxiliary cooler for my automatic transmission. I have seen the write ups and read as many of the threads as I could find and I am convinced that heat is the enemy of these trannies. My question is will it be too cool in the New England winters.
Background: this is my first automatic so I am pretty ignorant about them. 2-door, stock '08 Rubicon, light wheeling for now because it is my DD for another year or two. I do not tow. I plan to keep it for a long long time (I hope) and plan to mod and wheel it harder, so I want it to age gracefully....
I am going on a long road trip later this summer to Montana/Idaho so I'll be racking up some serious highway miles getting there and back not to mention the mountains out there. A transmission cooler is probably a good idea but...
What about winters back home? Can the tranny be too cool? I read about problems where the fluid won't flow so the tranny actually overheats. Should I worry about that? This is NE, not Alaska, so I won't see more than a few sub-zero 'F days.
Any advice or opinions? Thanks!
Background: this is my first automatic so I am pretty ignorant about them. 2-door, stock '08 Rubicon, light wheeling for now because it is my DD for another year or two. I do not tow. I plan to keep it for a long long time (I hope) and plan to mod and wheel it harder, so I want it to age gracefully....
I am going on a long road trip later this summer to Montana/Idaho so I'll be racking up some serious highway miles getting there and back not to mention the mountains out there. A transmission cooler is probably a good idea but...
What about winters back home? Can the tranny be too cool? I read about problems where the fluid won't flow so the tranny actually overheats. Should I worry about that? This is NE, not Alaska, so I won't see more than a few sub-zero 'F days.
Any advice or opinions? Thanks!
#5
JK Junkie
#6
JK Freak
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hangin in the sunshine state....staging forum..
Posts: 943
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/transmission-cooler-37839/
now send me a dollar
I put in the 70264, its a little bigger then the 70268, I think it was 2000 more btu or there abouts. My temps run anywhere from the 130's to 185 at most now, lower since I put new bumper on and have the winch mounted down in it instead of riding on top of bumper blocking airflow. Also I have the aeroforce gauge which gives digital read out of the temps I'm down in GA and had the a/c on for first time in long time and I was running 135, its 95 and humid as hell haha.....btw the trans temp gets up there pretty quick, I was running 208+ before I put the cooler on
now send me a dollar
I put in the 70264, its a little bigger then the 70268, I think it was 2000 more btu or there abouts. My temps run anywhere from the 130's to 185 at most now, lower since I put new bumper on and have the winch mounted down in it instead of riding on top of bumper blocking airflow. Also I have the aeroforce gauge which gives digital read out of the temps I'm down in GA and had the a/c on for first time in long time and I was running 135, its 95 and humid as hell haha.....btw the trans temp gets up there pretty quick, I was running 208+ before I put the cooler on