My late Dad used 4 door sedans with smaller V-8 engines , to pull their Airstream . Years ago , he and Mom came back from a fishing trip . It was hot summer . ( late 70's Ford LTD )
On the way to the lake , they were traveling in hilly country with the wind to their back . They blew the front / torque converter seal . Limped into the nearest town and had the seal replaced .
Dad asked the mechanic how to avoid that happening again . Dad was told to put an external transmission coil / fin cooler in front of the radiator .
They made it to the lake and back home w/o incident . Dad had learned to be mindful of the conditions that had caused the seal to blow .
Soon after they returned home , they came to our house . Dad asked if I would help him install an external cooler . I told him sure , be glad to . I asked if he had any idea where would be the best store to purchase on from . He did not know and I had no idea , either .
We called a local , near by , Checker auto parts store ( long since closed ) which I had purchased odds and ends , from . Yes , they stocked them . Away we went to go shopping . They had several . I asked Dad which one he thought would be appropriate . He said he did not know , so thought to get the largest .
The LTD had the conventional cooler in the radiator tank with 2 ATF lines attached . We asked if it made any difference which of those 2 lines to hook the external cooler to . We were told to hook it to the line coming from the transmission ( the hotter of the 2 ) , not the line returning ATF from the radiator cooler to the transmission ( the cooler of the 2 ) .
The guy at the parts store told us , in the winter , the ATF passing through the radiator ( after it had passed through the external cooler ) would warm the ATF up to " normal operating temperature " due to the heat from the antifreeze / engine coolant . And the transmission would be " happier " with ATF at that temperature .
Does anyone know if that is correct , or just an old wives tale ?
Dad and I installed an external transmission cooler , on the next car they purchased , also . A 1991 Chevy Caprice 5.0l 4 door sedan .
Never had any more transmission problems .
Thanks ,
Wyr
On the way to the lake , they were traveling in hilly country with the wind to their back . They blew the front / torque converter seal . Limped into the nearest town and had the seal replaced .
Dad asked the mechanic how to avoid that happening again . Dad was told to put an external transmission coil / fin cooler in front of the radiator .
They made it to the lake and back home w/o incident . Dad had learned to be mindful of the conditions that had caused the seal to blow .
Soon after they returned home , they came to our house . Dad asked if I would help him install an external cooler . I told him sure , be glad to . I asked if he had any idea where would be the best store to purchase on from . He did not know and I had no idea , either .
We called a local , near by , Checker auto parts store ( long since closed ) which I had purchased odds and ends , from . Yes , they stocked them . Away we went to go shopping . They had several . I asked Dad which one he thought would be appropriate . He said he did not know , so thought to get the largest .
The LTD had the conventional cooler in the radiator tank with 2 ATF lines attached . We asked if it made any difference which of those 2 lines to hook the external cooler to . We were told to hook it to the line coming from the transmission ( the hotter of the 2 ) , not the line returning ATF from the radiator cooler to the transmission ( the cooler of the 2 ) .
The guy at the parts store told us , in the winter , the ATF passing through the radiator ( after it had passed through the external cooler ) would warm the ATF up to " normal operating temperature " due to the heat from the antifreeze / engine coolant . And the transmission would be " happier " with ATF at that temperature .
Does anyone know if that is correct , or just an old wives tale ?
Dad and I installed an external transmission cooler , on the next car they purchased , also . A 1991 Chevy Caprice 5.0l 4 door sedan .
Never had any more transmission problems .
Thanks ,
Wyr