Is This A Good Idea

[c3po]

I have a Be Cool Radiator with the internal trans cooler in the radiator, the radiator is about 10 years old and has a slight leak at the top of the radiator where the cooling tubes and tank meet. A new 1 is $650.00, expensive, I know they do not make there own radiators. I wanted to either get the Be Cool universal radiator for $200.00 with no internal trans cooler or the Summit 1 for $180.00 and it has no internal trans cooler. I can get a B&M external trans cooler for $50.00. My transmission now which is a Turbo 350 has a Derale trans pan with cooling tubes, it has been Auto-Rxed and is using Amsoil ATF, when I take a reading of my torque converter with the infrared gun it reads about 160 degrees on a cool night and about 170-175 degrees on a hot day, the pan reads about 100 degrees but this is where the cooling tubes are, a little bit up on the pan and it is about 155 degrees. I think my Be Cool radiator must have an excellent built in trans cooler but cost wise I think it would be better running just an external trans cooler, it would be less stress on the radiator and the B&M unit has a bypass that when the transmission fluid is cold the fluid bypasses the cooler. So my way would be about $250.00, another BeCool radiator would be $650.00 with the built in trans cooler. So what does everyone think.

 

[Chris142]

Why don't you take the leaky rad to a shop and see if they can fix it?

 

[sciphi]

I have a B&M viscosity-controlled cooler, model 70264. The viscosity control could be better, such that on a 10 minute trip the ATF temperature rarely gets above 130. This is about 20* cooler than the stock cooler temperature after the same trip, IIRC.

Works fantastically on the highway, though. Never gets above 170. And my car sees a lot of highway.

This is with the cooler hooked into the return line on a GM 4T65E transmission with new Dex-III equivalent and 47k miles.

 

[c3po]

I took the radiator to a shop and they said no to fixing it, Be Cool wants about $150.00 to fix it. Sciphi where do you take your trans temp from, is it the pan. My trans pan because of the cooling tubes is at about 100 degrees. I took a temp with the infrared gun at the cooler lines and it was about 100 degrees, the torque converter temp was at 165 degrees, guess the torque converter is the hottest part of the transmission. I am running a 195 degree thermostat so it is not like I am running this car cool. Right now I am in the rinse phase of Auto-Rx.