Hey z34... I hope I'm not insulting your intelligence here, because I believe you know as much about these cars as the GM engineers who built them... but did you install the transmission cooler "right side up?" I can't remember exactly how it's supposed to go, but it's like, side to side, lines beside each other (horizontal to the ground), or up and down (lines on top of each other)? I know I heard one time it was supposed to be one way and not the other to get the most use out of it.

 

so i was just looking through autozone, and they have a radiator for like 140.00....i have replaced radiators in previous cars. Is this one any harder than your average car?i already have the new mounts, and i'll be doing those this next week. but then i will take on the radiator if its no harder than a average car. then after that i'll re think the idea of the transmission cooler.

 

I'd hate to install a new radiator in the winter. I've had issues with cheap replacement radiators in other vehicles. I always ended up replacing them in summer and they would overheat though. Soemtimes, they would drive around all night and be fine, but then in the heat of the day, they would over heat over about 50 mph.


I don't know where you live, but if you live somewhere where it is 20 degrees right now and then ti could be 100 degrees in the summer, I'd hate to get a good winter radiator that is bad when teh summer comes around and depending on how long the warranty is (should be pretty long for a radiator though), its suddenly no good. Then it's hard to return and get your money back.

Fortunately, i was working on a pair of '74 F-100s that had a dozen radiator options and we were able to move from a 302 radiator to a 351 m radiator, find some universal flex hose, and make it work, and those vehicles run great now. Hopefully, you have better luck than I did.

 

i live in south florida...so 20 degree weather isn't a problem...... i have no idea what kind of radiator problems you guys must have with the different weather.....but autozone apparently only caries one kind, so thats what i would be buying.

 

Okay I have to ask, what's with the face mask?? Are you chewing Skoal?? Come on you can open up to us......Were family you know

Also I would not run just a stand alone external Tranny cooler, your smart replacing the radiator and running the tranny lines through it as well. I would still get an external cooler, especially living in Florida with all it's hot days. And go Dexron VI fluid and change your tranny filter if that has not been done in the last 40,000 miles.

 

ha, that facemask...it just a picture i took a good 6 years ago or so. It was for a bone thugs n harmony (that's what the writing on the mask says) website. So i just transferred it over to here when i joined. on forums i usually use that or a picture of the predator.......

so i can run a cooler along side the cooler in the radiator?

 

Hey cool, least now we know why the masked picture of you, thought we might have had an inside track for some discounts on Skoal. Darn.......

Yes you can run an external tranny cooler in addition to the radiators internal tranny cooler. I have both mine mounted in front of the radiator in the air flow. Just plumb it right.

Got this info from TIMSKELTON.COM : transmission coolers:

A deep pan will only delay the time it takes for the fluid to get hot--they will not change the transmission temperature equilibrium point. A transmission cooler will actually lower the equilibrium temperature.
A transmission cooler may not be needed, but it sure can't hurt. I have never seem more than about 150-160° (measured in the pan). Several experienced road racers have, however, maintained that an extra transmission cooler is required to handle the heat of open-track racing. In addition to open track events, I plan to run open-road events in Nevada this year, so the tranny needs to be able to take sustained high-speed driving in desert heat.

Note that tranny fluid, like engine oil, can be overcooled -- if the fluid is too cool, it does not properly lubricate the engine. To prevent this from happening, any additional coolers should be installed before the radiator cooler. One of the reasons that OEMs integrate tranny coolers into the radiator is to allow the water to warm up the tranny fluid, bringing it to normal operating temps quicker.