BIG problems after J-mod and trans cooler install.

k9t8m

k9t8m

Rollin' Twankies
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I was looking at my car yesterday and noticed that the coolant is milky pink. Then I pulled the trans dipstick and noticed it was also milky pink. I think there is a hole in the radiator trans cooler. Should i just flush the system, plug the holes, and use just the auxiliry cooler? Or should I put in a new radiator? Im afraid if I put a radiator in that this will happen again. What should I do? Thanks
 
I think you should replace the radiator with another one, and use a supplemental transmission cooler.
 
Replace the radiator and change the coolant and tranny fluid asap! My buddy had a tranny die because of coolant getting in it.

Sounds like a good time to add an auxilary cooler too.
 
I agree with everyone. Replace it all and do it right. The radiator has a leak and will keep leaking, if not into the trans, elsewhere.
 
Coolant will kill your transmission.. dont delay.. get that old fluid out of the car.
Even if you have to bypass the stock cooler via the lines.

Dont delay
 
JMiles_T said:
I think you should replace the radiator with another one, and use a supplemental transmission cooler.
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I do have a supplimental cooler. I will call tomorrow for a price on a new radiator. I just hope it doesnt do it again. Im wondering if it has something to do with the SCT and increasing the line pressure during shifts. Oh well. Ill put a radiator in and see what happens I guess. I had maybe 10 miles on the j-moded trans and trans cooler, so much for that new fluid. lol. Could be worse tho i guess.
 
k9t8m said:
I do have a supplimental cooler. I will call tomorrow for a price on a new radiator. I just hope it doesnt do it again. Im wondering if it has something to do with the SCT and increasing the line pressure during shifts. Oh well. Ill put a radiator in and see what happens I guess. I had maybe 10 miles on the j-moded trans and trans cooler, so much for that new fluid. lol. Could be worse tho i guess.
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The increased line pressure from the tune will not cause this problem. The additional pressure for the firmer shifts is contained within the transmission valvebody itself and not globally transmitted throughout the trans fluid system.
 
So the radiator problem has nothing to do with the trans cooler\j-mod\sct install? I think im going to order a radiator from rockauto since we get a discount, and they are pretty cost effective already. Let me know. Thanks!
 
Nothing to do with the install, just an unfortunate thing that happened. If you have not removed the radiator before, its EASY. Besides hoses and trans lines, its just two bolts for the retainers.

I would just not even use the internal trans cooler on the radiator. Use the new one you have on its own.
 
k9t8m said:
So the radiator problem has nothing to do with the trans cooler\j-mod\sct install? I think im going to order a radiator from rockauto since we get a discount, and they are pretty cost effective already. Let me know. Thanks!
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I didn't mention anything about the other stuff. The other items in themselves are not the culprit but the way they may have been installed could be. Not saying that you fall into this category but I have ran into many customers who have performed some questionable installs on mods for their cars. That does not seem likely here due to the proximity of where those mods were performed in reference to the radiator itself but stranger things have happened.


unity said:
I would just not even use the internal trans cooler on the radiator. Use the new one you have on its own.
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For that to be successful he would need to install a pretty sizable external trans cooler. This failure is not common so there is no real purpose in only running the trans cooling on an external if he already has to buy a new radiator that will have the new internal trans rad too.
 
ILLS said:
For that to be successful he would need to install a pretty sizable external trans cooler. This failure is not common so there is no real purpose in only running the trans cooling on an external if he already has to buy a new radiator that will have the new internal trans rad too.
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Um, the majority of users here have an external cooler that does not work in conjunction with the heat exchange inside the main radiator.

He said he already has an external, if he bought what is usually recommended here it should be up to the task. But we need to know the exact one.
 
kustomizingkid said:
Why wouldn't you want to have a stand alone trans cooler only and bypass the radiator entirely?
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Because the on inside the radiator is really a heat exchange. If your coolant is running warm it will warm up your trans. Often at sustained higher speeds the trans will cool down, but the fluid is being heated by the engine coolant.
 
unity said:
Um, the majority of users here have an external cooler that does not work in conjunction with the heat exchange inside the main radiator.

He said he already has an external, if he bought what is usually recommended here it should be up to the task. But we need to know the exact one.
Click to expand...




Just because allot of people do something does not mean it is the best way.

The way things are configured in stock form the tranny fluid will get preheated by the engine coolant when the car is first warming up. That extra heat is good (to a point) because if the fluid is too cold then it will not flow as well on cold days.

Running the stocker integrated trans cooler in conjunction with an external one is the best way to keep trans temperatures in the preferred temperature window. Warmed up but not hot. You have the integral cooler to help pre-heat the fluid on colder days and you have the external cooler added in that will ensure that the trans cooling system can maintain good op temps on those really hot race days. And in the case that your trans get really hot because you are beating the heck out of the car even the integral trans cooler will help allot to reduce trans fluid temps down to what the coolant temperature is (usually around 180 degrees depending on the thermostat) and then the extra cooler can take the temps down even further.
 
chickenviii said:
ok, ill ask, is it better to have the aux cooler before or after the heat exchanger?
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I usually put them after the rad in the fluid flow path in vehicles I race that may see higher trans fluid temps. The fluid temps will fluctuate more but they will usually stay cooler. If it is a regular street driven car then I will put the aux trans cooler before the radiator which will keep things cool when beating on the vehicle but will only bring the temps down to the coolant temperature (or real close) because the fluid will be flowing through the radiator before going back to the trans. The fluid temps will fluctuate less this way and will provide a more solid analog to look at if logging trans temps.
 
Lol... What I should ahve said was there is zero reson not to just use a stand alone cooler.

Ford has no problem doing it, considering that every single 98+ Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town car have a stand alone cooler, and shockingly they use the same tranny as Marks. With how many taxis and police cars are out there running reliably every day I think that a stand alone cooler works just dandy.
 
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