Hot Running Trans Temp - Ideas?
I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado 2500hd, 6.0l gas and the 4l80e trans. For the last 15 or so years it's had a 16 pass stacked plate trans cooler with a fan on it to keep the temps in check. about 1...
Forum Discussion
Campfire Time wrote:
The common denominator is the radiator swap. When all is said and done air flow is extremely important. I'm thinking the fins are tighter together and not allowing as much air flow.
I was thinking close to the same thing, except I was suspect of the in-tank cooler. There's a big difference in some aftermarket radiators. OEM heavy-duty grade coolers are stacked-plate style.
Light-duty grade in tank-coolers are a tank-style cooler:
The lowest-cost in-tank cooler is just a loop of copper tubing. But, assuming the triple pass radiator is from a reputable vendor, they probably still use the stacked-plate cooler (I always checked before installing any aftermarket radiator).
The triple-pass dessert radiators are not 3 rows, but have 3 coolant paths. This is good for coolant temps, but cuts the area of cool-coolant by 1/3rd, so only the section of trans oil in the "last-pass" is getting cooled effectively. Also, this setup won't work hardly at all if the in & out lines are swapped. The out-line has to be on the 3rd pass side of the cooler.
IMO - This style radiator should only be used with a transmission cooler large enough to effectively cool on its own. Something like the Tru-Cool max.
