What is a transmission cooler?

A transmission cooler is present in front of your radiator or air conditioner in the shape of a square. This thin component has only one function in its life- too keep the hot heads cool. By hot heads, I mean the radiator and air conditioner. Basically over heating can cause the life span of these electronic to decrease to less than half.  If you find your radiator or air conditioner overheating more than it should, then maybe it is time that you should add an external transmission cooler or invest in some transmission oil.

Why should you have a transmission cooler?

Transmission coolers are not for every car model. Here are some factors to consider getting a transmission cooler for your vehicle-

  • If you tow heavy objects
  • If you live in a really hot climate
  • If your cars facesrecurring problems of overheating

Different types transmission cooler

There are many different types of coolers from different manufactures, but there are fundamentally 3 basic designs. The most common material used to make transmission coolers is aluminum. Aluminum has good conductivity. (Nerd talk- conductivity is the property of a material on how efficiently they can conduct heat). Some transmission coolers have built in fans for a more efficient cooling.

  1. Tube Fin Coolers-

in the tube fin coolers, you can see a tube winding in and out of the turbulators. Liquid flows through the tube and absorbs heat. Even this is a less expensive version, it has a lesser efficiency.

  1. Plate Fin Coolers-

They have a distinguished parallel plate and even look like a mini radiator. It has a larger surface area of contact to absorb heat. It is smaller in size and rather durable and a larger amount of fluid can be cooled using this cooler, thus making it a more efficient transmission cooler.

  1. Stacked Plate Cooler-

This is the most popular out of the three different types of coolers. They may look like the plate and fin cooler, but the larger turbulators present gives higher airflow. Stacked plate coolers have an easy installation and removal procedure. The one downside of these coolers is that they are rather expensive.

Fluid temperature

So like stated earlier, transmission fluid has only one job and that is to keep things cool. To do their jobs, your cooler should be able to keep the fluid cool efficiently. If the fluid starts reaching a certain temperature, then all the components internal, stop working efficiently and your vehicle stops to carry out its function. You should help to keep the transmission fluid cooler. Over the course of time and usage, transmission fluid starts breaking down and may risk getting burnt. You might need to check the fluid regularly so that efficiency of the cooler is not compromised.

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