Safari transmission cooler

Post by **Mark** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:06 am

Hi fellas. I'm after some advice from you fellow Safari/Patrol owners regarding the transmission cooler on my 94 LWB Safari Kingsroad.

I am planning to tow my 8m, ~2.5 ton boat up to Tauranga from Wellington (through Napier for xmas) this weekend and have suddenly become a bit nervous about whether or not the Saf will survive a ~600km haul with the standard transmission cooler.

What is everyones view on how desperately I should look at getting an aftermarket cooler installed? What is the track record of the factory system like? And if I was to do so, should I plumb it up to the existing system (ie, leave it going through the radiator as well) or re-route it entirely through the new cooler?

Any idea what it would cost to get someone to do it? My chances of finding someone at such short notice (we leave on Sat) are slim, so if I was to do it myself where would I be best to buy a cooler from... and what size?

Thanks in advance. Mark

doddzee · Post by **doddzee** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:16 am

Sorry unsure of your factory cooler will do the job but There was a thread on outerlimits last week (would post link but OL seems to be down) where someone had just upgraded his factory one and experenced alot cooler tranny temps. He bypassed the radiator and plumbed up a new one but alot of people replyed saying bypassing the radiator was a bad idea.

Will post link when OL is working again.

GQTROL · Post by **GQTROL** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:41 pm

Not such a good idea to bypass the original tranny cooler. Just fit another cooler in conjunction with the existing one. After a while the original cooler tends to clog up with stripped linings from the torque converter and not work as effectively.

Cheers
Mitch

Post by **Mark** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 1:40 pm

He bypassed the radiator and plumbed up a new one but alot of people replyed saying bypassing the radiator was a bad idea.

Not such a good idea to bypass the original tranny cooler

Now that's interesting... I have seen a lot of posts for bypassing and about an equal amount against. Even when I did a ring around some parts people, some people said you should bypass, and some said that you shouldn't.

I think I'll plumb it up through both and that way if the smaller cooler in front of the radiator gets clogged up with mud at least the other one will still work. And because I don't have any heating problems with the engine I don't need to do it to reduce the heat of the radiator... the extra one will just help keep things cooler.

If you hadn't already gathered, since posting I have decided to do it anyway just as a bit of extra insurance. $200 to buy a cooler vs $3-4k to rebuild an auto...

I have found that the best size (that will fit) will be about 255x280x19. That's deemed to be "quite a large" one and the price ranged from $195 - $248.