Trans oil cooler for a Prado?

[GreyGhost]

I've stripped, cleaned and refilled my viscous fan clutch, and sorted out my water temperature gauge (bought a VDO unit, threw the dodgy clock away and put the gauge into the clocks space).
It looks quite neat sitting there.
Now I'm looking at a trans oil cooler too.
May get a wee caravan soon as the missus wants to travel.
I'm just getting the Prado all prepped up so when we hit the road there will be no cooling issues, or other drama.
I'm thinking about this one...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =972556210

Anyone have any experience with them?
Should do the job?
I like the size of it because it can sit directly across the chassis rails in front of the radiator. Very easy to mount, and sitting nicely in the flow of cooling air.
I don't like the other style of cooler such as ...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 094677.htm

Just my personal preference.
For a 4x4 that will get off road use I think the first model I linked to will be a bit more robust.
Thanks for your thoughts.

[tweake]

the one you like will be useless. they are really made for when you can't fit a standard one. if i remember right they are usually fitted on the main chassis so air flows down the length of them.
the other style is much better. mount it with outlet at the top and get the biggest that will fit.

[TJ]

The ones you don't like generally have more cooling surface area, which is more efficient for a heat exchanger.

[kbushnz]

I used this style in my Prado.... Had no issues with it... Mounted it in front of the Air cond evaporator core..... I also plumbed it in so it cooled the oil first then back thru the radiator cooler unit ....I have my own personal theories on this but there is lots of theories out there re this....So I wont go into it....on this thread....
http://www.staparts.co.nz/View-A-Produc ... %2034%2011

[GreyGhost]

Thanks guys.
Much appreciated.
I'll go with the Derale unit that Calvin linked to.
This is a great forum for good advice.

[tweake]

if you go Derale unit make sure you get one that has a big distance between inlet and outlet. ie not a long skinny one with in/out next to each other.
the advantage of the Derale one, due to being a single tube, is low chance of air being trapped regardless of which way you mount it.
however they are not very efficient compared to the radiator style coolers.
down side to radiator style is need to mount outlet at the top so air doesn't get trapped in it.

[GreyGhost]

Thanks tweake, good point.
I've had a look on Trade Me and seems to be a fair amount of 'no name' China made stuff.
Only difference seems to be the colour of the paint used.
To get a more radiator style what could be recommended from the Trade Me listings?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 744512.htm

Is this OK, or too big for my needs. Do I go for the 4 cylinder model instead?
Or, should I be shopping somewhere else?

[BlakeNZ]

as big as you can fit. your trans will appreciate it , once you start towing.

[tweake]

i don't know what you can fit.
as mentioned, fit the biggest you can.
i would go for a thinner but big. keep away from the thick coolers. thicker they are the faster you need to be to get good airflow through them.
so big frontal aera but as thin as possible to allow good airflow through it.
also try to mount it as high as possible. thats not always practicable, but try to keep the bottom of the radiator clear so it gets undisturbed airflow.
that way the oil cooler won't impact radiator temps much.

[TJ]

Last one I used was a B&M stacked plate design from:

http://m.summitracing.com/search/produc ... il-coolers

Pick the size that suits available space. It had a built in bypass for fluid to go through when it was still cold. That way warm up time was not impacted.