MRael

Al Kwan pitches in with his write-up of a transmission cooler installation. Very nice job of text and pictures from Al. Have a look; the transmission you save might be your own!

@Tech Section


M

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Very nice! Makes me want to do mine someday.
Corey

jacksonpt

I've got one on my site as well, for those who are interested.

HBoss

Hey Jackson,

There's a link on the bottom of my instructions to your web page RE: your TRD tranny install.

butnut

Nice write up Al. You make it look easy. Is there any need or benefit for just high mile daily driving? Mostly highway. Also, what was your reason for not using the TRD cooler? Thanks.
butnut

HBoss

Hey butnut,

Thx for the kind words.

As mentioned by Gadget's mechanics before me, 9 out of 10 transmission failures are due to excessive heat. You also know that any type of transmission damage usually ends up costing a lot of pretty pennies...

With those 2 notes in mind, I'd recommend anyone with a truck or S.U.V. to install one. They are relatively cheap and can extend the life of your transmission and save you money in the long run. If your transmission runs cooler it will also perform better for you.

First off, make sure you get a tranny cooler that is rated for all seasons. There are actually some that you are supposed to disconnect in the winter, which generally cools better but is a real hassle each and every year. I chose the Motomaster one over the TRD one based on price and availability. If I could get a TRD one easily for a good price I'd certainly go with that one. Mounting it is much easier than my generic one because it's made specifically for the 4Runner.

The tranny cooler needs air movement to help in the cooling process so driving on the highway helps it cool your tranny fluid all that much more.

Your truck comes with a transmission cooler (part of your radiator) so you're not replacing it, you're merely adding another one to work in tandem and help it cool more.

Having said that, this is really a personal preference call. It's certainly not a necessity, but for the price it's a nice way to help your transmission run better and hopefully last longer.

Hope this helps,

Al

butnut

I'm all for improving and prolonging the life of any major part of my truck. I guess I'll be saving up for that next. Thanks for the great explaination Boss. BTW, your page is ultra kool. I dig the blue kolors and the mod graphics...that's boss baby!
butnut

HBoss

Thx for the compliments, but I can't take "all" the credit. I know some good web designers...

Good luck with the install, let me know if I can help.

HBoss

Thx man. After seeing Brian Mikami's dash mod article, I'm going out to buy some paint and change the bulb colors!

I've searched all around this city and can't find the rubber plugs you place on the bulbs though, does anyone know where I can find these? I talk to people at hardware and electrical stores and they give me funny looks heh.

<--- Disregard this post please --->

(I understand what went on with the blue plastic box now. Just have to find that and a way to cut out the proper size of slugs.)

HBoss

LoL...I just realized butnut = Brian Mikami

I love that dash and I must now have it too! heh. Was it only the signal bulbs that you made blue or does other stuff glow blue as well?

And what kind of paint did you use for your outer dash for silver? Spray paint, oil-based paint on, etc.

Thx man, I can't wait to do this. I think it will be next weekend.

<--- You can disregard this post too, I found the discussion about this article and got my questions answered. --->

Great job on that one, butnut. I'm off to look for Hi-Temp silver as we speak..

butnut

Hey Al. Glad you like the dash look. The trun sig arrows are the only blue light ups on my dash...besides the Indiglow faces. Impossible to do any bulb color changes with good results. Send me your addy via email or PM and I can mail you some blue slugs. I got left over material. I got inspired by Phils ISSPRO vacuum gauge. I too did not realize all the diagnostic uses for it. I found that old school racers used it to tune and dial in their cars. Kool. I found out they make a white face version with blue light up numbers...double kool. I'm gonna order one and pod mount it.

butnut

HBoss

Sweet, while I'm in Seattle to buy the grille guard I'm also going to look for a gauge pod for the A pillar. I think my only good choice is TRD for that. I'll probably buy an oil pressure gauge for it.

Sending you off an email now, thx man!