Has anyone added a true transmission cooler?

[Dwgray]

Howdy. Has anyone tried the installation of a true transmission cooler on their 2019-2023 Ranger?

 

[franklin2]

Versus a fake one? Educate me on this please.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I'm pretty sure the cooling design is good enough. But if you decide to go with a seperate system put in a temp gauge. Having trans fluid too cold isn't good either.

 

[Dwgray]

Thank you

 

[Dwgray]

My stock 2022 Ranger has a heat exchanger versus a separate dedicated external cooler. We live in Phoenix. Whether stop or go traffic or freeway traffic, when it's consistently above 110 everything runs hot. The old adage for transmission fluid is longer life for your transmission with cooler transmission fluid.

 

[Blmpkn]

My stock 2022 Ranger has a heat exchanger versus a separate dedicated external cooler. We live in Phoenix. Whether stop or go traffic or freeway traffic, when it's consistently above 110 everything runs hot. The old adage for transmission fluid is longer life for your transmission with cooler transmission fluid.

The new fluid that's put in stuff nowadays is MUCH better than the old swill.. and is perfectly happy living it's life at temps that would of previously been considered too hot. Too cool is nearly as bad as too hot too..

 

[Dwgray]

Thank you. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[franklin2]

My stock 2022 Ranger has a heat exchanger versus a separate dedicated external cooler. We live in Phoenix. Whether stop or go traffic or freeway traffic, when it's consistently above 110 everything runs hot. The old adage for transmission fluid is longer life for your transmission with cooler transmission fluid.

All vehicles have been that way since automatics came out. You can add a aux cooler but it's always recommended by the aux cooler manufacturers to hook the added cooler in series with the factory heat exchanger.

 

[sgtsandman]

To make sure what franklin says it Chrystal clear, the auxiliary cooler gets installed before the factory cooler. That way, if the auxiliary cooler cools the fluid too much, the factory system will heat it back up.

From my research, as long as the transmission coolant is kept below 300 degrees, all should be good. I can keep an eye on that through my ScanGauge II since the sensors already in the OBD II system to read from. So, far mine has been good, even while towing. Granted, the trailer I pull is no where near the maximum rating of the truck but it is an added stress.

I replaced the factory transmission pan with a PPE aluminum pan with a drain plug recently. So I'm anticipating that the fluid temperature may drop some due to better heat transfer compared to the plastic factory pan.

 

[Dwgray]

Thank you. Much appreciated.

 

[Dwgray]

To make sure what franklin says it Chrystal clear, the auxiliary cooler gets installed before the factory cooler. That way, if the auxiliary cooler cools the fluid too much, the factory system will heat it back up.

From my research, as long as the transmission coolant is kept below 300 degrees, all should be good. I can keep an eye on that through my ScanGauge II since the sensors already in the OBD II system to read from. So, far mine has been good, even while towing. Granted, the trailer I pull is no where near the maximum rating of the truck but it is an added stress.

I replaced the factory transmission pan with a PPE aluminum pan with a drain plug recently. So I'm anticipating that the fluid temperature may drop some due to better heat transfer compared to the plastic factory pan.

I like the PPE pan option and plan to install it. Thank you for the feedback.

 

[00t444e]

To make sure what franklin says it Chrystal clear, the auxiliary cooler gets installed before the factory cooler. That way, if the auxiliary cooler cools the fluid too much, the factory system will heat it back up.

From my research, as long as the transmission coolant is kept below 300 degrees, all should be good. I can keep an eye on that through my ScanGauge II since the sensors already in the OBD II system to read from. So, far mine has been good, even while towing. Granted, the trailer I pull is no where near the maximum rating of the truck but it is an added stress.

I replaced the factory transmission pan with a PPE aluminum pan with a drain plug recently. So I'm anticipating that the fluid temperature may drop some due to better heat transfer compared to the plastic factory pan.

No, that's not how it should be. It should go from the transmission, to the radiator cooler then to the axillary cooler. That is how they are from the factory if they come with one and that is how an aftermarket one should be hooked up. Transmission fluid should be kept below 250 degress, I don't like to see anything above 230, 300 is cooking it.

 

[sgtsandman]

No, that's not how it should be. It should go from the transmission, to the radiator cooler then to the axillary cooler. That is how they are from the factory if they come with one and that is how an aftermarket one should be hooked up. Transmission fluid should be kept below 250 degress, I don't like to see anything above 230, 300 is cooking it.

I got the temperature incorrect for proper operating temperature. So thank you for the correction there. I remembered 300 being a bad number but that was about it without re-researching the subject.

As far as the auxiliary cooler, if it has OEM equipment from the factory, it is indeed setup correctly for that vehicle.

Older vehicles that don’t use transmission temperatures as part of the equation on how the engine operates don’t care if the transmission is over cooled.

For vehicles that do monitor the transmission temperature and do not come with an auxiliary cooler, running the auxiliary cooler after the cooler in the radiator can cause problems. Transmission fluid that is too cool will force the engine into warm up mode or keep it there, throwing off fuel trims, emissions, and can cause the engine to run poorly. It was a thing we saw a lot in the HondaSUV forum and that I read about other places with other vehicles. Running the auxiliary cooler before the radiator cooler prevents that.

Of course, if the auxiliary cooler is too big, no matter how you route it, there is going to be problems on vehicles that measure transmission temperature for it operating parameters.

Of course, the best way to make sure the transmission isn’t over cooled is to install a thermostat.

 

[sgtsandman]

I like the PPE pan option and plan to install it. Thank you for the feedback.

So far it looks like the pan drops the temperature about 10 degrees when driving 45 mph or faster. Below that the air flow is slow enough that the difference is negligible to nothing. That being said, I never went over 200.

The transmission pretty much stayed at about 197 without a load before the swap and about 187 after the swap but that 187 was only above 45 mph.

As far as the existing cooler from the factory, it seems to be doing it’s job. I don’t remember breaking 210 with the old pan and towing a trailer weighing about 1500 pounds loaded.

If you plan to tow near the limit. A bigger cooler might be needed.

 

[00t444e]

For vehicles that do monitor the transmission temperature and do not come with an auxiliary cooler, running the auxiliary cooler after the cooler in the radiator can cause problems. Transmission fluid that is too cool will force the engine into warm up mode or keep it there, throwing off fuel trims, emissions, and can cause the engine to run poorly. It was a thing we saw a lot in the HondaSUV forum and that I read about other places with other vehicles. Running the auxiliary cooler before the radiator cooler prevents that.

I have installed dozens of aftermarket coolers and have never had that problem on any vehicle, plumbing it in after the radiator is how I have seen all the factory coolers done and it is also how all the aftermarket cooler companys reccomend you install it.