Questions and Answers

Transmission Coolers Q. I see a lot of advertisements about transmission oil coolers that they vastly extend the life of the transmission. Is that true? Do they really work? Are they worth the investment generally?

On an old car, is it likely that the existing transmission oil cooler is plugged up, and therefore installing a new transmission oil cooler does vastly improve the life of the transmission? Would you say that for most people (unless they are towing something heavy a lot), their best bet is to clean and unplug their existing transmission oil cooler? Is that something that is less expensive to do or about the same as installing a new one?

S. Chan

A. I just had a personal friend ask me this very question today. My advice to you is the same I gave to her.

A transmission cooler is always a good idea if you are towing a trailer, drive in an area with a lot of mountains or hills, heavy stop and go traffic or live in a high temperature climate. It will help the transmission run cooler and last longer. In normal, average driving situations there will be little added benefit, but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

If you have a transmission cooler but you suspect it is partially or completely clogged I wouldn't recommend messing with it. For the time and effort you're going to put into cleaning the old one, it's not worth the headache. Just put in a new one and then you don't have to worry if you did a good cleaning job.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA