Tranny cooler

paddler54 · September 30, 2006

I have an 06 Sierra Crew, with the 325CID engine and the towing package. I normally tow a 26ft Trail-lite travel trailer (4600lbs loaded) once a month and usually under 200 miles one way. My truck does not have a tranny temp gauge. Do I need a larger transmission cooler? Add a second cooler inline with the stock one? Or is the stock tow package tranny cooler good enought? I suspect getting a tranny temp guage should be the first priority. Then at least I'd know if I have a problem or not.

Thanks,

Steve

Schmids5.3l · September 30, 2006

From what Ive read on here everyone says the tranny cooler that comes with the tow package is small and hard to find (probobly not the greatest cooler for hardcore towinf), so Im guessing you might want to get a bigger one. Im not sure, I dont tow with my truck, I tow with big rigs at work. Im sure a few guys who tow with their trucks will say if you need a bigger tranny cooler or not. Are there a lot of hills in Fla.?

dewfpo · September 30, 2006

4600 lbs on flat roads is not a tremendous load on the engine or trans, but, that being said, if it were me I'd get a large external cooler (in front of the radiator) and switch to synthetic trans fluid. A gauge is not necessary but nice to have.

DEWFPO

paddler54 · October 1, 2006

4600 lbs on flat roads is not a tremendous load on the engine or trans, but, that being said, if it were me I'd get a large external cooler (in front of the radiator) and switch to synthetic trans fluid. A gauge is not necessary but nice to have.

DEWFPO

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Thanks for the advice. I'll look into getting the tranny temp gauge and a second cooler. The synthetic trans fluid would also serve as cheap insurance!

Steve

C & A s Dad · October 2, 2006

Steve, you can search this forum on this topic and get a lot of good advice. I am not an expert but have reserched this and being in the auto parts industry for 25+ years, I feel I can offer you some solid advise.

Your truck likely has a small (5" x 11"x 3/4" thick appx) external cooler mounted right in front of the A/C cond in the grille. It is a stacked plate cooler and IMO the best designed cooler on the market. It simply is too small for any serious towing. I removed mine on my Yukon XL and replaced it with the same design stacked plate cooler but mine is 11" x 11" x 3/4" thick. There are several companies that offer this type cooler. Hayden supplies us with ours and I can give you the CARQUEST #. It is a 77423. Be sure you stay away from the tube and fin style coolers. You would need one almost twice as big to do the same job as the stacked plate cooler. Also, you can find some SP style coolers that are 1 & 1/2 " thick instead of 3/4" thick. Hayden says stay clear of these. You are looking for air to surface and the thicker design simply will not provide the heat trasfer according to Haden.

I mounted mine right back where the OE cooler came off. It took very little modification. I used a mounting kit (part # 77018) that came with some metal straps, rubber bushings, bolts etc. I also used shock mount rubber bushings to place between the cooler and the "A" bracket to keep it from being metal to metal. In my GMC, it was only a 4 min job to remove the entire grill assy making it much easier to install the cooler.

I would also suggest the synth fluid. However, your truck may already have syn fluid as factory fill. Visit Amsoi's website for some really easy instrcutions on flushing all of the old fluid out so you have all Syn in your trans. Caution, this is easy to do but tough on your wallet. It taks about 15 to 16 qts to do this properly.

If you are intereseted in a trans temp gauge. Take a look at the Interceptor byt Areoforce. It is a 2 & 1/16" gauge that will plug into your ECM diag port under your dash and will read approx 28 funtions from the ECM including Trans temp. It is much easier than tapping into a line or drilling the pan.

PM me if you need more info.

Buggle_96 · October 2, 2006

That interceptor aeroforce is pretty cool, is there any other company who makes something like that. I dont much like the round guage, would be cool to have something like an edge programmers display.

C & A s Dad · October 2, 2006

As far as I know, they are the only ones at this time. I would agree, it is not the best looking thing in the world but it is a really nice piece to have.

paddler54 · October 3, 2006

C & As Dad, Thanks that was some great information. Three follow up questions forgive my ignorance. Removing and connecting to the new cooler, do you use the same transmission lines and fittings or do you have to have an adaptor kit? The interceptor, does it come with a guage mounting bracket and the wiring harness? Where did you get your Interceptor?

Thanks again, for providing solutions with part numbers !!

Steve

OnyxMAX · October 3, 2006

i think you can also replace the cluster with one that has the tranny temp gauge. prolly some $$ though some have done it and would be better to ask them.

florida is fairly flat you prolly don't realy need to upgrade.

unless you have alot of weight in the truck you gan get 1000lbs of pasangers and gear fairly fast. i know just me and dad is 500 with no gear add in gear and moms ### (ow that hurt) were close to 800 with laptops suitcases sodas snacks ect...

so you might need to upgrade but prolly not. people towed for a long time without coolers before they became the in thing to have.

C & A s Dad · October 3, 2006

Dave, you may be right about "may not need the upgrade" but a couple of hours and about $50.00 for the cooler is good insurance.

You do not need adaptors for the lines. I simply pushed my hoses over the existing trans lines where it came into and out of the existing cooler. The line ends are slightly flared due to the quick connect and it worked great. You simply push the hose over the flare and clamp it with a stainless screw type clamp. Be sure and not to overtighten the clamps. Also, you may need to run the rtn line over and behind the cooler to keep from making too sharp of a bend in the hose. Too sharp of a bend will bind the hose and cause a restriction. Once you get in there, you will have no problems.

The Interceptor comes with the cable to connect it but no bracket. You have a couple of options. You can mount it to the A Pillar using a pod or they make a pod that simply slides over the steering column right were the flasher button is located and the gauge mounts in it. This option will block your view of your dash somewhat.

There are several vendors for the Interceptor. The cheapest I have found is a co. that is listed on their website as New Era Performance. At one time they were 209.00 with free shipping.