95 SL Auto Transmission Shifting Delay

**stealthee** · 05-02-2015, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by Forest Gump

It probably wouldn't hurt to bypass the radiator cooler and go with a large aftermarket one.

Agree here. While not a 3S I saw fluid temps drop drastically on my Grand Prix when I installed a Hayden 1403 cooler. The cooler is actually ran in series with the factory cooler too, so if I ran it stand alone I could see even lower temps. It is pretty big, but not even close to the largest they offer. I was barely able to make it work without cutting or modifying anything.

My temps before the cooler would sometimes approach 230* on hot days on certain roads. It hardly ever goes above 200* anymore.

**89HatchbackLxi** · 05-04-2015, 05:24 PM

Thank you for the suggestions. However my car has never had any issues with overheating, and the engine temp gauge never has gone past the halfway mark. While it may be a good upgrade overall, I don't think replacing my radiator is going to affect anything in this case. What are you using to accurately measure the heat?

**Chris@Rvengeperformance** · 05-04-2015, 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by 89HatchbackLxi

Thank you for the suggestions. However my car has never had any issues with overheating, and the engine temp gauge never has gone past the halfway mark. While it may be a good upgrade overall, I don't think replacing my radiator is going to affect anything in this case. What are you using to accurately measure the heat?

I was saying put a bigger transmission cooler on it. There could be a restriction in your old one and its not really big enough anyway.

**stealthee** · 05-04-2015, 05:53 PM

Yeah, we aren't talking about replacing the radiator, we are talking about replacing the transmission cooler and running it separate from radiator.

**IPD** · 05-05-2015, 12:41 AM

Your engine temperature gauge has zero bearing on the transmission temperature. Even if it did, the stock gauges are hardly analytical enough to accurately gauge what the exact temperature range it is operating within.

Regardless of apparent transmission issues or not, choosing to run a separate trans-cooler and--if possible--an inline filter, is always a good idea. The stock filtration on the trans is internal, so it's difficult to change & not easily checked for debris.

One of these:

and something like one of these, depending on if you plan to run FMIC or SMIC (but for N/A's, you can probably just treat it like you're running FMIC, because you have plenty of open space on the sides).

Universal Aluminum Remote Transmission Oil Cooler 15 1 2" x 10" x 3 4" | eBay

New Aluminum External Transmission Fluid Oil Cooler with 10" Electric Fan Towing | eBay

p.s.
I didn't check sizes on this, these are just sample auctions. FYI, I got two of the "with fan" types for my build, one on each side, one for oil, one for transmission. However, my existing build has the other type of cooler, and it's simply bolted in front of the existing radiator.

**stealthee** · 05-05-2015, 10:54 AM

This is the one I am running on my Grand Prix

http://www.amazon.com/HAYDEN-TRANSAV.../dp/B009TABMMW

No fan needed, and as I said it is still in series with the factory cooler so it is still getting some heat from the radiator in the colder months. Even in the hotter months my trans temp doesn't exceed 200*, and hardly ever goes above 190*. If I ran it standalone the trans temps would probably be in the 160's which is actually a little too cool.

**89HatchbackLxi** · 05-05-2015, 09:41 PM

Oh ok, that makes sense... However, my car knowledge/skills all relate to autobody, and i cant really do anything other than the very basics when it comes to doing anything under the hood. How much do you think it would cost to have my transmission cooler replaced with an aftermarket cooler at my usual repair shop? Would it be bolted on in addition to the stock cooler? Or replace the stock one entirely?

**stealthee** · 05-06-2015, 12:47 AM

You can do a trans cooler install with a few basic hand tools. If you can do auto body, then you can do a cooler install.

The factory cooler in integrated into the radiator. Dependent on what type of climate you live in you can either run the cooler in series with the factory cooler, or you can run it standalone, completely taking the cooler in the radiator out of the equation.

Its been a long time since I looked under the hood of a auto 3s so I can't remember how the lines are routed and if they are just soft lines or have a hard line as part of it. That right there will determine the difficulty of the install. If it is soft lines you can just run all new soft lines to the new cooler from the trans and use good clamps.

**IPD** · 05-06-2015, 01:17 PM

mine has all soft lines, iirc. and up until the engine swap, the filter was immediately accessible after opening the hood. couldn't have been any easier to work on.

**stealthee** · 05-06-2015, 01:38 PM

Okay, I thought it was all soft lines. On my Grand Prix it was a little harder because it is a fitting with hardline coming out of the trans, then it goes to soft line, then back to hardline with a fitting to screw into the radiator. I had to cut the factory line at the soft part and using double barbs hooked to it and ran it to the aftermarket cooler that I was attaching to the front of the ac condenser.

With all soft lines the options are much easier. If you want to run it standalone you just need to get enough hose to run from the trans to the cooler, and from the cooler back to the trans. If you want to run it in series you just need to get a section of hose that is long enough to run from the cooler back to the trans since you would use the factory line from the trans to the radiator. Then the factory line coming out can be run to the external cooler. Then the new piece would run from the external cooler back to the trans.