Club Cobra - Transmission cooler for street use?

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Transmission cooler for street use?

My 533 BB gets plenty of normal street use. I'm was wondering whether transmission coolor actually serves any valuable purpose in a street-only, never raced, never tracked cobra. My transmission is a built-up C6 behind a 533 BB Ford with dyno'd 640HP/Torque. I drive the car in a normal street manner with the occasional spirited acceleration and cornering. The cooler does sit in front of the bottom of the radiator, so perhaps it even compromises the engine cooling capacity - which is stretched to the max with the large engine in a small compartment on hot summer days here in California's Centra Valley. With the uses I put the car to, do I have it there for valuable function or just "cuz" that's what cobras have. I'm tempted to search for some plugs for the tranny casing and just yank the cooler altogether.

Thanks!

Dirk

In an automatic transmission you absolutely have to have a cooler....normally they are built into the radiator and as such are coolant cooled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHANMADD (Post 1168303)

In an automatic transmission you absolutely have to have a cooler....normally they are built into the radiator and as such are coolant cooled.

Interesting, I thought a trans cooler for the street would be overkill. Never thought about an auto though.

Dirk,

x2 on the "all auto transmissions have a cooler" at least in the radiator tank.

One pretty sure way to tell whether you need a cooler would be to check the trans temp.

The temp sender needs to be in the pan. In my C-6 it is located horizontally at the rear of the cast aluminum pan just below the modulator. Don't put it in the bottom of the pan unless you want it to get sheared off :o

On the street the temp in my automatic rarely goes above 180 even after a combo of freeway and traffic driving. On the track it sometimes gets to 280 depending on the track and how aggressively the car is being driven. No problems yet...

The operating temperature of an automatic is dependent on a number of factors besides usage. In no particular order they include the size, type and stall speed of the converter, any restrictions in oil flow inside the trans, inside the converter and/or externally, the type of fluid in the trans, the shift timing in the valve body and the type of friction material in the bands and clutches. I may have omitted something but you get the idea :LOL:

Check your temp. Then loop the external cooler hose so it bypasses the cooler, and you may get an idea about whether you need a cooler at all.

Oh, and do this on a really warm day....

Tom

I've run TH400 transmissions for years and have always thought that the trannies last much better if they are well cooled. In addition to a large (12"x16") finned radiator-type cooler, I also run a Derale tranny pan that has cooling tubes incorporated in the bottom of the pan that drops the temps an additional 10*-15* (advertised) I've never heard that over-cooling an automatic is a bad thing. May be wrong, again, just have never heard that.

Not overcooling, overkill, meaning some things that are used in racing are not needed for street use.

Thanks for the feedback!

:)Since my engine doesn't overheat as long as it's under 105 degrees out I'll keep the transmission cooler and have greater confidence in my unit's longevity.

Dirk

If you do away with your cooler, which I woulden't you can't just plug the lines! The performance trans shops will run a braided line between the two ports.

B i l l

A pearl of wisdom!

Thanks for the headsup on what would have been my next thoughtless "solution"!

Dirk