transmission cooler recommendations HELP!

i have a 2001 toyota tacoma and need to cool the tranny for towing. does anyone know GOOD brands to use for this? i have the 3.4 engine. pls help i don't know where to start

 

Check out Hayden. Toyota has them too but they are pricey.

 

I'm using a

$49 Hayden 678 Universal Rapid-Cool 9.5” x 11” Add-On Transmission Cooler – Not for Direct Replacement of the OE Cooler

Hayden 678. Installed it 8 years ago & never had an issue with it. Only replaced the hoses a couple of months ago cause they were starting to show cracks, weren't leaking yet though.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hayden-transmission-oil-cooler-install.108470/

 

It's a simple thing that in reality, cheap o's perform as well as a well made one would.

Therefore, no one makes a great one because there's no market.

I take that back, I bet you could buy a baja quality one SOMEWHERE but it would cost as much as a tranmission.

The poster above did an excellent job of mounting his and you could certainly follow that lead. I like the idea of it being away from the heat of the radiator and not possibly rubbing a hole in your cooling system in the long run.

HOWEVER, in 15 yrs of running one, I experienced neither problem in practice. It was just a concern. Transmission oil stayed cool and red pulling heavy and the radiator tanks always split before a hole wore though anywhere.

 

Hayden for the win .

 

Tru-cool. See this thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transmission-cooler-question.536566/#post-17277316

 

I did this over a year ago and would easily chose the same brand again. https://derale.com I bought their in-line trans filter and one of their nice coolers. Don't hate on the multiple corner zip-tie method. It's still holding like the day it was installed. I took the opportunity to change the cooler hoses while I was at it. The vinyl tubing on the outside is a form of abrasion protection from metal edges. No issues with any of the parts I installed. I just recently replaced the filter after about 8,500 miles of use.

Pretty cool to see the trans temp drop via my Scangauge when I hit the highway and the trans goes into overdrive. Overdrive plus all that air over the cooler and the temps drop fast.

 

As others have said, there's really no point in offering "high end" trany coolers, since even the "budget" ones work really well. It's a trany cooler, there isn't a whole lot going on with them... You could spend another $100 or so and maybe only squeeze another degree or two out of it.

Basically anything in that $50 range is more than adequate.

I got this one at least 5 or 6 years ago and it's been great.
https://www.etrailer.com/Transmission-Coolers/Derale/D13502.html

I mounted it in front of the primary rad, but not with those dumb ziptie things. I just made a simple bracket out of some aluminum 1/2" flatbar.

 

Thanks for the feedback, next question is do I really need one? The tranny is in great shape and the truck has 147,000 miles. I’m towing about 3200 lbs with atv’s and all. I ride mabey 4 times a year and it’s a 4 hour drive. Some say it can’t hurt some say not necessary because I don’t tow all the time. Thoughts? Thx

 

Curious if anyone that has installed one has compared their transmission operating temps before and after install?

 

YES. After using one for such a long time I will always say they are good for ANY automatic and should be on there stock.
The radiator is good for getting it up to temperature quick on a cold day but doesn't do enough cooling when real work is being done in the transmission.

 

pulling a #7K boat transmission dropped 30° on summer days using a regular old parts store Hayden. Dodge w/ A518 trans.

 

I haven't, since the OBDII's on our 1st gens don't give out the trans temp afaik... Some people have used other scanners with external temp sensors.

However, it's one of those mods that really can't hurt. They are simple to install and cheap. Worst case scenario is that it does exactly nothing, but they 100% do "something".

I realized I needed one when I was towing my small(ish) tent trailer (~2200#) up in the mountains and I started to feel the heat from the trany through the floorboards. I never got a temp warning light, but I couldn't have been far off. After I installed the cooler, I never felt anything like that again.

 

I have 2003 tacoma and torque with a bluetooth obd2 device it reads transmission temps just fine. It doesn't read motor oil temp, but it does read coolant temps.

 

You WILL cool down trans. temps with one even not towing. Trans. people will even tell you every 10° makes a significant difference in fluid life.

As said before "for 50 bux or so, it's a great addition to increase the life of your vehicle".

As an aside on my Dodge, it did pick up a problem @ around 200K miles. Stopped dropping into OD even after running a cooler all it's life. (Getting an American trans. to go 200K was an achievement in itself to me) so when brought to the trans guy he said "Why go that far in w/o a rebuild?" so we bought a 'shift improvement kit' and the basics. Really except for the common problem of the OD drum not getting enough fluid and making a wear surface gall, the transmission was clean and healthy inside. It could have been fixed, a hole enlarged to not happen again and ran for some time further. I also had the experience of a big block Chevy that loved to overheat the TH400 to the point of burping all over the driveway after running it hard. A cheap cooler fixed that problem. I can't say enough good about them. Like a posi- rear, every truck should have one from factory.