Yeah ---> Working under a car, it's not unusual to get some ATF on the exhaust system - it'll burn off OK. It should stop after a short while.
Following is a short lecture on transmission coolers; their installation, right or wrong......... and this may be TL;DR to some people, but I can copy/paste it again into any posts concerning transmissions, transmission coolers and overcooling a transmission... later on!
You've been warned.
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Since our vehicles have a rather oddball cooling system configuration, we don't get the full advantage of regulating the ATF temperature as the transmission really needs.
From the factory it is capable of protecting itself from running too hot (bad) or almost running too cool which is really BAD.
However, an add-on auxiliary transmission cooler can be a great addition to your car.
- BUT - there are rules as to where to put it and if you do it wrong, you can cause more grief at the same time think you've 'helped' your transmission while you are actually harming it.
Inside the radiator, is a 'heat exchange' unit that take heat out of the transmission fluid, true. This is incorrectly called: the transmission cooler.
It is not only a 'cooler' but a 'heater' too, so part-of-the-time it cools and other times it heats the ATF.
It's primary purpose is that it keeps the ATF temperature to about: 200F. This is coincidentally that same temp the engine likes. The thermostat holds the engine to 200F, so the heat exchange unit in the radiator is a good source of the right temperature for the transmission.
The best idea for improving the life of your transmission is to allow it to run at the temperature where everything was designed to run. That can be done by taking some of the heat FROM the engine and raising the temperature of the transmission to 200F. This is a benefit to both the trans and the engine.
Problems start by allowing the trans to get over that preferred temperature.
This can come from:
- Working the transmission hard eg: towing, carrying heavy loads across the Sahara Desert at high noon at 90MPH.....
- Not letting the TCC hook-up for the higher percentage of operation by manually shifting the unit which up to a point takes the TCM Thermal Safety system out of the loop.
- Ineffective cooling fan/insufficient ram-air effect from driving slowly with a big load and/or a defective electric fan. ,
- etc.
OVER-cooling a transmission is just as bad as overheating ---> and it can be caused by:
- Adding an auxiliary ATF cooling system that keeps the unit too cool
- Putting this add-on cooler in the wrong side of the transmission cooler lines
- TOTALLY bypassing the built-in radiator heat exchange unit and just running the add-on cooler (this is the worst thing to do for several reasons)
If you want to do an aux-cooler installation to help keep the engine and ATF temperature from going too high - put the add-on cooler into the hottest transmission cooler line before it gets to the heat exchange unit inside the radiator.
That way, you'll reduce the thermal load on the engine's cooling system by not dumping excessive heat INTO the radiator, but allowing the radiator to reheat the ATF to the correct temperature.
This also lowers the thermal load on the radiator-engine cooling system by taking excessive heat out of the ATF before it gets to the radiator-heat exchange unit.
Then the heat exchange unit inside the radiator will reheat the ATF to the correct temperature of approx 200F - the optimal transmission temperature.
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Finally ---> you'd be surprised to find that transmissions need rebuilding for over-heating and also for over-cooling. Keep them too cool and the seals get hard, refuse to seal correctly, burn clutches and bands and generally destroy a transmission too.
IOW - running the unit too cold or too hot are both wrong.
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