Water, Water Everywhere
Many of us are familiar with the “strawberry milkshake” you see when a transmission cooler ruptures in the radiator and mixes engine coolant and transmission fluid. In recent years we have seen other problems that can be traced back to water intrusion. A massive leak is easy to find. Let’s look at some causes that often are less obvious.
Transmission Coolers, Part 2
Auxiliary coolers have been available for almost as long as automatic transmissions have. For many of us who have been around a while, most auxiliary coolers were used to supplement the factory transmission cooler for towing or other heavy-duty purposes. In the TASC Force Tips article “Contamination and Coolers” in the August issue, we discussed the need to replace some coolers, but I realized that there are no guidelines for choosing the right-size cooler to install.
Coolers and Contaminants
Most of us have been battling cooler and contamination issues for years. We may not realize it, nor care to look for it, but it does manage to rear its ugly head.
First we need to look at the sources. Mike Steen (technical director at Certified Transmission) has spent considerable time on finding these sources. Along the way, I have found a few as well. Hung valves and stuck governors have plagued us for years. We thought the contaminants came from coolers. We bought flushers and flushed coolers, and the problem went away – well, not quite. We still have problems.
