Tranny Cooler

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eltrain1984

Member
I have a 2004 Acura MDX and I want to put a hitch on it, but the dealership says I need to put a tranny cooler and power steering cooler on with the hitch. I'm not familiar these add-ons, can anyone give me advise. Do other hitch places put on these coolers, or am I stuck going to the dealer?

Thanks!
 
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rcskidoo

New member
The dealership is just telling you to put these on becauase the "book" calls for them. I am in the automotive industry. They do this because the manufacturer does not believe that the tranny can handle the extra work load and it will over heat. If you go to a traditional retailer for car and truck accessories that installs hitches, they will not make you put these coolers on..

rc
 
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eltrain1984

Member
Is it worth it for the piece of mind, or will the coolers have little or no effect on the life of the tranny? It has 110,000 on it now, and I plan on holding on to it for a few more years.
 
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zimmer1310

Member
I have a Honda Pilot and will be pulling both a 2 place Floe and a 16 foot boat and both the Mankato Honda dealer and my personal shop told me to put a tranny cooler on it. Found out that it already has one on it. Cost for a new one installed $400ish, cost of a new tranny, $1500-$2000. Pretty cheap insurance.
 
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ezra

Well-known member
what are you going to be pulling?what dose the sticker on the door jam say you are ratted to pull as it sits?
 
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snow_monkey

New member
Just talked to the shop forman at our acura store and he said yes, install the cooler. The model acura you are speaking of has had more problems with the torque converters.
 
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t660redrocket

New member
Heat kills tranny's. Friction causes heat. Shifting causes friction. KLeep you vehicle in the correct gear and you will be just fine. If your vehicle starts hunting up and down for gears you are asking for trouble. If you are at all handy and wish to install a tranny cooler yourself they are only $150 and will take a prorfessional 2 hrs to do. Any handy amateur can do it in an afternoon.
 
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lvr1000

New member
I've put in several "tranny coolers" over the years, cheap insurance. I've heard that for every 10 degrees hotter than normal, cuts the tranny life in half. I always bought the biggest cooler which use to be about $65 at an auto parts store. The one I have in the wrangler has been around awhile, and in a few cars and trucks. All my vehicles, whether factory or aftermarket, have a trans cooler.
Never heard of putting in the power steering cooler????
 

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ezra

Well-known member
I owned a ram guess how many I had replaced 5 baby. well a 2 place with 2 sleds is around 1500lbs less than allot of midwestern familys driving to old country buffet I would not worry about 1500lbs
 
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gigakessler

New member
I have an MDX with the tow package. 2 sleds is great, 3 sleds is OK, 4 sleds not recommend. Run it in 4th gear and get the tranny cooler....the 04's can still have problems. You can get it cheaper at http://www.handa-accessories.com/mdx04.html The best thing you can do for your MDX is change the tran fluid every year with genuine honda/acura ATF.
 
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