Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I was at Natrad this morning getting a new radiator when I got to talking to the manager about auto trans coolers. He said mounting it in the usual position behind the grill, hence in front of the upper section of the radiator can lead to more problems with engine cooling. This is due to the waste heat from the trans cooler heating up the air going to the radiator and therefore potentially causing overheating problems.

Has anyone heard of this problem before?

I run only the A/C condensor and radiator up the front, and the auto and engine cooler to the rear with a thermo fan and custom alloy shroud around them. easy if you have a ute. dont have any idea where ya could put it in a wagon.

I haven't heard of that specific problem, but then I have never heard of the "usual position" for a trans cooler being in front of the radiator, they are usually behind the radiator or not in line with it at all.

I would be more concerned about the trans cooler just blocking airflow than about it adding heat to the air though. Putting anything in the path of airflow to the rad can make more of a difference than you would at first think.

chimpboy wrote:I haven't heard of that specific problem, but then I have never heard of the "usual position" for a trans cooler being in front of the radiator, they are usually behind the radiator or not in line with it at all.

I would be more concerned about the trans cooler just blocking airflow than about it adding heat to the air though. Putting anything in the path of airflow to the rad can make more of a difference than you would at first think.

In my situation the only easy place to mount it is behind the grill. The problem is that I have my A/C condensor in front of the radiator and a fan shroud behind the rad.

So it'll go:

cooler->A/C condensor->radiator->fan shroud.

Not ideal. I don't want to mount it under the radiator as it will be exposed and I think behind the grill is the only place with enough airflow.

Nothing's ideal anyway, do it and worry about a different approach if you have problems. You might not have any problems at all.

most stock auto coolers are a tube running inside the bottom tank of the radiator anyway.
I run a auto cooler and a power steer cooler infront of the radiator and its never caused an issue,but they only cover 1/4 of the radiator.

my water to air intercooler heat exchanger is near enough to the same size as my rad, and it didnt effect my cooling capacity by putting it in front of the rad.

how big are you going? no option to go off to the side with it? or down a bit, with shrouds and protection?

A lot will depend on the motor your using, and how efficient the cooling system is already.

My order goes like this:

grill > intercooler > trans+winch (side by side) > A/c > radiator.

My P/S cooler is close to the radiator for good measure too.

Never had an issue with coolant temp. Even with trans up over 100*C working everything quite hard in soft sand

vanbox wrote:A lot will depend on the motor your using, and how efficient the cooling system is already.

My order goes like this:

grill > intercooler > trans+winch (side by side) > A/c > radiator.

My P/S cooler is close to the radiator for good measure too.

Never had an issue with coolant temp. Even with trans up over 100*C working everything quite hard in soft sand

Do you have an engine oil temp as well... and if so what is it at when your trans is saying 100c..... it's that I'm looking at having an engine oil cooler on mine...