For real? GM needs a kick in the *****

WilliamBos · Sep 20, 2011

clemsonfor said:
Um radiators have cooled auto trannies for i guess close to 40 years now? This is the first time you realized this? My 1980 K10 chevy in the driveway has the tranny colled in the radiator and its all factory. The 1985 ford car i had when swapped the radiator out, yep cooled by tranny. My ranger when radiator swap in it yep if it was an auto it would have been cooled by the radiator, allthough mine is stick the lines are just left open to that part.

And the reasons is listed above, the trans needs to warm up condistany with everything else.

Dmace · Sep 20, 2011

If you think that's bad, you should have seen the time I had trying to replace the engine oil cooler on my old 94 Ford F350 diesel. It's a tube with engine oil running through as well as engine coolant. I had to remove the exhaust header, starter, brake booster and front wheel/brakes. Not a great idea in my book.

Also, I wanted to add that my 03 RAM 1500 and 04 Chrysler Pacifica both have separate radiators for engine and transmission cooling. That is all...

crazyal · Sep 20, 2011

If it was me I would have replaced the radiator, flushed the tranny and torque converter and filled it with tranny fluid and tried it.

Years ago I was given a Ford for a demolition derby. It was too light so it couldn't be used and since it came from a tow truck service I never got the title (just a letter saying that the state granted ownership to the service after the owner didn't pay the charges).

Not really wanting to get rid of a good running car yet not being able to use it on the road it quickly turned into a woods car. The tranny leaked oil and not wanting to spend money or time fixing it (other than bypassing where it went into the radiator) I just used old engine oil my neighbor's father had been putting into a plastic drum each time he changed the oil. This worked great for weeks.

Then it started to slip no matter how much fluid was in it. It kept getting worse. We never thought about it but we always filled it at night. One day during the day while filling it we realized that somehow water got into the barrel and we had been putting water into the tranny. I flushed it out and filled it with used engine oil, the tranny was just as strong as when we got it.

My point is that the dealer or garage is going to rebuild your transmission from the ground up whether or not it needs it.

Peacock · Sep 21, 2011

Seen it happen on all brands. Except Honda. They use a similar system, but for whatever reason I've never seen this type of failure on one.

bill50cal · Sep 21, 2011

not all shop's are thieves.water or coolant contamination in a auto trany is certain death to the clutch plate's. they are a friction materiel bonded to a steel core with a water soluble glue and guess what happens when they get saturated with coolant THE BOND FAIL'S and you are in for a trans rebuild.

dodge man · Sep 21, 2011

Even if you have an external cooler, it still may go through the radiator first, it just depends on the setup.

clemsonfor · Sep 21, 2011

WilliamBos said:
And the reasons is listed above, the trans needs to warm up condistany with everything else.

I agree, was just pointing out to the original guy that its not an uncommon thing.

Ford tractor · Sep 23, 2011

clemsonfor said:
Um radiators have cooled auto trannies for i guess close to 40 years now? .

60 years or more. Then again, the old radiators were thicker than the structural components in most new car frames!

timswi · Sep 23, 2011

Ford tractor said:
60 years or more. Then again, the old radiators were thicker than the structural components in most new car frames!

That's true, but I got 200K out a couple of my recent GM V8 4x4's that were still on the original rads...Luck of the draw, I guess.

Diamondpilot · Sep 23, 2011

timswi said:
That's true, but I got 200K out a couple of my recent GM V8 4x4's that were still on the original rads...Luck of the draw, I guess.

I have never need to replace a rad in anything. Trucks, tractors, cars, ect. As far as I know my father has only had to replace one and that was just 2 years ago in his Corvette for the same issue the OP had. We caught the problem and have had no problems with the auto tranny in it. We saw oil floating in the overflow and everyone told us a common issue was the intake manifold gaskets. We had them changed and it was still putting a sheen of oil on the coolant. Thats when a competent mechanic figured out out it was the tranny cooler leaking into the rad. New rad, tranny flush and fill and she has been fine.

Only gets driven about 300 or so miles a year so who knows but so far so good and when I drive it I drive it like I stole it.

Chris