I have a '01 Se 4x4 auto, has anyone installed a tranie cool in theirs yet and if so how hard was it to do and how much did it cost? Any help would be great.
Thanks



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'01 silver Ice 4x4 SE
Burnsvill,MN
Chef

Don't know, don't know, and don't know. But I do know that someone on this board called Nissan and was told it would void the warranty.

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If love is blind, why is lingerie such a hot seller?
Eric Konarske & Lara, my X
'01 Solar Yellow XE 3 Pk. 4x4

The X radiator has a small tranny fluid circuit in it already. Adding another cooler should be extremely easy, just tap it in in place of one of the lines from the tranny to the radiator.

Brent

I know Carlton has had one for a while now, and Pikachu had his dealer install one for him at his 30,000 mile service. (No mention of warranty issues--I assume if you can find a dealer willing to install the cooler for you, you'd be fine, but if you put in yourself you could be screwed down the road.)

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Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

Thanks for the infomation, I'll see if my dealer can put one in for me, if they can't I might give it a try myself. I'll let you know how it goes.

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'01 silver Ice 4x4 SE
Burnsvill,MN
Chef

Tranny coolers voiding the warranty? That's a new one. It would only cause warranty problems if the lines going to it blew and your trans suffered as a result.

Working for a dealer, here is what I would suggest regarding Trans coolers. Number 1, if you pull heavy loaded trailers, (3,000 lbs & up) you would do well to have a cooler on there.

If you rock crawl at slow speeds, preventing air flow from coming through the radiator at reasonable speeds, you would do well to have a tranny cooler.

If your girlfriend wears a top that's strapless with a bra that's not, you might be a red..., whoops, sorry, I digress! :-)

It will not void your warranty unless it explodes, so don't worry about that.

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Gordon "The Warmonger" White

According to Cygnus in this post, Nissan told him it would void the warranty. Who knows?
http://www.xterraownersclub.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000592.html

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If love is blind, why is lingerie such a hot seller?
Eric Konarske & Lara, my X
'01 Solar Yellow XE 3 Pk. 4x4

Nissan can't void the transmission warranty unless they can PROVE that the transmission cooler caused a transmission failure. Now if your dealer is an anal cavity, they can claim what they will. But if that is the case, then I would seek out a new dealer. Our customers add tranny coolers to their vehicles all the time and we don't hassle them. To tell you the truth, we prefer it. It makes the tranny last longer if they pull trailers a lot. Boats here are VERY popular and our customers tow some rather large boats.

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Gordon "The Warmonger" White

I agree, and the courts probably would too. But in Cygnus' second post he said he called Nissan's 800 number and was told the same thing the dealer told him. I can't imagine it would hold up in court though.

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If love is blind, why is lingerie such a hot seller?
Eric Konarske & Lara, my X
'01 Solar Yellow XE 3 Pk. 4x4

Yep, both the dealer and Nissan both said I would void my warranty. The lovely folks at the 1-800 number basically said, "If you need a tranny cooler then you are towing an excessive amount on a frequent basis and Nissan will not assume the cost of the additional wear and tear. Have a nice day." or something close to that. I was like, "WTF???". But who knows, somebody else could call get a whole different answer. All I can say is start with the dealer and then try the 1-800-WE-VOID-YER-WARRANTY number.

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01 SE 4x4
Silver Ice

Cygnus,

Just for future reference, they have to prove in a court of law that you pulled an excessive load with the vehicle and the trans cooler doesn't prove that. The ball is DEFINITELY in your court. To be honest, Nissan would s#$% if they saw what myself and many others have done, but we can kiss most of our warranty goodbye as a result. As for the trans cooler, screw Nissan and do it anyway. Your transmission will appreciate you! :-)

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Gordon "The Warmonger" White

I think the ball would actually be in THEIR court, meaning the burdon of proof is on them.

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I have enough "balls in my court" already, I don't need another one.

Yeah, I think I'll add it anyway, or try another dealer and see if they'll install it. Then if a repair is ever challenged I can say, "Well hey, the dealer installed it without ever telling me it would void my warranty."

So far, the towing I;ve done has been minimal, but I'd still like to add one.

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01 SE 4x4
Silver Ice

Please forgive the ignorance but how does a tranny cooler work? I am familiar how it works with the radiator.

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All your trail are belong to us

It's just another, separate, radiator that you attach somewhere and route the fluid through. Most put one in front of the existing radiator, though you can get ones with electric fans attached and mount them elsewhere.
Just don't forget to add extra fluid to the system to match the capacity of the cooler and plumbing.

Brent

It can't void the warranty. There was a law enacted to prevent vehicle manufacturers from voiding the warranty simply because non-factory parts were installed.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. 2302(C))

This federal law regulates warranties for the protection of consumers. The essence of this law concerning aftermarket auto parts is that a vehicle manufacturer may not condition a written or implied warranty on the consumers using parts or services which are identified by brand, trade, or corporate name (such as the vehicle makers brand) unless the parts or service are provided free of charge. The law means that the use of an aftermarket part alone is not cause for denying the warranty. However, the law's protection does not extend to aftermarket parts in situations where such parts actually caused the damage being claimed under the warranty. Further, consumers are advised to be aware of any specific terms or conditions stated in the warranty which may result in its being voided. The law states in relevant part:

“No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumers using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name....” (15 U.S.C. 2302(C)).

(from http://www.sema.org/warranty/atta.cfm)



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2001 2WD 4-cyl, 5-speed, crank windows, manual door locks, Khaki,
$15,999 advertised loss-leader!

As I've said in other threads, the M-M Act looks good on paper, but there's really no teeth in it for the consumer on the street. Yes, they have to prove the part caused the damage. You tell them that, and they might say "that's nice. Sue us." Ford does it all the time.

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MOLON LABE!

I've been thinking of getting tranny/oil cooler from flex-a-lite because I've seen many transmissions go bad in a few years from excessive towing and/or 4 wheeling and want all the protection I can get.

Like Gordon said if Nissan gives you crap for trying to safe guard your car you need to go to a new dealer.

I know I would (and will if I run into the same problem).

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2000 Silver Ice V6 4x4 3pak
"Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you."
-Aldous Huxley

Why not add a trans oil temp gauge first? That way you'll know if the standard cooler is sufficient. Also, synthetic ATF would be a must-have for heavy users.


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Nissan has done this for years. I had that type of cooler in my 90 Pathfinder. The guy at AAMCO told me thats what caused my tranny to implode (and I wasn't towing anything. It seems that the tubes are very narrow and the smallest piece of garbage will block it. He saw at least two a month with the same problem.


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Carl
2000 Silver Ice SE 4x4
Florida Xtreme Xterras

I'd rather put on a cooler just to be sure, I tend go the preemtive(sp) route and try too keep things cool from the get-go.

I'm looking at getting a dual circuit cooler to replace the stock AT with an AT/Engine oil cooler. The fittings are temperature sensitve so they open wider when hot to keep the temp at an optimum level.

I installed a cooler on my Frontier. I bought the largeswt single-pass transmission cooler I could find.

It is mounted against the A/C condenser, under the foam seal, hidden from view and protected between the A/C condenser and the radiator. Yes, it is only 75% effcient in this manner according to the book, that is why I bought the biggest cooler. Rarely do I use A/C when I tow. I'd rather have the cooler in place than risk towing or pulling without it.

The ATF travels through the stock wimpy cooler under the plastic and aluminum radiator before it travles through the addtional cooler. This has been in place for over a year now without difficulties.

In case you're wondering, yes I did use rubber hose - I bought a second installation kit. All connections are double-clamped 'cause I'm that paranoid...though I've never lost a cooler, transmission, or hose because it was clamped or because it was rubber.

SNG

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SNG
2k CC XE 4x4 Auto 3 packages

FYI, here is some data from my temp gauge after a recent trip via the Tejon Pass above LA. The sensor is attached to the metal section of the cooler lines where the hot side exits the torque convertor and they run adjacent to each other. There is thermal grease to the hot line and the entire sensor is insulated to maximize accurate measurement of the highest oil temp encountered.

With an ambient temp of about 60 F, a speed of 75 mph, 2WD with driver only and not towing, the reading is steady at 160 F for hours. Doesn't change much when driving uphill, *until* a steeper section when the (4th gear) lock-up disengages for a 45 second period. At that point (with the pedal nearly on the floor) the temp increases at a rate of 1 degree per second up to 205 F.

Dropping immediately to 3rd (with lock-up) when 4th lock-up disengaged on a *similar* uphill section produced no temp increase over 170.

I'm guessing the bottom section of the radiator where the stock cooler is located, was at about 140 F. With higher oil temps the temp delta and therefore the cooler's heat transfer rate will be proportionally better, so the rate of increase will diminish.

I would not be worried until I saw higher temps but the loses in the torque convertor (and advantage of the lock-up clutch) are well-illustrated:

475 rpm (observed slip) x .90 (est throttle) x 193 ft-lbs (linear interpolated max torque at 3750 rpm) / 5252 = 15.7 hp or 11.7 kW.

Bottom line is if you are towing up hills, do what's needed to keep the lock-up engaged - go to "OD off" over 50 mph and if slower speeds are needed go down to 2nd and reduce your speed to 30-50 mph.

I did one a few weeks ago - try searching for it
B&M 24,000 GVW tranny cooler.

It was very easy.

Nice to see what I've been saying all along (turn off the overdrive to keep the TC locked up on grades) backed up with real data. <10 degree temp increase in 3-locked vs. 45 degree increase in 4-unlocked, wow. I bet it would have kept climbing higher if the grade were longer too.

Brent