Avalanche

[DCIV]

Found a local with the trans cooler and lines that I’m gonna pick up for 60 bucks. That way it just drops right in! Don’t need it but it’s nice to know it’s there.


Coop

[mjannusch]

More hoses to leak...

[DCIV]

[quote=""mjannusch""]More hoses to leak...[/quote]

So your not a fan of your oil cooler? It’s a factory set up I would be putting on.


Coop

[mjannusch]

If you don't need it, why would you add it?

[DCIV]

[quote=""mjannusch""]If you don't need it, why would you add it?[/quote]

Very fair point. My only reply is that at some point I would like to tow my car. I’m sure it would take the small trips I would make and be fine, especially if I kept up on swapping trans fluid. But I don’t want to worry when that will be and if I’m ready. Plus it’s only 60 bucks, thats cheap.

On a side note the lines enter the bottom of the cooler...how the heck are you suppose to install a cooler and get it filled with fluid while keeping the correct amount in the trans?


Coop

[DCIV]

Did buy the trans cooler. It was in good shape and for 60 bucks I didn’t wanna pass it up. Online says 3 hours to install and an extra qt of fluid.

Odd routing thought. From trans, to external cooler, to radiator cooler, back to trans. Why even go to the radiator?


Coop

[vr4]

[quote=""mjannusch""]More hoses to leak...[/quote]

In this case imo it's worth the risk.

[quote=""DCIV""]Did buy the trans cooler. It was in good shape and for 60 bucks I didn’t wanna pass it up. Online says 3 hours to install and an extra qt of fluid.

Odd routing thought. From trans, to external cooler, to radiator cooler, back to trans. Why even go to the radiator?


Coop[/quote]

Maintains stable fluid temperature. The point of the OTA cooler is to provide additional cooling, not to make the fluid cold. Routing the fluid to the external cooler first allows it to shed the majority of built up heat so the cold side of the radiator can stabilize the fluids temperature by bringing it up or pulling the last bit of heat out of it.

Some vehicles have thermostats for the trans cooler circuit. Same reason there's a thermostat for the engine coolant.

[Chris GTO TT]

Yes it's the same reason most car's oil cooler also acts as an oil warmer.

[stealthee]

In warmer climates it might be okay to bypass the rad entirely, but when it gets colder the trans may never reach optimal temps. FWIW when I installed a trans cooler on my Grand Prix I never saw temps above 190, and that was routed through the radiator Before that I saw temps above 230 on a few occasions.

[DCIV]

My dad took the avalanche to get some mulch, my dads very nit picky about vehicles and minus him saying it was long he loved it.

Also before when I first cleared the catalytic converter code it stayed away till I did a trip on the interstate and when I got off it came back, well I took it for a 20 min interstate drive and it still no check engine light. I think driving it has helped it a bunch.

Don’t know when I will put the trans cooler in, I want to clean the lines and paint them so I don’t have to worry about them rusting. Then I guess pick a couple days I don’t need it as I’m sure I will need a part or something will break.


Coop

[DCIV]

I was in a hurry today and stared it up and immediately put in drive. Check engine light.

I haven’t checked it but I bet that was the mas one. I didn’t even let it go down to idle.


Coop

[DCIV]

The odd thing with the steering has been getting more noisy. So I jacked it up and tried to play with the suspension. I couldn’t make it make any noise. Only thing I noticed was that the tie rod ends could be replaced. Still something odd. Thinking of taking to a place that worked on my Humvee. I trust them, have them look it over and see if I’m just being stupid.


Coop

[stealthee]

What noise is the steering making?

[DCIV]

[quote=""stealthee""]What noise is the steering making?[/quote]

I’ve gone away from steering. It’s something suspension. When going over bumps it just doesn’t feel or sound right. I mean it could be tie rod ends. My crv had that but this seems a little more violent.


Coop

[stealthee]

It may sound weird but GM had issues with the intermediate steering shaft in many different models. The grease dries up and it can't compress right. On my Grand Prix it caused popping noises at certain steering points. On other cars i heard people complain about popping over bumps.

[DCIV]

I have read about that. How do I test it?


Coop

[stealthee]

I don't necessarily know how to test it, but one thing you could try is to hit it with some lithium grease if you can access it. It may be easier to access on the Av than it was on my GP. That is one job I would never do again. I never cussed so much in my life and I cuss a lot.

It didn't help I was having sinus issues and had to keep hanging upside down under the dash...

[DCIV]

Drove the other coaches in the avalanche yesterday. 101 degree weather. Ac blasting. Saw temp gauge move from below 210 (where it sits) to a little above. Talked to some people and they seem to think that’s normal. I think my fan clutch is bad.


Coop

[aaronatstate]

[quote=""DCIV""]Drove the other coaches in the avalanche yesterday. 101 degree weather. Ac blasting. Saw temp gauge move from below 210 (where it sits) to a little above. Talked to some people and they seem to think that’s normal. I think my fan clutch is bad.


Coop[/quote]

Going to happen in hot weather as the coolant flows through the system etc. I'd be more worried if it pegged hot, then went to normal while driving, then your fan clutch would be bad.

[Jeff V.]

Don't put too much faith in it. The clusters have a ton of filtering in them, and they're not that accurate to begin with. The analog needle in my car sits rock solid at 220F when the car is warmed up, but the digital display sits around 200-205 on a hot day with AC on. The Chief Engineer for Corvette said the analog value is a heavily filtered estimate, and the digital version is the 'real' number.

Hook up an OBD2 tool if you want to see the real numbers right from the sensor.

Or just don't worry about it until it climbs way above where it normally sits.