Automatic Transmission Oil cooler

[beeza]

I've recently found out my 96 EK1 Civic Sedan d16y4 has a factory Transmission Oil Cooler.It runs through the bottom of the radiator.This won't be sufficent/efficient enough for the track.
Do I upgade the factory one or do I need to install a new system?

[ek4-guy]

Hey Brett just get yourself a core from a aircon unit some hose and the little pin type fasteners that go through your radiator. Then mount it on the front of ur radiator.

[beeza]

I had to read that a few times...hehe
But this should make the radiator a lot more powerful therefor making the factory transmission oil cooler more powerful aswell right?
I still don't get it though... where do the hoses go...

[ek4-guy]

ah if ur car is how i'm thinking you have a cooler built into the radiator and hoses running to that you take off those hoses because if that is your setup you need longer ones to get infront of the radiator.

and the core just comes from a home air-con unit it's the alloy pipe part that S's back and forth like a snake a few times then the ends of the pipe finish at the top and bottom. Thats were the hose from the transmision goes

they are also finned as in the alloy pipe has small strip's of alloy all around it to draw heat out and cool quicker


hey mate i quickly searched here is a link with a few pictures of the type thing you want to look for.

http://4x4trailhunters.com/article.php?id=21

Thats an after market one but youl find similar in any old aircon unit.

Also youl notice that they can mount on your cars AC condensor witch doesn't block any air flow to the radiator and at the same time takes the hot fluid away from your radiator witch should allow it to run somewhat cooler

[beeza]

Before I stared this thread I brought it up in the "Track dayz" thread.This is what SuperDave said:

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
I have never looked into adding a cooler to my manual transmission mainly because I'd have the minor hassel of having to add a pump. Auto transmissions, generally, already come with a crude cooler from the factory. Again, I have never looked into how effective they are. It will just look like a metal loop. If you trace it back to the transmission you just remove the factory one and replace it with a larger, finned cooler and run the hoses to the front of the car. But make sure it isn't one of those 'tube and fin' (aka snake, s) coolers as they do nothing. 'Plate and fin' is where the results are.

[ek4-guy]

ah yep i get you know some cars have coolers built into the radiator you should have one like in the picture but doesn't snake it just loops once

but as for the tube type coolers not working well thats what taxi's use because of their long idle periods were the oil can heat up.

and in the end why spend big money on a earls plate cooler when you could just get one out of an old aircon unit you could buy for $20 that is the same thing as taxi's pay $350 for

lol by the way here is that link

http://4x4trailhunters.com/article.php?id=21

[SuperDave]

Without actually seeing what the EM1 came with from the factory I can't really give out much more advice than general info. Also not having any automatic cars at home I can't look into out the factory cooler connects to the transmission. If there is some form of rubber hose that goes from the transmission to the cooler hard line, then you just attach some hose to the transmission end and run it to your cooler at the front of the car. If it is just straight hardline from the transmission then things get a little different. But to reiterate, not knowing how Honda set it up on the EM1 I can't really give too much information.

As for cooler cores, Earl's are top notch, contact Earl's Australia direct for the best prices. If your on a budget you can go to the wreckers and see what coolers they have lying around. The Toyota Seca and 300zx TT came with engine oil coolers which will be fine to carry transmission oil after you give the inside a bit of a flush with tranny oil.

edit: In the link ek4-guy has, those 's' coolers are what you want to avoid. I know because for a test a found one at a wreckers for cheap, it was twice the size of the 300zx plate and fin cooler and did a worse job at cooling. I agree with buying second hand though, can save a lot of money.

[ek4-guy]

What where the fluid temp diffences between the plate & the pipe type coolers on your test nd were the test conditions identical.

IMO if the pipe type coolers are fine for holden's and ford's 6cyl's that are put under sutch harsh conditions as taxi's. Then the pipe type should be fine for the transmision of a d16y4.

Is the best part always the best option i meen after all in the end it's a honda engine not a 2jz tt engine.

anyway in saying that why would the guy go and buy $150 worth of SECOND HAND cooler when what he really needs is to save that money for a manual when the auto dies. i dont know what a manual gearbox costs for d16y4 but $150 has got be almost half way there

[beeza]

Thanks so much guys.
Superdave have you got a pic of the one your referring to at all.
Here's a couple of pics of my car,EK1 Civic Sedan d16y4:
Rubber hoses,1 in and 1 out:


Looking from the top:

[beeza]

anyway in saying that why would the guy go and buy $150 worth of SECOND HAND cooler when what he really needs is to save that money for a manual when the auto dies. i dont know what a manual gearbox costs for d16y4 but $150 has got be almost half way there

Hehehe.Nah,if the tranny dies I'll put another automatic tranny in there.I think a y8 fits and has better gear ratio's

Found one-Plate and Fin Cooler:

[ek4-guy]

Staying auto cool if your doing that then it would be worth getting a second hand plate & fin type cooler as SuperDave sugested because it would eventually be used to protect your new transmission.

If your gona stay D-series auto something you should look into is a higher stall converter and maybe a shift kit.

The stall converter will act like sort of a clutch but it takes up at a predetermined rpm.

Example: If your stall was 2000rpm you could rev the car anything under 2000rpm and the car wont move it will only start to creep if you ease it up near 2000rpm.

The benefit of this is really for drag racing where you would hold your car just below 2000rpm and when you want to go just let go of the brakes and flatten it and it will launch at 2000rpm.

The shift kit is because most cars with auto transmision are built with comfort in mind. So there is a amount of slippage from the bands as the old gear disengages and the new one engages. This creates a softer gear change that you cant feel.

What a shift kit does is takes up the slack making gear change more violent (ei neck snapping when holding it flat) This is also better for the bands as less slippage means less wear.

My auto holden with a shift kit pulls second's and not just a chirp the rear steps out.

I'm not sure if they make these parts off the shelf for hondas but there are guys that will mod your torque converter and improve your shift without buying a converter or a B&m shift kit.

[beeza]

Thanks heaps Darryl! Cheers for explaining everything too.
So to summerise:
Buy a second hand plate and fin type cooler and rubber hose
Mount the unit
Run the hoses to the unit and plug up the nipples in the radiator
That's it right?

Just a couple of questions :
Where can I buy 2nd hand plate and fin type cooler?
Should I mount it in front of the Air con OR Radiator?


Is the stall converter an upgraded torque converter?