I have found that the bottom of the rad to be used as a tranny cooler in multiple cars. and it cools more then you might think.

did you ever think that possibly the cooler got clogged on your car and because of that your tranny blew. that same thing happened to my family with the old pathfinder. flushing out the tranny & tranny cooler regularly can help prevent that from occuring.

also on a side note i ran my max with a stage 2 street/strip vb w/ a hayden 404 and the stock cooler inline and had 0 problems in the winter. i live north of boston.

Nismo, the core in our radiators PREHEATS the trans fluid, and does very little for cooling, if anything.

These are not Maxima'*. They're Bonnevilles. I spent hours with my trans builder and even dissected the 'core' in the radiator if you want to call it that.

This is good info. I thought my car did have a tranny cooler from the factory. This means I will put one on before WCBF.....Will, any recomendation on which one I should get? Is there a write up on one somewhere?

I bought one for Pdad while he was cooking his gooses on the way down due to the higher stall converter. Basically the biggest one Autozone had in stock. Check with him on the dimensions. Seems to work well for him.

Mine is quite a bit larger. 28000GVWR. Even 10-12k would be good for you. Because of the way the 4T65E manages the TCC, they tend to build heat quite well.

My SSEi and SLE both came with Aux coolers from the factory, although the SLE'* is slightly smaller. Doesn't make sense since they both have the same engine and trans, but that'* the way they came. I ADDED another in parallel on the SSEi a couple years ago. I lost both due to debris when my trans went POOF. And the core in the radiator. My ONLY cooler now is the 28000GVWR thermo/viscosity controlled cooler. This is the one the trans shop specified consider the intended use of my car (Bonneville Salt Flats) late this summer.

The install on the 2k'* is a bit tougher, but not impossible. Here'* Pdad installing the one I bought for him:

Me on the left installing a new HB on the bought-the-day-before SLE. Pdad can give you a better rundown on the install, or you can just copy his when you all get here.

As far as what that core in your radiator actually is, measure the distance between where the two trans lines (pressure and return) are. That'* the length of the tubes. What the 'core' is.......imagine two small pipes. One slightly larger than the other. The fluid passes between the outer wall of the smaller, and the inner wall of the larger. The gap is VERY small. So when you get debris in there, it chokes the flow down dramatically. I wish I had pics or a cross-section.

I'd rather have it done before I leave. I'll ask PDad for any tips....!

Had to remove the lower shroud on his, but if he took a pic in there, you'd see pretty well what size and where/how to mount.

i know they are not maximas believe it or not. However every car i'v taken a good look at the rad had a tranny cooler there. i would go as far to say it'* very common for auto manufacturers to build them into the rads. And in my nissans it'* called a tranny cooler. and it'* very important. as i said it killed a pathfinder.

i understand how you could say it 'preheats' the fluid because the rest of the radiator should be around 190 with the stock thermo opening around that temp.... wouldn't the rad'* ambient temp help maintain a constant temp in the tranny fluid which is being passed through it, i only use this argument because your convinced it doesn't cool it at all.

Wouldn't the tranny fluid get hot extremely fast regardless of the rad? being bolted to the engine and all plus the fact auto trannies generate alot of heat, i would think the tranny fluid heats up quicker then the rad(this is assuming your going from a cold stop), which would mean the rad never actually gets to preheat it..

let me know if i'm wrong i'm just thinking outloud here.

I still believe i cools the fluid, and untill i have; better proof then from my own experiences with it, a very logical explanation of why all the fins on it arn't doing any thing, or why gm and other car manufactures like to waist metal and money.

why doesn't somebody throw in a temp sensor and measure it with it bypassed and using the stock lower rad cooler?
just to uhh...prove me wrong?
then measure with the aftermarket one.

also if your car has the stock cooler bypassed and your using an aftermarket one, how is your trannt fluid getting pre heated? arn't you worried about it not?

put it this way Nismo
it maintains steady ATF temp in conjunction with coolant temp.

gotcha so it cools it down to the appropriate level and does it'* best to maintain it at that level.
thanks!
does this mean it doesn't preheat anything like i assumed?

In the case of living in a cooler area and warming up the car it could be a preheat. Basically assume that it works to keep the temps in line with the rad.