Transmission Oil Coolers

Do I Need a Transmission Oil Cooler?

A dedicated transmission oil cooler upgrades transmission performance and life for any vehicle. Those who tow, carry any sort of load or go offroad should definitely install a dedicated transmission oil cooler. As the largest 4WD auto transmission shop in the southern hemisphere we know from the experience of seeing hundreds of vehicles that excess heat causes wear, reduces performance and causes costly breakdowns. 

Your transmission contains rubber seals and other parts that excessive heat can damage. Seals go hard and brittle. A dedicated transmission oil cooler kit significantly slows down this process. A good auto transmission cooler is a number one must have and a great value-for-money investment in preventative maintenance. It is a major factor in giving your transmission a longer life.

Having other equipment fitted to your car might help with controlling transmission temperatures but there is no substitute for a good transmission oil cooler. For example a torque converter lock-up kit helps reduce transmission temperatures. However this doesn’t solve all transmission temperature control problems – it is great for the open road but will not help much with stop-start traffic, for example. A transmission cooler is the ultimate answer for controlling transmission temperatures.

Check out our Video Below: Everything You Need to Know About Transmission Oil Coolers!

Why Are Wholesale Transmission Coolers The Best?

Ford Transmission Coolers

Everest (Other Than Next Gen)

Everest (Other Than Next Gen)

Universal Transmission Coolers

Volkswagen Transmission Coolers

Installing a Transmission Oil Cooler

Our transmission oil coolers can be fitted as a DIY job by anyone with a basic level of mechanical skill. We supply comprehensive transmission oil cooler fitting instructions for each of our coolers. We also have installation videos for many of our popular transmission oil coolers. These show you very clearly how to install your transmission cooler.

Our coolers come with a transmission oil cooler mounting kit. This includes a bracket as well as every nut, bolt, union or hose that you need to install the cooler. The brackets are designed specifically for your vehicle model. The components are all high quality and we pay attention to every detail. For example, our hoses are all encased in tough conduit to help repel stone strike.

Our coolers are mounted just behind the grill. We know that lots of our customers have bullbars, winches or skid plates. Our transmission oil cooler kits are designed to fit almost every setup.

If you would prefer to have someone else install your cooler we can do it here at Wholesale Automatics or at any one of our dealer network locations Australia-wide.

How Hot is Too Hot?

The normal running temperature of an transmission oil cooler varies greatly. For example, transmission temperatures will be higher in stop start traffic, doing a lot of hill driving, different surfaces or hotter weather conditions. Some vehicles models are also known to run pretty hot. In general we would like to see transmission temperature between 50 and 70 degrees celsius as much as possible. 80 to 90 degrees celsius at times is also ok. Typically keeping under 100 with a good transmission oil cooler is advisable. At 110 degrees celsius you really start to look at what is going on, and at 120 degrees you’d be looking for a place to pull over. Changing your driving style or dropping down a gear with higher RPM may temporarily help, but ultimately the only reliable solution is better cooling overall with a dedicated transmission oil cooler.

Some people ask if it is possible to run a cooler too cool. In Australia there is really no such thing as running a cooler too cool. Parts of the transmission will naturally generate heat as will a torque converter. Without any strain you can expect your transmission temperature to be at least 45 to 50 degrees celsius. There may be specific cold temperature issues if you are in Alaska or somewhere with really cold temperatures but that does not apply to Australian conditions.

As part of monitoring transmission temperatures it is really handy to have a transmission temperature gauge. This will teach you what your transmission does and does not like and give you early warning of problems. We have analogue transmission gauges for many models. A transmission gauge paired with a transmission oil cooler is the ideal solution.

Transmission Oil Cooler Types

There are lots of different types of transmission oil coolers. There are important differences between different model vehicles. That’s why we have different coolers for different vehicles. This might be a single panel cooler, a dual cooler or even a twin cooler setup. There are also lots of differences on the cooler unions and other technical aspects. Some of our coolers contain pieces we custom design ourselves, like a 90 degree L-shape connector for the new Next Gen Ranger coolers. Before releasing a new cooler we spend months in research and testing. This is how you know our cooler will be a perfect fit for your vehicle.

You may ask whether you need a transmission oil cooler with fan. Fan operated systems add an extra mechanical element that can fail. They also only work when the fan is operating and the extra moving parts can actually add some heat. Our auxiliary transmission oil cooler kits overcome these problems without the need to resort to a fan for the transmission cooler.

Transmission Oil Coolers for Australian Conditions

Our transmission oil coolers are designed and made in Australia. They are built for Australian conditions and all the different ways we use our cars here in Australia. Some coolers are designed only for European road driving or are cheaply made overseas.

Cars are often made for a worldwide market where people may not carry the loads, do the towing or travel on the surfaces we expect our cars to manage. A dedicated transmission oil cooler overcomes this problem.

Transmission Oil Cooler Price

In terms of bang-for-buck transmission oil coolers are the best upgrade you can make to your vehicle. The cost is justified by the extra life it gives to your transmission and by avoiding costly repairs you may otherwise have to pay for.

Our transmission oil cooler price is competitive and reflects their premium quality (including Australian made, better components and a 2 year guarantee). The price of our transmission oil coolers is between $495 and $745 including GST, depending on the model of your vehicle.

In terms of fitting, our coolers are designed so if you have basic mechanical skills you can fit them yourself as a DIY project. They come with complete fitting instructions and, for our most popular models, video instructions. However, if you want us to professionally fit your cooler here at Wholesale Automatics we charge fitting for many coolers at $350. More complex cooler fitments are charged at $525 and $700.