I took my Jeep in for service today because my hot oil light comes on quite often. They installed an aftermarket transmission cooler. I was not for this because I worry about voiding my Lifetime Warranty on the power train plus I could have installed this for considerably less than what they charged me. By the time I got ahold of the writer, they already had it nearly complete.

Now that it is done, and I am sore from paying stupid money for a sub $100 part, I am concerned about the placement. It sits directly in front of my radiator, which runs quite often as it is. Will this cooler block airflow to the radiator now? Do I have to worry about the engine not cooling properly now?

If this is a stupid question, I apologize. I really am unfamiliar with this situation.

 

Did you take it to the dealer?

A trans cooler in front of the radiator has not been giving people cooling problems.
If the dealer install the cooler, as suggested in the factory service manual, it should not void the warranty.

Did they install the cooler without asking you first? If they did, it should have been free.
Did they do a fluid filter change at the same time?

Under what conditions have you been getting the hot oil light?

If it has been quite a few times, you should change the fluid/filter and start off fresh, now that you will not be overheating the transmission.

 

Not a chance I'd have paid for a cooler to be installed if they did it without asking me first.

As far as where they put it,thats normally where they're installed at. Thats exactly where I installed mine last weekend. You'll be fine.

 

It was at the dealer.

They asked ma about installing it and I gave them the go ahead. Literally 15 minutes later, I called back to stop the work. THey told me that they had already got the part and the install was almost complete. I told them I didn't want it and they told me that I could not turn back now. They charged me 3 hours of labor for a job that according to the writer only took about 15 minutes (based on the time that elapsed between my 2 calls). This included going to get the part. I do not think that they changed the filter.

The hot oil light would come on periodically when on the freeway and always when towing. I have a boat that weighs about 2700 pounds with the trailer. When towing that, I had to stop aboput every 20 minutes because the hot oil light would come on.

I will change out the filter and fluid. That is a good point.

In hind sight, I should have just burnt out the transmission and had it covered under the powertrain warranty.

 

I installed a tranny cooler in my Jeep and it droped the Temp. consideribly..... I paid about 58 bucks shipped to my door and had it installed in about an hour.

Zero issues with my radiator cooling....... the air still passes through it and the cooler really does not take up too much room...

I am very happy with mine.

 

Same thing with everyone whos answered you...Tranny Cooler is a great idea cools it down considerably, does not block air flow to the radiator. Will not void your warranty, the only thing you have to be sore at is getting corn-holed by the dealership for 3.5hrs for a 30min job.

 

Thank you for the input.

I am not upset about putting the trans cooler on. In fact I think it is a good thing. I nopticed today that it drives smoother and the air seems to blow colder too. Not sure if there is a correlation but I assume there is less heat being exposed to the cabin. I see that this is a good improvement for the vehicle.

The part that I am upset about is the way that the dealer handled it and how much they charged me for it. I am going to call the service manager today and express my displeasure and see what he says.

 

Just do yourself a favor and have a back-up dealer in mind. Don't burn the bridge without a 2nd option. It was rough what they did to you but you have to take some responsibility also, like asking when they called you - How much for the part? How much for installation? Do you even know how many BTU the Tranny Cooler is? Sucks to hear and we have all been there but its now a good lesson learned.

 

When you were towing, was the O/D off?

Also, regarding air flow:

What do you have for obstructions in front of the grill?

Is the air dam under the bumper removed?

When you lifted the rig, did you remove the rake to make it level?

These are all things that will contribute to less air through the grill.