Yes, by first going into the radiator tranny cooler then out to the aux. cooler you preheat the tranny fluid. That's good in cold weather. But during summer I was concerned about the warmer tranny fluid overheating the radiator or even preheating more before going to aux cooler. Probably didn't matter much. I always had good luck just removing the lines from radiator. Using hot water to cool hot transmission fluid was not really a great idea. By the way, the first Powerglides didn't have cooling lines or any way to cool the fluid. That's why they are now part of our landfill.-I'd much rather have a Chevy 350---or 454. More power!!!!!
Based on the last couple of posts, should i be worried if the van i ultimately purchase doesn't have an external tranny cooler?
Check for a trailer hitch and electric plug. If it has set up for towing and no cooler added I'd be worried about the automatic tranny! Still, you can drive it and even have it checked out with filter/ fluid change if the price is right and it looks nice.
like any used car pull the auto trans dip stick and look and smell the fluid. i can't count how many times i have heard "our service department did a 100 point check" from the pusher (salesman) and to see dirty oil (when I bought my grand cherokee the pusher said they used "dark" oil) and a burnt smell to the trans fluid
Correct.Fresh tranny flud is usually nearly a clear pinkish red color with a sweet smell. Maybe even a sweet taste? If it's been hot it will smell like a fast food joint deep fat frier or burnt rubber. And probably taste like fast food burgers.
-------The only thing I worry about on my 04 Dodge truck is the tranny. Heard they don't last. 50,000 and hoping!
The new Chrysler 300 has an EIGHT speed tranny! Wonder what the top end on that would be??? Or....what a rebuild is going to cost???
you dont want to know! they also dont "fix" the tranny's anymore they replace them! really a bummer. btw did you know that a lot of auto body schools don't teach rust repair anymore? they only teach panel replacement? same thing with frame straightening...its cheaper to swap out a frame on an suv or truck!
It doesn't surprise me. Makes me angry, but, not surprised. We are now a throw away society. In the near future there will be no thinking and talented mechanics left. No multi-talented repair guys. We are being purposely and, unfortunately, successfully dumbed down.
A shame, but I understand it. More vehicles are being built with a greater percentage of high-strength steel. It has a different composition, and because of its forming properties and the fact that the manufacturers are able to use thinner metal in some areas and get the same strength, the 'repairability' suffers. Those 'corrogated' (sp?) sections that they put in to absorb crash energy are always 'sacrificial' panels - always have to replace them if damaged. Sometimes, you will see a frame rail piece, that starts under the cowl, end with one of those sections behind the front bumper assembly. Yup - if damaged up front, you may have to replace the entire rail....... The manufacturers started using a lot of high-strength-low alloy steel in the 90's....even more used now.
Love those pics. I'd love to have a mid 80s GM conversion van if it didn't cost a fortune to drive it. And when I bought a case of tranny fluid at NAPA, it smelled like it was burnt right out of the bottle. The throwaway thing kinda ticks me off too. Just last week I called up the nearby junkyard and asked for a drive axle for the Celebrity. Even though they've got a lot of old a-bodies out back with a lot of good drive axles, they said they don't sell them anymore and haven't for about 8 years. They just send people downtown to buy a new one. They said I'd be surprised how cheap they are. So I checked and they were $75. More than I got. They told me that before with brake calipers. New ones were $20 each plus a $20 core, and since this was for my trailer brake project, I didn't have cores. So next time I went downstate, I did what I usually do. Went to the old junkyard that has been literally grandfathered in. They lost their parents in a fire and it was scary when there was another big fire there a couple years ago. The only u-pull-it junkyard in existence in this part of Michigan, that I am aware of. Full of good old cars and trucks and everything else you can imagine. A handful of guys and a gal that live right there on the land. A lot of junk, but a lot of good stuff if you look. They're nice people, and prices are cheap and always consistent and fair. No computers, no checks or credit cards, and they'll deal if you don't have the cash right away. Calipers were $10 each. $20 for the drive axle. $5 for door handles (which in my van are a cheap design that breaks easily), but when I bought a drive axle and wheel bearing they threw in a couple door handles for free. Not too many places like this remaining.
KK....yes...I understand the concept, too. And, as the new engineering keeps coming, so does the demise of old cars and the guys that can bring them back and/or build them for speed. Which leads me to the post by.... Wagman76....you are lucky to still have such a place available to you. These people that run that yard are holding onto the old concepts of the real salvage yard. Kudos to them! I don't know if you realize how difficult and expensive it is for them to fight the new system and hold desperately onto the old. They have to fight off, and yet, abide by new rules and regulations that are designed to remove old cars from the landscape. They have to deal with tight assed regulatory agents that call on them consistently. The agents deluge them with these new regulations and dangle the carrot in an effort to lure them away from selling parts. As I look back to the good old days (and they WERE) when I worked in my dad's gas station in the 50's...I am saddened more than the new generation could ever imagine. Those of us that love the old cars, like our wagons, have to hang on to them forever. There will never be more and there will never be guys that have the spirit, abilities and desire to restore them or build them in the new generations to come. We are, unfortunately, like the people at the yard that you frequent, a dying breed.
