Finally got the Transmission cooler fitted on the weekend. The oil was fairly dark so had it all drained. The KW bumper is a pain to take off. You have to take off the bumper grill (bottom one) to undo some screws as well. While the grill was off, I decided to mesh it. See attached pic. Car drives much smoother now.

Not the best meshing job. Will do for now. Anyone know where I can get some edging rubber to go around the edges of the mesh?

Nice grin!

Check Clarks Rubber - got mine from there. They have cuppla different sizes etc. Not too expensive either.

Look like the Mesh on the VRX nice!!! I call it the bug cutter

Nice grin!

LOL it looks like the number plate is a buck tooth!

when we took the Front bar off my KL a couple of weeks ago - we didnt remove the lower grille to get at it?

we just undid the 2bolts mounting to the chassis left and right hand rails - undid the bar guides, and the minor clips etc and it just slid out (reo and all)

(tho, we only put 3 of the 4 bolts back in... opps)

i wanted to mesh my lower grille too while it was apart - but slack for it.

these transmissions love to have an external cooler it seems :)

where'd u get it from? was it expensive/hard too hook up?

Also interested in cost/installation difficulties

Hi Vlad,

Good work, haven't got to mine yet. Do you have a DIY, or pictures? Details of the install, like where you mounted it and how much hose/size used etc...

Hey All,

Item was from eBay. New 2nd hand. Guy from Torrensville bought it for his hilux but can't fit it (he requires a fan assisted ones as there was no room to fit the one he bought). Product is from Canada. Cost $41 pickup.

Mounting was vertical left of the centre. One side was mounted to the bar down the centre using fabricated aluminium brackets and the other side was attached using another fabricated alumunium bracket (bolted top and bottom to the car).

Materials required:
2 lengths of transmission hose (1m each). Cost included in mechanics charge. The hose is the standard 8mm ID Mitsu ones which had to be greased and pushed on the universal barbed cooler.
1 piece of aluminium strip (1m long by 20mm wide by 1.6mm thick). Don't use too thick ones otherwise it cannot be easily bent into shape (next size up at Bunnings was 30mm wide by 3mm thick). Cost of strip is $2.60

The KWs had the extended bumpers and there were three bolts holding the bumper to the aluminium reinforcement bar. These could only be accessed through the bottom grill. The bottom grill itself is held on by 6 plastic screw things.

I got a mechanic friend to do it together with a transmission drain and refill with almost 6L of penrite ATX formulated for Mitsus.

Total time was 3 hours and mechanic charged $230. This includes labour, oil, hoses and the mesh.

Just did a trans cooler on a TF, used a cooler and lines off a TR auto, mounted it on the RhS and used the factory TR lines with a few mods and orig brackets to run over to the LHS where I picked up the original cooler lint. Almost looks factory and although a little effort was well worth it

These are a must for anyone driving harder than normal or towing heavy loads

i think this might have to be my next mod..

Hey All,

Item was from eBay. New 2nd hand. Guy from Torrensville bought it for his hilux but can't fit it (he requires a fan assisted ones as there was no room to fit the one he bought). Product is from Canada. Cost $41 pickup.

Mounting was vertical left of the centre. One side was mounted to the bar down the centre using fabricated aluminium brackets and the other side was attached using another fabricated alumunium bracket (bolted top and bottom to the car).

Materials required:
2 lengths of transmission hose (1m each). Cost included in mechanics charge. The hose is the standard 8mm ID Mitsu ones which had to be greased and pushed on the universal barbed cooler.
1 piece of aluminium strip (1m long by 20mm wide by 1.6mm thick). Don't use too thick ones otherwise it cannot be easily bent into shape (next size up at Bunnings was 30mm wide by 3mm thick). Cost of strip is $2.60

The KWs had the extended bumpers and there were three bolts holding the bumper to the aluminium reinforcement bar. These could only be accessed through the bottom grill. The bottom grill itself is held on by 6 plastic screw things.

I got a mechanic friend to do it together with a transmission drain and refill with almost 6L of penrite ATX formulated for Mitsus.

Total time was 3 hours and mechanic charged $230. This includes labour, oil, hoses and the mesh.

any tips or diagrams of the bolts needed to be removed to get the bumper off?,im gonna do this to my TW VRX ,but havent ever had the bumper off,any pics of the plumbing?

Ta
Steve

my dad had one fitted a fewa years ago, when he was towing it would slip and chage badley. now it changes smothley when towing. and he said that the ATF fluid doesn't gop as dark as quick

Pics please! Also, what size was the cooler? I tow with my TJ (only a box trailer but still) and also, can a cooler from another car (Falcon etc) be installed?

Cheers, Greg.

Pics please! Also, what size was the cooler? I tow with my TJ (only a box trailer but still) and also, can a cooler from another car (Falcon etc) be installed?

Cheers, Greg.

2nd gen auto....No more then $40 from the wreckers...

My Bad. Did not take any pics.

Size of cooler is 280mmx180xxx20mm which is a little bigger than the 2nd gen ones which are approx 250mmx150mmx21mm, from memory. I've been to several wreckers in Adelaide and prices ranged from $55 (not in best condition) to $75 (ok condition). I was lucky when I did a search on eBay and a local was selling his unused for $41, pickup.

As for as the bumper was concerned. Mine had lots of scrivets to undo and bolts. Again, I wasn't paying attention. From memory, as best as I can:
1. 6 scrivets for lower grill
2. 3 bolts holding the bumper to the metal brace.
3. several bolts holding the engine protective tray.
4. several (10?) scrivets holding the plastic trim above the top grill.
5. 2 bolts holding the radiator.
6. The snorket can be loosened at the airbox end by flexing and the pushing towards the back of the car to slide it out from the bumper.
7. Several bolts (I'm guessing) in the wheel arches as well as bolts holding bumper braces which my friend said was not realy necessary.

Anyway. The KW bumper is not exactly the same as a TW/TL/KL bumper so the above may not be exactly the same. I only realised when the bumper was removed that the KW bumper has an indentation at the bottom to make the sides sit lower then the centre.

The plumbing was all on the passenger side. The plastic/rubber shield/air deflector has two holes wheich were perfect for passing the two hoses through.

See here (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1055870&highlight=custom+brackets#post1055870)for a pic of mine before it was installed.

Vlad,
When you said that the car drove smoother, what did you experience? Currently I hate the way my auto (mis)behaves. It changes abruptly, it changes when it shouldn't and seems to get confused (shifting up and down at times). Were these the sort of things you were experiencing?

I've been on the cusp of getting rid of the car a number of times because of the auto trans. The dealer doesn't seem to be interested that I want to get rid of the car because of these problems. They perform tests and check the oil and reflash the control unit, none of which fix the problem.

Thanks

Ken

Vlad,
When you said that the car drove smoother, what did you experience? Currently I hate the way my auto (mis)behaves. It changes abruptly, it changes when it shouldn't and seems to get confused (shifting up and down at times). Were these the sort of things you were experiencing?

I've been on the cusp of getting rid of the car a number of times because of the auto trans. The dealer doesn't seem to be interested that I want to get rid of the car because of these problems. They perform tests and check the oil and reflash the control unit, none of which fix the problem.

Thanks

Ken

I drive mine in manual/tippy mode all the time. It just changes faster and smoother. Also, the slight shudder when shifting from P to R is gone. Do you change the way you drive often. As in, drive it hard one day and then take it easy the next? I've heard that the earlier 3rd gen autos TCU was not as good and had difficulty learning/adjusting the shift pattern. It was one of the biggest complaints by car rental customers.

Driving smoother will be in part to trans fluid change, flush will do better again. A cooler will not make any difference for general day to day driving at all

If you want to PM me I am happy to have a look and feel of the shifts and see if I can suggest anything

I drive mine in manual/tippy mode all the time. It just changes faster and smoother. Also, the slight shudder when shifting from P to R is gone. Do you change the way you drive often. As in, drive it hard one day and then take it easy the next? I've heard that the earlier 3rd gen autos TCU was not as good and had difficulty learning/adjusting the shift pattern. It was one of the biggest complaints by car rental customers.

Vlad,
I drive in a mix of stop start traffic with a run of ~8km down Eastlink at 100km/h and then into back streets for a few more km. I tend to resort to manual mode to get the transmission to behave, otherwise it appears to have learnt poor habit from stop start driving. The problem at the top of the heap is the hestitation when coasting to a intersection and then applying the throttle, the auto hesitates and then lurches off again.


Madmagna, thanks for the offer, I'll PM you.

Is there any new kit i can buy off ebay for a TJ VRX? or does it have to be off a 2nd Gen? thinking of fitting out to my auto just for piece of mind? can a kit for a VY commodore off ebay work on a magna? where are these line tapped into the transmission?

Don't use secondhand ones, will regret it

I have new derails ones is tick, are not hard to fit, takes a couple hours

i had a work mechanic do mine. cost me about $140 for the cooler if i remember correctly from sprints. the mechanic had to make custom brackets up to sit it in front/ next to the radiator.

http://s1.postimage.org/4vpmd8ve3/481353_3857338084292_1405921794_n.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/4vpmd8ve3/)

http://s1.postimage.org/kigvqm963/602997_3857338844311_1924503814_n.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/kigvqm963/)

http://s1.postimage.org/xnwdwq31n/74342_3857337604280_286792732_n.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/xnwdwq31n/)

built an L bracket to sit in front of the radiator. the diagrams were easy in relation to hoses going where. been installed for over a year now, runs sweet like the day i bought it.

Looks good, need to do that to mine

Although i have a TJ im in the middle of changing my box and i purchased a Australian made (KIT) Davies Craig cooler kit (no:677) for $95.20 it is usually $109 it was 20% off yesterday.
for $109 the whole kit it is good value 3 years warranty cheaper kits on Ebay but these are Australian made.
http://www.daviescraig.com.au/Oil_Coolers-HYDRA_COOL_UNIVERSAL_6_cyl_TRANMISSION_COOLER___PA RT_No__677-details.aspx