96 plate Messa oil cooler with 10" fan work as Tranny cooler???

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Im about to get rolling on installing my lift and associated parts to turn the XJ from stock into a trail/tow driver..

i figure since i will be towing a baja bug around it would be a good idea to upgrade my tranny cooler..AW4

i have a brand new 96 plate Messa oil cooler with a 10" electric fan and all the thermostat controlls and bypasses that was going to be used on one of my old VW projects.. its a high end cooler and i know they work well at cooling engine oil in an air cooled vw motor.. but is it suitable as a tranny cooler also? i dont see why it would not be..i can adapt it to just about any type of plumbing required.. it is a little large. but it would fit no problem in the XJ,

i have never messed with a auto tranny before..for all i know the factory cooler could be enough.. but i do have this messa on hand and would like to put it to use some how, tired of packing it around with me.

do these AW4 trannys get HOT while towing??

thanks
Cale

 

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Just read the AW4 sticky in the performance forum, looks like a bigger tranny cooler is the way 2 go, the 96 plate and fan is going in.

 

[xcm]

post pics when you do, your using AN fittings and hardware too right?!?

 

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yeah i have a pile of left over AN fittings and some -6 -8 and maybe some -12 braided line, i have yet to even look at whats required to get the job done, but i will post up some pics when i get the install underway

 

[xcm]

you'll need 2 -6 -> 14mm x 1.5 o-ring adapters, earls part number 9919DHFERL. look forward to seeing pics of your install. we've done it both ways, 100% earls speed-flex SS line and bulkhead fittings, and oem tubing connected with earls oem tubing adapters... each has its merits, allthough the oem tubing route is much, much more coin.... neither is cheap really though.



heres a good thread grimmjeeper put together: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1045807&page=2

 

[Boost_Retard]

thanks much for the part #s, most of my stuff is russell at the moment.
i will check out that link,its gonna be at least 2 weeks though, my tranny cooler is at my place of work outa town, and my jeep is with me on my days off at the moment. i will install the cooler when i rip it apart for the lift install, lots of pics to come

using the factory hard lines looks like the way 2 go, nice clean job ya did there.

 

[Boost_Retard]

Here is how big of a jeep noob i am, after looking at your pic and some others, i realized that not all jeeps came with tranny coolers stock, and that all the reading i have been doing about the need for aftermarket coolers and trannys running hot, is mostly geared towards jeeps without stock cooler..i was planning on replacing my stock cooler with my new larger cooler..

but i have no problem leaving well enough alone if the stock cooler gets the job done.

i found the build sheet. i have all options including the tow package, so it got the trans cooler and that rear hitch from the factory.. its an 01,
i dont get how it ended up with a 35c rear end though, at least it has the track lok, seems like the factory would be taking a chance selling a tow packaged vehicle with a 35 rear end based on all the smack talk i hear about that axle.

 

[xcm]

three letters: ABS. if your jeep has abs, it needs the d35, as thats the only axle that came with abs. other axles can be converted to use it, if you want to keep it, otherwise ditch it. theres a bunch of write ups, but ive never encountered it myself... so do search it through.

it may be differant on a 01, but on renix era xj's. if it came with the stock tranny cooler, chances are it had been ghetto repaired multiple times before, all of the ones ive come accross have had problems.... im am GLAD that all the jeeps in our stables either a) dont have automatic trans, or b) have bulletproof tranny coolers with AN lines/fittings. its not usually the cooler itself that fails (sure it can, just hasnt happened to me) its the stock plumbing that brings the suck... those quick disconnect love coming loose.... unnacceptable.

 

[Boost_Retard]

yep, ABS..trigger wheel on the D35 axle shafts, i had read up about that in the past/ and was just looking at them when i replaced all the brakes.

i was having a look at those slip fit connections your talking about, they do look like a peice of work thats for sure.