Extarnal tranny cooler/filter
 

Hi Guys, just a quick question, do you have this external cooler installed? I spoke with couple of guys who runs SVXs in Europe and nobody has it installed and had never tranny problem. Thanx for info.
Peter

We have a different tranny to the US.

The US version is 90% front wheel drive, with clutches sending up to 50% to the rear wheels if there is slippage. The Eurotranny, I believe, is RWD bias with a centre differential.

It seems to be the transfer clutches which cause the US problems. I don't know why they have not tried to source second hand units from Europe or Japan, rather than having rebuilds.

I only know of one UK tranny which has caused problems, but this can happen with any car occasionally, and does not indicate a problem with ours.

Anyone know any different or has further info?

Hi Andy, I am beeing little bit confused. From Subaru thay told me that there is almost no difference between US and Europe models. Definitely they told me that there is no difference in engine, transmission etc. I know 80 USD for this external cooler is nothing but is it ncessary....? There is always many better places to spend money :-))
I live in Czech Rep., we have bland climate not hot and I do no plan to make cruices over Europe, but on the other hand I want my car to live long long time :-)))
Thanx for other opinoins weather we in Europe need external coolers. Is there somebody who lost his tranny by overheating it? I personaly knows only broken selenoids cases...
Peter

My understanding, and I will defer to those with far better knowledge than I, was that the ambient temperature played a small role but the heat problems came from within. Essentially, as the E-4AT hunted between 3 and 4 (when in D), it caused a LOT of temperature build-up.

To this, add a wholly inadequate stock cooler to disipate the heat and also, from what I have been told, a clutch plate facing (?) that, at that time, was made of a material that caused problems on other early 90's transmissions.

At the end of the day, I spent $400AU on mine and its piece of mind and insurance considering its $4000AU+ for a full rebuild here!

James

Both the US and non-US transmissions suffer from the same overheating problem caused by a blocked/inadequate stock cooler.

Initially it seemed to be only the US models but this was because US models covered a greater mileage sooner.

Many Japanese SVX owners, having now done around 100,000kms, are having their transmissions fail.

As for me, as I have checked papers which came with my car it say that tranny was factory replaced whan the car had 169 000km, now I have 189 000. Previous owner paied almost 4000USD for that!!!! So I want it to last other 150 000km:-))
Peter

Peter

The heat buildup is caused by the way the tranny works, it slurs the gears and slips the clutches to make the gearchange smooth and imperceptible.

This friction makes the oil very hot, particularly if city driving all the time, or towing, or climbing hills. An added problem is the car can drive around all day in the 2000 rpm range in the city, because the box opts to change to a higher gear quickly, and so use the wonderful torque of the engine for economy, and for quietness. A negative side effect of this low revs business would be less oil getting pumped per minute to the cooler in the bottom of the rad, so less than perfect cooling. This cooler, although a good and efficient design, is barely adequate for the large amounts of heat being generated.

That is why people put on an additional cooler, it keeps the heat from killing your ATF oil, and so gives the tranny longer life.

For the money required, and considering your current box cost $4000, you should put one in. The only negative side to doing it would be, if you live in a very cold climate, it will cool the oil too much in winter. If this is the case where you live, you might have to consider covering it over in winter, or plumbing it in such a way [e.g. in parallel] that you can have a valve to cut it off in winter from the oil supply.

My advice, fit one.

Joe:)

I would definitely recommend fitting one too.

In simple terms, look on it as insurance. At worst, it will do no harm, and will probably extend the life of your tranny. The harder you work you car, the greater the potential benefit of a cooler.

Is it 80 bucks for BM product 70268 SuperCooler 19,000 GVW 11"x7-1/2"x3/4" fair price?
Peter

Mine was ~$50 at a local parts store. Whether $80 is fair in the Czech Republic, who knows?

Regarding the effect of the cooler during the winter, I had mine all last winter and it was a cold one, so probably comparable to yours. I had absolutely no issues with overcooling. The torque converter locked up within a few minutes of operation. My mileage per galon did go down ~10%.

The B&M cooler allegedly regulates itself so as not to overcool.

Matt

Hi Matt,
this price I got from Dayle from Motor-Sport, it is his price without shipping. SO it is pretty much if you had bought it fo 50USD. The good thing is that may friends daugther who lives in Fla is going for holidays here so she can take it for me. 6lbs is nothing. Maybe I should talk to BM to recomend me some cheaper dealer. I talked to some of their distributors here in Europe but all of them do not deal with any stuff for AT, only MT. :-(
Peter

Peter, try www.b&mracing.com, there is a list of worldwide distributors. It looks like there are some in Poland and Hungary.

Matt

Hi Peter

I got mine fron Jegs, part number 130-70268. That was in Oct '01, and the price was $45.99, plus $40 for shipping. They were very professional, and did what they promised.
{Price is still the same}

See:

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...28&prmenbr=361

Only problem I had was at this end with VAT. The shipping company raised an invoice for importation including Import Duty at 3.5% and Vat at 20%. The problem was, they used some notional value, they said it was declared value of 130 Euro. Dollar was parity at the time, it should have been only 86 Euro.

Net effect of this was they wanted 32 Euro off me, 27 Vat and 5 Duty. This amounted to 70% of the actual value of the item being shipped. I went berserk and refused to pay, still haven't paid.

If I was a VAT registered company, I would be reclaiming the Vat back, it would not matter. As an end user, I could not reclaim, so I felt I was being ripped off, which is definitely the case.

They need to sort this situation out sooner rather than later, or people will just not do any business on the Internet. Vat on the freight element should only be 12.5% anyway, as it is a service, but they lump the lot together, because they want to deter imports. Scandalous rip-off, in my view.

Maybe your friend's daughter can get it delivered to Florida from Jegs, they are in Ohio.

Joe:D ;)

PS I actually feel bad about not paying the duty. If they came back to me with an invoice raised on the correct value, as a conscientious citizen, I would pay it. It's just that I feel worse about being ripped off.

Hi Matt, I called to Poland, Austria, Germany, The Netehralands - no way to get any BM stuff for ATs, they only sell some MODs for MTs and they all were not willing to buy it for me from states.
I will call to BM to recomend me some dealer in Fla.
I was told that Moto-sport is the best choice and most of people are satisfied with but 80USD for what Matt bought for 50USD is to much :-)
Peter

Peter,

Did you not read my post above?

Jegs would deliver to you for about $86 [you have to get them to check the shipping cost, I am presuming $40], and with the current exchange rate, this is about Euro73.

Joe