[EggrollSam]

Hi everyone!
I have a 01 Nissan Xterra SE, and now I’m ready to get my second Xterra which is a 2005 Xterra SE. (120,000 miles) Before buying it, I know there are 2 ways to prevent SMOD, change aftermarket radiator, or bypass the hoses. My question are: Should I only change radiator? Or I will be fine if I only do the bypass. Or they should be done together? Should I add a transmission cooler? And what aftermarket radiator do you guys recommend.
Please help me, I’m very confuse. Thank you sooooo muchhhh!

 

[Just a Hunter]

Bypass until you purchase a radiator. (Less than $250)
Once you have a radiator return all transmission lines to the appropriate positions.
No, you dont need an aftermarket trans cooler so long as you purchase a new radiator.

Koyo is a recommended brand.
Visit Rockauto.com for a list of radiators which may fit your needs and budget.

 

[mojavedesertman]

Or the best way to avoid it is to get a manual trans.

 

[EggrollSam]

Bypass until you purchase a radiator. (Less than $250)
Once you have a radiator return all transmission lines to the appropriate positions.
No, you dont need an aftermarket trans cooler so long as you purchase a new radiator.

Koyo is a recommended brand.
Visit Rockauto.com for a list of radiators which may fit your needs and budget.

Thanks for the answer! I appreciate it

 

[EggrollSam]

Or the best way to avoid it is to get a manual trans.

Yes I was actually looking for a MT but they are very rare around my area, VA,WA, thought about manual swiped, but I’m kinda under budget lol.

 

[mojavedesertman]

Honestly if I had an automatic I would just run an external trans cooler and bypass the one in the radiator but I do live in the desert where the heat can be much more of an issue. I go out wheeling in the heat of the day sometimes during the summer to escape the heat. I only have an evaporative cooler at home so when it gets to be over 100 degrees outside it gets to be 80-85 in the house at times so I take the family out wheeling to enjoy the A/C.

 

[Just a Hunter]

Mojavedesertman.

This topic has been well discussed, evaluated and critiqued by individuals with much better understanding of heat exchange and fluid dynamics than i.

The general consensus is our radiators ability to keep our trans at a proper operating temperature is superior to the use of an external cooler and a fan.

For more detailed info you will need to search the forum for these posts if someone dont post us a link.

 

[XterraTom]

A 2005 with 120,000 miles? Are you sure the radiator and transmission fluid wasn't recently changed to hide SMOD? A used car dealer tried to do that to me. I walked away from the otherwise creampuff X and spent more than I had on a 2012.

 

[General_Tarfun]

Honestly if I had an automatic I would just run an external trans cooler and bypass the one in the radiator but I do live in the desert where the heat can be much more of an issue. I go out wheeling in the heat of the day sometimes during the summer to escape the heat. I only have an evaporative cooler at home so when it gets to be over 100 degrees outside it gets to be 80-85 in the house at times so I take the family out wheeling to enjoy the A/C.

No way, liquid to liquid heat transfer is far superior to liquid to air.


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[Lowcountry idn]

A member did all the research, installed temperature sensors in the ATF lines, and published all the data for your reading pleasure. Spoiler alert - the factory in rad cooler is superior to all others:

ATF Temperatures and Cooling System Performance, Part 2

This is a the 2011 follow on report for temperature measurements of the ATF and engine cooling systems last year , http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30287. I can measure up to eight channels with two data loggers. I have thermocouples at: 1. Trans cooler line out 2. Rad cooler...

www.thenewx.org

 

[Glenlivet]

Hi everyone!
I have a 01 Nissan Xterra SE, and now I’m ready to get my second Xterra which is a 2005 Xterra SE. (120,000 miles) Before buying it, I know there are 2 ways to prevent SMOD, change aftermarket radiator, or bypass the hoses. My question are: Should I only change radiator? Or I will be fine if I only do the bypass. Or they should be done together? Should I add a transmission cooler? And what aftermarket radiator do you guys recommend.
Please help me, I’m very confuse. Thank you sooooo muchhhh!

You’ve gotten some great advice. I see you’ve just joined so I’ll add that the search function on this site is one of the best I’ve come across.

 

[Jonjohn58]

Hi everyone!
I have a 01 Nissan Xterra SE, and now I’m ready to get my second Xterra which is a 2005 Xterra SE. (120,000 miles) Before buying it, I know there are 2 ways to prevent SMOD, change aftermarket radiator, or bypass the hoses. My question are: Should I only change radiator? Or I will be fine if I only do the bypass. Or they should be done together? Should I add a transmission cooler? And what aftermarket radiator do you guys recommend.
Please help me, I’m very confuse. Thank you sooooo muchhhh!

That's th after doing my research the first thing I did was change the radiator with a new one and it already has a secondary cooler in front of the radiator as long as it's 05 or newer do that and probably change the thermostat while you're at it and you'll be good.
Good luck.

 

[Smithsonite]

No way, liquid to liquid heat transfer is far superior to liquid to air.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

True on paper, but last year when I installed a new PerformaBuilt trans in my Silverado, the builder told me to bypass the radiator cooler. This went against everything I had done for decades installing external coolers - I always ran the external in series with the radiator cooler. Anyway, long story short, I've found the transmission cools off MUCH faster, and to a lower temperature than when run through hot coolant. It's been running 40° cooler when in lockup cruise on average. I've got a few internal trans mods that aid in cooling, too, so that's a factor here, but I've been happy with the results so far. I've got a pretty big Tru-Cool Max (40k lb. rating) hanging out front. That thing works!

 

[mikidymac]

True on paper, but last year when I installed a new PerformaBuilt trans in my Silverado, the builder told me to bypass the radiator cooler. This went against everything I had done for decades installing external coolers - I always ran the external in series with the radiator cooler. Anyway, long story short, I've found the transmission cools off MUCH faster, and to a lower temperature than when run through hot coolant. It's been running 40° cooler when in lockup cruise on average. I've got a few internal trans mods that aid in cooling, too, so that's a factor here, but I've been happy with the results so far. I've got a pretty big Tru-Cool Max (40k lb. rating) hanging out front. That thing works!

View attachment 140812

Well, that builder steered you wrong.
We were running LS swapped and 4L80E’s in basically trophy truck desert racers and even with huge ducted and fan cooled transmission coolers as big as we could buy we were cooking transmission, I’m talking 30”x36”. As soon as we contacted the transmission builder they said we were idiots and to plumb them into the radiator coolers. Guess what, never any more trans overheating issues.
Real world testing here on the Xterra has proven the exact same thing as all other OEM, the oil to water cooling flat out works.

 

[Smithsonite]

Interesting. My results have been the complete opposite, towing cars and trucks from ME to FL from summer to winter. Every transmission PerformaBuilt has ever sold has been installed this way, too. I'm nowhere near 1000 HP, either, so I'm sure that has alot to do with it. Different animals.

 

[Tlrtucker]

It's just getting comical at this point....

 

[mikidymac]

Interesting. My results have been the complete opposite, towing cars and trucks from ME to FL from summer to winter. Every transmission PerformaBuilt has ever sold has been installed this way, too. I'm nowhere near 1000 HP, either, so I'm sure that has alot to do with it. Different animals.

If it’s working for you and what the guy that is providing the transmission warranty is telling you then stick with it. It could also be that when transmissions let go all the debris can get stuck in the coolers and is hard to clean and could ruin the new trans. This might be more of his reason than cooling.

We were running big horsepower at high speeds and big tires in the desert for long periods at WOT. We never would have guessed those in radiator coolers would make a difference but it’s the only thing that worked. We had huge oil to air coolers with fabricated aluminum ducting and the biggest electric fans we could find and it just couldn’t keep the transmission cool.

Another side note is that in cold climates the radiator transmission cooler is actually warming the atf which is also needed.

Moral of the story is if you are within SMOD range then do the bypass until you can replace the radiator which is getting pretty old anyway then go on with life not worrying about SMOD or transmission overheating.