Aftermarket Transmission Coolers?

[Rspected]

Hey guys I recently bought a universal Mishimoto transmission cooler to keep my tranny temps down but have not installed it yet. I'm wondering has anyone installed one of these on their Genesis Sedan yet? 2012 R-Spec

 

[Mandrake]

I don't drive very hard and I live in a cool climate so I wouldn't but if I lived in a warmer climate, drove in mountains, towed in mountains etc I would.

 

[Rspected]

I don't drive very hard and I live in a cool climate so I wouldn't but if I lived in a warmer climate, drove in mountains, towed in mountains etc I would.

I live in western central Florida. I'm asking about this because I'd like to know how it was done. I've read that the OEM cooler is built into the radiator but not sure if true. Hoping I can make it fit right in the black portion of the front bumper just under and behind the grille

 

[Mandrake]

When you install an aftermarket one, they come with a guide about the placement and sizing. If you place it in front of the air conditioning condensor, radiator etc, you can go with a smaller one. If you place it behind all that, where it gets less and warmer air, you need a larger one. They come with some length of the proper rated hose and some hose barb fittings usually. The mounting systems sometimes come with tabs that can be inserted through the fins on the radiator. Or else you need to screw it to something.

What you normally do is from your outlet line on your factory transmission cooler, you cut the hose right after it comes out of the radiator. Then you install a hose barb to hose barb connection of the correct size with hose clamps. The other end of the hose goes to the inlet on your transmission cooler. The outlet from that transmission cooler then goes to the transmission side of the line you cut in half. That completes the loop.

Alternatively, you can just completely bypass your factory transmission cooler and go directly into the aftermarket one. The fittings that go into the transmission cooler are generally not something you could get an adapter for however so you would still need to cut them off. Thats kind of annoying.

Overall, its a messy process and I don't like hose clamps at all for anything. Its not my favorite mod because of all that.

To do it right, you also need a thermowax or thermostat for the transmission cooler. The transmission needs to warm up and having cold ATF circulating through the cooler all the time may do more harm than good. The factory cooler kind of achieves this one way or another. Typically the coolant warms the ATF because the coolant warms up more quickly.

 

[Rspected]

When you install an aftermarket one, they come with a guide about the placement and sizing. If you place it in front of the air conditioning condensor, radiator etc, you can go with a smaller one. If you place it behind all that, where it gets less and warmer air, you need a larger one. They come with some length of the proper rated hose and some hose barb fittings usually. The mounting systems sometimes come with tabs that can be inserted through the fins on the radiator. Or else you need to screw it to something.

What you normally do is from your outlet line on your factory transmission cooler, you cut the hose right after it comes out of the radiator. Then you install a hose barb to hose barb connection of the correct size with hose clamps. The other end of the hose goes to the inlet on your transmission cooler. The outlet from that transmission cooler then goes to the transmission side of the line you cut in half. That completes the loop.

Alternatively, you can just completely bypass your factory transmission cooler and go directly into the aftermarket one. The fittings that go into the transmission cooler are generally not something you could get an adapter for however so you would still need to cut them off. Thats kind of annoying.

Overall, its a messy process and I don't like hose clamps at all for anything. Its not my favorite mod because of all that.

To do it right, you also need a thermowax or thermostat for the transmission cooler. The transmission needs to warm up and having cold ATF circulating through the cooler all the time may do more harm than good. The factory cooler kind of achieves this one way or another. Typically the coolant warms the ATF because the coolant warms up more quickly.

I suppose the need for it largely depends on your driving style. I drive it pretty hard and bring it to the drag strip a lot and dont want to damage my unit. It would be nice to just have a gauge to monitor temps to see if I really need it after some runs at the strip. Maybe I'll do that.

Another question I have is, would you need additional fluid added to account for the fact its flowing through another cooler? Such as you would for an oil cooler

 

[edizzle89]

yes you'll want to top the fluid off to account for any fluid lost while adding the lines/cooler and for the extra capacity that they system is gain.

 

[Mandrake]

It would be nice to just have a gauge to monitor temps to see if I really need it after some runs at the strip. Maybe I'll do that.

Another question I have is, would you need additional fluid added to account for the fact its flowing through another cooler? Such as you would for an oil cooler

On the drag strip, unless you have fans on the cooler its going to heat soak like everything else and take a while to cool off. Having an aftermarket cooler would of course achieve that quicker. They do make some with fans, even with temperature controlled ones. I doubt it would get that hot after just a few passes though. I think towing, especially uphill is what can really kill a transmission. Or just dirty fluid.

For monitoring the temps, normally you can just monitor stuff like that through the Torque app with a bluetooth OBDII dongle.

Yes the fluid capacity would increase slightly, by like less than a liter I'd imagine.

 

[Rspected]

On the drag strip, unless you have fans on the cooler its going to heat soak like everything else and take a while to cool off. Having an aftermarket cooler would of course achieve that quicker. They do make some with fans, even with temperature controlled ones. I doubt it would get that hot after just a few passes though. I think towing, especially uphill is what can really kill a transmission. Or just dirty fluid.

For monitoring the temps, normally you can just monitor stuff like that through the Torque app with a bluetooth OBDII dongle.

Yes the fluid capacity would increase slightly, by like less than a liter I'd imagine.

Typically if it's not busy I'll do like 5 runs back to back to back without cooling the trans... I've really put some stress on it lol

 

[R Spect 12]

Ok... how is your car holding up ? Specifically your transmission ?!? I'm in shock that your doing "like 5 runs back to back to back without cooling the trans..." at a drag strip ! I bought my car last month (2012 Genesis 5.0 R Spec with just 63k miles) and barely put my foot in it at all..maybe 7 or 8 times and just to around 60 or 70 mph before the tranny broke after just 2 weeks of ownership. I found a used transmission out of another 2012 5.0 R Spec with only 52k on it and installed it. Since then I've been driving my car like a lil old lady except for the occasional on ramp to the freeway acceleration.. its been 1 week of running perfectly and now (just today) this tranny is giving me weird/hard shifts on 2nd and 4th..I'm freaked out and headed back to the mechanic tomorrow. At least I have a 6 month warranty on the used tranny. Anyway upon searching these forums I found tons of 2012 5.0 R Spec owners replacing transmissions..many of them doing it multiple times ! Like "oh yeah that's just how the 12 is" and hear you are drag racing with this 8 speed slushie blender of a transmission LOL What is your secret ? Are you just lucky or have you broken your to by now... after all this is a thread from April..

 

[Rspected]

Ok... how is your car holding up ? Specifically your transmission ?!? I'm in shock that your doing "like 5 runs back to back to back without cooling the trans..." at a drag strip ! I bought my car last month (2012 Genesis 5.0 R Spec with just 63k miles) and barely put my foot in it at all..maybe 7 or 8 times and just to around 60 or 70 mph before the tranny broke after just 2 weeks of ownership. I found a used transmission out of another 2012 5.0 R Spec with only 52k on it and installed it. Since then I've been driving my car like a lil old lady except for the occasional on ramp to the freeway acceleration.. its been 1 week of running perfectly and now (just today) this tranny is giving me weird/hard shifts on 2nd and 4th..I'm freaked out and headed back to the mechanic tomorrow. At least I have a 6 month warranty on the used tranny. Anyway upon searching these forums I found tons of 2012 5.0 R Spec owners replacing transmissions..many of them doing it multiple times ! Like "oh yeah that's just how the 12 is" and hear you are drag racing with this 8 speed slushie blender of a transmission LOL What is your secret ? Are you just lucky or have you broken your to by now... after all this is a thread from April..

Oh yeah I'm lucky this puppy is still kicking that's for sure. The fluid that came out at 32k miles was dark as a black hole and watery consistency. No clue how that tranny still ran with its lube like that. Had it flushed for free due to an error they made putting the wrong fluid in for a drain and fill. Since then it hasn't ran any better but it hasn't ran any worse, but I know I got fresh fluid in it and it's not worse so it's a good sign I can still get some life out of it.

I take solace knowing I've got some money saved up so if I do need to replace it, it's not a problem to pull a couple thousand out to keep it running. I'm no millionaire and it would put a dent in my savings but I have it, so i feel more secure about running the absolute sh** out of it lol. Now, dont get me wrong, I baby it in traffic for the most part. But I'm not gonna lie and say I dont send it on the highway or drag strip... when you got a beast of a motor like this TAU, and a straight pipe exhaust, you just gotta let it rip man. The smiles are worth the repair costs if necessary, but so far I havent had to replace it and it's been acting up almost 10k miles since I bought it.

Moral of the story here is you cant live your life in fear. Gotta take some risks. Sometimes it doesnt work out but sometimes it does. But if you worry all the time about bad things that dont always end up happening, then you cause yourself stress for no reason and what good does that do?

Beat it up, it's a fast car and nobody expects it. Live a little. Can always get a new trans, but yes, the problems are common and Hyundai refuses to acknowledge it unless you're under warranty.

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[OlderGuy1stGenesis]

Questions: I purchased a well made Canadian automatic transmission cooler for use on a 1987 Chevy Astro that I thought was going to tow a trailer 8 years ago. At the time I may have run Mercon V automatic transmission fluid through it. When I disposed of the Astro, I kept the $80.00 cooler. Could this cooler be used with the 2014 3.8 Genesis V-6 Sedan or would I have to find a way to flush all the older residual Mercon V transmission fluid out of it and clean it ? Also the Factory book seems to say Hyundai recommends not to tow with it. But could the 3.8 liter tow a 1,000 trailer with 350 lb Honda PCX Scooter without damaging the transmission ? I AM NOT talking about vacation trailers here. Just how strong is this automatic ?

 

[G-774978]

Ok... how is your car holding up ? Specifically your transmission ?!? I'm in shock that your doing "like 5 runs back to back to back without cooling the trans..." at a drag strip ! I bought my car last month (2012 Genesis 5.0 R Spec with just 63k miles) and barely put my foot in it at all..maybe 7 or 8 times and just to around 60 or 70 mph before the tranny broke after just 2 weeks of ownership. I found a used transmission out of another 2012 5.0 R Spec with only 52k on it and installed it. Since then I've been driving my car like a lil old lady except for the occasional on ramp to the freeway acceleration.. its been 1 week of running perfectly and now (just today) this tranny is giving me weird/hard shifts on 2nd and 4th..I'm freaked out and headed back to the mechanic tomorrow. At least I have a 6 month warranty on the used tranny. Anyway upon searching these forums I found tons of 2012 5.0 R Spec owners replacing transmissions..many of them doing it multiple times ! Like "oh yeah that's just how the 12 is" and hear you are drag racing with this 8 speed slushie blender of a transmission LOL What is your secret ? Are you just lucky or have you broken your to by now... after all this is a thread from April..

I’ve put a new tranny in my r-spec at 99k (bought it at 98k with a 3 / 36 aftermarket warranty thank goodness). Has been behaving but the other day, I drove through a very hilly, twisty area in mostly 4th gear for about 20 miles. When I shifted back to Drive for a construction area, then tried to get on it a bit, the tranny slipped big time. I backed off and just took it easy for a bit and all was ok.

I love this car but I don’t think the transmission was designed to handle 300HP, much less the 429 of the r-spec/5.0

 

[HawaiiPD]

I used the Torque app and an OBDII dongle wireless transmitter to my phone and checked both the
radiator and transmission temperature since they share the same radiator. Temp readings where both the same at 185-190F in tropical Hawaii on my 2017 G80 3.8 and my 2018 Stinger 3.3 TT.

An interesting observation on the Kia 3.3 TT is the air intake temps at stop and go is up to 125F but
drops down quickly once hitting 35 mph +. The G80 3.8 temp is ambient all the time.

Oh, and the 3.3 Kia turbo hits 14 lbs of boost at about 2000 rpm.

 

[R Spect 12]

Oh yeah I'm lucky this puppy is still kicking that's for sure. The fluid that came out at 32k miles was dark as a black hole and watery consistency. No clue how that tranny still ran with its lube like that. Had it flushed for free due to an error they made putting the wrong fluid in for a drain and fill. Since then it hasn't ran any better but it hasn't ran any worse, but I know I got fresh fluid in it and it's not worse so it's a good sign I can still get some life out of it.

I take solace knowing I've got some money saved up so if I do need to replace it, it's not a problem to pull a couple thousand out to keep it running. I'm no millionaire and it would put a dent in my savings but I have it, so i feel more secure about running the absolute sh** out of it lol. Now, dont get me wrong, I baby it in traffic for the most part. But I'm not gonna lie and say I dont send it on the highway or drag strip... when you got a beast of a motor like this TAU, and a straight pipe exhaust, you just gotta let it rip man. The smiles are worth the repair costs if necessary, but so far I havent had to replace it and it's been acting up almost 10k miles since I bought it.

Moral of the story here is you cant live your life in fear. Gotta take some risks. Sometimes it doesnt work out but sometimes it does. But if you worry all the time about bad things that dont always end up happening, then you cause yourself stress for no reason and what good does that do?

Beat it up, it's a fast car and nobody expects it. Live a little. Can always get a new trans, but yes, the problems are common and Hyundai refuses to acknowledge it unless you're under warranty.

Hey brother not sure if you remember me but we chatted a couple years back.. Right here on this thread. I am about to replace another transmission. I'm trying to figure out a way to make this thing stop breaking lol. I'm thinking about adding a transmission cooler. How's it going with you Do you still have your R-Spec ? Any advice on the issue I'm having with transmissions moving forward ?