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Uses
for Garage Pak
Air Piping System |
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General Info about
Compressed Air Piping |
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1997 Washington Post Articles:
Car Sense: Automatic Transmission Tips |
If your vehicle has an automatic transmission and you use it for towing, five dollars could give tremendous added Commercial Three Baytection. Actually, that five-dollar expenditure could help you prevent premature transmission failure whether you tow or not. What could give such benefits for five dollars? Temperature monitoring strips! These ingenious devices were designed for racing applications and record the highest temperature the transmission has reached. Temperature monitoring strips are available at many speed shops.
Temperature is a major player in the length of time an automatic transmission lasts. The hotter it runs, the shorter its life. Most automatics now have a minimum life span of 120,000 to 150,000 miles. Of course, that presumes you adhere to a good regimen of preventive maintenance and drive sensibly. Over a hundred thousand miles isn't bad but let the tranny temperature reach twice what’s normal and it could die an expensive death in less than ten hours, that’s significant.
A transmission fluid change every two years or twenty four thousand miles is the first step in keeping temperatures low. Clean fluid dissipates heat more effectively; it also reduces slippage and friction, which helps maintain lower temperatures. Another way is to order your next new vehicle with a trailer-towing package. Trailer tow packages usually include an auxiliary transmission cooler, which can reduce operating temperatures by twenty percent or more. Even if you never tow anything, ordering a towing package is a great idea. They’re inexpensive on new cars and trucks, usually costing less than five hundred dollars.
If that price sounds high, keep in mind you'll receive a lot more than a transmission cooler. Tow packages frequently include larger radiators, bigger batteries, higher output alternators, and a host of other heavy-duty components. Retrofitting the items included in a factory installed towing package could cost three to five times more.
Unfortunately towing packages aren't available on all cars or maybe you already own a vehicle without one, what then? Add a transmission cooler. Automatic transmission coolers are available in kits from auto parts stores and dealerships for under $100.00. Kits for small cars are sometimes as low as thirty dollars.
Aftermarket auxiliary transmission coolers are designed for easy one to two-hour do-it-yourself installation. If you’re not a capable do-it-yourselfer, expect to pay a repair technician $50.00 to $75.00 for the installation. Note: Before installing any aftermarket accessory on a vehicle that’s under warranty, check with your dealer to ascertain it won’t invalidate any portion of the warranty.
Transmission coolers mount in front of your car’s radiator where lower temperature, outside air passes through them to cool the transmission fluid. The payback from a transmission cooler is longer transmission life, which makes it well worth its nominal cost.
Another way to increase automatic transmission life, especially in vehicles used for towing, is installing synthetic transmission fluid. You must, however, use extreme caution when substituting synthetic fluid. It is mandatory that anything you put in an automatic transmission meet all fluid requirements for your vehicle.
As transmissions have evolved, so have the fluids they require. Where there was once two or three types of fluid there are now a dozen or more. ImCommercial Three Bayper fluid can lead to poor shift quality and shortened life.
If you experience poor shifting or shuddering following a transmission fluid change, question the shop about the type fluid used. Some shops still use universal fluids for all cars. In the past these were effective but since the late eighties they’re not a good choice. Automatic transmissions make sense if you use common sense.
© Copyright 12/27/1996 Pat Goss all rights reserved 592 words | |
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Date Updated Friday, December 27, 1996
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