1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport Question #1-Towing-Transmission Cooler per owner's manual

sam owens did pass the time by typing:

"probably not" I've towed a trailer from Calagary Alberta to Oklahoma and it didn't bother the transmission one bit. All you have to do is stop every now and then to relax, stretch, and let the transmission cool off a bit. The Aux cooler is more for heavy duty, near capacity towing. 700lbs even with the trailer is light towing.

It probably isn't 'required' for only 700 pounds but would be a very good idea...

It doesn't take much extra heat to cook transmission fluid.

The OP doesn't mention the route they will be taking... It is narrowly possible that by heading from the upper peninsula west thru Montana clear to the west coast and then heading down the coast to no further than say, San Francisco bay area, triple digit heats in September can be avoided. All other routes I can think of involve driving for at least a full day or more across high western desert areas where 100 degrees is a cool day in September. Worse, unless they stay off the major highways, the speeds are in the 75 plus range. Dunno if a cooler install would be more or less than a full fluid flush and gasket set after the journey but if it were a vehicle to be kept long, I'd sure do one of the two.

billy ray proclaimed:

I would put one in.

I think they are a good idea on Jeeps or any 4x4 that could see extended driving in say 4x4 low. Even our manual 5 speeds need to be stopped so they can cool down on some hot days on the bush roads. Our Cherokee really needs a second fan in the circuit for those days. It has never boiled over, but the warning light has come on. Our 'new' 87 one has the second fan and no working AC, so I am going to toggle switch the fan and forget the AC...

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: N>

Well I am going to do the install or rather get someone to do it for me. My friend tells me it's a good idea to have accesory cooling as a matter of fact and they aren't that expensive.

I am planning on going to Colo, Utah, NM and Arizona so it's gonna be warm.

Any Brands you recommend?

Sam

Sam, the Cherokee has an external tranny cooler and you won't need another to tow your motorcycle. It's rated to tow 5000 lbs, no worries. I used to tow my 3500 boat up and down the mountains of the SW US with my '89 Cherokee with the 4.0L and the same AW-4 tranny you have in yours.

Jerry

sam owens wrote:

Jerry.

Unless someone put one on or it came with the trailer towing package it does not have a external tranny cooler, just the one in the radiator. The 5000# requires the external cooler. As others have stated, definitely worth while.

JoBo

members.cox.net/jerrypb/

I towed a bunch of cars from Washington State to Colorado, using a 1997 Dodge Ram Van, forgetting to install an auxiliary transmission cooler. Never had a transmission related problem. The Cherokee does have cooling problems in general, because of the way AMC shoehorned the 4.0 liter engine in. It may need the auxiliary cooler, maybe not. That's my $0.02.

Earle

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Earle Horton did pass the time by typing:

Look down the radiator and see if there are a couple of extra pipes. At least on the ZJ, these are on the driver side and are part of an in-radiator transmission cooler. The aux cooler splices into these lines.

This doesn't apply to this case but I found it interesting and somewhat hard to believe.

Excerpt from '02 WJ FSM Section 7 Page 55:

TRANS COOLER

DESCRIPTION

An internal high capacity/high efficiency cooler is

used on all vehicles these coolers are an oil-to-coolant

type which consists of plates mounted in the radiator

outlet tank (Fig. 36). Because the internal oil cooler

is so efficient, no auxiliary oil cooler is offered The

cooler is not serviceable separately from the radiator.