Is there a bigger radiator we could fit in the Q45?

[Infinitiguy19]

I have an aftermarket transmission cooler (B&M) and I want to have a bigger radiator so there is more room for air to get to so it can cool the motor more.

So is there any after market or OEM radiator that has more cooling room because of no duel transmission heat exchanger?

[maxnix]

Q45tech runs a custom Griffin. AZHitman had a custom one made for his old Quella.

It's in the old posts.

http://www.griffinrad.com/
Modified by maxnix at 2:42 PM 1/28/2009

[elwesso]

why do you need a bigger radiator? an as new working OEM will give you all the cooling capacity you need.

[yodawill2000]

especially way up in Ipswich !!

[Q45tech]

New oem parts can restore to oem capacity, even cheapo aftermarket rads can achieve 90% of new capacity at best for first few years.

Everything brand new is the mantra if as new performance is desired.

[Q451990]

I don't think an aftermarket radiator would have smaller end tanks due to deleting the A/T cooler. I believe the gains were from making it slightly thicker.

In theory, moving the aftermarket A/T cooler to the active cooler spot in front of the left front wheel would get you better airflow to the radiator, but you need an auxilary fan there as well. The simplicity of the typical location, with a couple of fans already there, won out in my case though.

Heath

[Infinitiguy19]

Well I wanted to get rid of the useless transmission cooler tanks and either not have them at all and have the same size radiator with less dead weight, Or uses the space gained for more cooling fins.

Are the tanks easily removable?

[AZhitman]

There are no "transmission cooler tanks".

The trans fluid circulates in the lower 1/4 of the radiator and is cooled by the coolant (and ambient air).

[Q451990]

There are no "transmission cooler tanks".

The trans fluid circulates in the lower 1/4 of the radiator and is cooled by the coolant (and ambient air).

That's news to me! My understanding was that there is a small cylindrical tank suspended in the end tank of the radiator, with an input and an output. One on the 90-93 Radiator, and two (one in each tank) on the 94-96. If the radiator is indeed a combination radiator/cooler, with 1/4 (or whatever percentage) of it dedicated to transmission cooling, we're missing a huge opportunity to convert that area to engine cooling capicity!

Do you have any diagrams or TSBs that show this... I couldn't find it in a quick glance at the FSM.

Heath

[AZhitman]

I don't think so... I could be wrong.

You're not really lacking any cooling capacity now as it is. Removing the trans lines and redirecting them to a supplemental cooler just means the radiator now only has one function: Coolant heat exchange.

[Q45tech]

The ATF heat exchanger is nothing but a tiny metal hose inside endtank at most 5" long and diameter of inlet pipe for ATF [Tiny and worthless] primari;y warms atf up to coolant temperature in winter and as coolant oveheats in summer 174>194>204> 214F the ATF goes along for ride.

Remember the passenger side end tank [input] is ~~ 15-20F hotter than the driverside end tank so in theory the early single tube [90-93] cooled better than the later where the the 2 in parallel AVERAGED the two temperatures.

[Q45tech]

Cooling is less about a radiater than about the volume of coolant. More volume is always better except for weight penalty.

BMW and MB usually use 40% more [than 10 quarts] for engines of the same displacement to dramatically increase reserve time for extreme weather.