Oil, Transmission and Power Steering Cooler Recommendations for 2003 Acura MDX  

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Expert Reply:

Yes, the aftermarket coolers we sell will provide comparable performance to dealer-installed supplementary coolers. The oil, transmission and power steering coolers we offer are intended to supplement, but not to replace, the standard OEM equipment on a passenger vehicle when it is faced with the demands of towing. The good news is that we offer a number of combination coolers, ones that feature dual cores to allow two different fluids to be cooled simultaneously within one common housing.

I urge you to check your owners manuals for your vehicle and your hitch to verify their tongue weight (TW) and gross towing weight (GTW) capacities to ensure these are not exceeded.

The general protocol for supplementary cooling systems is: #1 priority is engine oil; #2 is transmission fluid and #3 is power steering fluid. Of course, you are free to cool all three fluids if you wish and if you can find suitable space within the engine compartment to mount multiple coolers. If you wish to cool oil, transmission fluid and power steering fluid, you could use one large combination cooler for oil and transmission fluids, and add a second smaller cooler to handle the power steering fluid.

I suggest you take a look at the two included FAQ articles concerning transmission coolers. These will give you useful background about the classes and types of construction available and help you decide where best to put your resources.

Coolers are not vehicle-specific; you can use as large a cooler as will fit within the space available in front of your air-conditioning condenser (right behind the grille). This is usually the best place to locate your main add-on cooler. You can measure the space available in front of the A/C condenser and then select an appropriately-sized cooler to fit within this space by using the search filter on the left hand side of our product pages.

A good example of a combination cooler is the Derale Combination Transmission/Engine Oil Cooler Core, part # D13322. This installs with the Derale Dual Hose Transmission Cooler Installation Kit, part # D13064.
You will also need a kit to relocate your oil filter mount, since you will be re-routing your oil to one half of the combination cooler. Your MDX can use the Derale Oil Filter Relocation Kit - 20 mm x 1.5 mm, part # D15718, which includes all fittings, hoses and clamps. (Please note that you will need to use a different oil filter that matches the relocation kit, such as Fram part # PH8 or PH8A.) If you wish to add a power steering fluid cooler you can use the Derale 4-Pass Tube-Fin Power Steering Cooler, part # D13212 (provided you can find space to fit this unit which measures 8-1/8 x 5 x 3/4 inches). We also offer power steering fluid coolers in other shapes that might provide an easier fit, such as the Derale Dyno-Cool Tube-Fin Power Steering Cooler, part # D12213, which measures 9-1/8 x 2-1/2 x 3/4 inches. The shape of the cooler is not important to its performance, only to the ease of installation.

expert reply by: Adam R

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