OT: Colling pipe sleeve add on?

[Tiger]

Hey Guys,
I need to pick your brains. I got an Acura MDX and the ATF and power steering cooling system is basically a pipe... zero fin on it and very accessible. Now that I added a tow hitch, I'd like to make that pipe more cooling efficient by adding some sort of metal fins without blocking air to the condenser and radiator... they are both in front of radiator and condenser.

I know factory has kit to replace those pipes with the one a bit longer but seems to be a sleeve fin on it...sort of look like those electrical split sleeve thing... still zero traditional radiator fin.

So the question is... do you know anywhere I can get those metal sleeve to slip onto these cooling pipes? I just hate to fork over $700... $400 part and $300 labor for something that is not radically different. but merely 'extra' cooling capacity. I don't want to install aftermarket cooler... why?
.

[Tiger]

I'll tell you why. In order to change any of the two coolers, you have to take out the entire front bumper assembly. But I can slip my hand inside it to add something simple for effective cooling power increase.

I am almost thinking of cutting out old refrigerator fins and safety wired it onto those cooling tube

[Tiger]

BimmerED... why do you have limitation on how long of a post you can write at one time? Everytime I write a long one... It never get posted... if I split it, it post right away. This is annoying!

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

not as urgent if your towing, but I'd worry more about the trans over heating.

Add one of those trans coolers inline to the system. $50 to $80 .

[gale]

Can you tap into one of the lines on the tranny end? An aftermarket cooler would really be the best solution. I doubt you'd get good thermal coupling thru slip-on fins if they're not firmly swaged to the stock cooling tube. At worst, the slip-on fins could actually obstruct air flow over the stock tube and have a detrimental effect, where it would be better off with just the stock tube. Does the Honda Pilot use the same MDX style slip-on fins for their towing package?

If you don't want to mess with a different cooler, then you'd be just as well off to use a premium grade full synthetic ATF and change the fluid & filter twice as often.

What are you planning on towing? May not be that big a deal if you downshift when pulling hills.

[Tiger]

Yah... Pilot use the same pipe. If you look at the front hood... you will see a long tube on the bottom... that's ATF... and upper passenger side angling upward is power steering fluid cooler.

The replacement of the actual unit without any obstructions is so damn easy... Both Pilot and MDX need to take out bumper cover to get to it... Taking a look at the installtion... it is not so bad...

http://www.hondapartsdeals.com/HondaInstallGuides/Pilot/atfpsfluidcoolers.pdf

But again... sheesh! Seems easy enough... I'll just do it myself... Ya know... you really never take apart a fairly new car... heh...

[Tiger]

Towing a trailer of course... The point is moot because Honda/Acura requires these to be installed... and we have extended warranty on the truck so we want to keep the warranty alive. No excuse for Acura to deny the warranty.

I just installed the Acura Tow Hitch and wire harness... quite a job... but I would not buy aftermarket hitch... Acura/Honda hitch is a monster with 12 bolts! compared to 6 max for aftermarket units and only 1 out of 6 or so actually have the center mount... which is critical.