Greetings! I’ve come here today to pick the brains of people who know more than me. I am the mechanically inclined individual that has to work on all my friends cars, and one of them just purchased a 2004 TL with an automatic that appears to have the device linked below mounted to the top of the transmission in the spot that appears to be for a transmission oil warmer (never heard of that before, heard of coolers, but then again I’m a manual transmission kind of guy). In looking at exploded view diagrams online, it appears that the OE warmer originally had a couple of coolant lines running to it that may have been coming off the intake manifold area. Those lines appear to be gone now, perhaps having been routed back onto themselves, this thing has two lines running down the front of the transmission to the underside of the car. I’ve not had the car off the ground to confirm that, but I am suspecting there is an aftermarket oil cooler mounted behind the front bumper. The lines are not molded hoses and have cheap worm gear clamps on them, which I do not trust.

this vehicle was a confirmed one owner car, always serviced at the dealership, with impeccable records. The previous owner was getting on an age and sold the car for that reason. It certainly was not a younger, more spirited driver, so I’m imagining that the original warmer failed, and someone sold them this contraption as an option to save money, though it appears the OE unit is actually cheaper.

I personally feel that stock parts are usually better, especially when dealing with Japanese cars, and am pondering if there is any benefit to keeping this, or if it should be reverted to stock. If anyone has any experience with these, please give me some insight, with my thanks! Fred

Transmission cooler