Thread: R380 oil cooler on V8 but not on 300tdi?

Hi All,

Were gearbox oil coolers a factory option on the 300tdi? My 1997 V8 has one but my 1996 300tdi doesn't.
If they're essentially the same box why would one have one and not the other?

I haven't had a good lock yet but I'm assuming there is plugged up oil holes on the 300tdi R380 so I can retro fit a cooler. I would like to tow occasionally loads nearing 2T.

Thanks,
Rez

I have had two manual 300Tdi's first a '97 and now a '98 neither have had transmission coolers.
The reason, and I'm not 100% sure of this, that the V8 has a tranny cooler is the higher horsepower output of the V8 possibly.
For example I had heard that a few years back Holden had changed the type of oil used to lubricate the BW T5 manual gearbox to synthetic oil, that same gearbox could be fitted to both V6 and V8 powered vehicles and because the V8 had potential to work the box harder the factory "uprate", (synthetic oil), was done to keep the T5 working in the V8's.
I really could not see the cooler being necessary on the R380 gearbox itself but from experience I think the transfer case might benefit from a cooler or higher spec oil, the heat build up is pretty phenomenal in some circumstances.