[Blackberry]

Transmission fluid, filter, and install an oil cooler (bypass the radiator lines).

don’t bypass the radiator. This is almost always terrible advice. Adding an auxiliary cooler is helpful.

 

[Blackberry]

Only in very cold climates will it serve to warm the trans fluid, and that will take some time since the engine has to first come to operating temp to warm the coolant in the rad before it can warm the trans fluid.

many of our newer automatics and CVT transmissions have fluid warmers(and coolers). The main difference between a warmer and a cooler(because to some degree they both do both) is the cooler puts oil to water on the radiator side of the circuit where as the warmer puts the oil to the water on the cylinder head side of the circuit. The cylinder head/heater core side is all pre-thermostat so the water heats much more rapidly. When on the radiator side you have to wait until the engine is at full operating temp before warm water starts circulating.

As far as the fluid thermostat goes, some vehicles(such as pathfinder 2013-current)use this from the factory. The warmer is bolted to the transmission itself, then it uses a cooler in the radiator, then the fluid thermostat controls fluid flow to the auxiliary cooler.

 

[Blackberry]

And in regards to the KS bypass, I do not think I am going to undo it, considering the very low compression ratio/boost these engines are running, I believe knock is an incredibly unlikely event.

I helped a guy in Aurora, CO diagnose his engine problem. He had caused internal damage by running no knock sensor. He was using 85 octane but don’t be fooled. Operating at 5000+ feet helps prevent knock. You’re dropping in elevation and towing a trailer. Your engine is going to be experiencing more load than it’s probably ever seen. If you’re stuck on not installing a knock sensor than I would AT MINIMUM remove the resistor while you’re towing.

 

[Blackberry]

I have a few used OE distributors that are used for test/backup. Kind of a bummer that good parts are getting so hard to find. We’ve had ECMs discontinued on vehicles that it’s a common failure. Imagine having a worthless vehicle because it needs a computer that doesn’t exist. We’ve had mixed luck with “ECM repair” services.