Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Banks power pack on 01 24V - Heat and Trans Q's

[CTremble]

Thank you for reading and offering your experience...



01, 2500, 24V, 4X4 - Stock rear end and stock Trans.



last spring I installed a new Banks Power Pack boosting HP by 145 hours (Claimed by Banks) and +288 ft-lbs of torque (Again - claimed by Banks)



I see a drastic improvement al around to include pulling power, Gas Mileage (OK - Diesel Mileage) and all around power.



I have two concerns though and both were noticed through out camping season last year. I should point out here that the truck is a dedicated piece of equipment in my camping gear pulling a 14k lb 5th wheel @ 30 feet.



1. Heat: I find that on longer hills I have the power to climb but find that the temperature climbs too. I do not get any drop in HP or torque but my high heat light comes on and that concerns me. I back off to allow the heat to come back down but would like to add a solution. Help?



2. Trans: as mentioned it has the stock trans. I am sure the trans was not engineered to handle the +145HP so have considered several options. with the max HP gain is it neccesary to jump into a $3500 Suncoast high performance trans or will the stock trans be OK with a larger Magtech pan and an upgrade into a billet torque converter?



Anyone else go the route that I have?



Also added to the truck is a FASS DDR fuel pump.



Any and all comments are welcome.

 

[JLandry]

1. Heat: I find that on longer hills I have the power to climb but find that the temperature climbs too. I do not get any drop in HP or torque but my high heat light comes on and that concerns me. I back off to allow the heat to come back down but would like to add a solution. Help?

Welcome to the TDR Forum (your first post)!

This is a common problem and you probably just need to clean the radiator externally. Over time oil vapors from the crankcase breather (which is located on the front of the engine) apparently mix with road grime, bugs, dust, and plant matter, then this lovely mixture gets lodged in the radiator fins. If you take a look at the engine side of the radiator, you'll be able to see this as a layer of black fuzz. It builds up over time so that a large portion of the radiator becomes completely blocked.

The best way to deal with it is to completely remove the radiator and then carefully pressure wash it from both sides (don't overdo it and blast it apart). Removing the radiator isn't difficult, especially if you've done it before. A challenging part is getting the darn windshield washer fluid and coolant overflow bottles out first because they're sort of locked in by bulges molded into the plastic. There's sort of a trick to dislodging them using long screw drivers... it helps to have another set of hands... one to pry with the screwdrivers and one to pull up on the bottle. You'll understand if you take a look at how they're mounted.

Alternatively, you can buy (or make) a wand to spray a pressurized jet of water through the radiator from the engine side with the radiator and fan still installed. CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE OF THE TOOL. While this works, it won't do as good a job as removing the radiator completely and pressure washing. The wand is probably effective for maintaining an otherwise clean radiator though.

Anyway, I had a similar cooling problem with my truck when pulling a heavy travel trailer up steep grades at lower speeds. Cleaning the radiator completely cured it. I couldn't believe how much crap came out from the fins when I pressure washed it... it was huge pile. Now I keep an aluminum window screen covering the entire AC condenser / radiator area to prevent bugs from lodging in the cooling fins. Works great! I also relocated the crankcase breather bottle down from the front of the engine to the truck frame to hopefully keep the oily vapors further from the radiator.

I am sure the trans was not engineered to handle the +145HP

You're absolutely right about that. I can't tell you what you need to do... there are transmission experts you can call for that info. But you're definitely shortening the life of the transmission with increased HP and torque.

Best regards,

John L.

 

[georgej]

Is the high temp light indicating radiator temperature or transmission heat. There is a transmission warning light that should trip at, as I remember 240* ,and if your torque converter is slipping or not in lockup the transmission will overheat. I've never had the transmission light come on so I'm not sure where it is in the instrument cluster. I think the owners manual says.

I've have some mild upgrades to my truck and could overpower the stock TC. So I went with a suncoast converter and valve body about 40k miles ago and it works great towing our 12. 3k Alpenlite

 

[DWest]

Trans

When I bought mine new in 2002 I added an Edge EZ which was to have added 50 hp and about 90 ft. lbs of tq. it handeled this okay but a few moths later I put in a set of rv injectors for about another 30 hp and it sarted to slip. At that point it had 18,000 miles. So I replaced the TC. in the trans and the valve body and it held till 108,000 miles. The stock trans. will not take much over stock. Also with more fueling and less push on the pedal your throttle position sensor doesn't tell the trans. to raise pressures fast enough so the old saying drive it like you stole it comes into play. Don't feather the throttle. DWest

 

[CTremble]

Thank you for everything so far.



The temp light (not so much a temp light but a light on dash that reads "Check Gauges" followed by that warning "DING" sound (Yuck)



I look down and engine temp is well into red. Now mind you - this is going up hill, on extended hills (No, not the mountains or anything, just typical hyway hills here in MI) and pulling the 5th wheel up the hill @ 70MPH. engine gets down right hot. once over the hill (or if i slow to 50) the temp will creep back down to the 190 mark.



Never had the trans idiot light say anything to me so I do not believe it is that. Also - never had any slipping of the trans or such. Only trans related issue since upgrade is when I have cruise set, and truck comes under load (maybe a small hill where cruise needs to bump MPH up 3-4 marks) i'll get s shudder. cancel cruise and bring speed up myself solves shudder but I assume that is the stock TC slipping.



Anyway - keep those suggestions coming - this is all good stuff!



BTW: I compared the Banks TC side by side to the Suncoast TC (the internet is a wonderful tool) and apart from the Banks having a red face the two are identical (Oh, and the Banks is $450. 00 more. )



V

 

[macdaddy]

CT.....

If your going to run the kind of horse power your running with 7 tons of fiver, you will make fast work of your stock transmission. You had better get a performance transmission waiting and sitting on the work bench ready to go.



I had similar mods done to my 99 but with less Hp gains and less trailer weight and my stock 47RE was toast after 23K miles. I have dealt with the Banks people here in so cal and they are more than eager to bolt this power on with little regard for the trans and associated drivetrain components.



Do your self a favor and be proactive and start setting aside cash for a complete transmission upgrade from a performance transmission builder like Goerand,DTT, ATS, or Suncoast because your transmission going to fail. I had a ATS. Dont try do build the transmission in stages, but rather buy a complete unit.



Mac