Saved up questions

[rgreen]

I haven't been hauling much untill this year and have been saving up some questions.

1: I have a trans temp gauge send intalled in the trans out line to he cooler. Temps good in third or OD but on steep hills in city or where I am forced into second the temps seem to climb steadily from 160 or so to 250(the max on the gauge and beyond. Suggestions?? We are pulling a fifth wheell of 13,200 . lbs.

2: After a long haul I notice a light misting of oily substance on both front wheel rims. Just a dusting and all fluid levels seem normal. Is this normal?

I am running afe -4 in the transmission.

Ron

 

[rgreen]

By wwy hill climbing at arround 2200 rpm hen in second. EGTs and boost fine. Seems to haul well.

 

[Dieselnerd]

The oil gets hot fast on the way to the cooler but the fluid in the trans is not all at that temperature. Of course if it remained that hot in the hot line for an extended period of time it would also heat the rest of it up. In my 2nd gen truck it did the same thing when parking or pulling a long hill with the TC Clutch unlocked. The reason people take the temp at the hot line is because of the fast response to changes. If you were sampling in the pan your gauge would hardly move under the same conditions. As long as it cools down as soon as you are on the level again I doubt there is a problem.



As far as the front wheels, if its a reddish brown color it's brake dust from your front pads. Normal, especially when towing which makes the brakes work harder.

 

[pwr2tow]

When I had my 99 I installed a myster switch to lock the TC up in 2nd gear. That pretty much kept things under control as far as temperature goes. Some one else would be better qualified as to the install of such switch, maybe they will chime in for yah.

 

[Boondocker]

2: After a long haul I notice a light misting of oily substance on both front wheel rims. Just a dusting and all fluid levels seem normal. Is this normal?

I am running afe -4 in the transmission.

Ron

This could be oily vapor from the crankcase blow-by. Have you checked your breather bottle lately? If any oil is getting out of the bottle (very likely), then your engine is probably blowing all over the place. Not only does this make a grungy mess of your engine, it will cake into the radiator fins, reducing cooling ability. If that's the case, buy a gallon of your favorite degreaser, spray, and pressure wash. Then you can read dozens of threads about relocating the breather bottle.

 

[Prairie Dog]

My first gen, my old chev 6. 2 and to a lesser degree my third gen, all sooted up the front wheels too, I think its just normal air flow arround the truck at speed.

As for your transmission temps, a good aftermarket torque converter would help things out a lot.



Scotty

 

[jelag]

I think I read on the TDR that once your transmission oil temp exceeded 250 degrees the life of the oil was cut in half. . and once it got over 325 degrees the oil was damaged and excessive transmission wear would start... . I don't own any automatics except for a 93 Ford 350... all the rests are sticks... my BIL runs a auto and pulls a heavy 5th wheel... . he installed an extra cooler... and has the extra pan with the tubes... on a hard pull he never gets much over 225 degrees... .



I suggest you either find the thread or article in the TDR. . as I've made mistakes before... or go to any of the oil companies web sights and see what they say about heat break down of the oil... . I personally think your in a very gray area...



BTW my 04, 3500 dually now has 185K miles pulling trailers over 15,000 lbs... today I scaled the trailer and truck... 33,000 lbs... so I try to understand towing... .

 

[bmoeller]

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