Trans temp pegged!

[RPhCummins]

On a fairly tough pull over dirt/gravel roads pulling about 10,500 pounds of travel trailer, 4-wheelers, motorcycles and other toys I saw the trans temp go over 250F for a minute or two. This happened twice in the period of about 15 minutes. Both times after I got up the steep hill I was able to accelerate and watch the temp fall. The fluid is brand new. Any comments would be appreciated.



Thanks

Chet

 

[Todd T]

a more efficient torque converter... . no, actually if you think about what you were doing to that thing. slow, weighted down, unlocked and probably hot outside too. you had no air moving through it, the engine was building heat in the radiator and the transmission just couldnt cool fast enough.



maybe try a lower gear next time to keep the RPM's up a little. this will pull more air through the radiator.

 

[Silver Streak]

Over Heating

I also pull a big trailer ( 34' ft so heres what I did. I installed a

horton fan clutch, it made all the difference in the world.



Silver Streak

 

[danandamy]

If you encounter these situations often, you might consider an electric cooling fan mounted on the transmission cooler to help it out.



dan

 

[Snow man]

Chet. first thing Id do is put a Mag hytec double deep pan on it,this is an investment in your transmission,it should drop those temps over 20-40 degrees. If this isnt enough for you,Id consider a full trans upgrade,the ineffcient tc is heating up the fluid a lot on hillso ut of lockup,a better fluid coupling would drop those temps some.

 

[Extreme1]

Try low range if conditions permit, this would allow the TC to run at a higher, more effecient RPM. Or, pull it down into 2nd.



Also, test your fan clutch following the method in the service manual.

 

[Koa Man]

250* if measured at the hot line is not very high. I can see that quite often backing a trailer up a long driveway or creeping along a dirt road with a big load. My trans temp gauge goes to 350* and I saw the gauge go a little past that when my original transmission line blew. That happened Jan of last year. Trans worked well till May of this year when everything broke. Have a fully loaded transmission by one of the big 3 now.

 

[RHARVEY]

I thought that temps of that amount for any period of time can do some serious damage... .



Rick

 

[Koa Man]

High temps destroy fluid life very quickly. Never saw temps over 260* except for that one time. I thought my transmission was destroyed when the line blew and the temp gauge just sky rocketed. My normal trans line temp while driving is between 140-190*. Because I tow and carry heavy loads almost daily, I change my transmission fluid and filter every 6000 miles. (Every other oil change. ) I can usually get about 11 quarts out.

 

[redramnc]

Koa Man,

Do you unbolt the VB to let it drain, hence the 11 quarts? Or do you have another method? Do the aftermarket TCs have a drain plug like my old 727 non-lockups? Also, where is your temp sender located, in the output line or somewhere else?



Sorry for all of the questions but I need to bomb my trans and replace the lines. I think I will get the 95 replacement lines and put the sender in the out port. Info appreciated... .

 

[Koa Man]

My sender is in the '95 replacement line that I got when the original line blew. I do not unbolt the vb. I remove the sender in the line and it drains the coolers very well. I do not have the check valve in the line. The old Dunrite TC that I had did not have the drain plug. The new ATS that I now have does. I only have 500 miles on my new trans so I can't say how much I will be able to drain out of this one.