Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Transmission overheat Question?--stop and go traffic--

[RDuncan]

I have a 96 with and automatic, the transmission was rebuilt a year ago along with an upgraded valve body and torque converter. The transmission works great while towing on the highway, hills, or whatever. Towing my 28 ft Prowler in stop and go traffic it can get pretty hot, I know stop and go traffic is hard on any transmission(Los Angeles) but it makes me nervous when the gauge gets near 220* . I do have a mag hy tec deep dish pan which I thought might help but it didnt. I avoid towing in stop and go but I'm 10 miles from a freeway so any trip begins and ends in traffic. ---any thoughts thanks

 

[Cosmo]

Well, the extra deep pan will only delay the fluid getting hot.

I found the same thing with mine, stop and go roasts these things. Best bet is to get an electric fan on a remote cooler.

 

[DavidC]

I put mine in neutral in those situations when stopped. The tight torque converter tends to heat things up.

Dave

 

[RustyJC]

On my 1996, I added a large oil-to-air cooler in the hot fluid line of my transmission between the transmission and the radiator transmission cooler inlet. This serves 2 purposes:



1. It dumps a lot of heat in the transmission fluid to atmosphere before it reaches the coolant in the radiator, thus decreasing the coolant temperature increase during stop-and-go driving.



2. It reduces the transmission fluid temperature itself, obviously.



Please note; the cooler manufacturers advise installing the oil-to-air coolers in the return line from the radiator transmission cooler to the transmission. This will give slightly lower transmission fluid temperatures than my method above but won't help as much with the coolant temperature rise which was the primary problem with my 1996 V-10/47RE dually when towing a 5th wheel in stop-and-go conditions.



Rusty

 

[BLNRAY]

if you are using good oil, not just whats on sale,almost 220 for short periods should not be a problem

 

[cerberusiam]

Using ATF+4 and doing the usual change interval, 220 degrees is well within its operational zone. Really no cause for worry. If you spend a lot of time doing that an aux cooler with a fan should bring it down to a more acceptable temp. You have updated internals and better presure so just make sure any check valves are removed and the aux coole ris a good option.