Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) transmission Temps...problems??

[ASimpson]

Alright Here Is Whats Going On Try To Keep It A Short As Possible Hoping Some Of You Will Let Me Know What You Think. back In Oct. 05 I Had My transmission Rebuilt And Pretty Much The Guy Lied To Me And Screwed Me Over And 4000 Miles Later The transmission Was In Another Shop Being Completely Rebuilt Again. This Time The Guy Did Use A Billet Triple Disc Converter I Seen It With My Own Eyes. transmission Ran Great Shifted Good No Problems At All Until About 2 Or 3 Months Ago I Started Noticing In The Mornings It Didnt Want To Move After I First Put It In Gear. If I Waited 5 To 10 Seconds It Went On Fine Ran Great. i Asked The Guy To Look At It He Did Replaced The Torque Converter. Got It Back Noticed It Was Still Doing It But Not As Bad. Took It Back Again This Time He Went Through The Valve Body Again Cleaned It Made Sure Nothing Was Stuck Things Like That And I Want To Mention That This Guy Has Been Super Nice Through All Of This And Has Bent Over Backwards Trying To Help Me Even Though Its Been Out Of Warranty Since The First Time I Took It Back Hes Never Charged Me Another Dime. Back To My Problem So I Get It Back Go On Vacation It Runs Great Shifting Good I Have A Temp Gauge Which I Watch Going Down The Interstate 160 - 170 Degrees No Problems Until I Pull Into A Gas Station To Let Everybody Goto The Bathroom Leave The Truck Running While We Take Turns Going Because The Little One Is Asleep In The Back Seat. I Go Last Come Back Out The Gauge Is Sitting Between 210 And 220 Get It Back On The Highway After A Few Minutes Back Down To 170 - 180. But Stop And Go Traffic 210 To 220 . Get Back Home Take It Back To The Guy To Check Flow He Tells Me According To What His Manual Says Its Pumping Nearly Twice As Much As Minimal Flow But Since The Converter Had Come Apart After The First Guy Rebuilt It Causing Everything To Get Real Hot And Burn Some Of My Internals We Should Maybe Put A New Cooler On It And Honestly I Didnt Figure It Would Hurt Anything Since It Did Take A While To Flush When He Rebuilt It So I Bought A Permacool Cooler For A Dodge Cummins Put It On And Move My Gauge To The Hot Line Like I Read On Here To Do. So Here Is What Ive Got Now These Temps Are Empty Truck Only Within 5 Mile Of My House 150 Degrees Running Down The Freeway 160 To 170 At First Stop Light It Will Climb To 190 Then Cool Back To 170 Or So After A Few Miles Second Stop Light It Might Get To 200 Back Down To 170 To 180 After A Few Miles Then Pull Into Work Or Home After A Couple Of Close Stop Signs 190 To 200 If I Let It Set In Drive While Truck Cools Down It Climbs Up To 210 To 220 Ive Never Let It Go Past 220 Either Put It In Neutral Or Shut It Off. This Morning It Was At 180 When I Pulled Into The Parking Spot Within Four Minuts It Was Up To Almost 220. Is This Normal Am I Worrying For Nothing Or Do I Have A Problem Up Untill Within The Last Month My transmission Never Got This Hot. Sorry For The Long Posts But Please Give Me Any Advice You Have. Thanks For The Help Adam

 

[ASimpson]

I Kn Ow The transmission Temp Thing Has Been Posted A Million Times But Does Anyone Have Any Comments ?? Thanks Adam

 

[59Turbo]

When you say let the truck cool down is the trans in drive? If it is that's why it's getting hot. Alot of heat coming from the converter. Was the v-body modified to allow flow in park? If not it has to be in neutral for flow. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. As far as the delayed engagement, I'm not sure if the diesels have a check valve in the cooler line or not. I don't have my truck here to check. I know the gassers do because the converter drains back into the pan overnight causing the delay.

 

[Diesel Nut]

Sounds like it is operating correctly to me. You may need a larger cooler, but that depends. You are reading the temp as it is leaving the transmission goint to the cooler. We don't know the temp of the oil coming out of the cooler, or the temp of the oil in the pan.

Here's the deal. When you went with a performance converter, it is tighter. The fluid coupling is more efficant in that the converter is trying to turn the transmission. So, at a stop at idle on the brakes that converter wants to go. You are shearing the fluid and flow is minimal. You notice that when you drive it drops. Try this - make tha same loop and put it in nuetral at stop lights. Not stop signs, but if you aere going to sit for a bit, slipit in nuetral. I bet your temps drop.

 

[ASimpson]

You Are Correct When I Put It In Neutral At Lights Im Not Gonna Say It Drops Fast But It Doesnt Get Hot Like In Drive. 59 Yes He Did Change The Valve So It Circulates In Park. Im Hoping These Temps Are Ok But Just Worried After All The Stuff Ive Been Through With This transmission Lately Thanks For The Replies Guys. Just Not Sure How Hot Is Too Hot ?

 

[ASimpson]

Well Took Your Advice This Morning On My Way To Work Neutral At All Lights And When I Pulled Into The Parking Lot I Put It In Neutral Also For About 3 Minutes Before Shutting Down. it Didnt Get Any Hotter In Neutral But Didnt Cool Down Any Either Or Not Enough To Move The Gauge Much Anyway. Also On The Freeway Today At 65mph It Was Running Real Close To 190 The Entire Way Anyslower Driving At Say 45mph Or Less Or Any Stopping And The Gauge Climbs Pretty Fast ???????? Sorry To Be A Bother With This Guys Just Trying To Get It Figured Out. . Thanks

 

[ASimpson]

ok im pretty sure ive got a problem today driving home on the freeway running 60 to 70 the transmission gauge didnt stop at 160 like normal if finally stopped between 190 and 200 and creeped higher every time i had to stop for any amount of time. any ideas what can cause the transmission to get this hot besides a bad converter or plugged line??????? stuck valve something else anyone with an idea im open to anything. thanks adam

 

[BRowley]

It sounds like the transmission is coming apart inside. What's going on is the clutches that first got hot and ruined, that did not get changed out the first time ( what I take from your original post ) is starting to slip more and more, hence the heat. The bad news is if this is the case, and you just put on another torque converter without rebuilding all of the transmission. All of the material that keeps sluffing off the cluthes are circulating all through the transmission and your brand new torque converter. I've been told that once this happens, you need to replace everything at the same time. So if you do rebuild the transmission, you will probably want to replace everything again, because now the torque converter is contaminated. Hopefully, it's something else, but it sounds just like what my transmission started to do, until it gave up the ghost.

 

[ASimpson]

The transmission Was Completely Rebuilt After It All Came Apart All The Usual Stuff Clutches And Things Plus Some Hard Parts Sun Gears And Something Else I Believe. I Dont Think Its Got That Far Again Yet Ive Had The Lines Off Twice In The Last Week New Cooler And Putting Sender In The Hot Line Caught Over A Gallon Of Fluid In A Clear Container Didnt See Any Dirt Or Contamination. I Have Noticed Now That When I Stop And Put It In Neutral It Doesnt Cool Down Much Sometimes I Think The Gauge Goes Higher ??? It Bites Cause Now I Cant Get Out Anywhere And Leave The Truck Running For Fear It Will Cook The transmission. . Thanks For All The Advice So Far And Please Keep It Coming If Anyone Has Any Ideas.

 

[Hooty222]

Hello, I have the same deal with mine... ... I rebuilt mine myself, Best parts from SONNAX (transmission parts company) TCI converter. by stock xmission tore up the stock conv. put all back together does the non ingage at first (Possible my the removal of stock check valve at water to oil cooler by engine... ) Although I also put in a remote oil filter and it has a check valve in it by design... anyway my truck does it still. . I have noticed high temps Unloaded (like yours) When towing my transmission go hot enough to pull out of overdrive..... Thought that the stock air oil cooler was clogged (according to Forum) so just lately just put on permacool HD (One for dodge) Only noticed a small change, haven't towed with yes my unloaded dosent look good. Oh yea I also have that RED Alto Clutches in my transmission, and my sensor is in on the output of the transmission... . All that to say you are not alone. . My Mechanic skills are great but this problem I live with daily... I KNOW I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT . Is It the TCI conv???

Bob Stierheim

 

[Hooty222]

Oh yea another thing,, The way I measure the temp is by using a "dip stick" sensor hose clamped and wrapped with insulation at the output of the transmission. thought at first that it may not work, but so far so good. to me though if it was a bad install it would read cooler than it really was... . If you are doing the same trick may be the temps taking longer to cool down is because of getting the heat from the length of the aluminum cooling line ... ... maybe

 

[JR2]

If it helps I have a DTT transmission with the sensor in the Hot line. If I let my truck sit in gear the temp will climb to about 180-200. Driving down the road it will be about 100. This is what the ambient temp at 60 degrees.



Yours runs hot, but my buddy with an ATS does about the same as yours.

 

[ASimpson]

i talked with a guy today that is pretty well known by many in the diesel world here is what he told me the temps im running are no cause to worry even if i was seeing 250 running loaded all the time he wouldnt be concerned just as some of you have said this is the hottest place we can test the fluid and without a gauge also on the cooler return who knows how long it is actually staying at the temps we are seeing. his final note was if you want piece of mind put synthetic fluid in it and throw the gauge away if we get synthetic hot enough to hurt it 350 or so you wont have to worry about a gauge because the seals will be melted by then. so i can finally sleep tonight thanks for everyones advice. adam