I recently installed an AutoMeter Tranny Temp gauge in my 4r70w using the diag port on the side. Since I installe dit I've been seeing temps in the 150 - 165 range on ~80 F days and as high as 180 on 90+ F days - does this sound about right? These temps are driving under normal conditions (I live in a "foot hill" region with some small mountains) and an empty load. I'm asking now, because I do have a 6300 GVWR Travel Trailer that I plan on pulling to FLA this July and I really don't want to spoil my trip with a failed tranny.

I thought about adding a fan to the stock cooler (not part of the h2o radiator) and either running it on a temp controlled switch or manual switch. I've looked around and just thought I could purchase a muffin fan at Northern Tools - it's about the right size and has 7 blades, so I would guess that it would provide enough air to cool the cooler.

Any thoughts? Are my temps OK? Would the Muffin Fan work?

Muffin Fan from Northern Tools

Thanks,
- Mark

 

Sounds about right to me. What I've noticed on mine is that once the trans gets up to 180*, it pretty much stays there towing or not. While in stop and go traffic, it might creep up a tad more, but I've not seen any temp greater then 195* even in 90* heat and in traffic on mine......

Good luck!

 

The switch on the Troyer performance transmission cooler is set to come on at 180 degrees and off at 170 degrees. That is suppose to be the best operating temp for our transmissions.

If you are going to pull a trailer a fan is a good idea. Since you have a temp gage hooked up, a manual switch should be just fine. You could put on an inline thermostat but I don't know where to find one that will fit the stock external cooler.

The fan cooled kit I just installed is sold by Troyer Performance and is made by Derale. It has an in-line thermostat. I checked and it would not fit to my factory auxiliary cooler but there may be other models available from Derale that will fit.
Good luck.

 

Those temps look normal when compared to mine. I think the muffin fan will not spin fast enough to help. I think that the amount of air getting to the cooler now is more than the fan will generate which means that the muffin fan will actually be blocking airflow. A larger cooler would be the better way to go or switch to Amsoil fluid which should show you a cooler tranny if it works like it did for me.

 

http://www.tciauto.com/tech_info/tra...expectancy.htm

 

I was just thinking the fan would help in stop-n-go traffic. On the open road, i would agree that the normal air flow would cool just fine. After reviewing several tranny cooolers with fans, I noticed that they only push ~400 CFM, which is not a lot to begin with. I'm not sure how much this fan actually pushes, but it shoudl be enough to add additional air flow for slow speeds.

- Mark

 

For example a 12v, 4 11/16" muffin fan running 3,000 RPM drawing .5 amp will give in the area of 107 CFM. Run it at 3,100 RPM and get 108 CFM. A 12v, 6 1/2" oscillating type fan will put out 260 CFM but I don't know at what RPM they run.
Before going thru all the wiring and mounting maybe zip tie one of the fans to your front bumper for a day or 2. I think that when your going down the road the incoming air will make that fan spin faster than the motor than can which could ruin the motor. I'm just throwing out posssiblities and have no direct experience with it. I think the tranny coolers with fans mounted to them are for being placed in areas where air doesn't directly get to.

 

This past weekend I installed a temp gauge and tapped the cooler lines at the radaitor. Needless to say the temp barely registers.

Where did you guys locate your senders? Did you need any special adapters? I looked for the diagnoistic port, however the driver side has one plug which looks like its on a solenoid casting and the passenger side has three or four. Where can I hook up?

BTW - I have the Autometer gauge and sender.

 

crashz,

Which line did you tap into? It should have been the one that goes to the top of the rad. This is the trans output line.

That's where I put mine, using a 3/8" brass "T" I got from Home Depot as well as other assorted pieces to complete the splice into the rubber hose section of the line.

Mine really does not move until the outside temps get over 60*..... Then it'll only register around 135* at the most.....

Once it gets over 70* outside, it'll usually run at 150* for the most part while cruising down the highway. In stop and go traffic, it'll go up a bit more, but cool right down once some air starts flowing thru the grill.

If you really want to see it climb, put it in reverse and go up an inclined driveway with some load on it!

Good luck!

 

Mitch - thats exactly what I did. However I located the brass T contraption only a few inches away from the top connection on the radiator. If I drive for a while in city traffic, the gauge will barely touch the first incriment (100 degrees F). Do you think I located to far away from the tranny? Where in line did you attach yours?

 

crashz,

Mines down near the front cross member. It's the part of the line that has the little rubber hose section for vibration purposes I guess..... It's only about 2 or 3 feet less then where yours is located.

I just cut it in half and using a barbed hose fitting on the T for the first connection, then ran an additional 12" loop of hose to finish the connection using a splice fitting for the other end.

I don't know if it matters or not, but I did align the T so that the sensor was facing down so that gravity would at least allow the fluid to touch the sensor all the time....

I also ran a separate ground wire directly to the T and attached it to the sheet metal cross member for the rad, so it's only about 6" of ground wire......

 

Hmm - maybe thats my problem. The brass T is not grounded at all. In fact its kind of isolated by the rubber hose. I'll give that a try tonight and let you know. Thanks!

 

That's the problem if it's an electrical gauge....

If it's mechanical, then you don't need to ground it.

That's what actually happened to me when I first hooked it all up too........ I have a water temp gauge as well, and tapped into the heater hose, so it was not grounded either. Once I did ground it, there was my temp!

 

I grounded it and it seems to be working well. It will reach 150 degrees F in city traffic and cool back down to about 130 degrees on the highway. I haven't done anything to really tax the truck yet. Thanks!