Im thinking about buying a 97 expy and I will makeing a tow with a mustang and then later a 65 Buick. I was told that the trannys in the trucks shifted weak and could use a tranny cooler. I already have a tranny temp guage and cooler for the mustang but its not being used I figuer I would put it on the truck.
Question is where do I mount the temp sensor for the guage and is there anything special I should consider when installing the tranny cooler.
Thanks PAtrick

 

anyone on this

 

Many trucks set up for towing have a larger transmission cooler from the factory...example Class III. You can examine the cooler's measurement and number of plates in the stack. I've towed many, many times with the larger factory cooler without incident. My personal opinion on a towing combination would include an adequate cooler, a gauge, up to date maintenance (I prefer synthetic ATF), a mechanical shift kit or valve body, and a chip/tuner to remove the electronic limitations. You will get various opinions on the preferred location for mounting the gauge sender for accurate readings. The simple solution is to install it directly into the test port. Others believe the accuracy is better in the pan or the line before it enters the radiator. These areas require a bit more technical installation. If your cooler includes clamps, don't under or over-tighten them and check the connections routinely. Make sure that the cooler and the lines won't vibrate and touch anything.

 

If you tow then I would definately have a decent tranny cooler. I'm sure you've heard that heat is the main killer of transmissions. As for the guage i've never read or done anything as far a setting one up. When you see the tranny temp guage, you might freak out. It gets pretty hot, I mean real hot!

 

I have a 97 Expy, 5.4, 3.73 gears and tow package that includes tranny cooler. I tow a '56 ****** CJ-5 on a trailer so total trailer weight is 5,600 lbs then about 400 lbs worth of parts and gear in the Expy. I have a tranny temp gauge with the sender screwed into the test port on the driver's side of the tranny just above the pan. It's a 1/8" pipe plug that the sender screws into and with truck level only a minimal amount of fluid will come out (couple spoons full I guess). My tranny temps while pulling the trailer this summer never went over 160 degrees. I use Amsoil synthetic ATF and have a Banks Trans Command unit on the tranny. Individually the Amsoil and the Trans-Command each lowered my tranny temp slightly.
Last summer on a Sunday I pulled the ****** round trip 220 miles and the temp never went over 160 degrees and it shifted beautifully. On Tuesday the tranny started whining then slipping on a 5 mile empty drive with the tranny eventually totally failing as I coasted into my driveway. Had it rebuilt by a local Kennedy Transmission and the rebuilder told me what happened to mine and it's common on this year of E40D. There is apparently a large snapring (6"-8") that is common to let go at 80,000-120,000 miles. This let go and the large cluster of gears it held stationary started walking back and forth which toasted the torque converter. $1,900.00 is what it cost to rebuild with all known updates which included a redesigned snapring.