Trans Temp

[ronw]

How important is it to know the temp of your Trans when driving or racing? Just want to know if I should include this gauge in with the rest. Thanks Ron

 

[theman440]

I have one in my racecar but never pay any attention to it (never gets hot) If you run an external cooler you should be fine. I think if you were towing it would be useful.

 

[493 Mike]

As I have all Auto Meter gauges I am going to use the coolant gauge for double duty. I bought a second sending unit and am installing switches to allow either sender to display on the same gauge. Trans temp is very important to trans life expectancy
Mike

 

[dvw]

The coolant gauge range is wrong. I do run 2 senders for oil temp, but one in the engine oil pan and one in the trans.
Doug

 

[Cranky]

Like engine oil, ATF performs best at it's normal operating range. Too hot is way worse than being too cold of course but getting up to temp is best.

http://www.txchange.com/heatchrt.htm

 

[66Satellite47]

My Satellite stays below 180 most of the time. The warmest I've gotten it was about 205 when street cruising at very low speeds in 95+ degrees. I never used a gauge in my old drag cars. Probably should have. When you get to rounds 4,5,6,7 it doesn't have time to cool down much, LOL. My Chev buddy with high power car & glide was about 220 all the time. That seems pretty high to me.

 

[Cranky]

The hotter an oil runs, the faster it breaks down. Synthetic is probably best to use if your temps consistently run on the high side.

 

[bm02tj]

It also depends on where you take temp from
pan , return from cooler or to cooler

 

[LemonWedge]

Taking the temp in the pan is nearly useless. you are measuring the fluid once it has gone through your cooler, not truly the temp of the transmission. Think about it, where does every engine coolant guage in the world measure at? Why would you look at the transmission any differently?

 

[dvw]

Taking the temp in the pan is nearly useless. you are measuring the fluid once it has gone through your cooler, not truly the temp of the transmission. Think about it, where does every engine coolant guage in the world measure at? Why would you look at the transmission any differently?

The difference is is you measure at the cooler (and I'm assuming cooler inlet/trans outlet) you are measuring converter temperature. Outlet to the cooler comes directly from the converter. The fluid pulled through the filter used to hold pistons and servos comes from the pan.
Doug

 

[2059]

Talked to Rick Allison of A&A about this, at length, when I picked up my trans for the 64' last summer. It is important to run a gage and know where you are. Now does that mean that you won't run the final round If it hit's 210*? Probably not however; is't good to keep an eye on it. I use a Derale' external unit and run about 160* normally and it bumps to 190* when I "play". As Cranky said, Synthetic is best, but expensive. It will tolerate 10-15* more heat before beginning to "strain" and breakdown over extended high operating temps. (220ish).

As for the sending unit; Ricks pans have two different boss locations in the pan to drill and tap for a sending unit. I'm not a big fan of electric ones so I used a tube unit. But clearly it's your choice. What DVW mentioned is also what A&A recommended. Run the sensor from the pan. I imagine the thinking is you want to know the temp of the fluid going into the unit.

 

[HT413]

I decided to measure my fluid before and after the cooler, with the idea being that I want to know the hottest the fluid gets, which is as it leaves the converter. I figure the max fluid temp is really what dictates how much it's breaking down. I also want to know how effective my cooler is, which is why I run the second sending unit - like others here, I put a switch inline that lets me select between the senders on a single gauge.

The setup allowed me to notice that my crazy loose old 4500 stall converter was getting my fluid up over 210* on the street, but that the cooler was getting it back to 170 or 180.. If I just had the temp sender in the pan, I'd never have known just how hot the fluid was getting.

The past couple of years I've been running a nearly stock B&M converter and the cooler shows 180* max temp and the cooler lowers it to about 160ish. Again, if I had just the sender in the pan, I would never have seen the difference on the hot side of 210 to 180, and would have only seen the 10 degree difference on the cool side in the pan.

 

[mopar 3 B]

Is there a preferred position in the pan? Presently it is in the back left corner. Also if takeing temperature from converter what fits in the pressure test port?

 

[HT413]

Is there a preferred position in the pan? Presently it is in the back left corner. Also if takeing temperature from converter what fits in the pressure test port?

Not sure about that one, I ran mine inline on the cooler lines themselves. Used couldn't find a nice setup from a manufacturer so I modified some brass plumbing tees, which I bored for proper clearance of the sender.

 

[Budnicks]

A little off topic somewhat, but some experiances I had

I know it's allot more of an extreme, than most here would ever do, BUT;

I know with a Trans-barake & 7"-7.5" 6000-7000rpm N20 converter,
I use to get the trans over 220*-240* on hot days,
nights not as bad, unless it was still 100*, but usually maybe 25*-30* less,
{the sending unit was in the pan, I didn't want any restrictions in the cooler lines},

Got really hot, especially while on the converter/brake waiting for the light,
for a long time {much slower cars in the other lane}

It smelt burnt, wouldn't last long, no matter who's fluid was used or
even using the 2500cfm {IIRC} fan assisted trans B&M cooler/combo that I used,
but synthetics like Torco, Redline etc., lasted a couple runs longer,
IMO seemed like it was a little better @ the heat tolerances, synthetics also would
maintain viscosity better/longer & line pressures higher &/or longer too...

But still eventually getting that nasty burnt smell, glaze parts in the trans,
if you weren't carful, albeit it was a professionally built Powerglide,
no expense spared & trick billet pieces, best we could get at the time...

Eventually I had a pump recirculated/removed the fluid out & too a cool can,
quick connect fittings etc., than routed into a 25 gal drum, it went thru a cool can,
I had made, with a copper coiled element, the can before the drum filled with ice
to help cool it down "quickly" when I had to go allot of runs in a day...

We had guys spraying the pan with N20 bottles when we didn't have time...
Not the smartest idea either...

BUT never had that issue "YET" {knock on wood} with my TF's,
but I don't run a tinny converter or a trans-brake right now either...

My Clutch-flite got hot allot in my altered, but it just had a round finned,
flow thru, B&M or Moroso {?} filter/heat sink/cooler...

I think a trans temp gauge is a good idea, can't hurt, it ain't that expensive either...

Good luck & Happy Moparing

 

[BBishere2]

I see Moroso makes a pan for te 727 with 2 drain plugs - one of which can be used for a temperature sending unit, plus it holds an additional quart of fluid, I believe.

 

[hangn0ut]

Clutchflights are cool.

 

[dvw]

Converter outlet temp is a function of converter slippage vs time. Sit on the converter long enough and it'll send the trans temp to the moon. What you want to know is if the cooler can get the fluid temp back to a usable range for the trans to function correctly. That would be pan temp.
Doug