In regards to this thread:Cost of running a DRY Getrag

OK, Got my truck home today from the tranny shop, grand total wound up being just under $2400 for all parts and labor!
She's running great! No slack in the shifter any more, no rattle from the transfer case lever, but I am going to have to get used to the feel of the new clutch, much stiffer than the stock one was.

OK now I would love to see pics of some of the ideas you guys were discussing in regards to a sight glass or dipstick for checking the tranny fluid level.
Lets make it a competition to see who has the best design and idea? Who knows, maybe you could get a place in the "Sticky" section next to the "Old Smokey Mount" or something....
If nothing else, I want a good idea on how to keep an eye on this! This is nothing I ever want to repeat, at least not for another 200,000 miles or more!

 

howsabout cutting a hole about 1/2"x4-5" in the side of the case and replace w/ lexan? saw it on biker build-off lastnight. rtv will obviously be needed.

 

This is one thing the Fast Coolers would be good for.

I think the clear tube between the drain and fill is a good low-buck alternative.

 

Wanna, but if you over-fill by a quart, isnt the "fill" opening now below the fluid level?

 

Yes. You'd have to use a couple of street elbows to get the hose to come up high enough. One straight up in the fill hole, one pointed back, then one pointed down. Probably simpler to weld a pipe stub onto the PTO cover near the top now that I think about it.

 

you dont really need the tube to be conected back to the case at the top...





all you need is the tube to run from the drain up higher than the tranny and put a cheap filter on it. the fluid will self level with the tube.

 

Good point.

 

what about the side PTO cover? maybe replace that with something clear? or at least partially?

 

lets se if this works!!!!


Ok this is my dip stick for checking the getrag w/over filled tranny. The wiring loom clamp, keep the dip stick till i need to check it again.
the wire is an old coat hanger, that i modifyed to become a dip stick. The red paint, to the left of the pen, in the photo, is the full line! I just dipped the bent wire in the freshly filled(over filled Getrag) and then ground a grove on the wire!
added the red paint when i check it, the secant time, to be able to read it better!

just slide it back in the loom and press on the clamp to hold it till the next time



pen pointing to the bolt that i removed to put the coat hanger,dipstick in to check the fluid!
EDIT that is the top bolt of the PTO cover!

 

I am too dumb to do a picture.

My current dipstick is a 1/2" X 3/4" street ell screwed into the fill-plug hole.

A three inch long pipe nipple screws into this street ell.

I drilled a hole in the center of a 3/4" pipe cap.

Welded a 1/4" rod in this hole for a dipstick.

I poured in four quarts, let it settle, and filed a ring around the dipstick at the "add one quart" level.

I added the fifth quart, let it settle, and filed a ring around the dipstick at the "FULL" level.

I still like my clear-tube from the bottom drain idea, and may implement it soon.

I explained it in detail in the mother thread to this discussion.

 

How about just pulling the plug once every week or two? Also, what helps the getrag is put a tranny cooler on it. I did one on mine and it runs 150 degrees pulling a trailer down the highway.. Also, I use 50 wt synthetic gear oil most of the year except when its cold then I swap to 5-30 synthetic.

 

ok I havent delt with thease trannys much...



but wear do you tap in to get high presser oil to run in a cooler? I thought this was just a splash oiled system.

 

Excellent advice mopar2ya. The G360 is a strange beast in that for some reason, at least some of them either generate too much heat or do not seem to shed the heat very well. I actually did a little experiment starting a couple months back to see what I could learn about it. You can follow the blow-by-blow in a thread called G360 heat study.

What I saw in mine after installing a temp gauge was that it seemed to run pretty hot (200 degrees) even unloaded. This could either be due to an inherent design flaw or something I later learned, that this could possibly be due to some assembly issues with too-tight shimming at the factory. Either way, the heat issue probably goes a long way to explaining why many of them didn't last very long. Combine that with a slow leak over time, and guess what? The ones that were properly assembled probably ran cooler and lasted longer.

Then after installing the Fast Coolers it ran about 40 degrees cooler. Go figure. But no matter what you do you gotta keep fluid in it.

 

I assembled mine on the tighter side ofthe spec (sill within, though) and it runs HOT! 30 minutes at 75 empty gets it to 230...a couple hours later she planed out at 245!!!

 

I don't think 50w oil is up to temp at 150*

You would probably gan a little hp with 5w30 all the time now you have such a grate cooler for you tranny!