Just installed a trans. temp gage, 02 Ram 3500 CTD auto.We pull a 35' 5'er 13000#,what kind of temp can I expect to see and what is best to do if it starts to go up? Thanks Jerry

 

I normally see 140-160 in normal driving conditions. On a very hot day in stop and go traffic mine has shot up above 200 which is danger level. The two best ways that I have found to cool the tranny is to pull over and put it in park, or make sure that your TC is locked up at a good cruising speed. If neither of those help you, you need to either install an aftermarket tranny cooler and/or a deep dish pan which will hold a few more quarts of fluid.

 

Generally speaking, it produces less heat when the torque converter is locked up, and third gear will produce less heat than overdrive (because third gear is direct drive). If temps start creeping up, lock out overdrive and keep a steady speed so the converter stays locked.

Low speed maneuvers like backing a trailer are big heat producers due to the torque multiplication, so afterward you may want to idle the truck in neutral until the transmission cools. In park, the fluid doesn't circulate through the cooler and won't help.

 

02' here....i see the same 140-160 driving normally around town....i'm sure it will be going up this summer....hopefully don't ever see it get over 175....i've heard it really shortens the life of the transmission when it starts to get up past 175....

i saw some reviews of people who installed the Mag Hytec DD transmission pan that claimed they never got over 150 even when hauling a heavy trailer....

 

Putting it in park doesn't do much because it doesn't circulate the fluid, at least in the '02 that the original poster has. If you pull over and stop to cool down, put it in neutral. In neutral it circulates the fluid and it will cool down much faster.

Along the same lines, when pulling the trailer in traffic, don't just sit at stoplights in gear--put it in neutral.

And yes, something like the Mag Hytec Double Deep pan is a very good thing to have.

 

Where did you install the temp probe? Thanks Jerry

 

mstep3 where did you install the temp probe? Thanks Jerry

 

sorry, but i don't have a temperature sensor on mine....i've got an insight cs & it just gets the temperature reading from the ecm.....it's pretty neat....all you have to do is hook it up to the obd II port under the dash....

you can either install a temperature sensor in your transmission pan or you can use an adapter that goes around your transmission fluid line to your trans cooler....genos sells the adapters....i think that's probably the easiest way to do it.....

 

mstep3... thanks for the info...Jerry

 

http://www.digi-panel.com/digidevicesweb/trannyoil.htm

When I lived in Arizona the tranny temp would be at 165 Just parked in the hot sun before I even started the engine.

Pix of gauges stopped in traffic on I-10 on a summer day in Phoenix.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...4&ppuser=31624

 

i wonder where the sensor is that the ecm gets the transmission temperature reading from? is it in the oil pan? anybody know how high the temperature it has to get to before the dummy light comes on?

 

I hope this isn't hijacking the thread, jkoons asked the same questions I was going to ask soon. We are coming into camping season and I will be pulling my small 5er for the first time with this truck. I assume that jkoons has a 48re, I have a 47re. What I see above is that if it starts to get hot while towing, lock out O/D and back off the go-pedal a bit. Finally to the question (prolly dumbest question of the day so pls humor me), is 4th gear the same as OD? I monitor shift events with my Insight CS and the highest gear I see is 4.

 

Yep, 4th gear is overdrive.

 

Same question about temps; but for the NV5600 ??

 

i wondered the same thing when i saw this on mine....i only show 4th gear when i'm in overdrive....when overdrive is locked out it goes back to 3rd....so, apparently what it's showing is correct.....