I have a couple of questions about tranny temps. First off, I live in AZ and I have only had this truck for a month and a half. In the mornings when I am driving to work my tranny temp only gets to 170* by the time I get to the office. On the way home I have seen it get as high as 220* and the highest the temps outside have gotten are the upper 80's. When I drive down the freeway, day or night, morning or afternoon, the temp drops to 150*. If I park the truck and just let it idle, it will drop the temp down to around 160* in about 5 minutes. When I installed the tranny line and gauge, the fluid looked nice and red. I am planning on dropping the pan, and changing the filter, and I also planned on blowing out the cooler as well in an effort to get as much fluid out as possible. Should I do more???? What else might be causing these high temps. I want to address this before summer and the 100*+ weather gets here and bakes my tranny. Also, when I installed the bullydog triple dog I enabled the bottom end power, and noticed the truck pulling harder, could this contribute to the problem? Before I did that, the highest I saw the temp was 210*, but the outside temps high 70's low 80's so i don't know if the weather is playing into this. Any help?

 

Temps seem high to me. My first thought would be to use an infra red gauge to compare with readings on gauge. If it too is high, start w/ the cooling lines, check valve, etc. to see if you have a blockage of some kind. My '06 rarely ever tops 160* driving solo.

Dan

 

Mine never has got over 200 when pulling a load , empty around 180 going down the highway .

TB

 

I agree with TB.

 

Since I made that post, I ordered a PML transmission pan from Geno's, but it won't be here until next week, so next weekend is when I will do my swap, I wanted to add Amsoil to it, but at $110+ for 12 qts, I had to say no and I will go get a decent brand of ATF+4 from a local parts store.

 

i live in PHX and my temps are already at 190-210 these are the same temps as last summer so they are normal to me. They never seem to go over 220 in the middle of the summer.

 

Just a reminder to check that cooling lines are clear while you've got it drained and pan off.

Dan

 

Stop & go freeway traffic, 180-190F
Freeway for >1 mile, ~160-170F depending on ambient temps
Sitting at a red light for more than one cycle 180-200F

I know you have the '04...on my '06, using Tow/Haul or the Jake, I can lockup the TC in 3rd at 30mph. that helps for the temps in slow traffic. The PML pan should help...From what I have read, I would expect a 15F or so drop. The best thing to do is lockup the TC. Either by driving style or an aftermarket lockup box. ATS makes some, as I am sure a few others do as well.

HTH

Tony

 

If you become a perfered member your 12 qt's of Amsoil ATF would only cost you $82.20 plus tax. My filter was chanegd out (with out a band adjustment) Wednesday and it took 6.5 qt's of Amsoil AFT, now my transmission shifts much better then it did when it was brand new. So if you use some other brand just make sure that it's high quality synthetic ATF. What surprised me is that after I had the filter changed my wife could tell how much better the transmission shifts.

 

With shipping and tax, you are paying about $8.50 a qt, and that is just outrageous in my mind when ATF +4 is $3 to $4 at the local store. I was thinking about Valvaline's synthetic for this change. How many filters are there for the tranny, I thought I read somewhere there are 2 filters on these.

 

Rob C,

With tax it only cost me $7.33 a qt and I pay no shipping as I have someone local who has it in stock to buy from. I would rather pay what I do then use what Dodge sells as I know it will last twice as long as what Dodge uses. I've use Amsoil trans fluid for many years in Dodge cars and trucks and it will hold up at least 2 times better then stock Dodge ATF. FYI there is only one filter in the 48 RE transmisson.

 

Wow Pulling this load I only hit 170!! I have a mag-hytec tranny pan!

Shane

 

At this point, I am convinced something is either wrong with the tranny, or the sending unit for the gauge. I will find out next weekend when I do a d&r on the tranny and put the new pan on. I am hoping it is just a semi-clogged filter, if not, a bad sending unit, if it goes beyond that, it's off to the tranny shop. And that is another reason not to put amsoil in it yet, I want to make sure that I will be able to actually use it for more than a few hundred miles. In time I will break down and get it, but like I said before, I will get stuck with the higher price because I don't know anyone that can hook me up.

 

Since you mentioned installing a "line" along with the gauge I'm assuming you are reading the temp on the output side. If so...nothing wrong with the temps you are seeing imho. The reason you are seeing a temp drop at cruise is that you are locking up the converter which drops temps dramatically. 220 in the desert doesn't concern me much.

 

i installed the new tranny line from diesel manor about a month ago. (that is where my probe is installed) i live in the north east, so since the install, temps have been anywhere from 30-60 degrees. i am seeing 190 degrees in stop and go traffic. i am seeing 145-160 on the highway. contacted diesel manor because i thought those temps where high. i was told they were normal. contacted isppro-they sent out a new probe. i am getting the same readings with the new probe. read a few posts and those seem to be the correct temps when reading the fluid before it goes through the tranny cooler.
also- i had my tranny fluid flushed and had a pml tranny pan installed just before i put the new tranny line and temp probe in!