I personally have not seen their adapter, so I can not comment on how it fits. As far as restricting flow, I would guess that it could happen if the line was small enough and the probe was screwed in far enough to almost touch the other side. But if the probe was screwed in about 25% to 50%, then no, I do not think it will restrict the flow enough to hurt anything. Also keep in mind that the lines are pressurized, so it would take an awful lot to restrict a line.

 

I've posted this over and over again but I'll do it again 'cause I like to hear myself talk , but evey tranny guy I've talked to, and I have talked to many, all say to put the sensor in the pan. When asked specifically about putting it in the hot line they say its fine but they prefer it in the pan. After hearing that a 1/2-dozen times I started putting it in the pan.

I guess I should add at this time I have the sensor in the test port, and I'm confident with it there, until I have an extra few hundred to spend on a new tranny pan. Don't feel like poking holes in the stock one.

 

Well they have us drill the exhaust manifold for the egt probe, so I dont see how they wouldn't just have us install an inline "T" on the hot line or something if it was gonna be much more accurate.

 

I, and about 30 other people I know of, have done this very thing on these trucks from gen1 to gen3.

The gen3 trucks are by far the best at minimizing the range of temps you get, but, if you load the hen3 converters enoguh in reverse and speeds under 40 mph you can see some nasty temp spikes at the hot line and relatively even ones in the pan and trans.

The reason you get warmer temps faster in the test port is the absence of cooled fluid. Thats pretty normal. What you are not seeing is the temp out of the TC when it is unlocked as 35 mph pulling a grade with 15k on the back. Normal driving and even highway speeds with the TC locked will be pretty consistent across all the locations. Remember when the TC is locked the fluid is just routing thru the TC and directly to the cooler. All you are disipating is the heat generated by the trans components.

For my use, I want to see the max temps. ATF4+ is supposed to be able to take short infrequent spikes to 320 degrees and not break down. Several people who make a very good living building these transmissions have assured me this is true when I expressed y skepticism. I want to know if I am spiking these temps frequently so I change the fluid earlier and preserve the trans.

I have had few problems with the autos in these trucks for the last 15 years. I gotta think thatI am doing something right.

 

That was my guess, I am not sure why they would tell you to use it, maybe they cant get the right parts through their supplier, maybe there is a patent on the t-line, maybe it is just cheaper for them to sell a fitting then a whole new line, I don't know.

But, the whole point of a trans temp line is to monitor the temp of the fluid so that you know if the fluid, not the trans, gets to hot and is at the point it fails and so you can estimate it's life span. If the fluid is at 220* all the time except when it hits the pan after the coolers and it reads 170*, your calculations are wrong. Any trans guy will tell you heat kills auto trans, and I want to know how hot that fluid is, because mine runs in the 190*-240* range all the time, and you can bet I will be changing my fluid based on those numbers until I can afford to get a new trans and that one will be in the hot line as well.

 

RobC, I've been keeping an eye on my temps and mine has never gone over 200*, even since it's been getting to 110-112* here.

 

I think I have a converter going bad, I see over 200 daily, but the trans shifts great and pulls hard, no slipping from what I can see.

 

I want to install a transmission cooler on my 06, 3500 diesel. where is the best place to install? I have a Mass tranny line and the sender reads good there. I believe I could install just before the sender in this line or it could go after the first OEM cololer and before the cooler in front of the rad. Has anyone have suggestions.

puller

 

I dont know guys, I worked on Audis and now I wrench on Saabs. Both those car lines have the trans temp sensors in the side of the valve body.

Unless someone traces down that test port circuit there is no way of knowing if it is a stagnant port or not. For all we know that could be a passage hooked to the hotline output circuit and the port could be in the corner of a passage so it may get fluid flow past it. I trust Quadzilla, and I got to go off of what I know from the cars I work on, so I am ok with having the recon hooked up there.

 

Already been done. No flow and stagnant fluid plus trans damage. NOT a good place.

Sensors on the VB show fluid temp in the transmission not the TC where the bulk of the heat is generated. High reving low TQ engines do not generate the heat in the TC a Cummins does. No way you can compare the two.

 

I figure if my 47re goes down before my 7/70 is up it's going to be a whole lot easier to put the test port plug back in to "get it back to stock" than replace the pan or hot line. Mine's in the test port too for now. It seems to respond just fine to pulling heavy on long, steady grades.

(That said, I know most dealers aren't going to care if you have a probe when it comes to warranty work. But with my luck it'll break down in front of the dealer that is looking for an excuse to void my warranty. So I carry the test port plug in the glove box just in case, along with the stock wastegate elbow . )

 

Ok, how 'bout some clarity.

Suppose, for the sake of argument, that putting the probe in the hotline is the way to go. Does someone make an adapter for the install? If so, who? How difficult is it, for the average guy, to install?

When monitoring the temp, what constitutes a bad situation? Is it prolonged high temp? Is it a spike over a certain temp? What is considered a high temp and, therefore, dangerous to the fluid's health?

I tow a lot and need enlightenment from you guys.

 

Diesel Manor sells a replacement line that has a fitting for the temp sender already installed. Installation is pretty easy. You just remove the stock line and replace it with the new. Only need common hand tools. You may want to have a quart of tranny fluid on hand in case some is lost in the swap.

The whole temp spike thing is why all the tranny guys I've talked to say put it in the pan. It was their opinion that the tranny was a better place to measure true operating temps.

 

Here's some good info I found over at RV.Net. Not my writing but by a guy who works at DTT (Diesel Transmission Technology)
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Where to install the transmission temp sensor is one of the most frequent question and discussions I have with guys. My question to you guys is this, why are you buying a gauge?

If you are buying a tranny temp gauge just so you have one and you can tell your friends you have one then you can pretty much put it wherever you want, as it really doesn’t matter in that case.

To me, a gauge is there to monitor tranny temps and indicate how often to change the oil. If you want a gauge for what I consider to be its primary functions then lets look at the oil. Oil temp is what we are trying to monitor so keeping that in mind lets look at the common places people install their gauges and what they are learning by doing so. Decide for yourselves where you want to monitor your tranny temps from and at what cost.

First lets deal with when and why tranny oil gets hot. Most will agree that trans temps are the hottest in stop and go traffic when the transmission is in first or second gear or in the reverse position, in most cases when trying to back up a trailer.

One of the favourite locations by people is the front servo on the passenger side of the transmission. The problem with that is there is no oil in that port in first gear, 2nd gear, or reverse so what are you measuring?
If you do have a transmission temp sensor in that port, take it out, not only is it not monitoring your oil it is probably causing damage to the transmission as the probe is most likely making contact with the servo spring.

Middle port passenger side better known as accumulator port is another, while this port does measure transmission temp in first, second, drive and od, it is measuring stagnant oil. It other words oil fills up and stays there. There is no oil present in the accumulator while you are in the reverse position. So it is useless to measure from this location also.

Another favourite place is in the reverse port on the passenger side. This port only has oil in the reverse and manual low positions. This means no oil in the in the drive position. I have had guys phone me arguing with me that they are seeing temps of 200 degrees while driving down the road in stop and go traffic when measuring from this port. My comment to that is congratulations we now know the temps of your tranny case, we can only guess at this point what your tranny temps are.

As far as I am concerned, there is only one location to accurately measure your tranny temps from. That is your transmission cooler outline. I have seen temps get as high as 300 degrees coming out of that line. That line sees every 20 seconds 1 quart of oil pumped through it at 1100 rpms. 3.8 gallons at 2100 rpms every minute, in 3 minutes you have pumped out basically 12 gallons of oil. So lets say you see temps of 300 degrees from this line and you have pumped it through your tranny At this point in time you can change the oil in your tranny or you can wait a little longer and change your tranny , rest assured you will be doing one or the other. I don’t make any extra money selling you guys the Chrysler lines, I give you the number we use, 5011244AA. The 1995 and earlier trucks it is a little more difficult to hook up the tranny temp gauge, but the 96 and later trucks you guys only have one choice, use the Chrysler line if you tow and want an accurate reading. To me, a gauge is there to monitor temps and indicate how often to change the oil....SNIP