How to: Installing a Transmission Temperature Gauge

[ExploringNC]

Thats why I put mine before the radiators so I know the max temp I'm hitting. You could always put a guage before and after.

 

[wingnutt550]

NC,

what temps are you seeing with the sender on the hot side of the transmission? how much of an increase do you see towing? I'm not the brightest bulb in the box heck i'm just a dumb old outboard mechanic. I was going to mount it on the hot side also even though their instrusctions stated other wise, so i figured I would ask the super tech brain at B&M; after all they do transmissions and should know. I will also know the answer when i find some fittings ans another sender.

steve

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I put mine in my pan, it is what your transmission fluid averages, and what your transmission sees through the internals. Mine when towing never got over 200, and that was only on a hard uphill pull. Around town, the gauge reads 100* or less.

 

[CDW6212R]

That's good Evan, I'm debating on placing the sensor in the pan, or the filter adapter, coming out of the trans. I almost bought a late Super Duty cooler, they don't turn up often.

 

[ExploringNC]

I get around 150-160 normal driving, creeps up to about 200 at highway speed and about 10-20 more towing on even roads. Highway speed 65+ is when it really starts to heat up. I'll tow a trailer full of camping gear up threw the mountains but I usually stick to stone roads so I can use 4low up some of the steep hills, then it runs 160 but if I try going up at 55mph on pavement it hits 220 or more.

 

[Tbars4]

....Just a thought, but your fan doesn't sound like it's cooling properly...

...If your vehicle is not towing, you should drop down in temp while on the freeway....The temps you are reporting sound more like what the A4ld runs at (approx. 170*-180* city), and the other second gen owners report a much cooler running temp..

...Again, I might be wrong but I would think your fan clutch is not working properly...

...I have mine in the pan, and here is my write up for the 91-94 X install...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225103

 

[Four0Sport]

i added my sending unit on the outlet line of the trans (inlet line going to the radiator) below the radiator shroud. in my 93 i see normal temps of 130-150 while driving around town or short highway trips. the temp will reach 180 up steep hills (it is WV, hills are inevitable). the highest temp i have seen so far was 195-210, keep in mind though i was climbing a mountain and the air temp outside was well up to 100 degrees F.

wherever you do decide to mount the sending unit, make sure you either use metal tube fittings or if youre using hose flare the ends of the line you cut and double clamp. i found out that a single clamp on unflared line does not keep it from leaking.

 

[Four0Sport]

you can see my install here

 

[Maniak]

wherever you do decide to mount the sending unit, make sure you either use metal tube fittings or if youre using hose flare the ends of the line you cut and double clamp. i found out that a single clamp on unflared line does not keep it from leaking.

Ditto and then some. I have the hoses triple clamped and they still seep some. Enough that the engine oil pan always has trans fluid on it from it blowing backwards...

As for the location of the sender.. As long as you know what "normal" is and have an understand of where it "should" read under different conditions you can put it anywhere.

I went with the pan since that is the temp of the fluid that runs through most of the trans. It doesn't heat up much until it hits the converter. As an added bonus I can drain the pan fluid every other oil change easily just by removing the sending unit. That plus having an external fl1a filter helps keep the fluid really clean.

~Mark

 

[Four0Sport]

Ditto and then some. I have the hoses triple clamped and they still seep some. Enough that the engine oil pan always has trans fluid on it from it blowing backwards...

exactly! for about a month i thought my ps was leaking, come to find out it was spray from the sending unit connection. checked the trans fluid, 1/2 qt low. caught it just in time.

 

[Tbars4]

...I had talked to different shops before adding my guage and found different tranny's have different normal operating temperature's...
...There are several different charts but I thought I would add this one...

 

[Maniak]

...I had talked to different shops before adding my guage and found different tranny's have different normal operating temperature's...
...There are several different charts but I thought I would add this one...

That the stand type chart for trans temp life vrs trans temp. They never give any information. Is that the temp of the fluid coming out of the converter, or the temp of the fluid in the pan etc.. I see that chart just as a sales tool for shops to sell stuff. I even email b&m (one company that puts out that chart) and they couldn't/wouldn't tell me if they were talking the temp of the fluid at the pan, cooler, etc..

~Mark

 

[Tbars4]

...Just my thoughts here...

...From what I get from the different charts, they reflect mainly on the fluid itself, and it's temperature...

...The fluid starts failing as the temps get above 180 degrees and from my research for my guage install, I found that is a common A4ld temp reading out here in the summer..

....From what I've seen, 190-195 is a max. peak temperature for the fluid....At above this temperature, the fluid degrades...So, say it hits 210 degrees...If you do not immediately change the fluid, and continue to run the same fluid for extended periods, your tranny life expectancy will greatly diminish...

...I will be adding more bling to my tranny in the future to help protect the large investment cost that it took to have it rebuilt...In fact, My X is the first truck I have ever put synthetics into...It will be the first truck I've owned to get a synthetic transfusion of tranny fluid..

...I do know that the different tranny's do have different operating temperatures however, and again, these are just my thoughts on the charts...

 

[wingnutt550]

thanks for the temp numbers guy's. I also have talked to B&M and a local trany guy and none seem to know what would be concidered an acceptable output temp for mine or any other transmission for that mater. Being an outboard mechanic and not just a owner/driver some questions just have to have answers. When I get the hot side sender installed i will let you all know what I find. I know I have pulled my boat in the blind on several fishing trips over the last year totaling 1200miles. I had the boat weighed at the truck stop it weighs 3400# so i figure with the family and gear i am close to the 5000# max cap. A year ago I did a complete flush on the trany (probably purged 3 to 4gallons before it ran clear) and changed the filter. The fluid still seems clear and serviceable.
thanks again for all your input...........steve

 

[aldive]

Summer highway driving the temp ranges from 130-145 F.

When towing the Jeep it gets up to 180-190 F.

 

[Maniak]

Summer highway driving the temp ranges from 130-145 F.

When towing the Jeep it gets up to 180-190 F.

Are those pan temps, trans temps (odbII) or fluid temps right before the cooler?

~Mark

 

[aldive]

before cooler.

 

[Tbars4]

...Just a thought...:scratch:

...I'm sure it would help if the tranny ID's and possibly the cooler set ups were included in these post...I know you guys have different options and add on's like large or multiple tranny coolers, electric fan's, etc., in your trucks and some may read this and think the temps are standard to their vehicle...

 

[CDW6212R]

Ditto and then some. I have the hoses triple clamped and they still seep some. Enough that the engine oil pan always has trans fluid on it from it blowing backwards...
...
~Mark

Ditto, don't use a bare smooth pipe end to mount a rubber hose. Adding a flare is helpful, but try this sometime.

The trick method is to add a double flared end to the pipe, just like the other ends. First locate a push-lock fitting that has the needed flared end. It is easier to find that push-lock fitting with a male end, and use a brass adapter with female ends. Then you can push the hose permanently onto the push-lock fitting(they have yellow collars), and bolt the fittings onto the trans line. As an added bonus if you need to extend the lines you can buy common steel fuel line from parts stores and route the pipes as you need them.

To aid trans fluid temps, add a bigger trans pan, they come in huge(4qts) and just a little bigger(2qts) sizes. Adding a remote filter also adds capacity, I will have two, I should end up needing about 16 quarts in total.

Below shows the push-lock fittings I have on my external filter of my SOHC truck. Those don't leak for transmission fluid, even without clamps. You have to cut the hoses off if you want to reuse the fittings.

 

[Maniak]

More pics of those push lock things.. and where do you buy them? I think I have a partial understanding but not quite.. IE.. I have metal line coming off the trans and its smooth on the end.. what can I put on the end of that hard line to make it have a barb fitting for the rubber line?

~Mark