# Tranny Gauge



## outbackmac (Feb 1, 2005)

Iam sure this has been discussed before, i have a 2005 1500 chevy thinking about installing a transmission gauge the guy at the dealer says its a waste of time because by the time it gets hot too late. i do have have a cooler installed. any suggestions?


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

NOT.........you can moniter and see when it climbs.

Short version..My son had a trans rebuilt, the new one lasted 1 month and needed to be repaired under warranty. He installed a temp guage and found that the temp reached 300 degrees. The cooler was clogged and the trans shop did not reallize it when they flushed it.

Cheap insurance.

John


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## campmg (Dec 24, 2005)

Find a new dealer. Seems that knowing its too hot you'll take a break so it can cool down.

Why do you take your temperature when you're sick? Hopefully it's "not too late" just because you have a fever. Take two asprin and post in the morning.


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## Highlander96 (Mar 1, 2005)

Total BS......

If you have a gauge you can monitor the temp. My tranny has never gotten over 190 degrees and I know that because the gauge is in my cluster and I monitor it.

Like John said.......Cheap Insurance.

Happy Outbacking!

Tim


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## Ahumadas (Apr 16, 2006)

Macfish, 
I burnt the trans up on my Tahoe a couple years ago pulling a 6 place snowmachine trailer around for 2 winters. GM designed the 4L60E trans to have butter smooth shifts but it doesn't like hard work. When we bought our Outback I did a couple things to ensure it ran much cooler. Here's what I just had done to the TV.

- Installed a B&M cooler inline with stock trans cooler.
-Mag Hytech tranmission pan (adds 2 quarts to ATF capacity and doesn't retain as much heat as the stock pan. Also has a magnet built in to pick up metal particles)
-B&M Shift Kit and B&M "Shift Plus" shift controller
-Pillar mounted Auto Meter trans temp gauge
-Topped it off with 8 quarts of Royal Purple syntetic ATF

I had all this done at a local shop (Arctic Coast Customs) for just under $700 and didn't expect the trans to run over 200F when pulling the TT. I pulled it about 120 miles round trip 2 weeks ago, through city traffic, up some big hills and it never went over 150F (to my surprise)

Yes a temp gauge is worth it! If I had one pulling that 6 place trailer I would have never burnt it up the first time.


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

Is adding a gauge something that a guy who is very handy and mechanical, but not a mechanic, can do? I do my own brakes and stuff like that and I've wanted a gauge, but I don't want to pay the labor to have it installed. Is it a moderate job? Easy? Difficult?

Scott


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## Ahumadas (Apr 16, 2006)

Scott,

If you do your own brakes you should have no problem installing a temp gauge. I'm sure the trans on your Ford already has a tapped port to install the temperaure sending unit. It's a matter of installing the gauge inside the truck (pillar mounts look great), wiring the gauge into the electrical system (fairly simple) and then installing the sensor / sending unit on the transmission.

http://www.keystonekrawlers.com/Mods/GM/4L..._Temp_Guage.htm


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Since there are a lot of options on where to put them what do you think is the best place?

Surface mount on the pan? To monitor reservoir temp.

To the cooler? To monitor pump output temp.

From the cooler? To monitor cooler efficiency.


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## Ahumadas (Apr 16, 2006)

Temp gauges come with a threaded sensor / sending unit. Most installation instructions will tell you to install it in the pan or tranmission body (through a testing port). I believe this is the best place since you want to see the actual temperature at the transmission body and not the fluid before or after it leaves the cooler up front. Most after market pans have a sensor port already tapped and most tranmissions will have a testing port you can thread the sensor right into. My temp sensor is mounted through my Mag Hytech pan.


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## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

Camper Andy,

From the cooler is the best place otherwise you wouldn't need it. Meaning that is what is feeding the transmission. Before the cooler would be silly since the cooler is meant to cool it down.

I myself and no fan of adding the temp guage. You just add the biggest cooler you can find and that is the best that you will ever do anyways.

I have seen this discussion go on for many, many pages in other forums. One guy even monitored his temp before and after going over the Eisenhower pass in Colorado which is more hill then 95% of us would ever run over at any frequency. On that particular truck the biggest cooler cooled down the trans a decent amount however the stock one was very adequate on even maybe the worst hill in the country. All this was done while pulling the trailer. Talk about your enthusiats! So what does that tell you?

So my vote is spend on the cooler and forget cluttering up the dash with a guage. To drive home the point (hope I'm not annoying) if you put the biggest cooler in then monitored the temp and it was still overheating don't you have a much bigger problem?


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

My NISSAN TITAN came equipped with a tranny temp gauge. I like being able to monitor the temp. I never had a truck with one before.

It's nice to have if something was to go wrong...you may have a chance to find out why/when/what caused it to overheat.


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## Fire44 (Mar 6, 2005)

The GM transmission oil cooler monitors the temp inside the transmission, that is where the damage is being done.....

I installed the gauge in my old Suburban and installed the sending unit in the test port of the transmission. Just so you know GM will turn on the check engine light after the transmission temp reaches around 266 degrees for 10 mins. (that is the info that I got on my 2000 Suburban). A little too hot for me but that is what GM decided to be the problem area!!!!

I think that the gauge is a great idea, you can keep a eye on the temp and if it is getting too hot you can slow down or pull over too let it cool down.

Gary


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I love it. Three responses and three different answers.

In the field I work in the oil systems for the engines are monitored in all three locations and the shutdowns are related to the after cooler temperature which is what is supplied to the engine.

They did not offer one as an option for my Ram that I am aware of but I am very interested to see what it is actually doing.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

What time is it? Time for a new Dealer!! BLAH....
















You should have one....great way to see if things are approaching critical levels.


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Go for it
I'm always watching the tranny temp in the Armada when towing the Outback

Don


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## Grunt0311 (Aug 23, 2005)

I say, definately get the temp gauge, and definately find another dealer. It sounds like they dont know what is going on!


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## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

Camper Andy,

You got 3 different answers so I'll try my way another time. Where do you monitor the engine temp. That is either on the thermostat housing or up in the intake manifold or other wise in the return line from the radioator after it has been cooled.

Monotoring the trans should be the same way. If you monitor in the case or from the trans to cooler feed line you are monitoring the fluid that is going to be cooled. Who cares that is why it is going to be cooled ? Follow? Furthermore the temp inside the case, whether it is the engine or the trans is due to how you are operating it. To change the operating temp change the operation you are doing, e.g towing. Since you can't do that worry instead about how much you are cooling the trans.

Hope that is clear. It should be because that is how they do the motor and the cooling effect on the trans are no different. I don't know why they put the temp sensor on the case. Maybe because it was just meant to drive an idiot light or that it was cheaper to do it there versus putting it in the line.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Jerry,

Your dealer is correct. If the tranny fluid gets too hot, it is too late.

But then, that's the whole point in having a guage in the first place! To keep an eye on the temperatures, and take action *before* it gets too hot.

On the other hand, if you do not know it's getting too hot, until 'It's too late', I guess that is more money in your mechanics pocket, so I can see his point.









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Mike - it is not that I agree or disagree. Just looking for input since there are many different ways to do it I was curious to hear different peoples understanding of why and how to do it.

Since I do not profess to know the design of all the different transmissions out there, I want to pose a question.

Are there any transmissions with oil temperature thermostats that would bypass the cooler for warm up? I would guess that a transmission would work differently in -40 C in Canada verses +40 C in Arizona. Thus would it be better to monitor reservoir temp to see if the thermostat was opening? If there are no transmissions with thermostats then the question is a moot point but just curious?


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## Fire44 (Mar 6, 2005)

The reason that they monitor the temp in the trans case is they want to know the max temp. The gauge is used to keep a eye on that temp. If the temp gets too high then the damage is done. If you are keeping a eye on the gauge and it starts getting to hot, you can making corrections......slow down, drop a gear, or stop and let the trans cool down.

Some of the transmission oil coolers do have a bypass system to block out the cooler till the transmission gets up to temp.

Gary


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## Reverie (Aug 9, 2004)

Ahumadas said:


> Scott,
> 
> If you do your own brakes you should have no problem installing a temp gauge. I'm sure the trans on your Ford already has a tapped port to install the temperaure sending unit. It's a matter of installing the gauge inside the truck (pillar mounts look great), wiring the gauge into the electrical system (fairly simple) and then installing the sensor / sending unit on the transmission.
> 
> ...


Any insight into how difficult it would be to do that on a Tundra?

Reverie


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## Ahumadas (Apr 16, 2006)

NJMIkeC has a good point. I don't know much about Toyota Tranmissions. I'd do what he said and tap into your cooler ouput line as this may be the easiest for you. You can tee off of it with a tube x thread (1/8" npt) x tube fitting. Guess it depends on the gauge recomendation, sending unit and whether you have a factory port you could thread right into.


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## Castle Rock Outbackers (Jan 18, 2004)

NDJollyMon said:


> My NISSAN TITAN came equipped with a tranny temp gauge. I like being able to monitor the temp. I never had a truck with one before.
> [snapback]112806[/snapback]​


Same here...our 2003 Yukon XL 3.4 ton came with one and I have never had one before. Towing fully loaded to Nebraska this past weekend it never hit 200 degrees. I hear that is the ideal...keep it under 200.

Randy


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## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

Camper Andy,

I do know a of a Transcooler that has an internal regulator to change the flow through the cooler under the conditions you referenced. On a Tundra that is an excellent point since it won't shift into OD unless it gets up to operating temp. See the link below for the cooler.

http://www.bakerprecision.com/trucool.htm

Again monitoring the temp is great but I look for the short cut. Knowing it is hot isn't necessarily helping. Helping is helping. Put in a great cooler and that is the best you can do. Do a full flush once a year if you tow alot which isn't probably too far off from Manufacturers recommendations and that is pretty much the end of that.

Reverie-- See this link below. They will sell you the cooler and can probably make the recommendation on how to put in the guage but believe me on the Tundra you don't need the guage and it has been proven by others. Once again this is the biggest cooler you can find. Herbicidal has one in his truck he also has the guage so maybe you should PM him. If I remember correctly he even went so far as to put a fan infront of the cooler. Much trials and tribulations has been done on this in the Tundra. If I remember correctly if this cooler doesn't cool it then trailer is too heavy, truck is too small, hills are too high,etc.

http://www.importperformancetrans.com/coolers.shtml


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## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

Reverie,

One more point that I forgot. I think that the temp guage in the Tundra is just a binary output as in on (too hot) , off (not hot). An idiot light sensor in other words. $10 bucks say that it probably the same in other trucks. IF you already have a guage then you have a sensor designed to drive it. IF you don't have guage then you have an idiot sensor. In either case the 2 must be matched.


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