Transmission temperature max of 240 deg. sound right?

I would wonder how accurate the gauge is at the high side as well.

Depends a lot on the location of the probe. If it is in the transmission outlet before it gets to the cooler, 240 pulling a grade with the torque converter unlocked or backing up a heavy trailer wouldn't be unusual, but it should cool down again very quickly once the converter locks up again if you have a good cooler. 240 anywhere else would be high.

overthehillbill wrote:

kampinguru wrote:
I have a 2000 7.3l F250 and have had the 6.0 oil cooler installed. You do not want to be at 240 for very long. Check the smell of your tranny fluid on the dipstick. If it smells burned, you have been too hot. I also have the BTS transmission installed and I do not see temps above 160 anymore. I run Scheffers synthetic fluid in the truck as well.

X-2. I have the John Wood Towmaster tranny with the 6.0 tranny cooler.
The stock 4R100 tranny is the weak link if you are towing heavy.

I agree they are the weak link, but IMO the weak link was the cooling, and not so much the tranny. I am still running the stock tranny in my early 99. As I said been towing heavy for the past eight years, but have had the 6.0 cooler. The inadequate cooling killed a lot of the 4R100's before the 6.0 cooler even showed up. If I had been towing heavy with mine early on I probably would of burnt it up also. There is nothing on my truck before I installed the temperature gauge to even tell me if I was overheating. Many were probably overheated and ruined before they knew it.

Oklahoma Dan wrote:
Thank you for all of your replies as well as the in-depth research. You guys are great. When installing the larger trans. cooler and gauge I also had them flush completely the transmission, put in a new filter and put in BG brand synthetic fluid. The old fluid (about 12,000 miles old) was a little off color which prompted me to make improvements during this vacation. Once I am home I may go to a deeper pan as well. All good suggestions.

I have had the 6.0 cooler on mine nearly as long as I have been towing heavy about 8 years early 99 7.3. 185-190 on long mountain grades in 90 plus degrees. 240 IMO is going to get that 4R100 eventually. Have never read where that deeper pan did anything but give you more fluid to cool. It is not the answer, a 6.0 31 row cooler is all you need. Not sure what you mean by installing a larger cooler, if it is a 6.0 31 row, you shouldn't see over 200, with mine towing 13K, like I said ,185-190 is the extreme. You may have a problem that a cooler won't fix.

kampinguru wrote:
I have a 2000 7.3l F250 and have had the 6.0 oil cooler installed. You do not want to be at 240 for very long. Check the smell of your tranny fluid on the dipstick. If it smells burned, you have been too hot. I also have the BTS transmission installed and I do not see temps above 160 anymore. I run Scheffers synthetic fluid in the truck as well.

X-2. I have the John Wood Towmaster tranny with the 6.0 tranny cooler.
The stock 4R100 tranny is the weak link if you are towing heavy.

Thank you for all of your replies as well as the in-depth research. You guys are great. When installing the larger trans. cooler and gauge I also had them flush completely the transmission, put in a new filter and put in BG brand synthetic fluid. The old fluid (about 12,000 miles old) was a little off color which prompted me to make improvements during this vacation. Once I am home I may go to a deeper pan as well. All good suggestions.

I don't know that synthetic oils run cooler, but they are more tolerant of higher temps. Using them is good advice. Temps in the range of 240 when pulling a long grade with a load (trailer) are not uncommon, but they should drop back to 200 or less on level ground. I went to a deeper oil pan to increase my oil volume (3 extra quarts) and a larger tranny cooler which has helped. Make sure your cooling stack is clean and your fan clutch is working properly.

you can also get tranny coolers that have fans on them......not sure if a deeper tranny pan is offered for your truck but if it is I would run the deep pan.

I also run synthetic fluid and installed a deeper oil pan on my 3500 dodge.

Lillyputz

0rion wrote:
if it spiked to 240 on a hill and then came back down I wouldn't worry about it a whole bunch but I wouldn't want it to run there for any extended amount of time.

. My temp will climb to 240 on long uphill pull, then drops to 200 or less on level or downhill.