We just took our first trip in the MH. We left yesterday and the temperature was about 85 degrees. As soon as we got on the freeway we sat in traffic. It took over 3 hours to go 65 miles. This included some long hills etc. Anyways, I had just installed a new tranny temp gauge and watched the temp slowly climb from about 180 when we were initially moving to 195 then 210 and finally 225 when we finally started moving and were climbing some long grades. As we were finally moving and after the hills the tranny temp finally dropped to about 210 right before we got to our destination. The fluid is new and the MH has an external cooler. It is a 1997 460 with an E4OD tranny. Is this tranny temp ok or do I need to do something? The engine temperature was in the middle of the gauge.I will be installing the Banks Transcommand later this month.Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Your tranny temp is on the warm side, but not anything I would worry about. I would start to worry in the 260 degree and above range sustained. If it spiks to 260 on a hill and then drops, I would not worry.Your stop an go traffic will spik your tems, as you are moving slow and not getting any cooling effect over the tranny/cooler. I would also swap out teh flid to FULL Synthetic like Amsoil Brand.

Ill also add that I like to idle my rig at the stop location and let my tranny temp drop to 180 or lower...

That sounds a lot like mine. Mine will stabilize at about 220 towing the toad and fully loaded, sometimes it will drop down to 180 but runs about 220 most of the time. I am going to install a larger cooler when I change out my radiator this fall because I believe it should run about 180 to 200.

Our normal driving temps are 197 for the engine and around 200 for the trans. Climbing the mountains on the I-15 to Las Vegas four days ago the engine went to 222 and the trans to 225 then leveled back down once we made it over. Once I let the engine idle when we arrive at a park, the engine will go to 183 and the trans to about 195.Your temps seem normal to me (as a non-mechanic). MM.

I'd recommend adding an additional transmission cooler to the system, preferably one with a cooling fan you can activate when you feel the need.

Tranny Temperature - First trip and ???s | Good Sam Community

19 Replies

RinconVTR
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
Winterwolf227 wrote:
Your tranny temp is on the warm side, but not anything I would worry about. I would start to worry in the 260 degree and above range sustained. If it spiks to 260 on a hill and then drops, I would not worry.

Your stop an go traffic will spik your tems, as you are moving slow and not getting any cooling effect over the tranny/cooler. I would also swap out teh flid to FULL Synthetic like Amsoil Brand.

X2.

If worried, change the ATF every season, or added a bigger cooler.

Personally, because your temps are not abnormal, I'd stick with yearly ATF changes for that soothing warm & fuzzy feeling of no worries.
pkunk
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
Maybe these will help
ThorResidencyNe
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
I have the sensor mounted in the test port which is right above the pan on the side of the transmission. In regards to an extra cooler, I have the radiator cooling, plus the factory cooler. Can I just splice into the exit port on the factory cooler and run it into another tranny cooler with fan? Will the transmission push the fluid through the radiator and 2 cooling units?

Thanks again for the help.
BrianinMichigan
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
Where is the temp sensor located? Some people ( like mine ) have the sensor located on the output of the torque convetor. Others will have it in the transmission pan. The temp is relevant to where the sensor is. I haven't done any serious hills with mine but it will run in the 200 degree range +/-. There has been a lot of discussions here about tran temps.
Fleet_Man
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
I'd recommend adding an additional transmission cooler to the system, preferably one with a cooling fan you can activate when you feel the need.
Mr_Mark1
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
Our normal driving temps are 197 for the engine and around 200 for the trans. Climbing the mountains on the I-15 to Las Vegas four days ago the engine went to 222 and the trans to 225 then leveled back down once we made it over. Once I let the engine idle when we arrive at a park, the engine will go to 183 and the trans to about 195.

Your temps seem normal to me (as a non-mechanic).

MM.
royl
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
That sounds a lot like mine. Mine will stabilize at about 220 towing the toad and fully loaded, sometimes it will drop down to 180 but runs about 220 most of the time. I am going to install a larger cooler when I change out my radiator this fall because I believe it should run about 180 to 200.
Winterwolf227
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
Ill also add that I like to idle my rig at the stop location and let my tranny temp drop to 180 or lower...
Winterwolf227
Explorer
Jun 16, 2013
Your tranny temp is on the warm side, but not anything I would worry about. I would start to worry in the 260 degree and above range sustained. If it spiks to 260 on a hill and then drops, I would not worry.

Your stop an go traffic will spik your tems, as you are moving slow and not getting any cooling effect over the tranny/cooler. I would also swap out teh flid to FULL Synthetic like Amsoil Brand.

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Tranny Temperature - First trip and ???s

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