Towing without trans cooler?
I have a 2001 Yukon XL 2wd (1/2 ton). I'm having my hitch and brake controller installed Monday so I can pick up my TT on Tuesday. I'm pressed for time and not sure if I'll be able to install a transm...
Forum Discussion
You may or may not need an auxiliary cooler but it is cheap insurance. Maintenance is important too.
How many miles do you have? Have you been towing with it? How big is your new trailer? Have you changed the trans fluid every 50k as the manual recommends? When you did change it did you use Dex III or Dex VI?
Dex VI was introduced in '06. Its a synthetic blend that runs cooler than Dex III. Its backward compatible and if you take your truck into the dealer for a fluid change they will tell that GM recommends switching to Dex VI.
Ideally you want to keep the temps 200 or below at all times. However, 210 is not going to hurt anything. And short burst of higher temps aren't going to hurt it either. Its the prolonged high temps that reduce trans life.
As already said, slow down a bit on hills and keep it from shifting a lot. There's nothing written that says you must go up a 6% grade at 60mph. I had two trucks with the 4L60E transmission that were used to tow in mountains and general towing over a period of years. My last was a Trailblazer that had 160k on it when I sold it, and the original trans. It performed flawlessly. I didn't put an axillary cooler on it (at about 150k) until I bought the trailer in my sig last year.
How many miles do you have? Have you been towing with it? How big is your new trailer? Have you changed the trans fluid every 50k as the manual recommends? When you did change it did you use Dex III or Dex VI?
Dex VI was introduced in '06. Its a synthetic blend that runs cooler than Dex III. Its backward compatible and if you take your truck into the dealer for a fluid change they will tell that GM recommends switching to Dex VI.
Ideally you want to keep the temps 200 or below at all times. However, 210 is not going to hurt anything. And short burst of higher temps aren't going to hurt it either. Its the prolonged high temps that reduce trans life.
As already said, slow down a bit on hills and keep it from shifting a lot. There's nothing written that says you must go up a 6% grade at 60mph. I had two trucks with the 4L60E transmission that were used to tow in mountains and general towing over a period of years. My last was a Trailblazer that had 160k on it when I sold it, and the original trans. It performed flawlessly. I didn't put an axillary cooler on it (at about 150k) until I bought the trailer in my sig last year.
