I have one of MMS' 4L60E's that supposed to handle like 750hp and a Yank 3000. I've had the transmission for about 2 yrs now and the transmission cooler has leaked about three times and I've had a local shop fix it.

This last time the rubber hose near the cooler blew and sprayed tranny fluid everywhere.

Got it fixed and they didn't fill up the transmission all the way and after about 5 miles I realized it was shifting really soft and then slipped a few times. Went back and they filled it up and then it shifted like normal.

Here's the problem. The transmission fluid temps seam to be rising a lot faster than normal and not coming down.

It was about 85 degrees today and my tranny temp got up to 229. Tonight it was about 72 degrees and I saw 190 after a short trip. Could it be possible that cooler is clogged and not cooling properly or could my transmission have a problem that is heating up the fluid?

I have autotap and I'm going to see if it's picking up any slipage.

Any ideas?

 

I have a FLP Level IV with a Vigilante 2800 TC and a tranny cooler. Last weekend with the temperature over 100 degrees and climbing approx 4,500 feet my tranny temps only reached 210.

 

a few questions if I may?

1. You do have a seperate cooler for the tranny cooler in front or intigrated into your radiator, correct?


( tranny cooler -left - radiator and K&N - oil cooler - right )

2. and You do have a pump in your right rear wheel well to pump the tranny fluid up to the cooler in front of the car and back to the tranny, correct?



If you dont have the pump most likely your tranny cool is really not working. Also the tranny cooler pump is really way too loud for street driving.

Last question what type of plumbing did you use?? most ppl use Earl's performance plumbing for applications like this, as it can take the stress and heat of the use.

Tranny temps of 190 to 230 are not bad. It is when the tranny gets above 260 for extended periods of time, like road racing or very agressive street driving that one needs to be concerned.
When the tranny cooler is working properly the temp should drop from anything above 250 - 300 down to 200 or below.




[Modified by AU N EGL, 6:18 AM 6/24/2004]

 

He has an automatic transmission so he doesn't need the extra pump, but I have to say you have a very impressive setup, I especially like the way you put the 2 coolers side by side (very clean)

Cjones: It does sound like your cooler or one of your lines is plugged

 

It's an automatic so no extra pump. My cooler does look like the one in the first pic and is sitting in front of the radiator.

I'm going to go back to the shop and have them pull the lines off the cooler and see if fluid is coming out of it. If the cooler is plugged they are pretty cheap, I could just go pick up a new one.

 

I was told by chuck at FLP to be sure your taped into the top line of the radiator for proper flow.

 

Maybe they inverted the lines to the cooler when they connected it?

 

If the lines are inverted then your tranny temps will be right about the same as your coolant temp

 

runamuk,

I'm not using the factory aux cooler I'm running a separate one in front of the radiator. Would that still be the case?

Either way I just dropped the car off and told him to check and make sure the lines aren't inverted and to make sure they aren't kinked.

 

I am not real familure with the automatic tranny. Does the auto have the cooler pump built in?? If not how does the tranny fluid circulate from the tranny in the rear up to the radiator or aux cooler in the front no matter which end the hoses are attached too??



runamuk: Thanks


[Modified by AU N EGL, 4:48 PM 6/24/2004]

 

Hey, can you guys clear up for me for sure. I have an 04 Automatic. Which trans cooler line attached to the radiator is the return, the top or the bottom?

 

Mine is attached into the bottom line. Most will tell you that this is inverted. I have heard that the bottom line on an F body is the return line and I think this is what created the "confusion" when my install was done. I jumped all over the guy when I saw that he had tapped into the bottom line.

He did a clean neat install. Dbl clamped everything, bored a hole in the plastic material to prevent having to run the lines around it. Mounted to the front of the radiator, down low, similar to the pic in this thread. Beautiful install.

I was livid though when I saw that the bottom line had been tapped into. Mainly because of what I had read here about the top line being the one to tap in to.

But......... the damned thing works perfectly. My usual temps are 169*. The most I have ever seen is 185*. I am running a 170* thermostat if that means anything and my fans are set to come on through a Diablosports custom tune.

My car has an aftermarket torque converter and 3.42 gears. I have been to the track since the install and averaged around 175* after 10 quarter mile passes.

Guy told me that it didn't matter if the fluid was cooled by the aftermarket cooler before or after it went through the cooler in the radiator. It was still being cooled twice. Made sense to me. Especially after seeing temps rise very slowly and rarely getting over 169*. My cooler is the Hayden 2400.

Go figure.




[Modified by EB20003, 7:47 PM 6/24/2004]

 

All automatic transmissions have a pump, when you slide the torque converter into the transmission your actually engaging the pump and since all C5's pump the transmission fluid from the back of the car to the radiator anyway there is no need to add an extra pump just to move it another foot.

Cjones: yes I understand that you have an aux cooler and are using both the aux and original cooler, if you weren't doing this you would be eliminating the purpose of the aux cooler. What you want to do is make sure your transmission cooling lines go from the transmission to the bottom fitting on the radiator and then exit the radiator at the top fitting and route to your aux cooler and then back to the transmission, if you route it backwards then your cooling the fluid thru the aux cooler and then running it to the radiator which is already xxx degrees (depending on your fan/thermostat settings).

 

 

Runamuck, I'll admit, I have not a clue, not even an inkling as to why mine works. But it does and it is in series with the bottom radiator line.




[Modified by EB20003, 7:54 PM 6/24/2004]

 

That was probably it. It did seam like the transmission temp was following the coolant temp. However, as far as I know the aux cooler was bypassed completely.

Just found this site, thought everyone might find it useful.

http://www.therangerstation.com/C5Diagnosis.html


[Modified by cjones, 9:05 PM 6/24/2004]

 

The reason I ask is because I have a 1.5 inch thock Perma Cool that measures 10.5 by 14. I have a Yank 2800 Converter and my trans temps pretty much follow the engines water temp. Yesterday it was between 90 and 95 outside but my trans temp maxed out at 217. I had expected that my trans temps would be much cooler than the engine. Got any idea what might be wrong? By the way my cooler connection is at the bottom fitting on the radiator.

 

I had Chuck at FLP put in a Level 4 tranny last year, too and they installed a cooler. They connected it to the lower fitting on the raditor. I know they do f body work too, so maybe someone got confused. It would be nice to get the correct info. Not sure it made any differance. My temps started to go back up after several months & I found a lot of debris between the radiator & the cooler. I couldn't get out so I had to remove the cooler. I plan to install a thicker spacer this time.

 

Don't know. But thats a bit high for a car with a transmission cooler. Were you rolling or sitting still in traffic?

A few things come to mind. It is hooked in series and not bypassed? If the fluid is being cooled twice, I don't see how it would be that hot. Are the cooler fins free of debris? I read a post here about a guy who had debris between the tranny cooler and the radiator. Do they have your fans coming on at the appropriate temps with your programming?

Addendum: You're the guy I was thinking of

I just went out and checked mine and even though it is tight agains the radiator, there is still enough space for debris to get in between it and the radiator and thus block the back side of the transmission cooler. I would start there and check to make sure that the cooler's surface was all clear.

If the tubing were kinked or clogged, I suppose that could cause a problem too. My installer bored 2 holes into the side of my radiator shroud so that the transmission cooler lines could go through as opposed to around the lower left corner of the shroud.


What were your temps running immediately after the cooler install?


[Modified by EB20003, 9:37 PM 6/24/2004]

 

I was in city traffic at speeds between 30 and 45 MPH.

Yes its in a series, the trans line from the rear of the car goes to the cooler and the cooler is attached to the bottom of the radiator cooler. My tuner did a very clean job by welding fittings on the lines. They used ANA fittings and braided lines.

The fins are clean and I only have around 200 miles on it since they installed the cooler.

My trans temp has followed the engine temp since the install. But I wonder... if the trans fluid went to the external cooler first, would the radiator heat it back up to the engine temp as it passed through?


[Modified by LeMansBlue04, 9:58 PM 6/24/2004]