I read that to mean "Get your tranny fluid above 300 degrees ONCE, and it's only good for some hundreds of miles" not "hundreds of miles at or above 300" ...
'83 Tioga 27' Ford E-350 460
'97 Dodge 2500 CTD 4x4 in need of a TC
couple of ratty old well-loved Artic Cat sleds that the kids just can't hurt any further
I've had instances where going up steep hills at very slow speeds, or spending an extended amount of time backing my rig, my temp guage gets up around the 250 mark. It really doesn't take long. Without a guage, I would never know it. I saw a guy, recently, in a truck similar to mine, trying to back into a campsite that required backing uphill before it leveled out. He must have made 12-15 stabs at before getting it in there. I just wondered what his trans temp might have been. I'm pretty sure he didn't have a guage. I am a believer in having a guage.
Been there done that. Fried the trans in our expy on fisrt trip out with it. Only towing 5800gvwr tt. Not on hills, in stop and go traffic, with not enough air flow for cooling. To rebuild the 4r100 is 3k. Luckily mine was still under warranty. Had a B&M trans guage waiting and installed as soon as I got the truck back from the dealer. That trans will heat up in a heart beat when backing an tt up any kind of grade. Always stopped and cooled it down as soon as the guage hit the yellow. Never gets out of green otherwise. Buy the guage.
Above 300 degrees, fluid life is measured in hundreds, not thousands of miles.
OK so it gets real close to 300 for the last mile as you crest the hill. By the time most people do that 100 times it is time to change the fluid and all is good again.
For those with gauges, how many times each year do you really pull over to let the transmission cool?
Thank the Good Lord Never!!! But I have also modified my truck with the largest trans cooler made , and at least I know what my temps are and I am able to monitor my temps and take preventative steps before they get to warm. How many times have you needed your seatbelt?
Do you still wear one???
Many things can cause a trans to overheat, the 4R100 has a bypass line, if the pressure valve senses restriction from the cooler line it bypasses the cooler and directs the hot trans fluid right back into the trans. Without going through the coolers the fluid can and will heat up very quickly. These bypass valves have been known to fail, some even eliminate them altogether. My point is there are many causes to high trans temps, just like high coolant temps and without a gauge you have no idea what is going on in your trans. BTW If you really want a built 4R100 trans see Brian at BTS, it will cost you $4,500 but it will be as solid as possible. If I ever need a rebuild he will be the one to do it!!!
NCH
2000 Ford F350 4X4 PSD,CC, DRW
4:10's, BTM Muffler, Isspro Gauges,
Coolant Filter,CCV Mod
FTVB , Ford AIS
6.0 Cooler,SCT2 W/DP's 40 tow & 80 econo,Zoodad mod
2005 Keystone Hornet 30BHSS
Reese Dual Cam
Family of 4 saved by Grace!!! MY TRUCK OUR TRAILER
Scangauge is really a nice way to go. I was worried as we were heading to Yellowstone and did not want a trans failure to ruin the trip as I experienced first hand a few years back. The scan gauge uses the factory installed internal
sensor and the unit plugs in to the OB port. No wiring leads or power cables to mess with. The unit itself works great and gives you other info as was mentioned earlier. I don't think you can beat it for $150 your done!
Dave
2007 Jayco 23B
2000 E150 Ford Club Wagon 5.4 w/ tow pkg
Equalizer hitch, Kelsy brake controller
1997 Coleman Sunridge- Served us well for 11 years!
I have had an analog trans temp gauge (100-250+)for many years now installed in the test port with no blow outs or leakage. It works great. I added a scanguage2 a few months back for the other functions but find that the trans temp that the truck computer sees is almost exactly the same as the test port sensor.
Now that I have the scangauge I could live without the analog gauge. The scangauge measures all of these temps digitally down to ambient temps. In the morning my water temp, trans temp, and intake air temp are all the same as ambient. Really cool to see things warm up from the start.
1998 Chevy ECSB, K1500, 5.7 V8, AM trans temp and vacuum gauges. Scangauge. HD light harness with 4hi. Timbren overloads. 168,000 miles.
So from what i hear fromn you guys Scan Gauge is worth the cost for my V-10 will order one. I know I will need help understanding it. Want it mostly for tranny temp.
I can't speak for the GM trannies, but for the Ford 4R100 you need the gauge starting at 100 and not 140 since it might never move for almost 6 mos of the year. The reason for a tranny gauge is to establish baselines and typical operating parameters to judge if something isn't right when things change a lot. It's really a plus and great addition for the problem prone Ford 4R100 tranny.
Larry
Not sure I agree with this...my gauge starts at 140 and yes, it remains pegged at the low end of the scale the majority of the year. I don't see why I should care if the transmission temps are <140. Haven't heard yet of anyone who had a tranny blow up due to excessively low temperatures.
Mike & Susie
D-16, S-13
Corgi, cat who thinks he owns the place
2000 F250, 7.3L XC SB, Equal-i-zer, Prodigy
2008 Rockwood 8318SS
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