auto trans temperature too high!!

[oldkimmer]

ok well its pretty simple, since there is no cooler built into the radiator my trans line goes out to the cooler then the other one goes back to the trans. Is that what you wanted to know? I used 3/8 copper tubing for trans lines and they are routed carefully away from headers and stuff like that, 2 short pieces of 3/8 steel braided hose connect my hard lines to my cooler.

If your car was good b4 u put the gauge on it then u most likely don’t have a problem. But an inefficient converter and an old school cooler are a recipe for disaster. A plate cooler is way more efficient. Hope it’s just a your sending unit. Kim

 

[inthe9s]

ok everyone, this is solved. My trans temp gauge was reading wrong due to a mix up of senders and i had the wrong sender in there, I swapped it out with the other one i had and now my gauge reads around 160 at the very most. I was driving around for at least twenty minutes and i was on the converter alot also, and the temp was nice and cool. Thank you all for your input, your feedback got me to think about this in a different way and it is fixed now.

 

[oldkimmer]

Great. Now the reading is where u want to see it. U should verify it with a temp gun to see what it actually is. Kim

 

[inthe9s]

Great. Now the reading is where u want to see it. U should verify it with a temp gun to see what it actually is. Kim

i might do that sometime but probably not. I mean where would i shoot the temperature gun? At the trans cooler line? Or the pan? I figure thats why i have the trans temp gauge, and now that the numbers on the gauge sort of match up with the other facts that i have observed,( non burnt cherry red transmission fluid as well as twenty years of not needing a rebuild), im just going to choose to believe that my trans temperature is actually reading properly on my gauge.............now having typed this watch now my transmission probably will blow up next week! Hope not of course, ok people thanks again for the help.!!

 

[inthe9s]

If your car was good b4 u put the gauge on it then u most likely don’t have a problem. But an inefficient converter and an old school cooler are a recipe for disaster. A plate cooler is way more efficient. Hope it’s just a your sending unit. Kim

i wanted to ask you what is wrong with the old style of trans coolers? Ive had mine for many years and it seems to work, but i just acquired a brand new hayden trans cooler and maybe i will installl that one and retire the old one i have.

 

[33 IMP]

Glad you solved it.
As for a ger converter, mine was the single WORST speed part I've ever bought, in fifty years of buying speed parts.

 

[IT'S DYNAMITE]

I’d put the sensor in the pan rather than in one of the cooler lines Holley/B&M has a bung that you could add to the pan that might work.

Drain Plug Kit - Universal - Holley

I agree with MCODECUDA. The sensor should be in the pan .I never checked the temp in my street hemi but I seem to remember that the converter in my '64 Plymouth 426 max runs around 180 to 200 with a 6500 stall converter. I think a converter from Rick Allison at A&A trans would be a reasonable and great benefit to your car(you did not say whose converter you have) but Rick is #1 in my book. Email him and ask about the temperature .He is very knowledgeable and likes to help . aandatrans.com. Tell him that Dom Rinaldi suggested for you to contact him.

 

[inthe9s]

I agree with MCODECUDA. The sensor should be in the pan .I never checked the temp in my street hemi but I seem to remember that the converter in my '64 Plymouth 426 max runs around 180 to 200 with a 6500 stall converter. I think a converter from Rick Allison at A&A trans would be a reasonable and great benefit to your car(you did not say whose converter you have) but Rick is #1 in my book. Email him and ask about the temperature .He is very knowledgeable and likes to help . aandatrans.com. Tell him that Dom Rinaldi suggested for you to contact him.

i am going to probably leave the sensor right where it is, which is the rear cooler line. I am told that this is fluid after it has passed thru the cooler and thats what i want to see.

 

[inthe9s]

i am going to probably leave the sensor right where it is, which is the rear cooler line. I am told that this is fluid after it has passed thru the cooler and thats what i want to see.

 

[inthe9s]

I agree with MCODECUDA. The sensor should be in the pan .I never checked the temp in my street hemi but I seem to remember that the converter in my '64 Plymouth 426 max runs around 180 to 200 with a 6500 stall converter. I think a converter from Rick Allison at A&A trans would be a reasonable and great benefit to your car(you did not say whose converter you have) but Rick is #1 in my book. Email him and ask about the temperature .He is very knowledgeable and likes to help . aandatrans.com. Tell him that Dom Rinaldi suggested for you to contact him.

As for my converter, i did state that i was using a GER converter and i have heard mostly bad things about them. Even Herb Mcandless told me not to use those, and he had no idea that i was running one when he said it. So yes thank you for the recommendation and i will contact him when i can afford a new converter, and i will mention that you sent me, thanks again.

 

[inthe9s]

Glad you solved it.
As for a ger converter, mine was the single WORST speed part I've ever bought, in fifty years of buying speed parts.

Yes i have been told this often. Tell me what makes you say that it was a lousy part? I have been told this by some very smart racers and transmission guys too so i do plan on getting rid of it, i just am curious as to what your experience was with the ger converter?

 

[33 IMP]

Yes i have been told this often. Tell me what makes you say that it was a lousy part? I have been told this by some very smart racers and transmission guys too so i do plan on getting rid of it, i just am curious as to what your experience was with the ger converter?

Okay.
I ordered a 3200 converter, put it in a stock A12 with a rmvb, and 4.10.
It stalled, behind a stone stock 440, 4300 rpm.
The car would NOT move, from a stop, at less than 2000 rpm. At idle, you didn't need a foot on the brake, cause it wouldn't creep.
Most telling, the car didn't care what gear it was in. Bring it to 3000 in first, hold throttle steady, shift to second, 3000, no change in rpm or speed, change to third SAME THING.
If I had to guess, at LEAST 30% slippage.
At 3600 rpm on the freeway, stab the throttle, rpm goes up a grand, car doesnt accelerate, just gets louder.


I put a stock 340 converter in its place. Tight, stalled 3000, perfect.
GER straight in the dumpster at work, good riddance. I was not gonna sell it to some other unsuspecting sucker.

 

[33 IMP]

Best converter I ever bought was by a guy named Munsinger. He used to do lots of stock/super stock converters before he retired. Local southern california guy.
When the 4300stall no-name (NOT a GER!!) blew up in my powerglide/transbrake car, he asked all kinds of questions, some I couldn't answer. What I got back was a 5300 that E.T.ed two tenths better 1/8th, no surprise... but it picked up three mph in the eighth, ..... that WAS!

 

[PRHeads]

I actually had a GER 10” that worked “okay”.
This was bought in about 87 or so.

A few years later I bought an 11” that wouldn’t go all the way on the shaft.
After messing with it for quite a while, I stuck like a screwdriver or something down in the hole to rotate/move the splines, since they appeared slightly off center.
Wouldn’t budge.
I called them up and they told me that was impossible because they dyno test every one.
My response was, I can see there is white grease inside, and not a trace of atf.
They sent me another one, which installed fine…..and worked okay as well.

About that same time I got one for a friends car that I had re-ringed a 400 for.
Got a 10”…….total mush.
Ran it for a while, and it didn’t run 1/2 bad at the track(lots of stall) but was awful on the street.

Replaced it with a Dynamic 10”.
Way better driving, but less stall…..and slightly worse ET than the GER.
When we pulled the GER there were a few metal shavings sitting inside the converter hub.

And that was the last one I was ever involved with.

 

[33 IMP]

I actually had a GER 10” that worked “okay”.
This was bought in about 87 or so.

A few years later I bought an 11” that wouldn’t go all the way on the shaft.
After messing with it for quite a while, I stuck like a screwdriver or something down in the hole to rotate/move the splines, since they appeared slightly off center.
Wouldn’t budge.
I called them up and they told me that was impossible because they dyno test every one.
My response was, I can see there is white grease inside, and not a trace of atf.
They sent me another one, which installed fine…..and worked okay as well.

About that same time I got one for a friends car that I had re-ringed a 400 for.
Got a 10”…….total mush.
Ran it for a while, and it didn’t run 1/2 bad at the track(lots of stall) but was awful on the street.

Replaced it with a Dynamic 10”.
Way better driving, but less stall…..and slightly worse ET than the GER.
When we pulled the GER there were a few metal shavings sitting inside the converter hub.

And that was the last one I was ever involved with.

My ger didn't stay in the car long enough to make laps, but I'm sure it would have been slower than the stock one I took out.
Hp peak of stock A12, 4900 (or was it 4700). 1-2 shift would have to have been almost instant, slip into second dramatic. (Couldn't chirp a street tire into second with a full manual valve body).

 

[PRHeads]

When it was determined the GER was coming out from behind the 400, I talked with Frank at Dynamic about the possibility of reworking the GER.
He told me they wouldn’t touch it.
He said the things they did basically ruined the cores.

 

[33 IMP]

I'm thinking it's possible, Possible?!? that some decent ger converters for chevies might have escaped. After my experience, I bad-mouth ger to everyone that asks, to anyone that will listen.
(Isn't there a "descendant" of ger that has the same rep? Drawing a blank on the name right now, but I'll recognize it!).
Edit: boss hogg! Second coming of ger. Stay far away!

 

[Fury Fan]

Tight/and or slipping clutches & bands will also generate a lot of heat.

Not for long. Yes, they'll generate a lot of temperature, but not a lot of BTUs. Meaning, you get localized heat, but not enough to raise the temp of the whole system of fluid. And they'd likely lose torque capacity before long anyway.

@pnora provided the best info. 'To cooler' will be the hottest location to measure, as the fluid in the converter is the hottest part of the trans.
Temperature monitoring in the cooler circuits is for diagnosis. Sump temperature is the good-health monitor for a system that is designed/known to work properly.

FWIW, I would never run without the liquid-liquid cooler in the radiator, as it provides a lot of stability to the trans fluid temp.
It can help warm the trans up when cold, and can pull a lot of BTUs from the converter-out fluid.
If more cooling is desired, then yes, an aux cooler is a good addition.

And contrary to sayings like 'get the biggest cooler you can fit' or 'get the fluid as cool as possible' - don't.
Get a cooler that will help keep your fluid in its designed temperature range.

And - don't use copper in any automotive fluid tubing. It work-hardens from vibration and will crack more easily than steel.

 

[493 Mike]

Not for long. Yes, they'll generate a lot of temperature, but not a lot of BTUs. Meaning, you get localized heat, but not enough to raise the temp of the whole system of fluid. And they'd likely lose torque capacity before long anyway.

@pnora provided the best info. 'To cooler' will be the hottest location to measure, as the fluid in the converter is the hottest part of the trans.
Temperature monitoring in the cooler circuits is for diagnosis. Sump temperature is the good-health monitor for a system that is designed/known to work properly.

FWIW, I would never run without the liquid-liquid cooler in the radiator, as it provides a lot of stability to the trans fluid temp.
It can help warm the trans up when cold, and can pull a lot of BTUs from the converter-out fluid.
If more cooling is desired, then yes, an aux cooler is a good addition.

And contrary to sayings like 'get the biggest cooler you can fit' or 'get the fluid as cool as possible' - don't.
Get a cooler that will help keep your fluid in its designed temperature range.

And - don't use copper in any automotive fluid tubin more easily than steel.g. It work-hardens from vibration and will crack

I agree.
Mike

 

[493 Mike]

I just wanted to add a tip for fellas using the Autometer water temp gauge (electric). Buy another sender unit for the trans and wire the two senders to a DPDT toggle switch. Now you have one temp gauge to read either coolant or transmission fluid.
Mike