Best place for trans temp probe!

[turbovanman²]

Just bought an Autometer oil temp guage-God I love Ebay- so wheres the best place, in the oil pan?

[Speedeuphoria]

Thats where a few others have theres, not sure of a better location

[turbovanman²]

It could also be put in the cooler line BEFORE the cooler,

[Speedeuphoria]

well that would show you the hottest temps because it just came from the converter so it might be a better place. It could show higher if the converter was slipping alot also.

[ShelGame]

I'd put it in one of the 2 lines. Probably the line going to the cooler. Remember, the pan won't have much fluid in it when the trans is running in gear...

[turbovanman²]

Whats the max temp I am looking at, 200 deg?

[88_pacifica]

temp it runs at or temp to shoot for?

[turbovanman²]

temp it runs at or temp to shoot for?

The bad temp range when things start going BOOM.

[88_pacifica]

gotcha... the perfect temp range is 175 to 195... after that for every ten degrees above that it supposedly lowers the life of an automatic trans by between 30-50K. Add a higher RPM Tq Conve and it just increases the temp even more... At least that's what the trans shops said when I was building my Monte SS strip terror ...

[Torqueflite]

It could also be put in the cooler line BEFORE the cooler,

Or, get two probes, hook them into a double pole switch, and install a probe before AND after the cooler. Then you can just throw the switch to change between the two probes. Then, you'll then be able to see how hot the fluid is coming out of the converter, and how well of a job your cooler is doing.

I agree with 88_pacifica, you want the tranny temps to run right around engine coolant temp.

Chad Kilback "Kil-time Tranny Tuning" ckilback3@nucleus.com
Calgary, Alberta SDAC
88 Daytona Shelby "Zedd" Yeah, It's got a transbrake
12.43 @ 111 quickest time
12.6 @ 113.00 fastest time
87 New Yorker "Norker Zedd" 2.5L TII 14.6 @ 93
Yeah, the K-car has a transbrake too!

[Clay]

I would put it in the line going to the cooler. That will give you the max operating temp of the trans, which is what you need to know.

the temp after the cooler means nothing except for how well your cooler functioning. Temp in the pan means nothing because Im pretty sure the cooler return line feeds into the pan.

[turbovanman²]

Then that is where it will go, that also means I don't have to drop the pan and weld it, yay!

[BadAssPerformance]

In the Z I have the probe in one of the extra ports on the remote oil filter housing for the turbo's oil filter.

[Stevien1]

For thought.....

This chart is from one of my trans books- it's 10 yrs old now, but still a good rule of thumb.

Operating temp of ATF ................ Projected service life

175 F........................................100,000 mi
195 F.........................................50,000 mi
215 F.........................................25,000 mi
235 F.........................................12,500 mi
255 F...........................................6,250 mi
275 F...........................................3,000 mi
315 F..............................................750 mi
375 F................................................8 0 mi
410 F................................................2 0 mi

This is for regular ATF, not synthetic. Notice how the 20 deg change from 175 to 195 cut the service life in half?

Put the temp probe in the back of the pan.

[turbovanman²]

Why do you say back of the pan?

[Stevien1]

To get the best "average" temp of the ATF- it'll always be submerged in the back on the pan.

[Speedeuphoria]

I would put it in the line going to the cooler. That will give you the max operating temp of the trans, which is what you need to know.

the temp after the cooler means nothing except for how well your cooler functioning. Temp in the pan means nothing because Im pretty sure the cooler return line feeds into the pan.

the only thing is what if you gauge allways says 250^ and now your worried that its not going to last, if you had it going after the cooler you would know that its safe going back in(or around 180)

[Clay]

the only thing is what if you gauge allways says 250^ and now your worried that its not going to last, if you had it going after the cooler you would know that its safe going back in(or around 180)

thats all well and good........ but if its coming out of the trans at 250, you have problems, regardless of what temps its going back in at.

[88_pacifica]

I'm with Clay on this one... I know that the one I installed on my Monte I had a t-block that mounted to the undercarriage which tee-d into the trans output line, approximately 6 inches from the trans connection itself. This allows for a more exact temperature as it will not be altered by the temp of the trans or motor itself by being to close, but rather will measure the fluid temps closer to actual temps. Since the pump in the trans moves the fluid pretty quickly, the dissipation of heat "prior" to reaching the gauge is minimal....

[Speedeuphoria]

ok so based on the size cooler he has, what is a temp he would consider high?