Tranny Temp and Battery question...

[ericboutin]

Alright I've got two unrelated questions to ask...One belongs here and the other....well I just need some opinions from the gearheads.
1. Going back and forth to the TakeHomeFarm my tranny temp for the most part was hanging out at 195 but once I got on the back country roads leading to the farm my temps climbed up to around 210. Is 210 about the max these tranny's should run at? On the highway I was cruising between 60 and 70. Total trip time was approx 4.5 to 5 hours. When it went up to 210 the first time I pulled over and left her running to try and cool her down but she just seemed to climb alittle higher (not much just alittle), once I got rolling again she seemed to go back to just under 210. Anyway I'm thinking I'd like to install a second cooler maybe under the truck. Can I install two in by just coming out of one and into the second. The stock cooler in the bottom of the radiator was disconnected long ago.

Second question - Sorry this is related to the batt on my wife's little VW Cabriolet. It seems to be eating batteries. It had a fairly new batt in it when we bought it but I obviously have a drain somewhere because the battery keeps going dead. I bought another brand new batt from Advance less than two weeks ago and it has already gone dead. (This is not a daily driver). Anyway I've got one of those chargers that will "fault" when the batt cannot be charged anymore. I replaced the orig battery that was in it because it would not take a charge. Now this two week old batt keeps faulting??! I put the charger on the batt in her other car and all is happy so I know it's not the charger. Any ideas on how the battery not only goes dead but seems to self destruct? Again I apologize for the non Idi post but I'm on this one!

Thanks

 

[deanj]

As for trans temp, keep it below 200. Install a plate type cooler around 20k rating. First where are you measuring the temp?

 

[wwwabbit]

Second question - Sorry this is related to the batt on my wife's little VW Cabriolet. It seems to be eating batteries. It had a fairly new batt in it when we bought it but I obviously have a drain somewhere because the battery keeps going dead. I bought another brand new batt from Advance less than two weeks ago and it has already gone dead. (This is not a daily driver). Anyway I've got one of those chargers that will "fault" when the batt cannot be charged anymore. I replaced the orig battery that was in it because it would not take a charge. Now this two week old batt keeps faulting??! I put the charger on the batt in her other car and all is happy so I know it's not the charger. Any ideas on how the battery not only goes dead but seems to self destruct? Again I apologize for the non Idi post but I'm on this one!
Thanks

I really dislike those chargers my self, if the battery is to run down, they won't charge it at all! Anyway, not sure, depending on the year of the Cabriolet, but most of them have the Bosh alt with the removable brush/regulator on the back. Check your voltages, most of the time when the brushes get short, will charge at an idle, but not at higher RPM's. It is about a $15 fix with two screws for a new one.

 

[RLDSL]

You can add another tranny cooler that way, but don't set it in front of more bare radiator , stack it a little offset infront of the other tranny cooler so your radiator still has about the same frontal area unobstructed.

I second the voltage regulator/brush pack on the VW. those Bosch alternators rarely go bad, but the brush pack is a maintnence item.

---------Robert

 

[The Warden]

Re: the VW, I'm not so sure on the brush/regulator assembly...my M-B's have the same setup (probably uses the exact same assembly, knowing Bosch). The brushes certainly wear down (had to replace the brushes on my old 300D about 60K after doing it the first time), but in my experience, the resulting problem is limited to the alternator not charging...I've never seen one fail such as to drain the battery, let alone cause it to self-destruct. Any chance the 2-week-old battery is just defective?

Also, if it's not a daily driver, have you thought at all about putting a trickle-charger on it?

 

[argve]

Eric,

Where are you taking your temp readings for the trans at? Reason I ask is if you are taking from the Pan then the max you ever want to see is 200°F, now if you were taking them from the hot line then you can run at 225°F all day long and not have a problem or care, you can spike up to 260°F in that location but don't hang out there.

It's not uncommon for the temps to rise once you enter the unbeaten path because more than likely you were driving a little slower and she was locking and unlocking the TC more because of changes in load (ie grades and lower speeds) so that makes the trans generate more heat. When you pull over to let her cool (if you have to) just do as you did by letting her idle - now you will see the temps rise a bit then over time (long time - will feel like forever) they will drop. This is because the fan will probably not be locked in so it will be moving some air but not sucking air like a jet engine so the cooling process will take just a bit longer.

Now for the number of coolers...

This is what I ran in the Enterprise and never had a problem with heat or trans failures...

Hot line out of trans goes to Perma Cool Trans Filter (spin on oil filter) take temp reading from here (this gives me the hot line temp - much faster reaction time and in my opinion a better look at what the true temp of the trans is). Then from filter to OEM bottom of the rad cooler, from there to single tube and fin design cooler (cheapie picked up at local auto parts store - biggest one they had in stock was supposed to be for motorhome pulling a trailer) from there it went back to the trans.

Now you know how I drove and my trans never hiccuped even once (could keep and engine it to save my arce but trans were always good). Remember my saying...

A clean, cool, and changed often fluid is a happy fluid.

Now when backing the TT with the E my trans temps would skyrocket because you should see the grade in my drive - it's a steep one so it's a work out for the truck to push the trailer up that. What I would do is just keep an eye on the temp and if it got to above about 260°F I would stop, place it in park and just wait about 5 mins then return to backing into place.

 

[argve]

Why was the stock OEM trans cooler disconnected? A liquid to liquid cooler is the most eff cooler, much better than a liquid to air cooler can ever be. I would flush it then hook it back up.

 

[adrianspeeder]

Yup, I'd go with a second cooler infront of the one you have and rehook the radiator cooler back up.

Adrianspeeder

 

[dsblack]

I have added a fan on a switch to my trans cooler. I can turn it on in slow traffic. But yes, get the radiator cooler hooked back into the line. That will make a huge difference.

 

[ericboutin]

The tranny sensor is in the pan. I'm not sure why the original was disconnected; it was that way when I bought it. I've always speculated that when the 1st owner replaced the motor they never hooked it back up but I don't know that for sure. I would like to hook the original back up along with my aux but I've heard a couple schools of thought on not hooking it back up? Is there something you have to do different other than just flushing the radiator to flush the tranny part? If I can reuse the original then I think I would go the route Travis posted above. I think that would solve any and all future problems.

As for the VW; I just started it about two days before my wife found it dead. I was just talking to her at lunch and she says when she went to use it she noticed the pass. side door ajar. Looks like the kiddies were messing and left it open. Anyway I'm figuring that's why the batt went dead. What I can't figure out is why I can't charge the dang thing back up??!! Maybe I ought to get a real charger and see if it will take a charge. Or since it's so new I'll have Advance check it. The charger is one of those cheapy Wal-Mart brands with a 2,4 or 6 amp charge rate. Right now I'm thinking it's the charger I didn't realize that once it gets so dead that that thing would not charge at all. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[RLDSL]

It could be you didn't get a full charge. those little gumby chargers don't do a very good job on a dead battery, especially if it's a high capacity battery. it can take those thittle things a couple of days to give a full charge

--------Robert

 

[subway]

if you have a volt meter with a amp setting you can chase the drain. i would start by pulling fuses to see if you can track down the problem circuit. had a similar problem with my jeep and it turned out to be the alternator, it charged fine but i think the diods went in it letting it constantly draw a charge even when it was off. a charge that big is probubly a couple of amps to drain a battery that quickly. you could baind-aid it a little if you put a battery cut off or pulled the negative when you arent using the car.

 

[argve]

To flush the tranny cooler that is built into the rad you have to flush those ports - that's because it's basically a little radiator sitting inside a bigger one (Liquid to liquid heat exchanger).

I bet you found the problem with the battery issue - just screw the doors shut so the kiddies can't open the door and you shouldn't have a problem. As posted those little battery chargers take forever and a day... If you want drive on up here and you can borrow my big roll around jobbie - it's microprocessor controlled and will do battery testing as well. I'll leave the light on for ya