trans temp?
 

when should i worry about the trans temp? i saw 214 the other day after a few full throttle runs, it usually sits around 186 driving normal. obviously it will go up lol

if you are getting up to 200+ regularly then I'd be worried. I run 90% highway to and from work and with the converter I stay about 185 cruising. It will spike to 195-200 after a quick WOT pull from time to time.

If you look at almost any fluid temp chart for trans fluid, they will say anywhere from 150-200ish is great. The only thing that happens above 200 is the fluid life goes down some. Most of the charts put 100k as a bench mark and over 200 fluid temp brings it down 20-40k miles in life.

I'd never run the fluid that long anyway, maybe 50-75k miles and change it. So figure your truck is just fine and look at where you live, temps can rise faster and if it got over 230-240 then be somewhat worried it getting too hot.

I've always been told that trans temp should be slightly lower than engine temp under normal use. I agree it'll be fine the way it is, would it be better/safer with a cooler on there and lower temps, heck yea…

On my turbo truck (6L80E) I saw an average of 180* with a converter and 40K and 220 after a few pulls and 3yrs rocking 650rwhp without a problem.

Now with a 3600 converter 40k cooler and around 10 track passes per week! it never sees over 180*
6L80Es run between 180* - 210* off the showroom floor @ over 90* weather and heavy traffic.

ok, some good info, this is my first automatic, so i had no clue. being that temps were 111 out when i saw the 214 i should be fine. probably going to do fluid changes every 30k just cause it gets so hot here.


How would i go about adding a cooler?

I wouldn't worry dude. The truck is stock lol. You're not going to have overheating issues with a stock setup.

It's really really easy to add a cooler and its a great idea to add on any truck. I used a ford excursion 2001 trans cooler it's the same size as a trucool 40k. When towing or long hot drives sometimes my truck would shift really hard. I added the larger cooler and it went away 10k miles strong.

Trans temps on mine would stay 170+. While towing a heavy load 200 was not out of the question. This would have been ok but for added insurance I added a 40k cooler and now on 95 degree days cruising on the hiway 145 is the norm. It will still climb over 180 when I beat on it but it cools back down a lot quicker.

well now im worried, it sits right at 194 while driving normal. my buddy has a brand new transmission cooler that is the size of the opening of the grille on my sierra and pretty think too. would there be an issue with a cooler too big?