normal transmission temps?

[vthokie]

Hey guys, I recently bought a scanguage so that I could monitor everything going on with my 4runner. I have noticed that my tranny temp stays around 200-210 most of the time, but this weekend I went on a wheeling trip and on the way to the trail there was a road we took that was uphill for 11 miles. The highest I saw the tranny temp get to was 250. I thought that was a bit high and I was a little concerned. It eventually settled back to 200 once we were on the trail. I recently replaced the radiator, so I don't necessarily need to get an external cooler to avoid the pink milkshake, but if I'm going to be expereinceing high temperatures like this it might be a good idea. I have also recently done a drain and fill transmission fluid change twice in the past few months to get cleaner fluid in there. When I went to the store all they had was the Advanced Auto brand of dextron 3, so that is what we bought. Could this be another cause of the high temperatures?

This summer I'm going to be living in a mountainous area in NC, so I don't want to burn anything up.

Thanks for the help
-vthokie

 

[jdmaccord6]

those temps are pretty normal for the stock set up. If you haven't done so already, i would highly recommend an external transmission cooler to help with A - dropping the trans temp, and B - prevent the dreaded pink milkshake.
I've got an external cooler on mine and normal stop and go traffic i see around 170-190's and highway driving is around 140-160's.

 

[Baja Runner]

Yeah thats a little high. If you don't want to deal with putting an external cooler (its actually simple but still takes a little while), you can use synthetic transmission fluid as it retains its "properties" better at higher temps.

Also, I dont know what to gauge that on except for the fact that I had an inline thermoresistor hooked upto an analog dial gauge on my last truck. It would hover around 190 most of the time, but i had 35's. The stock temp gauge might be alittle different, and 200 might be totally fine.

 

[vthokie]

I'm gonna go ahead and get a B & M transmission cooler. Most people seem to give them good reviews, but I dont know which one would be better. Either the B&M 70268 SuperCooler (13,000 btu) or the B&M 70264 SuperCooler (14,400 btu). Which would be more suitable for my application? I want to keep it cool, but not to cool, and I think the bigger cooler might be too much. I make trips to ski resorts often in the winter, so I want my fluid to be at a good operating temperature.

Amazon.com: B&M 70268 SuperCooler Automatic Transmission Cooler: Automotive
Amazon.com: B&M 70264 SuperCooler Automatic Transmission Cooler: Automotive

 

[4-Ripcord]

If you just replaced the radiator, you could always run the external cooler AND radiator in series. Since the only reason to remove the ATF from the radiator and get an external cooler is if you suspect the radiator may fail soon. It will take more ATF of course, but man your temps will be under control. That should help with being in a mountainous area.

And I'd get the 70268. The only reason to get the 70264 is if you are in a REALLY hot area and the vehicle will never see cold temps.