thinking about putting a trans temp gauge in does everybody just use the pressure port in the drivers side of the 4l60e to get the temp signal with the sender? any ideas welcome

 

worked for me

 

I find the pressure port reads high.

I have my truck and car set up like this.
A tee in the fluid outlet to the cooler.
On my camaro the gauge reads +/- 2 degrees difference than the factory sensor in the pan (with HP Tuners)
The car runs through an aftermarket cooler only, the truck runs through the radiator cooler and has an aftermarket cooler in series with the fluid return line.

 

Damn, restricted account won't let me edit the double pic.

 

i put mine in the pan. most agree this is the best average temp reading.

 

bump!

 

Becareful if you tee into you cooler lines not to restrict the flow. Also the temperatures in the transmission cooler out will be hotter than the sump when the tcc is released. The line pressure port temperatures lag behind the actual sump temp.

 

pan..........

 

That is the best place to put it if you want a true sump reading, although it is a pain to do.

 

I'm sure you've all seen one of these.
It just makes more sense to me to read the temp at the hottest measurable spot.

 

Without getting into a long explaination. When the converter releases the cooler out temperature can and will spike up over 50 f within a few seconds and then drop back as the converter reapplies. While all that is happening the sump temperature remain relatively stable.

 

I just bought a b&m deep trans pan. It has a hole thats already tapped. The hardware that came with my autometer guage screwed right into that hole.

 

I wonder if you can tap into the Wire that is in the Harness that tells the temp in the Tranny.

 

You could if you had the resistance vs temperature curve.

 

With my truck (1998 4L80E)
The temp slowly rises up to about 230*
As soon as it hits lock up it'll drop to 165* in less than a minute.
I still prefer to see max temp.

A lot of places post those graphs about whats being hurt in your trans when temp is XXX*
I figure if I'm driving in city traffic and my temp to the cooler is 230* something in the trans must be seeing that 230*
Or am I wrong? I really don't know.

 

Those are usually short excursions that do not hurt to much as long as the temperature stays within reason. The transmission outlet temperature is very close to the internal temperature of the torque converter. The converter oil exits the converter through the pump and goes to the cooler. This is a 4l80 but most GM transmission are very similar.

 

Thanks for the pic.

I've had this thing in the pressure port too, thats why I moved it because I thought that location was reading false.
It's always ran hot when unlocked, it's a big problem when I tow and go up hill, it'll peg my 240* gauge.
Funny thing is this trans came out of a 3500HD tow rig at 60,xxx miles, it had a brake on the tail that I swapped to a regular bolt on yoke, plus it's always had neck snapping shifts. (it had a sticking press reg and broken rev servo when I got it, I installed a sonnax press relief valve, and some other things like the center support bushing, it was worn with about .0625 clearance)

So basically it's stock with new bushings, everything else was like new, the pump did wet test a little on the bad side around the boost valve.

 

I have a regular trans temp guage that reads off the pressure port and i have a aeroforce guage that reads what the computer reads. The pressure port is accurate its just very slow to respond. Like after i make a run down the track the aeroforce guage will read like 190* but the regular guage will still be at like 175* and after like five minutes it will catch up.

 

Your welcome, tried not to stray to far off topic.

The fluid behind the pressure port is not circulating, it is dead headed at you temp sensor so it is slow to respond to the temperature changes. As for the transmission cooler out temperatures. In a previous career I have seen temperatures of 300+ while the actual sump was at 230. Simply put the higher the stall the greater the temp differential.

4l80e transmission like their predecessor the 400 are very strong. But like all transmissions they had their share of minor issues

 

How do you read the trans temp with hptuners?