I have been having major problems with the tranny overheating even on short trips around town and especially at the track. Here is a little info on the car:

T-Rex cam
8.8 rear w/4.10 gear and spool
4STB Transmission (manual non-lockup AOD w/electric OD, Trans Brake, and GM bellhousing)
8" PTC 5100 non-lockup converter
28" radials for street and 28" ET Drags track.

I changed the temp gauge & sending unit out to make sure that wasn't the problem, and went with a cooler/fan setup in front of the radiator (previously 2 B&M 24,000 coolers dope style). The temp sending unit is in the return line after the cooler. I even cut the front out (pic) to make sure it gets plenty of air. Don't worry I have the SLP SS grill to cover the front when I get this figured out

Here is the cooler I went with: http://www.jegs.com/i/Perma-Cool/771/12311/10002/-1

I figured it would be plenty, but I am still having overheating issues. I'm using the stock hard lines to about 12" from the cooler then 3/8 hose. Would a larger diameter line help?




I was hoping some of the transmission builders might have some suggestions in fixing the problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

I'm not a builder, but I'll take a stab at it.

1. Have you had it flushed recently?
2. If you aren't running it already, go to a full synthetic fluid.

 

1. No I haven't had it flushed reciently, but I have thought about taking it somewhere to have that done.
2. I didn't think it was good to run synthetic on a Type F fluid tranny?

 

"2. I didn't think it was good to run synthetic on a Type F fluid tranny?"
__________________
I do not know any thing about you converter, but I would never run "synthetic" in my 4l60/ yank,I repete I do not know about your set up
pordon me for steping in
Johnny

 

What temps are you seeing and what stall speed do you have ??

 

Well Like said before I'm no trans builder/expert but I just put my TH400 trans and cooler in. I asked the place where I brought my cooler from what would be the best way to mount the cooler. I was told NEVER to mount with the inlet/return lines facing downward. I was told to have them on either side or on top to prevent I believe air getting trapped in the cooler. He also said once that happen I would really only be using like half of the cooler which would make it hard to keep the trans cool. Like I said I'm no expert so if this is not right don't flame me lol but this is the way I have hooked my trans up and I have not had any problems with over heating SO FAR( fingers crossed). I have the B&M super cooler with no fan.

 

Actually thats a good point air could become trapped decrease the area of the cooler used.

To the OP I did not see the stall size but do now and with a non lockup unit and a stall that high you would need considerable cooling around town to keep the temps down.
Remember that with a stall any energy made by the engine that is not transferred to the trans (under stall rpm) will be made into heat.

 

That's good info Shoulder Shaker. I didn't think about air being trapped. I will change the inlet/outlet to side and see if that helps.

Performabuilt: I have no idea what the GVW rating is, but I figured it was a big enough cooler vs the B&M 24000 I had.

The cooler is a Perma-Cool w/1000cfm fan
1.5" H x 10.5" W x 14" L

Do you think I might need a bigger one?

 

Keep us posted on if the cooler position fixed the problem.

 

With a stall that high and no lockup I would want the biggest i could buy/fit

 

AC condensor? LOL

 

Hey dont laugh I have done that before it actually works amaziingly well lol

 

Just a suggestion but for a stall that high your Cam would have to be insanely large.

Im talking Gross Lift around 675 and duration around 400 which is huge.

your stall is depended more on your cam than anything else.

Thats why you see alot of people with stock cars running 3500 stalls having problems it is not meant to be that way at all. A lot of people will argue that but it is proven

If a performance company your buying from doesnt ask you your cam specs then they arent worth buying from.

Also does this have a Diode Stator cause those cause heating issues to?

 

T-Rex cam is 242/248 612/615 110lsa. I'm using the same stall speed as most other N/A 346 ci motors around this board.

 

When you said AC condenser did you mean that is what was causing your trans to overheat or is that what you brought thinking it was a cooler? Glad you were able to figure out the problem.

 

LOL. No I was joking with Performabuilt. I was saying I could use the AC condensor as a huge tranny cooler since I don't have AC anymore. I shven't fixed the problem yet. I will switch the cooler lines around this weekend and give that a try.

 

Oh ok lol. I hope that changing the lines around solves the problem. Keep up posted.

 

But it works REALLY well.

 

I trailered the car to the track last night so I didn't get to see what the temps would get on the hwy.
During the runs the temps would climb up to 230-245* by the end of the track. I turned on the cooler fan and slowly returned to the pits and temps would fall back to 210-215* by the time I parked. I let it cool off to below 190* between runs.
I still think I'm going to try the AC condenser idea when I find one for a decent price. I may even try a big fan on it also.