trans temp
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: canton MI
trans temp this might sound dumb but i installed my transmission temp guage and it starts at 120 degrees when i first turn on the car and it slowly heats up to max temp while driving nicely. wtf what do 4l60s run at normally anyway? I know its not 400 degrees.
TECH Resident
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 781
Likes: 0
From: Taxme, Ohio
You're right about 400°. At that temperature the oil would become varnish. Mine would go as high as 240° before the B&M cooler. Now it never rises to 220°. Normal driving will eventually bring it up to 200°.
TECH Resident
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 781
Likes: 0
From: Taxme, Ohio
I believe the metering part of the gauge works on 5 volts and resistance to it. If you by any chance have the 12 volts (for the light source) some how connected wrong, you will experience pegging full. But that usually happens as soon as the key is turned on.
Where the sensor is located will make a difference but to eventually go to full hot doesn't seem likely that you have it in a place that would make it that inaccurate. There's a chance the sensor is faulty as well as the gauge itself. I'm sorry I can't be more specific. It's been several years since installing mine. All I can suggest right now is to double check your wiring and make sure the gauge is well grounded. I remember soldering a wire to the steel tubing coming out of my transmission to the body of the sensor in order to ground it securely. My best guess for now would be that the sensor itself isn't properly grounded to the transmission. If you have a $3 multimeter you can test the resistance and low voltage at the gauge. That number would give you something to work with in order to diagnose further. Keep us apprised.
Where the sensor is located will make a difference but to eventually go to full hot doesn't seem likely that you have it in a place that would make it that inaccurate. There's a chance the sensor is faulty as well as the gauge itself. I'm sorry I can't be more specific. It's been several years since installing mine. All I can suggest right now is to double check your wiring and make sure the gauge is well grounded. I remember soldering a wire to the steel tubing coming out of my transmission to the body of the sensor in order to ground it securely. My best guess for now would be that the sensor itself isn't properly grounded to the transmission. If you have a $3 multimeter you can test the resistance and low voltage at the gauge. That number would give you something to work with in order to diagnose further. Keep us apprised.
Curious... are you able to tie in to the factory wiring (the wire that goes back to the pcm/ecm to run your trans temp sensor? i have a trans temp guage with a sensor but i have no idea where to install the sensor. I figured it would be easier to just tie into the factory sensor wiring?????
Anyone ever tried this?
Anyone ever tried this?
Trending Topics
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo
Five Reasons the Camaro Was the Most Pivotal Player in the Pony Car Wars 2.0
Brett Foote
10 Reasons the LS7 Is GM's Most Extreme Naturally Aspirated V8 Engine Ever
Verdad Gallardo where is this located. i dont mess with the trans, i had mine built. is it on the oil pan, in the main housing, next to the linkage, 4l60/T56 specific?
J/K 
OP TECH Resident
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 781
Likes: 0
From: Taxme, Ohio
The pressure port is a dead end. Putting the sensor there will essentially give you the temperature of the tranny case. To get the moving fluid temperature you should consider placing the sensor in the line that goes into your radiator, as opposed to the one that goes out of it. You can actually feel which is the hot line by touching it after that car has been driven. The line into the radiator should be warmer than the one returning to the transmission. On my 95 it was the line that has the rubber section with the crimped pressure unions just before going into the radiator. It is the upper steel line coming out of the left side of the transmission.
The pressure port is a dead end. Putting the sensor there will essentially give you the temperature of the tranny case. To get the moving fluid temperature you should consider placing the sensor in the line that goes into your radiator, as opposed to the one that goes out of it. You can actually feel which is the hot line by touching it after that car has been driven. The line into the radiator should be warmer than the one returning to the transmission. On my 95 it was the line that has the rubber section with the crimped pressure unions just before going into the radiator. It is the upper steel line coming out of the left side of the transmission.
I have noticed temps within 10 degrees of what the temp sender says in datamaster. To me that is close enough. If it get hots you know you need to cool it down. I feel reliability wise you are safer installing it into that port rather than trying to add it in a section of the line.
If you put it in the return line your not getting accurate readings of how hot the trans is running. Having it in the pan is more accurate. the pressure port will work just fine. it will be slightly hotter then what the fluid actually is, but nothing drastically different
