High Temps in Stop and Go Traffic While Towing
#16
Originally posted by RustyJC
The problem was that the torque converter was generating so much heat under these conditions that transmission heat was overpowering the cooling system, which had very little airflow at these low speeds. If you trace the factory transmission cooling circuit, the hot fluid from the transmission goes first to the heat exchanger in the radiator tank (dumping heat to the coolant), then to the oil-to-air cooler, then back to the transmission.
The problem was that the torque converter was generating so much heat under these conditions that transmission heat was overpowering the cooling system, which had very little airflow at these low speeds. If you trace the factory transmission cooling circuit, the hot fluid from the transmission goes first to the heat exchanger in the radiator tank (dumping heat to the coolant), then to the oil-to-air cooler, then back to the transmission.
#17
Registered User
The cooling system, although very large, has very limited heat rejection capabilities when the truck is sitting still. It depends on airflow through the radiator to get rid of the heat. Therefore, the mods I suggested do 2 things:
1. Reduce the heat load being generated by the torque converter during stop-and-go driving that is transferred to the coolant. When towing a 13,500 lb 5th wheel, this heat load is very large.
2. Get as much airflow through the radiator as possible with the lower temperature aftermarket thermal fan clutch.
No, I didn't have any other cooling system problems. If you don't like the suggestion I made, you're perfectly free to ignore it, right? All I can say is that it solved my problem as well as several others on the V-10 forum who had the same problem and used it on their trucks.
Rusty
1. Reduce the heat load being generated by the torque converter during stop-and-go driving that is transferred to the coolant. When towing a 13,500 lb 5th wheel, this heat load is very large.
2. Get as much airflow through the radiator as possible with the lower temperature aftermarket thermal fan clutch.
No, I didn't have any other cooling system problems. If you don't like the suggestion I made, you're perfectly free to ignore it, right? All I can say is that it solved my problem as well as several others on the V-10 forum who had the same problem and used it on their trucks.
Rusty
#19
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
twhite's sig. says he has over 170K miles on the truck...
I've got a question- do you still have the crankcase vent bottle on the front of the engine??
If so, your radiator needs to be removed and chemically clean the fins which are plugged up with oil and crud from that puke bottle.
JMHO
I've got a question- do you still have the crankcase vent bottle on the front of the engine??
If so, your radiator needs to be removed and chemically clean the fins which are plugged up with oil and crud from that puke bottle.
JMHO
#20
Originally posted by RustyJC
No, I didn't have any other cooling system problems. If you don't like the suggestion I made, you're perfectly free to ignore it, right? All I can say is that it solved my problem as well as several others on the V-10 forum who had the same problem and used it on their trucks.
Rusty
No, I didn't have any other cooling system problems. If you don't like the suggestion I made, you're perfectly free to ignore it, right? All I can say is that it solved my problem as well as several others on the V-10 forum who had the same problem and used it on their trucks.
Rusty
If you ever see a first gen CTD truck in the bone yard look under the bed side and see if it has one of these jewels. I scored this one for $25.00. We used to install them quite a bit out here, but they have long since been discontinued.
#21
Roadranger has it right.
If you still are using a factory overflow bottle it must likely has puked some oil onto the radiator and is restricting the air flow.
As far as the clutch fan kicking on, it is working , you just can't hear it in town.
Try putting the trans in neutral when you can, the trans will cool better. Don't use park, there is no fluid flow in park.
extra fans and coolers are a good thought too.
If you still are using a factory overflow bottle it must likely has puked some oil onto the radiator and is restricting the air flow.
As far as the clutch fan kicking on, it is working , you just can't hear it in town.
Try putting the trans in neutral when you can, the trans will cool better. Don't use park, there is no fluid flow in park.
extra fans and coolers are a good thought too.
#22
Registered User
As I said, it was purely a stop-and-go problem while towing in Houston summers. The V-10 has a high heat rejection rate, especially when working to accelerate from stop lights (you don't dawdle around in Houston traffic.) Ditto the torque converter in the 47RE. Don't forget - the A/C is on all this time (gotta keep Momma happy!) All this is happening under the worst possible circumstances from the cooling system's standpoint - low average speeds means little ram cooling through the radiator or OEM oil-to-air trans cooler. So it wasn't just the 47RE overpowering the cooling system. Rather, it was a combination of circumstances that created the problem.
As I said, this problem wasn't unique to my truck. A number of participants in the old, defunct V-10 forum had the same problem under the same circumstances. As a mechanical engineer, I took the sledgehammer approach - reduce the heat load (trans cooler) while increasing heat rejection capacity (lower temp fan clutch). It worked. Was it an elegant solution - well, we can debate that all day. Did it solve the problem - yes. Each individual can take it for what it's worth - exactly what you paid to learn from my experience.
Here's another $500+ nugget for free - forget replacing the engine-driven cooling fan with a dual Flex-a-Lite puller fan setup to cure this problem. It doesn't work! The reason why should be the subject for another thread, should anyone be interested.
Rusty
As I said, this problem wasn't unique to my truck. A number of participants in the old, defunct V-10 forum had the same problem under the same circumstances. As a mechanical engineer, I took the sledgehammer approach - reduce the heat load (trans cooler) while increasing heat rejection capacity (lower temp fan clutch). It worked. Was it an elegant solution - well, we can debate that all day. Did it solve the problem - yes. Each individual can take it for what it's worth - exactly what you paid to learn from my experience.
Here's another $500+ nugget for free - forget replacing the engine-driven cooling fan with a dual Flex-a-Lite puller fan setup to cure this problem. It doesn't work! The reason why should be the subject for another thread, should anyone be interested.
Rusty
#24
Registered User
The Flex-a-Lite fans pulled 50 amps. 50 amps x 12 volts = 600 watts. 1 BHP = 746 watts. Therefore, 600 watts = 0.81 BHP. Even if the electric fans were twice as efficient as the engine-driven fan (and they're not), they could not move enough air under these conditions to enable sufficient heat rejection from the radiator.
Rusty
Rusty
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Dodgezilla
3rd Gen Engine and Drivetrain -> 2003-2007
5
05-24-2011 12:24 PM
AKDSLDOG
24 Valve Engine and Drivetrain
17
11-28-2003 12:01 AM