Wildman's TJ is getting a face lift

[Wildman]

This one is preferred if it solves a cooling problem you have, but without a gauge you won't know if you have a problem or how any given solution you try improves it.

I do appreciate that the setrab is a passive solution, but I've not gotten hot enough on my 42rle to pressure me into installing mine yet.

I've got to figure out why mine isn't flowing the fluid.... Which is why I plan on just running the rear one first and then I'll go from there. If it's flowing through the rear one then I'll reconnect the front and see what happens.

I never had a temp gauge on the 44RE so I have no idea what the emps were but also never had any issues.

Edit: He asked about coolers so I was answering his question. I have no issues with the B&M and had them on my 44RE. He's got a 30RH that's smoked so it needs to be rebuilt.

 

[5632]

I certainly enjoy learning new things because I have never herd of anyone running a radiator cooler and 2 extras. Good luck.

 

[Wildman]

I certainly enjoy learning new things because I have never herd of anyone running a radiator cooler and 2 extras. Good luck.

Then again I think you talk a GOOD GAME but actually haven't been around the car world much.... I know more than one person who has ran 1 or 2 aux trans coolers.

But AGAIN did you really read? I'm going to run JUST the rear cooler.... And I'd added the rear cooler when I was getting warm trans temps after the first shakedown run. And again there is something I think not allowing the trans fluid to flow properly which is why I'm going to just run the rear cooler as a test.

 

[Wildman]

Was having a drivers side front height sensor failure on the run. So I swapped it out for another sensor. See if this cures it or if I'm going to have to get into the wiring.

Added 6 quarts of ATF to the transmission. Don't have the return cooler line connected yet. It's in the way of the exhaust. And I of course can't install the exhaust until I get the new O2 sensor on Monday.

The Lava Tube sleeve is out for delivery so I'll be able to get the shifter cable hooked up once it arrives.

 

[Christian.mers]

What’s next? What do you need to get it back up and running?

 

[Wildman]

What’s next? What do you need to get it back up and running?

Waiting on 2 parts.
1) Up Stream O2 sensor - it won't be here until Monday. And can't reinstall the exhaust until I have it.

2) Lava Tube sleeve - it's supposed to be here sometime today. Then I can get the transmission shifter cable finished.

Ran into town and picked up the air springs from storage. Had to run to the store also for coffee...

 

[Christian.mers]

Not too bad, anything on the schedule after the exhaust is on?

 

[Wildman]

Funny how once I engage my I figure things out. I needed to replace the up stream O2 on the passenger side. But I didn't want to install the old O2 sensor and then have to drop the exhaust again.
DUH....... I can reach the drivers side O2 sensor without dropping the exhaust.

So I swapped the O2 sensor from the drivers side to the passenger side.

I'll just install the new O2 sensor in the drivers side when it arrives on Monday. But this way I can get the exhaust reinstalled.

Wiring routed better this time.

Lava Tube sleeve finally arrived.

 

[Wildman]

Not too bad, anything on the schedule after the exhaust is on?

I'll take it up on some local forest service roads. But will see about planning a trip to Reiter ORV area in a weekend or two.
Biggest thing is to see if I'm getting transmission fluid flowing through the cooler.

 

[Wildman]

Now I'm getting temperatures on the cooler lines that are close to what the gauge is showing.

I think I was low on fluid. I was getting a ghost reading on the transmission dipstick. So this time I took the chance and added another 2 quarts and it's full now.

 

[Wildman]

Don't know that I need to have it hooked up to the radiator.

Inlet cooler line

And then the cooler is working even without the fan coming on. Outlet cooler line.

 

[Wildman]

The fan for the transmission cooler came on twice. Didn't run for very long each time. I'd guess under 2 minutes each time. But now I know it's working.

So then the next question is do I hook up the other lines/coolers? If it got up to 190⁰ + on the gauge just idling in the garage, granted it took over an hour will having the other coolers help?

Or do I run it with just the rear cooler first and see how it goes ?

 

[Rickyd]

The fan for the transmission cooler came on twice. Didn't run for very long each time. I'd guess under 2 minutes each time. But now I know it's working.

So then the next question is do I hook up the other lines/coolers? If it got up to 190⁰ + on the gauge just idling in the garage, granted it took over an hour will having the other coolers help?

Or do I run it with just the rear cooler first and see how it goes ?

Man you may want to go see how these act in half ton trucks? How hot do they run when going shopping at 30mph all afternoon?

 

[Wildman]

Man you may want to go see how these act in half ton trucks? How hot do they run when going shopping at 30mph all afternoon?

I've heard a lot of people say the 545RFE runs warm but I don't know that for a fact. I know the 68RFE in my truck runs around 190* so that is all I've got to base it off if.

@NashvilleTJ what does your 545RFE run at on the trail?

 

[Zorba]

The fan for the transmission cooler came on twice. Didn't run for very long each time. I'd guess under 2 minutes each time. But now I know it's working.

So then the next question is do I hook up the other lines/coolers? If it got up to 190⁰ + on the gauge just idling in the garage, granted it took over an hour will having the other coolers help?

Or do I run it with just the rear cooler first and see how it goes ?

I once read - a VERY long time ago - that you always want to keep the stock radiator cooler intact so that the tranny won't run cold. (???) I've also read that you always want to have the stock cooler last so that if the additional coolers overcool, the radiator will re-warm the fluid. Don't know how accurate that is, blah, blah...

 

[Wildman]

Doing a search on the 545RFE it seems like it's normal operating range is 175*-220* so sitting at 190* seemed OK. It might of run lower if I was driving since there'd be airflow over the cooler even if it is in the rear. If I hook up the front cooler & radiator I'd guess it'll run around 190* as the normal operating temp.

And with the fan on the rear cooler having a thermostat that comes on @185* I'd guess I won't see temps above 220* other than when really getting on it.

I once read - a VERY long time ago - that you always want to keep the stock radiator cooler intact so that the tranny won't run cold. (???) I've also read that you always want to have the stock cooler last so that if the additional coolers overcool, the radiator will re-warm the fluid. Don't know how accurate that is, blah, blah...

Yes it's what is taught in auto tranny course. A auto transmission doesn't like to run cold which is why it's ran through the radiator. But I was also always taught that aux coolers are installed after the radiator cooler.

I'm thinking I'll hook the radiator and aux cooler back up and see what it does.

But I've got some other issues to fix first.... Going to have to mess with the O2 sensors. When I installed the new ends I was guessing on the wiring so I'll have to depin & move them.

And now my AiRock has decided it wants to mess up and not work like it's supposed to, The rear height sensor is out of range and swapping in a new sensor didn't fix it so there has to me a wiring problem. I'll start testing it tomorrow.

 

[reddvltj]

Doing a search on the 545RFE it seems like it's normal operating range is 175*-220* so sitting at 190* seemed OK. It might of run lower if I was driving since there'd be airflow over the cooler even if it is in the rear. If I hook up the front cooler & radiator I'd guess it'll run around 190* as the normal operating temp.

And with the fan on the rear cooler having a thermostat that comes on @185* I'd guess I won't see temps above 220* other than when really getting on it.



Yes it's what is taught in auto tranny course. A auto transmission doesn't like to run cold which is why it's ran through the radiator. But I was also always taught that aux coolers are installed after the radiator cooler.

I'm thinking I'll hook the radiator and aux cooler back up and see what it does.

But I've got some other issues to fix first.... Going to have to mess with the O2 sensors. When I installed the new ends I was guessing on the wiring so I'll have to depin & move them.

And now my AiRock has decided it wants to mess up and not work like it's supposed to, The rear height sensor is out of range and swapping in a new sensor didn't fix it so there has to me a wiring problem. I'll start testing it tomorrow.

After the other chickens are done frying and you get back to the transmission coolers. This is in response to you too @Zorba , yes the modern transmissions are temp sensitive to a point, so you are correct they need to get some heat from the engine during warm up in cold climates but that's the extent of that need.

I don't know about Ford and GM but Dodge installed an actual coolant heater into the transmission cooling line circuit to help with heating the trans up faster because they use a standalone trans cooler instead of one inside the radiator. On my 5.9 it sits back on the driver's side of the engine and it's about the size of a brick.

Performance and heavy duty transmission builders tell you to remove those heaters and just give the trans more time to heat up because they want them to run as cool as possible.

 

[JMT]

@Wildman I’d want to see what the temps are doing with the rear cooler before adding a second. If the temps don’t go over 220*F it should be very happy. But I’m a 1 change at a time guy because otherwise I don’t know what is causing what.

 

[Wildman]

After the other chickens are done frying and you get back to the transmission coolers. This is in response to you too @Zorba , yes the modern transmissions are temp sensitive to a point, so you are correct they need to get some heat from the engine during warm up in cold climates but that's the extent of that need.

I don't know about Ford and GM but Dodge installed an actual coolant heater into the transmission cooling line circuit to help with heating the trans up faster because they use a standalone trans cooler instead of one inside the radiator. On my 5.9 it sits back on the driver's side of the engine and it's about the size of a brick.

Performance and heavy duty transmission builders tell you to remove those heaters and just give the trans more time to heat up because they want them to run as cool as possible.

The 8HP series of transmissions have the cooler heater but the 8HP70 I picked up had it removed already.

I think my transmission warms up enough already from the exhaust being as close as it is. That is a TWO FOLD thing... Yes it warms it up faster but it also means I think that I need more cooling because of this. Now that I "THINK" I've got the transmission overheating issue figured out putting the radiator & Hayden cooler back into the loop seems prudent.

@Wildman I’d want to see what the temps are doing with the rear cooler before adding a second. If the temps don’t go over 220*F it should be very happy. But I’m a 1 change at a time guy because otherwise I don’t know what is causing what.

I need another trail run... Driving it on the road doesn't seem to heat it up like it did on the trail. But as I said above I think with the added heat it's experiencing putting the other coolers back into the loop seems like a good idea. I could be wrong. It isn't hard to connect or disconnect them.

Now to just chase all these electrical issues. Not super difficult just time consuming. Been reading the information & troubleshooting I've got on the AiRock. Not looking forward to chasing this problem down. The O2 sensors aren't as hard it's just swapping the pins around.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

I've heard a lot of people say the 545RFE runs warm but I don't know that for a fact. I know the 68RFE in my truck runs around 190* so that is all I've got to base it off if.

@NashvilleTJ what does your 545RFE run at on the trail?

Depends on what I'm doing. Usually, 160-180 ish. But if I'm doing a long, drawn out up hill climb, it will creep up to 200-210 ish.

I was wheelin' Windrock with Victor ( @gasiorv ) and some buddies this weekend. There is a several mile long, steep, crazily switchbacked, climb on gravel and asphalt to get up to the middle of the park, during which it creeped up to 210 and stayed steady. After the climb and back on regular trails, it dropped back to 160-180 ish.

Double black diamonds for two days. Victor can't see the colors green or blue...