oil /tranny temps while towing

[danmac]

Have any of you noticed your oil and tranny temps while towing? I have a Sport crew cab 2wd Hemi auto and recently pulled my boat, 3000 lbs with trailer, on a 500 mile trip. My oil temps were steady at 225-230 degrees. I'm using Mobil 1 synthetic and I expected the temps to be lower. My tranny temps were about 180 while cruising and would climb to 205 in stop and go traffic. I'm curious what you guys are seeing. Thanks

[hounddogg]

I haven't towed with mine but from what I have read on the diesel forum that sounds in line/normal.Oil temps are near 200 non towing for the most part.Trans temps are always lower when torque converter is locked and at speed.The around 200 doesn't sound unusual.If on big inclines and IF it goes higher then slow down if needed and drop a gear.What rear gear do you have?

[danmac]

I've got the 3.55 ratio and it handled a 3k lbs load fine. I can see that a heavier load would be better served with the 3.92 gear. I wasn't alarmed by the tranny temps but a bit surprised that the engine oil temp stayed around 225-230. I thought, especially with a synthethic, it would stay more in line with the coolant temps, 206-208.

[hounddogg]

I can see oil temps being higher then coolant temps.Maybe some others whom are towing will post their readings.It ought to be easy to compare as ALL of these trucks have that monitoring capability now.They needed that on the diesels years back.Owners were having to spend a chunk on gauges to monitor these readings before.Did you notice any change in oil temps with the use of Mobil 1 ?

[HDcowboy]

If the coolant temp were the same as the oil temp the coolant couldnt do its job. The coolant needs to be cooler to cool the engine.

[danmac]

This was my first tow, so I can't compare oil temps between syn and conventional. I did notice that driving unloaded before the switch my oil temps were very close to my coolant temps.

[1screaminZ]

I tow a 5K travel trailer and my temps never gets above 170 in the mountains of MT. What kind of driver are you? This really dictates the temps of the drivetrain

[Lead Head]

205* often on the transmission will degrade the fluid quite quickly. If you hit over 200 a lot, you may want to consider and upgraded transmission cooler, or mounting a fan to the existing one.

[danmac]

I'm the type of driver who selects the tow/haul feature to control the tranny, accelerates easy and sets the cruise control at 65 mph. My trip was thru the mid-south with temps in the 90-95 range. I used the recommended 89 octane for half of my trip and tried 93 for the second half to see if I could feel a difference or see any increase in mpg. I couldn't feel any increase in performance but did see .5 improvemnet in mpg; probably not worth the extra expense. Now when I'm driving empty, I enjoy all 390 horses with enthusiasm!

[HEMI_ROM]

Have any of you noticed your oil and tranny temps while towing? I have a Sport crew cab 2wd Hemi auto and recently pulled my boat, 3000 lbs with trailer, on a 500 mile trip. My oil temps were steady at 225-230 degrees. I'm using Mobil 1 synthetic and I expected the temps to be lower. My tranny temps were about 180 while cruising and would climb to 205 in stop and go traffic. I'm curious what you guys are seeing. Thanks

Towing approx 5500lbs up the passes here in Colorado my tranny temp never got higher than 174. OAT when I was towing was 70'ish. Did not check other temps. My tranny temp has run to 204 max when in heavy city traffic. I have the factory tow package.

[rdolan5]

I have 106,000 miles on my 03 Ram with 4.7L, 3.91 gears. I own a 6,000 coachmen trailer. I have pulled it twice to Washington state from Arkansas. On the first trip with 30,000 miles on the truck, I had the pinion bearing fail in Twin Falls Idaho. Since that pull, I have added a pod to monitor diff temperature and Trans temperature. I also added an aluminum finned diff cover that holds about 1.5 quarts more diff fluid. I also changed to royal purple 80-140W oil in the diff. I have made multiple trips back since the mods with no problem. I noticed that without the trailer, the trans temp at interstate speeds and 90F air temp will read 140 to 150F. The diff temp will stabilize between 170-180F at 70 mph. When towing the trailer at 65mph and 90F outside temp, the trans reads 180-200F and the diff will read 210-225F. When pulling a long steep grade in the mountains the trans may hit 230F and the diff 235-240F. When the diff nears 240F I pull over and allow it to cool (20 minutes or so). Best mod I mad for towing was the finned cover and monitoring the temps! The 4.7L does great towing except in a strong head wind. I once could not pull any faster than 50mph without the R545RFE shifting into second and refusing to shift to third. The headwind was 45-50 MPH! I found a campground early that day and let the weather pass. That was the only time I wish I had the hemi! The 4.7L does fine otherwise! 9.5 10.5 MPG towing!
03 Ram QC SB, 4.7L, Auto, 3.91 gears, K&N filter.

[Inbred]

It ought to be easy to compare as ALL of these trucks have that monitoring capability now.

Nope, not ALL of them do.

[sizemic1]

I just got through pulling a 7000# trailer 1500 miles with several thousand feet of elevation changes many times over and my oil temp was about 230 with the tranny hovering in the 180-190 range with outside temps in the 80's-90's. The trans did creep up to 200 at one point during a real long slow sleep pull.

[HotRodKev]

8000lbs on 3.55 gears, trans temp of 165 freeway with hills, oil temp 220 ambit temp outside 103 degrees