April 15, 2011
Kinda.The last few weeks I have noticed that if Im driving down the highway and have to slow down due to traffic or something of the sort that my transmission will be really picky about going back into overdrive and at the same time will jump from its idle temp of about 160 to 220 rather quickly. while i know that 220 isnt terribly hot, it seems like it shouldnt jump 60 degrees that fast (maybe 60 seconds). just to clarify, i am talking about the transmission temp, not the engine or radiator. I added a aftermarket B&M trans temp gauge, the sending unit is also in working condition. I also have an aftermarket HD 8-pass tranny cooler in place of the stock crap tranny cooler that came with the truck.
Im not so much worried about the temp jump as I am about the loss of overdrive. While I can usually get it to shift back in o/d on its own by giving it a little extra gas and releasing my foot from the pedal swiftly, I still dont like it.
the transmission was rebuilt about 9-10k miles ago and is still well within the warranty (18 months in on a 3yr/36000 mile warranty)
also, i have noticed that my a/c seems to really bog down the engine when it has been on for any amount of time over 15 minutes or so. it makes the engine sound like it has just started up on a cold winter morning. could this have any type of extra strain on the engine/transmission causing it to overheat? or does it sound like it is only part of a transmission problem.
finally, the fluid is at a good level and doesnt smell burnt and is still the cherry red color. (regular, not synthetic)
`98 ext cab, 350 v8, 4L60E transmission with 166k, rebuilt (complete) at 156k or so.
