Safe transmission temps

[HeyCrutch]

[Endopotential]

[WorthaTry]

[SambaBurnsRed]

[bcolins]

Two years ago, I was driving up Pikes Peak in July,....a cloudy day,.....and as I climbed,.....my speed steadily dropping,....with me shifting to second gear,...I soon saw 260 degrees (f) and decided to abort the drive. About a year ago,..I was meeting a friend at a restaurant to pick up a title for a BMW motorcycle I purchased from him. I pulled into the parking lot and after a moment, pulled the emergency brake,....the van was still running and I forgot that I still had it in gear. 15 minutes later we had done the the paperwork, and I went to put it in reverse, and realized it was still in drive,.....oops, I moved it to reverse, and backed up,...put it in drive, and began driving,...but the van would not shift out of first gear,.....I looked down at the scan gauge, and temp was 300 (f). I was already on the service road,....so turned my flashers on , turned off the AC and turned on the heat to full defrost,....to help pull some heat out,...and continued slowly down the service road still in first gear. I don't recall how long it took before the transmission would allow an upshift,....but it eventually as the trans temp began to come down, did upshifts and allow normal driving.

I thought I had done in the transmission,.....but crisis averted. I felt VERY relieved.

Brian in Austin

[Endopotential]

Hey SambaBurnsRed,

Sounds like you know your way around cars just fine but FWIW...

The original external cooler the PO had installed in my '02 Weekender was the same size as the Amazon one you posted. It turned out to be woefully inadequate for 90F heat and going over the hills here in Northern Cal.
Past 230F or so on the transmission fluid, my gears would start to slip and things got really sketchy.

I upgraded to the 49211 you originally had, and it works wonders now. Everything is running about 40F cooler. Just to be paranoid, I installed mine with double Oetiker clamps on both hoses.

I really don't know much about the design of transmission coolers. But GVWR alone probably doesn't paint an adequate picture. I'd imagine a lot also depends on efficiency of the engine and transmission, how much heat each generates, how much airflow you get at your cooler mounting position etc.
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2002 Eurovan Weekender

[Abscate]

[SambaBurnsRed]

[kourt]

I'm on a 3000 mile trip now through the mountain west.

On 4 July, I drove from Durango, CO through the San Juan Mountains to Montrose, CO, then onward to Grand Junction, CO, then Vernal, UT, then through Flaming Gorge to Mountain View, WY, and then down dirt roads into the Uintas Mountains to Kings Peak, UT.

This drive put me through at least five passes at 8,000 to 10,000 feet in one morning.

I'm still learning how to drive this thing. Here's what I learned:

1. driving in 1st gear at high revs will cause the power steering pump to over-rev and cavitate, and cause the power steering fluid to froth and overflow from the reservoir. If you have to use first gear, keep it below 4000 RPM.

2. driving with the shifter locked in 2nd gear produced the best results up the big passes. Get in the right lane and own the fact that you are slow. If I could keep the speed up around 30 to 35 MPH, I could keep the trans temps in the 215F to 225F range. If I drove slower, the temps would get up to 240 and I would pull off for a while.

We arrived in Ouray, CO with a whining power steering pump, due to most of the fluid flowing out during a 1st gear/high RPM test. We got funneled into the 4th of July parade and they expected us to throw candy at them from the van. Eventually we found the trading post on the north end of town and bought power steering fluid, which brought the pump back into line.

Following those lessons, the rest of the drive was uneventful. I've got a few more passes in the eastern Sierras in California next week, but I'm ready for them.

The van has been a champ on the roads. I-80 across Wyoming and Utah today was a dream at 80MPH with air conditioning and a quiet cab.

kourt

Photo taken today, exiting Uintas mountains.

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2001 Eurovan Winnebago Camper

[samba415]

"I'm still learning how to drive this thing".

Truer words may not have been spoken on an EV thread about transmissions. We appreciate any and all data points. Thank you all!
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Old stable: '63 Baja, '69 Square, '72 Bug, '65 & '67 Samba, '73 412 wagon & 2dr 4spd

Current: '04 Golf TDI, '03 Weekender

[kourt]

Thanks--I think humility goes a long way in life.

Just arrived in Reno! Lots of passes on I-80 west from SLC. Here are more notes:

The flats were driven at 80MPH throughout.

I would take Interstate passes with as much speed as I could manage, until it dropped down to 65MPH, then I manually shifted to 3.

Holding 60-65MPH while locked in 3 produced the best results--the most throttle control, with the ATF temps staying in the 205F to 215F range. The temps were often dropping. Ambient air temps today were in the 80s to low 90s.

There were times when circumstances forced me to slow down. Shifting down to 2 in speeds of 30 to 60 MPH worked well for those situations. I have to keep the high RPMs brief due to the power steering fluid situation.

We were caught in serious traffic on I-80 coming into Reno today--a pickup truck caught fire and locked us in place for 90 minutes. My experience during that ordeal confirms what Brian said earlier--sitting at idle in gear will cause the temps to rise. I would shift to P whenever possible and watch the ATF temps go down.

I'm pretty sure my power steering reservoir has bad o-rings. They are pretty shagged. I know this power steering system can tolerate higher RPMs without dumping fluid. I'll probably rebuild the PS system when I get home. I'm using CHF 11S fluid, which is good stuff.

More later. Loving this van today.

kourt
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2001 Eurovan Winnebago Camper

[kourt]

I would have liked to say that I am camped near Williams, AZ, but parts of the Grand Canyon have been evacuated due to an uncontrolled fire, and everything is full.

It was getting late so we took refuge in a Super 8 motel in Williams and I cooked lentil soup in the van. We will get back on our horse tomorrow.

Tips for cooling down your transmission:

1. keep the engine running as this keeps fluids moving and fans on.
2. keep the AC on as this keeps the condenser fans pulling air over the heat exchangers up front.
3. put the van in Park as this removes any clutch engagement that would generate heat.
4. high idle your van at 2000 RPM as this helps the ATF pump move more ATF quicker, without overheating your engine.
5. Use a ScanGuage so that you can actually see what your ATF temp is.

We had several tough passes today on small county roads that were curvy and did not allow high speeds. That meant having to watch the ScanGauge, stop driving when the ATF temp reached 230F, and use the tips above to bring the temps back down and then start driving again. It took patience but we got over the passes from Big Pine, CA to Lida, CA. Specifically Westgard Pass, Gilbert Pass, and Lida Summit. Hot ambient air temps and difficult roads.

kourt
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2001 Eurovan Winnebago Camper

[kourt]

I wanted to follow up on my recent journey now that we are home.

Start date: 3 July
End date: 14 July
Number of days of travel: 12
Actual driving days: 9
Longest driving day: Day 1, 14 hours
Distance driven: 4,235 miles
Ascended: 31,736 feet
Descended: 32,136 feet
Max elevation driven: 11,119 feet

Austin, TX > Durango, CO > Henrys Fork Campground, UT > Jordanelle Reservoir, UT > Reno, NV > Mammoth Lakes, CA > Williams, AZ > Santa Fe, NM > Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX > Austin, TX

I just dropped my ATF pan and changed the fluid. It was a little dark but I've seen worse. It smelled fine--not burnt.

New power steering pump and reservoir are installed.

Leaving for another 2,500 mile trip on Thursday...

kourt

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2001 Eurovan Winnebago Camper

[krusovice]

Nice trip kourt. That’s a lot of windshield time.
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1984 Vanagon 1.9/4 speed
2001 Eurovan Camper

[IdeaNerd]

@kourt just a quick chime-in note to say I too am appreciating your data points and summaries. Thanks for posting them!

[kourt]

Thanks everyone.

I forgot to add: I saw other Eurovans!

A Rialta in Durango at our first night stop.

Several weekenders parked on side roads in California, being used on vacations in the mountain west.

Driving through Bishop, CA I saw Sierra German Auto on Highway 395, with several Eurovans and Vanagons in the lot.

In Albuquerque at the division of I-25 going north to south, we came alongside another EVC going south to Las Cruces, while we were going north to Santa Fe. It was a perfect split--both vans going in opposite directions at the same time.

In Santa Fe we saw a lifted Weekender with black rocker panels on the Old Santa Fe Trail road.

We were acknowledged by many other VWs on the road, including an old split window bus in Wyoming that flashed us with his roof mounted spotlight.

Stuck in the 4th of July parade in Ouray, CA, we were approached by someone who also owned an EVC--he pulled out his phone, showed us a photo of his van, and yelled, "we have the same van!"

The upcoming trip this week is to RAGBRAI, the annual bike ride across Iowa (see my thread from 2023). My team will be three cyclists supported by two Eurovans--my EVC and my friend's Weekender, with dedicated drivers. More on that later.

kourt

Mammoth Lakes New Shady Rest Campground

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2001 Eurovan Winnebago Camper