2006 Titan overheating trans when towing travel trailer on grades. Temp never varied before when doing this. No power loss, shifts fine, fluid clean and not burned, engine temp fine. Am thinking trans cooler in radiator or lines plugged, trans fluid pump, other? I'd like to pin down before guessing. Any ideas how?
Transmission Cooling
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did you downshift on the hill or did you let the trans decide what gear to be in? If you didnt downshift it manually it probably kept shifting which will heat it up. .
side note, most people bypass the radiator cooler and add an external trans cooler. . I did this myself, but last year I pulled a really long grade with a vary heavy trailer and even downshifting manually, keeping RPM's up it still warmed up. it cooled back off but that was in 110 degree weather up the California grape vine. . big hill and a heavy trailer, I think even with the best set up you will see a rise. Was yours a huge spike or just a rise from normal?
side note, most people bypass the radiator cooler and add an external trans cooler. . I did this myself, but last year I pulled a really long grade with a vary heavy trailer and even downshifting manually, keeping RPM's up it still warmed up. it cooled back off but that was in 110 degree weather up the California grape vine. . big hill and a heavy trailer, I think even with the best set up you will see a rise. Was yours a huge spike or just a rise from normal?
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You already have an external trans cooler on the truck. You can attempt a bypass and just use the external cooler or even add a larger cooler. If you have not done so do a drain and fill to get some fresh fluid in there. One common problem that could be causing this is a cracked exhaust manifolds. Not sure how they are related but my wife's 05 started running hot so I took it in and they found the cracked manifolds. Replaced them and the 100000 miles later it never ran hot again.
Also I believed the gauges are very pesky and exaggerate the temps. I did testing years back when my temp gauge started going to hot and found the trans was only about 10-15 degrees hotter than normal. Checkied using a laser thermometer.
Also I believed the gauges are very pesky and exaggerate the temps. I did testing years back when my temp gauge started going to hot and found the trans was only about 10-15 degrees hotter than normal. Checkied using a laser thermometer.
Quick rise to the top, after years of the toughest, longest grades ever with barely any rise in temp. And I'm always in 3rd gear up grades, even slight ones with the gearing in this truck. Nissan parts departments and local shops don't even understand how the cooling is configured, which is really troubling. The latest is a call to Nissan asking where the trans fluid pump is and they couldn't figure it out. I'm not a mechanic, but looking at this from below the truck appears to be a 2 stage system starting at the bottom of the radiator to an air to air unit behind it. Even this seems to be news to shops I'm talking with, so I'm reluctant to let them "replace one thing at a time" to see what happens. Any ideas how to diagnose would be really appreciated!!!
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831 Posts
Why not bypass radiator? Several have done this, I did as well. I have noticed the trans temps stay idle for much longer with the bypass configuration, still ising the trans cooler sandwiched between condenser and radiator. Temps never go past what the original configuration was...note I do live in the south where there are absolutely no hills
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That is so incorrect. Mine and everyone else that bypassed their factory cooler with a TruCool external cooler have seen huge temperature drops. I bypassed my cooler 8 yrs ago & glad I did. This hill I have to climb every year when I go camping would cause my tranny to get really hot, no more with the combo I have.
I've had my truck in -15° temp's & had no issues, either. The bypass Mod has been performed on these trucks for years.
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Bypass mod FTW. also peace of mind knowing you won't get coolant in the transmission.
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The possibility of contamination from a ruptured radiator is reason enough for many to bypass the liquid to liquid cooler altogether. I think that why it's a popular mod. Just out of curiosity, why do you think manufacturers integrate the trans and coolant in factory radiators? I'm don't think you are wrong, just want to know what you think. For colder climates, it might be worth keeping the integrated system, but warmer climates I think its better without.
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Not that you're incorrect, but sometimes engineers do a great job and sometimes they miss the mark. . The internal trans cooler/warmer on a lot of vehicles works just fine but, on others not so much. The Titan has a reputation of the radiator cooler rupturing internally and causing the coolant and trans fluid to mix. I wont say every single one does this however if you're indeed in a warmer climate where you do not need the warming aspect, why not bypass it and eliminate the chance of it mixing entirely? Its the same concept but a better way of doing it in my opinion. plus while you install the external cooler it gives you a chance to change all of the soft lines and double clamp them to add even more piece of mind and longevity. No disrespect to your opinion of coarse.
Piece of mind and 20+ thousand miles so far.
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Engineers, Bean Counters and Marketing have been odds to each other since the beginning of time. Usually the Bean Counters win. This is the case with cheap, made with plastic, integrated radiators. Any high performance vehicle, such as a race car for any type of racing will not have such nonsense.
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I suspect WanderMT doesn't understand what the "bypass mod" is, based on his comments. Bottom line is, once your transaction is out of warranty, the smart money is on bypassing the radiator tank warmer (which is highly prone to leak on Nissan) but leave the flow through the regular cooler (sandwiched between the radiator and compressor). The factory cooler (not to be confused with the factory warmer in the lower radiator tank) is reliable. But the warmer is suspect, at best.
The smart money is on bypassing the warmer, using the OEM cooler, and especially if you're towing, adding an external cooler (like the Long TruCool) to maximize transfer life. I'll be adding this mod shortly now that my trans is out of warranty.
The smart money is on bypassing the warmer, using the OEM cooler, and especially if you're towing, adding an external cooler (like the Long TruCool) to maximize transfer life. I'll be adding this mod shortly now that my trans is out of warranty.
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58 Posts
I guess I will find out when i do it but I wonder how temps will be affected in doing a bypass vs and additional external cooler. Right now I have the additional cooler AND the built in OEM. Temps are better than when i towed with just OEM but I feel like the heat from the radiator fluid (when i get over 190) is leading to a rise in trans fluid temp. And although the engine temp can drop rapidly when I cost down a hill, the transmission does not drop nearly as fast and so it ends up heating the coolant somewhat. One high temp leads to another.
I am purely speaking from my uneducated observations but I am hoping having them separate will help my high engine and trans temps. FYI, I am also switching from a tube and fin cooler to the trucool bar and plate trans cooler which is supposed to make a difference.
I have a trip in 2 weeks so we will see how the new setup tows soon.
I am purely speaking from my uneducated observations but I am hoping having them separate will help my high engine and trans temps. FYI, I am also switching from a tube and fin cooler to the trucool bar and plate trans cooler which is supposed to make a difference.
I have a trip in 2 weeks so we will see how the new setup tows soon.
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Dont be suprised if you don't notice any difference with the temps. I haven't noticed my gauge indicating anything lower than the oem configuration, although I do notice it takes a whole lot longer to get to said temperature. I have the big mack daddy long tru cooler that I need to fabricate mounts for and install one of these days, but interim the stock cooler works just fine. I don't tow hardly ever and live where it is flatter than flat, so it really doesn't matter in my case. I did the bypass to avoid any potential contamination from the coolant into the trans, with all the horror stories on here. Its a very simple mod, and will give you a piece of mind.
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Well real world results speak for themselves....so yea maybe try a google search of all the nissan strawberry milkshakes that the OEM setup makes in your transmission....also bean counters ruin everything so theres that.
My titan overheated all the time every summer. any idling, it overheated, any trailer pulls, it overheated. Bypassed the OEM tube warmer, added the TruCool, didn't have issues. Also fixed it when I sold that POS.
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I dropped my tranny temps 15* bypassing the radiator and doing the SR4588 bypass mod. I never see over 165* towing in Louisiana heat. 193k miles and proper maintenance and my 2005 is still running great. I’m using a BDGT as my tranny temp gauge. It takes longer to warm up but im down south and not worried about that.
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Nissan engineers are still using the same exhaust manifolds as well even in the 2017. If its out of warranty they dont care...
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Up here in the cold north, bypassing the transmission line in the radiator will result in the gauge never coming off of the C line. But only in the winter, on the highway. I had an aftermarket cooler added to the mix with kind of a screwy route. Mine was like this: transmission -> radiator -> OEM cooler -> aftermarket cooler -> transmission. I didn't do the work, I had someone else do it and yes I know it was wrong but it wasn't enough of a concern to correct it. But it does show that when the line going through the radiator isn't the LAST stop before the transmission then fluid temperatures - as seen by the transmission - are significantly affected.
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Interesting...... HRTKD, I would love to here more about the various configuration of oem, aftermarket and radiator cooling. I had not heard of the order making a difference. I will probably play around with it but It would be great to hear from anyone else who had tried a different combo.
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