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Cooling System Towing Test Results, Before/After Mods

Jon A

By Jon A
in Engines & Drivetrain

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Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 7:39 AM, Crobinson16 said:

Is there a 185 or 190  t-stat option ? 

For the stock housing, No.

For the IPSCO?  Yes. ACDelco 14077122 for 190 F Summit Racing carries them. 

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Jon A
Jon A

I had a bit of spare time a couple years ago during the hottest week of the year and figured it would be a great time to do some hot weather tuning and while I was at it, a further eval of the cooling

Grumpy Bear
Grumpy Bear

Your not concerned with your oil temperature? 

Jon A
Jon A

That would be nice, but it's just not practical if you work an engine hard for extended periods of time.  To do that on one of these trucks you'd need a massive aftermarket air/oil cooler in front of

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Silverado LT Enthusiast

Silverado LT

Posted
Posted (edited)

I wanted to share my recent results and thank Jon for taking the time to document his testing for the community.

 

I own a 2018 Silverado Custom V6 4x4 I use to tow a 4,500# (fully loaded) travel trailer.  Factory cooling setup, no external engine or transmission cooler.  I've made more than a dozen trips without any issues. However, twice I've experienced shuttering and hesitation from the transmission.  The last time it happened I checked my transmission fluid temps on the display and it read 228*.  I watched it closely for the remainder of the tow and the temperature never dropped below 220. Even when the truck was parked and the engine running, the temps wouldn't drop on their own.  At the time, I didn't have a way to check my engine coolant temps or engine oil temps. I believe the engine coolant temp gauge reading 235* but as I now know that is a dummy gauge which doesn't really mean anything.  

 

Which brought to this thread.

 

I have HPTs because I used to do a lot of tuning back in the day. I pulled the tune and made only the changes to the fan settings as described in this first post.  I did some logging under normal conditions (not towing) and noticed that the transmission temps would get up to 190* after 20 minutes of driving.  If the Engine coolant temps would creep up to 200* I would see the desired fan speed increase and the ECTs drop back to 194-196.  Engine oil temps stayed pretty consistent ~215*.  Ambient air temps were in the mid 50s.

 

I also logged my next tow.  Under normal towing load the transmissions temp were about 195*. Just like before, as the Engine coolant temps would creep the desired fan speed would increase and bring everything back in line. Max Engine coolant temp was 221*. It was the Engine oil temps which surprised me. While towing, the engine oil temps would stay around 230*. But on long uphill grades, I saw the temperatures get up to 261*. Ambient air temps were in the mid 50s as well.

 

New Fan Settings (Normal Driving) 55* Ambient Air Temps:

 

Engine Coolant Temperatures:  194*-201*

Transmission Fluid Temperatures: 180*-190* 

Engine Oil Temperatures: ~215*

 

New Fan Settings (Towing) 55* Ambient Air Temps:

 

Engine Coolant Temperatures: 200*-221*

Transmission Fluid Temperatures: 195*-198*

Engine Oil Temperatures: 230*-261*

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to log the truck while towing with the original fan settings.  I can only confirm that my max Transmission Oil Temperatures was 228* and they wouldn't drop below 220* even after idling for 15 minutes.  I would suspect I would see very similar results to Jon's original post where the Engine Coolant Temps got to almost 230* and the Transmission Fluid Temps rising into the 230s with no hope of return.  

 

Summary:

 

Under the given conditions, the new fan settings recommended by Jon work. Anytime the Engine coolant temps started to rise the desired fan speed would increase and put all temps back into check.  I will do more logging when ambient air temps increase. I would expect all the temperatures would increase slightly. But I'm confident the new fan settings will be able to keep things in check under normal load, keep things from getting out of control under hard pulls, and return things back to normal quickly after a hard pull.

 

Below is a snapshot of the log while towing at the end of a long up hill grade.


Thank you Jon for sharing this information with the community!  I believe this should be the first cooling mod for anyone with an K2XX.  

VCM Scanner Max Towing.PNG

Edited by Silverado Custom
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SilveradoKeydet11 Enthusiast

SilveradoKeydet11

Posted
Posted
On 3/31/2019 at 7:29 PM, flyingfool said:

after deleting the trans t-stat i run 120-135 all day long, no aux trans. cooler nessecary,  even with a 7500 lbs trailer towing in the desert, I never got past 150F  after 120 mile drive with the trailer, I do have 3.73 gears

How is this done? I was looking at getting a transmission cooler but this seems like a way easier option. Any issues in the cold?

Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Silverado Custom said:

 

 

I own a 2018 Silverado Custom V6 4x4 I use to tow a 4,500# (fully loaded) travel trailer.  

 

VCM Scanner Max Towing.PNG

Your not concerned with your oil temperature? 

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Silverado LT Enthusiast

Silverado LT

Posted
Posted
On 5/28/2019 at 10:59 PM, Grumpy Bear said:

Your not concerned with your oil temperature? 

?  Not really. The Engine Oil temps return to normal under a normal load.  The screen shot I posted is near the end of a long incline.

 

I also purchased the 190* thermostat that I plan on testing.  

Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 11:01 AM, Silverado Custom said:

?  Not really. The Engine Oil temps return to normal under a normal load.  The screen shot I posted is near the end of a long incline.

 

I also purchased the 190* thermostat that I plan on testing.  

Oil is like anything else you put heat to. Like a match to paper. You can take away the heat but it's still scorched. 

flyingfool Senior Enthusiast

flyingfool

Posted
Posted

synthetic oils are tolerable of high heat, but I would add an oil cooler if you do more towing. its the non synth oil that turns to sluge when you hit these kinda temps

madsen203 Enthusiast

madsen203

Posted
Posted (edited)

Isn't there a theory that running the warmer thermostat of about 210 helps cook the valves and prevents coking and other issues that come with GDI (non-port injection)? So if it's running cooler, it's not getting hot enough to burn the carbon from the valves. 

 

I'd be interested in the same test with stock thermostat but modified fan schedule. I bet that makes a bigger difference and still maintains the designed as intended profile for temperature range. 

Edited by madsen203
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Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted
On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 10:46 AM, flyingfool said:

synthetic oils are tolerable of high heat, but I would add an oil cooler if you do more towing. its the non synth oil that turns to sluge when you hit these kinda temps

The seals nor the clutch linings don't know the difference. 

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