Fluid shearing in your torque converter since the TC clutch does not lock up in reverse, and the fact that your heat exchange is dependent on frontal airflow through your various radiators are the contributing factors. When the airflow is insufficient, your fan should cut in to force air over the radiators. Your transmission, and all the heat created in the fluid while backing up, is cooled by the secondary cooling system which operates at a lower temperature (113-140 degrees) and uses the second largest radiator on the front of your truck. The small coolant reservoir on the passenger side serves the secondary cooling system. 4 low will help multiply torque, which could ease some burden on the engine and transmission, but it won't increase the efficiency of your cooling system, and will be much slower going. I'd still check both cooling system's fluid levels, and possibly have both caps checked or replaced.

 

Hey guys. I got to look the truck over today and couldn't see any leaks or residue of coolant. Due to the poor visibility when we got home, the camper was not properly positioned. I pulled forward and back a few times on the hill and no problems. The coolant level in the container on the drivers side is just below the add mark, but not much. The one forward on the passenger side is in range. Maybe backing for such a long distance was not a good idea. If I do some tree trimming, I could reduce it to about 150 feet.

 

Wait... so my driveway is 900 feet... are you telling me I cannot back the length of my driveway under load??

 

Sure you can, but keep it reasonable. If the cooling system is functioning as designed you shouldn't have any issues as the fan clutch will engage as temperatures start to rise. Older trucks had an issue with insufficient flow over the oil-to-air transmission cooler when backing heavy trailers uphill for more than a few minutes.

Your truck doesn't have the same design weakness. If your fan clutch fails you may have an issue, but you'd also have problems going forward.

 

Well, this issue will have to be placed on hold for the time being. My Mother is in the hospital with congestive heart failure and Pneumonia in Jacksonville, FL and I'm here to make sure she gets proper care.

When I get back home, I'm going to take the truck to the dealer.

 

Sorry to hear about the troubles Joe, hope your mom recovers quickly.

 

Sorry to hear the news.

 

Hope all goes well with your mom.

 

Joe is backing up a long distance AND UP a STEEP Hill. There are some factors to consider (if you read my post on the H1 Hummer, blowing its trans). Vehicles are not designed to be driven backwards for long distances and especially up long steep grade hills.

In most trans auto/std reverse gear is a very low ratio, thus higher rpm's for a given speed. Add on a 5ver and toss in a long steep hill and you have a recipe for over heating.

Its the steep angle I would worry about, not so much the length its flat...

I had my dads El Camio truck out, which had a Chevy V8 and the old 2 spd powerglide trans which was not noted for being a strong and reliable trans. Well way over on the other side of town from where we lived it stopped going forward. But it would go in reverse. I did not want to call dad and tell him his beloved car I had broke it. So I backed it home. Well I was used to backing up as we had a horse ranch and I was always moving horses in trailers. I back to town, across town and out the highway, where we lived about 10 miles from the city limits.

Of course I backed it into the garage and played dumb when dad asked why it did not go in Drive...he was always suspicious that I backed it down our very long driveway. My playing dumb did not pan out when a friend of his who had pulled up to a light next to me asked my dad what his son was doing driving across town in reverse.

 

Thanks Tom, senix and golfmedik. I'm hoping to see a big improvement in Mom's condition tomorrow. They removed mucus from her lungs and fluid from her chest cavity.

 

Hope she makes it. Mom's are the best.

 

You should not have a cooling problem backing up that distance period unless there's a problem with something. Some of the places I've backed into have taken me as long as a 1/2 hour and in 4 by 4 at that.