7.3 Tranny temps
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Cross-Country
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 63
Likes: 26
7.3 Tranny temps
We picked up our new F-350 with the 7.3 on Friday February 12 and took it out for a 225 mile spin yesterday. The truck is unloaded and outside temps were ranging from the upper 30s to the mid 40s. Throughout the drive I monitored the tranny temp display and it ranged between 206º and 218º. Is this normal? I came from a 2014 Tundra with the 6 speed tranny and temps usually ranged from 198º and 206º under similar conditions. What are y'all seeing as far as tranny temps go under normal, not polar vortex conditions?
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Cross-Country
Joined: Jan 2021
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Another interesting observation...yesterday when I drove up to Lake Tahoe, as I started climbing, the tranny temp bar gauge was already resting at normal or about halfway. The tranny temp was 160. By the time I reached the summit, the tranny temp had climbed to 218 yet the bar gauge hadn't moved. That's a 58 degree change in temperature yet the bar gauge showed no movement. That just doesn't seem right.
Tuned
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 253
Likes: 88
Another interesting observation...yesterday when I drove up to Lake Tahoe, as I started climbing, the tranny temp bar gauge was already resting at normal or about halfway. The tranny temp was 160. By the time I reached the summit, the tranny temp had climbed to 218 yet the bar gauge hadn't moved. That's a 58 degree change in temperature yet the bar gauge showed no movement. That just doesn't seem right.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,937
Likes: 1,221
From: Southern Crescent
The oil gauge is much the same. Not really a gauge but an "indicator." and if it's in the middle it's happy. Ford has done it this way because customers noted a real oil pressure gauge would indicate a lower pressure at lower RPM and some customers just couldn't accept that this is normal. And here we are overthinking transmission temperature.
I do like the idea the transmission temp is available as digital. And yeah, it would be nice for Ford to publish what normal ranges really are. But if it's in the middle, it's happy.
I do like the idea the transmission temp is available as digital. And yeah, it would be nice for Ford to publish what normal ranges really are. But if it's in the middle, it's happy.
Frmr Ford Trans Engr
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 24,722
Likes: 2,648
From: SE Florida
RIght or not, that's how it works. Ford has determined what the normal range is, and if the trans is in the normal range the gauge is going to be right in the middle of the normal range.
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Cross-Country
Joined: Jan 2021
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The oil gauge is much the same. Not really a gauge but an "indicator." and if it's in the middle it's happy. Ford has done it this way because customers noted a real oil pressure gauge would indicate a lower pressure at lower RPM and some customers just couldn't accept that this is normal. And here we are overthinking transmission temperature.
I do like the idea the transmission temp is available as digital. And yeah, it would be nice for Ford to publish what normal ranges really are. But if it's in the middle, it's happy.
I do like the idea the transmission temp is available as digital. And yeah, it would be nice for Ford to publish what normal ranges really are. But if it's in the middle, it's happy.
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Cross-Country
Joined: Jan 2020
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My experience with Ford trucks going back to 1975 is that the gauges don’t climb above halfway unless there is a real problem. Regardless of ambient temperature or the steepness of a grade my gauges on all Ford trucks don’t move.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 142
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I have a 2020 F450 with the 7.3 and my highest temp hit was 221 for a few minutes when I was plowing this past week and really putting it to work transmission wise. Normally though 215-218 was the operating range. Empty highway is about 208-210. All of these temps are from the gauge cluster display. Ford has always since the 70s had oil pressure gauges and temp gauges that read "Normal" within a certain broad range and if it gets 1 degree over that range the gauge will start climbing. The transmission temp "gauges" on these trucks read middle of the normal range somewhere lower 120s I think. Like I said, "Broad" range.
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Cross-Country
Joined: Jan 2021
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I have a 2020 F450 with the 7.3 and my highest temp hit was 221 for a few minutes when I was plowing this past week and really putting it to work transmission wise. Normally though 215-218 was the operating range. Empty highway is about 208-210. All of these temps are from the gauge cluster display. Ford has always since the 70s had oil pressure gauges and temp gauges that read "Normal" within a certain broad range and if it gets 1 degree over that range the gauge will start climbing. The transmission temp "gauges" on these trucks read middle of the normal range somewhere lower 120s I think. Like I said, "Broad" range.
My main concern is, if the temps get up to 220º with no load, I'm curious as to how much higher they run when a 7k lb trailer is hitched up and climbing a long 7% grade such as is found along the 395 corridor in the eastern Sierra. I have 750 miles on the truck and hope to hit the 1k break-in threshold today. Then I'll be able to see first hand what this thing does under load.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 142
Likes: 14
So I daily 10k pounds and am in fairly flat ground but some rolling hills, normally around 210. Tranny temps hold fairly steady unless the torque converter unlocks which was a major source of transmission failure up until some years ago when the engineers decided they could lock the TC before overdrive... Now in our 10 speeds it locks very very early at which point the transmission acts more or less like a manual transmission where the gears are doing the work and not the friction of the fluid in the TC. albeit of course the fluid is still holding clutch packs closed and such. So on a long steady grade with minimal downshifting I see no reason to be worried about temps. There was a guy on here who posted that he worked for a company that runs trucks 2 years and then buy all new because they pull 20k daily and do 100k miles a year. He said they bought a fleet of the 7.3 either 450 or 550s and no transmission issues to speak of but a couple of the trucks ate a transfer case each and then the motor wasnt sounding the best at 100k and had some power loss.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 142
Likes: 14
