I drive a 2001 7.3L Ford F450 Super Duty and it is set up to pull a 36' fifthwheel trailer. The trans is an auto and I moniter it's temp via a guage. It always ran 160 to 180 degrees empty and around 200 pulling. The trans overheated one day at 94000 miles and went out. I had it rebuilt and upgraded. (Deep oil pan, ATS Triple loc Converter, ATS Shift Comander, AMsol Trans Fluid) The trans now, according to the same guage that worked before, runs 190 degrees pulling empty. It doesnt take too much stress to push it to 200 degrees. I have not hooked up the fifthwheel yet to see what it will read when towing. I know it will run hotter. Since I am living in the trailer full time I'm a little afraid of getting stranded on the side of the road. I expressed my concerns to the people who rebuilt the trans and was told that some fords just run hot and they don't know why. This shop has a good rep and they do a lot of work on motorhomes and tow vehicles. I have ordered a new temp guage to replace the old one however the old guage worked fine before this hapened. The trans has a 65000 mi 3 year nation wide guarantee. Any one have any insight.

 

have you checked arount the rad and tranny cooler to make sure its not got a layer of bugs or fluff or some other obstruction? I've seen a thick layer of fluff from poplar trees in between an AC cooler and rad cause problems. it can be hard to see if its between the rads.

 

Atom, make sure that they changed the oil to air cooler and also done a flow test on the the internal cooler if equipped. The reason to change the ota cooler is you cannot flush them properly, and it might be partially stop up.