After several posts on this subject under the heading of "How to raise rear of Falcon" introduced by @mikerezny, the matter of whether I needed a transmission cooler arose. I got a bit of a fright from some reports from members and decided to install temperature sensors for engine and transmission to monitor what was going on (see photos on other thread) and to convince myself that I did not need one for my set up. Other members put forward their ideas and also gave temps that they had recorded in their tug whilst towing their van. Now before you study the figures, I want to make it very clear that this is for MY setup - tug and van and the conditions that were prevailing at the time. Tug is 3 litre Colorado auto 4 speed rated to pull 3t. The van is a Jayco Penguin which was probably only 1.3t gross for the test. The low tow of the Penguin would have little or no air resistance as it is roughly the same height as the canopy on the tug. See photo when hooked up. Back of tug under canopy probably had approx 160kg of luggage, extra gas fridge and refreshments.
The holiday test run was from Brisbane to " a small drinking village with a fishing problem" called Poona, some 239kms north of Brisbane on the Great Sandy Strait , behind Fraser Island and about 40 kms south of Maryborough. Probably may not mean much to those not familiar with the region, but I thought it necessary to give local members some idea of the terrain , a few hills and mainly 110km dual highway. @Drover knows this area well!! Conditions on the forward journey were fine and 22C to start and rising to 29C on arrival at Poona. Return started at 22C, also fine, cloudy at times but quickly rose to 32C as midday approached. No significant winds were encountered in either direction either. Fuel consumption for total distance of 478kms was 10.10L/100km full tank to full tank.
Note that all readings were taken at the same point on both forward and return journeys, only the times and distances travelled from the start were different. After doing my research, I understand that the optimum tranny temp range is 80C to 90C, but up to 100C is still okay. It is only when temp gets to 107C and over for extended periods that tranny fluid becomes vulnerable to overheating and does not do transmission any good. Apparently over this temp, one is in "danger country" as far as life of transmission lasts!!! Refer previous posts on "How to raise rear of Falcon". I hope this is of interest to members and at least gives some idea of what is happening whilst towing. Going on these results, I do not think I have a need for an oil cooler. Comments please.
The holiday test run was from Brisbane to " a small drinking village with a fishing problem" called Poona, some 239kms north of Brisbane on the Great Sandy Strait , behind Fraser Island and about 40 kms south of Maryborough. Probably may not mean much to those not familiar with the region, but I thought it necessary to give local members some idea of the terrain , a few hills and mainly 110km dual highway. @Drover knows this area well!! Conditions on the forward journey were fine and 22C to start and rising to 29C on arrival at Poona. Return started at 22C, also fine, cloudy at times but quickly rose to 32C as midday approached. No significant winds were encountered in either direction either. Fuel consumption for total distance of 478kms was 10.10L/100km full tank to full tank.
Note that all readings were taken at the same point on both forward and return journeys, only the times and distances travelled from the start were different. After doing my research, I understand that the optimum tranny temp range is 80C to 90C, but up to 100C is still okay. It is only when temp gets to 107C and over for extended periods that tranny fluid becomes vulnerable to overheating and does not do transmission any good. Apparently over this temp, one is in "danger country" as far as life of transmission lasts!!! Refer previous posts on "How to raise rear of Falcon". I hope this is of interest to members and at least gives some idea of what is happening whilst towing. Going on these results, I do not think I have a need for an oil cooler. Comments please.
