Monitoring the lump

[crossup]

Hope to be picking up the TV today and thinking ahead to keeping it going for a long time. -'016 Chevy Express 3500 6.0L 6L90. Has both oil and tranny coolers(external).

AFAIK Gm has a temp sender on the tranny and maybe on the oil so I'm thinking to use a wireless OBDC2 sender and an app like "Torque" to monitor temps or maybe HPTuners software and a Windows tablet/laptop but that might be a bit of a butt pain to have that taking up the console(and I'm not sure if the builtin 110v plug can handle it). But vs a cooked tranny or engine it might be worth the inconvenience. .
I'll be towing a relatively light setup- 5880 gvw TT but will likely see a good deal of East Coast mountain use as we are mountain bikers and well....mountains happen.
So wondering if anyone can relate their experience- basically I'm wondering if people see tranny temps going much over 200 or oil temps on the high side doing similar towing.

Same question for adding temp monitoring for the rear end....or even adding a cooler.
Want to keep this working for a LONG time as with only 9k miles on the clock it should be my last TV.

[SmokeyWren]

I could answer your questions on a Ford, but I know nothing about GM.

On a Ford, the tranny temp sender is located in the valve body, so it returns tranny temp about 15° higher than sump temp. Most good tranny temp specs use sump temp, not a higher temp found elsewhere in the tranny. For example on my F-250 with 4R100 tranny, the red line was 225° sump temp, but if I used an OBDII reader, then 240° was my red line.

So you need to know both the max sump temp as well as the increased temp caused by locating the temp sender elsewhere in the tranny.

For the differential, they get hotter than a two-dollar pistol. If the diff cover is painted or coated, the paint or coating will blister off real soon now. But that's okay if you use full synthetic diff fluid required by your Owner's Guide for heavy towing.

About the only help for a hot diff is to replace the diff cover with one that is finned to provide increased cooling. Such as a Mag-Hytec like this one:
http://www.thoroughbreddiesel.com/ma...=1100502071017

I've never used a Mag-Hytec diff cover because I always paid extra to get the full-synthetic extra-heavy-duty diff lube that could take the heat without deteriorating. YMMV.

[monkey]

If your Express has a DIC (drivers information center) like my 15 Silverado, you need to go into settings and turn on everything to read tranny temps. No prob.. I can now scroll through the info to tranny temp... My truck also has the aux tranny cooler, and pulling our 9K lb 5vr up a 20% grade (thats VERY steep) in AZ,, it finally got up to operating temp of 175 degrees... No prob !!!! With a 1 ton chassis, I wouldn't worry about pulling 6K lbs... But I'm like you, I like to keep an eye on things.
Monkey

[crossup]

Thanks, I have always been a Chevy(with 2 Pontiacs thrown in) guy but am always a bit surprised when I find GM didn't cheese out on some obvious feature: the ECM/TCM and BCM get a crap ton of data, its not much extra work to program the DIC to display it. An example:the owner community had to figure their own access hack to allow us to use all the built in capabilties of the last gen Pontiac GTO DIC.
Alas there does not appear to be a settings mode that affect anything beyond door lock, exit lighting, compass etc.
As far as the temp goes, however I read it, I'm mostly concerned with seeing increases- any significant change will indicate its time to give it a rest for a bit.
I'm pretty sure when I connect to the OBDC port, HPTuner will list all the things I can access and I can add my own redlines etc to the display....I guess for sh**s and giggles I can use my IR temp gun to get the sump temp to compare to the reading...with HPTuner I can even do an offset for the reading so it matches sump if I want.

Originally Posted by monkey

If your Express has a DIC (drivers information center) like my 15 Silverado, you need to go into settings and turn on everything to read tranny temps. No prob.. I can now scroll through the info to tranny temp... My truck also has the aux tranny cooler, and pulling our 9K lb 5vr up a 20% grade (thats VERY steep) in AZ,, it finally got up to operating temp of 175 degrees... No prob !!!! With a 1 ton chassis, I wouldn't worry about pulling 6K lbs... But I'm like you, I like to keep an eye on things.
Monkey

[W7GES]

Have you thought about an Edge CTS2? I'm not sure if the Chevy Express is supported but I'm sure if you call them they'll let you know.

I have one for my 16 Sierra 2500 and it makes monitoring the temps easy. Much better than trying to mess with a wireless connection and a laptop.

[crossup]

I'd seen an ad for them but did not realize what it was. Looks like its worth considering...AFAIK the Express uses the same ECM as other 6.0s of the same vintage. I can find out on HPTuners forums.

Originally Posted by W7GES

Have you thought about an Edge CTS2? I'm not sure if the Chevy Express is supported but I'm sure if you call them they'll let you know.

I have one for my 16 Sierra 2500 and it makes monitoring the temps easy. Much better than trying to mess with a wireless connection and a laptop.

[09 harley]

Originally Posted by monkey

If your Express has a DIC (drivers information center) like my 15 Silverado, you need to go into settings and turn on everything to read tranny temps. No prob.. I can now scroll through the info to tranny temp... My truck also has the aux tranny cooler, and pulling our 9K lb 5vr up a 20% grade (thats VERY steep) in AZ,, it finally got up to operating temp of 175 degrees... No prob !!!! With a 1 ton chassis, I wouldn't worry about pulling 6K lbs... But I'm like you, I like to keep an eye on things.
Monkey

It must have been winter because a 20% grade will put any transmission over 200 degrees. Most new trans are designed to run at approx 190-195. So a 20% grade will quickly ramp up the temp. Simple physics.
Of course I'm running a Ford 6.2 that gets 25 mpg while towing a 12K load in the hills. It never shifts out of 6th and the rpm's never go over 1800. Of course your experience could be different. I forgot I also have the air on full blast and I have three kayaks on the SCLB roof with 2 bikes on the front. My experience is that these two add ons have increased my mileage. Dealer says it must have improved my aerodynamics. Who knew!