D3c trans overheating

[bcole4]

Hi everyone,

Got my D3c that some of you know about from my work trade.

Serial number 5cj00565

Trans is overheating after about 1-1.5 hours of pushing. Coolant temp stays around 190 but trans temp goes up to the red which says 280, I haven’t used the temp gun on it yet.

The trans feels very hot to the touch, and the hoses coming in and out of the trans cooler feel hot as well. I will bring the temp gun and check the in and out temps of the cooler tomorrow.

Brakes don’t seem to be dragging, it will coast down a hill in neutral, and seems to have normal power, it will spin tracks while pushing, although they are pyramid tracks so seems to be easier to spin.

Thoughts on what to check?

Appreciate the help as always!

 

[bcole4]

If I let it high or low idle it will not cool back down, but I just noticed while I’m sitting here letting it cool down while it’s off that the needle on the gauge jumped back and forth a few times from red to mid green about 180.

Would this be caused by the gauge itself or by the sensor on the trans?

 

[Nige]

If I let it high or low idle it will not cool back down, but I just noticed while I’m sitting here letting it cool down while it’s off that the needle on the gauge jumped back and forth a few times from red to mid green about 180.

Would this be caused by the gauge itself or by the sensor on the trans?

Try disconnecting the transmission temperature sender with the key on. If the gauge immediately pegs to maximum then it would appear to be OK and that your problem could be either in the temperature sender or in the wiring between the sender and the gauge.

TBH the best thing you can do is get the temp gun on it and confirm what the gauge is saying (because 280 sounds far too high a reading to be true) before you go digging too far into the wiring.

 

[bcole4]

Try disconnecting the transmission temperature sender with the key on. If the gauge immediately pegs to maximum then it would appear to be OK and that your problem could be either in the temperature sender or in the wiring between the sender and the gauge.

TBH the best thing you can do is get the temp gun on it and confirm what the gauge is saying (because 280 sounds far too high a reading to be true) before you go digging too far into the wiring.

Thanks for the reply,

Where is the temp sender located?

 

[Nige]

Where is the temp sender located?

RH side of the transmisson - #30. The single wire to the sensor is coloured either Yellow, Pink, or Yellow with a Pink stripe depending on which part of a 40 year-old electrical schematic you believe....

 

[bcole4]

RH side of the transmisson - #30. The single wire to the sensor is coloured either Yellow, Pink, or Yellow with a Pink stripe depending on which part of a 40 year-old electrical schematic you believe....

View attachment 303652

my machine is opposite of this. Starter and wiring harness is on left hand side of machine, can’t get to the sender without dropping the belly pan. Before I do that I will check with the temp gun tomorrow morning to see where we are really at before dropping the belly

 

[Nige]

It could be that the starter is actually on the LH side in the above illustration (which is of the battery and wiring installation) and that you are in a sense looking "through" the engine from the RH side of the tractor simply for illustrative purposes.? Sure enough one of the other views looking from the front of the tractor shows that the starter motor is on the left.

 

[bcole4]

On a better note, I’m sure there are worse places to be having machine trouble on the middle of January…

 

[bcole4]

It could be that the starter is actually on the LH side in this illustration (which is of the battery and wiring installation) and that you are in a sense looking "through" the engine simply for illustrative purposes.? Sure enough one of the other views looking from the front of the tractor shows that the starter motor is on the left.

View attachment 303653

I don’t have any wires on the right side of my trans, I do however have one that comes out of the harness on left side that branches down towards bottom of trans but I can get my hand down there. I’m assuming this is the trans temp because I’m not sure what else would be down there

 

[bcole4]

Update: I ran the machine and periodically checked the temp. Highest temp I got was 200 F, most times I checked was around 175-190 F.

Of course the gauge never glitched and stayed consistent with that the temp gun was telling me. It’s like telling the mechanic about a problem but of course it doesn’t happen when they’re there.

I’m keeping the temp gun in my truck so I will keep an eye on things as I work more and if the gauge is erratic again

Nige, thanks again as always I appreciate your time and knowledge. I’m glad I didn’t dive too far into it before getting an accurate reading.

 

[Nige]

In general terms the high temp alarm for transmission oil temperature (telling the operator to modify his operating technique - not to stop the machine) will go off around 125 DegC, or 257 DegF. So based on those numbers you are some way off being critical.

 

[bcole4]

Thanks I’ll keep that number in mind for the future.

Appreciate it