The Subaru SVX World Network   SVX Network Forums
Live Chat!
SVX or Subaru Links
Old Lockers
Photo Post
How-To Documents
Message Archive
SVX Shop Search
IRC users:

Go Back   The Subaru SVX World Network > SVX Main Forums > Technical Q & A

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-17-2004, 07:07 PM
Tiamat-red's Avatar
Tiamat-red Tiamat-red is offline
Following the path of the beam
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 205
Tranmission temp gauge reading low. Not "lo" HELP!

I just installed my cyberdyne tranny temp gauge in my 92 ls-l. In my Permacool tranny filter on the passenger side frame rail near the exhaust manifold. And I have no undercover.
I took it for a short drive(about 5-10 minutes) both downhill and up a steep "mountain".
It never got above 90!!!
Is this normal!?
Did I wire it wrong!?

I hesitate to ask, as I installed the filter more than a month ago but...
Is it posible something is clogged and not flowing!?
I "hope" if so my AT TEMP light would have come on since the tranny wouldn't be getting any cooling.

I will do a flow test I guess tomorrow

Someone please advise!?
__________________
Matt!

92 Ebony LS-L "Jabberwerwok" Now includes 1 *free "Wheeeeeee" per ride!
83 Honda Magna v45 "Grendel"


*Free after mail in rebate
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 08-17-2004, 07:25 PM
Mr. Pockets's Avatar
Mr. Pockets Mr. Pockets is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Champaign, IL
Posts: 6,916
Send a message via ICQ to Mr. Pockets
Registered SVX
Re: Tranmission temp gauge reading low. Not "lo" HELP!

Quote:
Originally posted by Tiamat-red

Is it posible something is clogged and not flowing!?
I think that's unlikely. How do you plan on doing your 'pressure test?'
__________________


2005 RX-8 Grand Touring
2005 Outback
2002 Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon

END OF LINE
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 08-17-2004, 07:32 PM
Tiamat-red's Avatar
Tiamat-red Tiamat-red is offline
Following the path of the beam
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 205
I was just going to unplug the hose coming out of the radiator/into the tranny and start the car.
Something I probably should have done already, but it's late, I have to work tomorrow, I'm sleepy, and there are no glowing trouble lights on the dash...
__________________
Matt!

92 Ebony LS-L "Jabberwerwok" Now includes 1 *free "Wheeeeeee" per ride!
83 Honda Magna v45 "Grendel"


*Free after mail in rebate
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 08-17-2004, 07:52 PM
oab_au oab_au is offline
Registered User
Subaru Gold Contributor
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Coffs Harb, Australia.
Posts: 5,032
Significant Technical Input Registered SVX
Re: Tranmission temp gauge reading low. Not "lo" HELP!

Quote:
Originally posted by Tiamat-red
I just installed my cyberdyne tranny temp gauge in my 92 ls-l. In my Permacool tranny filter on the passenger side frame rail near the exhaust manifold. And I have no undercover.
I took it for a short drive(about 5-10 minutes) both downhill and up a steep "mountain".
It never got above 90!!!
Is this normal!?
Did I wire it wrong!?

I hesitate to ask, as I installed the filter more than a month ago but...
Is it posible something is clogged and not flowing!?
I "hope" if so my AT TEMP light would have come on since the tranny wouldn't be getting any cooling.

I will do a flow test I guess tomorrow

Someone please advise!?
Is that 90 degrees C or F. Do you have an additional cooler fitted?
The oil must be flowing or it would not get to 90 C or F. Normal temp is 90 C or 180 F.

Harvey.

__________________
One Arm Bloke.
Tell it like it is!

95 Lsi. Bordeaux Pearl, Aust. RHD.149,000Kls Subaru BBS wheels.
97 Liberty GX Auto sedan. 320,000Kls.
04 Liberty 30R Auto Premium. 92.000kls.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 08-17-2004, 08:06 PM
Mr. Pockets's Avatar
Mr. Pockets Mr. Pockets is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Champaign, IL
Posts: 6,916
Send a message via ICQ to Mr. Pockets
Registered SVX
I don't know what that would tell you. I mean, if there was no fluid coming out, that'd be one thing - but then your car wouldn't be working, either.

You need to hook a pressure gauge up to one of the test ports to get any useful info.

I don't think you have a pressure problem. If you did, your transmission would be slipping and burning up the fluid and its clutches...and you'd see higher temperatures, I'd wager.
__________________


2005 RX-8 Grand Touring
2005 Outback
2002 Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon

END OF LINE
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 08-17-2004, 10:39 PM
Peach
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
It routinely takes my tranny a full 20 min. or more to heat up. Check for flow as you mentioned and drive a little longer. Also my pod gauge starts at 100 degrees. My sensor screws directly into the tranny. You can try a couple different sensor locales to see if any thing changes, good luck.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 08-18-2004, 03:18 AM
Tiamat-red's Avatar
Tiamat-red Tiamat-red is offline
Following the path of the beam
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 205
Quote:
It routinely takes my tranny a full 20 min. or more to heat up."
Ok, I hope mine does too. I probably should have driven it a while longer, but I was tired and needed sleep.



Quote:
Is that 90 degrees C or F. Do you have an additional cooler fitted?
I don't have a cooler yet, as I was waiting to get the gauge installed to see if I even really need one. Or at least to see if it helped afterword.
I assume it's in Farenheit as there is no "switch" and it's supposed to read from 70-300. There is an adjustable blinking/warning point however and I set it to 240.

Guess I'll just drive it to work today as I've been doing all along and watch...

Thanks!
__________________
Matt!

92 Ebony LS-L "Jabberwerwok" Now includes 1 *free "Wheeeeeee" per ride!
83 Honda Magna v45 "Grendel"


*Free after mail in rebate
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 08-18-2004, 09:27 AM
Earthworm's Avatar
Earthworm Earthworm is offline
Meow!
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Posts: 11,957
Send a message via ICQ to Earthworm Send a message via AIM to Earthworm Send a message via MSN to Earthworm Send a message via Yahoo to Earthworm Send a message via Skype™ to Earthworm
What temperature does it start out at?

90°C = 194°F which would be about right.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 08-18-2004, 06:12 PM
Tiamat-red's Avatar
Tiamat-red Tiamat-red is offline
Following the path of the beam
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 205
Unhappy

No, it was reading in Farenheit.
It turns out I had the filter hooked up "backwards".
I had the in and out reversed.
I checked on here and at the time was told that the passenger side hose on the radiator was the "in" hose.
Perhaps I misunderstood and they meant it was for the "in" on the filter.
Either way no fluid was getting through it.
The gauge was only reading the ambient underhood temp.
When I reversed the hoses and started the car it immediately read 196.
I had suspected this and today at work bought a cheapo filter just in case it was that, or clogged.
I really hope I caught it in time.
I'm going to buy another filter and some cheap dino oil(I can't get synthetic locally in a hurry) to replace the possibly "damaged" $8/quart Mobil 1 ATF I had in it.

At least when I bought the car I bought most of a parts car as well. So I have another tranny waiting to go. But I was planning on either building that one, or selling it to fund a manual swap.
Either way this was certainly not in any of my plans...
__________________
Matt!

92 Ebony LS-L "Jabberwerwok" Now includes 1 *free "Wheeeeeee" per ride!
83 Honda Magna v45 "Grendel"


*Free after mail in rebate
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 08-18-2004, 06:40 PM
ensteele's Avatar
ensteele ensteele is offline
Betcha can't buy just one!
Alcyone Gold Contributor
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Burlington, WA
Posts: 19,552
Send a message via ICQ to ensteele Send a message via Yahoo to ensteele Send a message via Skype™ to ensteele
Registered SVX Classic SVX
Also for a reference, I had a problem with the gauge not reading and I found that it was not grounded properly. Once it was, it started to work properly.
__________________
.
Earl .... ... .... ><SVX(*>

Subaru Ambassador

[COLOR=”silver”]1992 Tri Color L[/COLOR] ~45K (06/91) #2430
1992 Dark Teal LS-L ~184K (05/91) #0739
1992 Claret LS-L ~196K (05/91) #0831
1992 Pearl LS-L ~103K (06/91) #1680
1992 Pearl LS-L ~151K (06/91) #2229
1992 Dark Teal LS ~150K (07/91) #3098 (parts car)
1992 White LS-L ~139K (08/92) #6913
1993 25th AE ~98K (02/93) #164
1993 25th AE ~58K (02/93) #176
1993 25th AE ~107K (02/93) #215
1993 25th AE ~162K (02/93) #223
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~124K (1/94) #2408
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~144K (10/93) #1484
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~68K (10/93) #1525
1994 Barcelona Red LSi ~46K (02/94) #2624
1994 Pearl LSi ~41K (12/93) #1961
1995 Bordeaux Pearl LSi ~70K (02/95) #855
1996 Polo Green LSi ~95K (03/96) #872
1997 Bordeaux Pearl LSi ~55K (08/96) #097
2003 Brilliant Red LS1 Convertible ~29K (04/03) #8951
1999 Magnetic Red LS1 Coupe ~33K (04/99) #6420

My Email | Old Locker | New Locker | Picture of 15 of the 19
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 08-18-2004, 09:46 PM
Alycone's Avatar
Alycone Alycone is offline
Sue isn't really striped
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Grand Rapids, MI (and Seattle)
Posts: 3,020
That would be on my car. No filter so no ground.

It read under 100 until we grounded it (thanks for spending all that time on my gauge there E ). But since I don't run through the radiator it stays in the 100 - 140 range on the HWY. Heats up quite a bit more in traffic though.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 08-19-2004, 03:20 AM
Tiamat-red's Avatar
Tiamat-red Tiamat-red is offline
Following the path of the beam
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 205
Question

Yes, I found many posts about making sure it's grounded, and not using teflon tape on the sender...

Another question, If I had no flow through my stock ATF cooler(radiator) would that have been a problem??

My AT TEMP light never came on. Which is good as I understand it only does so at 302.
And when I hooked the hoses up right it was "only" at 196.
After no more than 5 minutes of cooling time with the engine off.

Does the stock cooler even cool the ATF? Or does it just raise it to operating temp?
When I had the car idiling last night the fans came on and the ATF dropped about 2 degrees. Which I attributed to the fact that there was now air flowing past my sender, and I have no undercover.

I haven't noticed any unusual shifting. And I really don't want to get rid of my Mobil 1.
Someone tell me I can keep it!
__________________
Matt!

92 Ebony LS-L "Jabberwerwok" Now includes 1 *free "Wheeeeeee" per ride!
83 Honda Magna v45 "Grendel"


*Free after mail in rebate
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 08-19-2004, 11:11 AM
Peach
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
You'll probably be just fine. If you run a B&M supercooler and a stock external filter it will run cooler tho. Good rule of thumb is 100 degrees plus ambiet temp. So if it's 70 degrees weather wise your tranny "with cooler" will run about 170 degrees. A little less at freeway speeds. I was pretty paranoid too when I first got my car, especially after reading about others numerous tranny failures. Welcome to the world of SVX.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 08-26-2004, 01:35 PM
Tiamat-red's Avatar
Tiamat-red Tiamat-red is offline
Following the path of the beam
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 205
Just to emphasize, make sure to hook up your filter(and or cooler) properly.
As I did not.
On MY car at least(as I assume it is on all LHD SVX'S) the PASSENGER side of the radiator is the exit flow of the radiator.
I.E. The fluid(from the tranny) goes into the drivers side of the radiator.
So if you're hooking up your filter before the radiator, you want it coming out of the filter, and going into the drivers side of the radiator.
Which "geographicaly" would put it(the filter) on the drivers side of the car.
Again, not like I did.

To put it graphicly(without graphics) it would go from the tranny, into the drivers side of the radiator, through the radiator, and than back into the tranny.
At least of course on cars without factory tranny filters.
Like mine. (92 LS-L)

I don't even want to think of the damage cause by not having even the stock cooler like my car just did for several months.

TG I at least had syn fluid. Not that it
helped with the possible temps my tranny saw.
Although my "ATF TEMP" light never came on.

I know the stock temp sensor comes on at 302f, but does anyone know where it's located?
__________________
Matt!

92 Ebony LS-L "Jabberwerwok" Now includes 1 *free "Wheeeeeee" per ride!
83 Honda Magna v45 "Grendel"


*Free after mail in rebate
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 08-26-2004, 01:43 PM
Tiamat-red's Avatar
Tiamat-red Tiamat-red is offline
Following the path of the beam
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 205
BTW, since I have no idea how "hot" my tranny was getting, I'm changing my tranny fluid. And hoping no shiny peices of metal come out with it.
From the Mobil 1 $6 a quart fluid to MORE Mobil 1 $6 a quart fluid.
Although now instead of 7 quarts without a filter, I need 8 with a filter.

ALSO BTW I really do LOVE MY SVX!

ALSO ALSO Where do I get the FACTORY manual. I.E. NOT the chilton one?
I'm assuming subaruparts.com?
__________________
Matt!

92 Ebony LS-L "Jabberwerwok" Now includes 1 *free "Wheeeeeee" per ride!
83 Honda Magna v45 "Grendel"


*Free after mail in rebate
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
© 2001-2015 SVX World Network
(208)-906-1122