A quick Google search for "Turbo 350 transmission capacity" yields hundreds of hits that all say between 10 and 11 quarts, including the converter.

Jim

 

Also a higher stall converter creates more heat. But it sounds as if you might be low on fluid. But then wouldn't it shift hard or not at all if it was that low guys? Are you just running the cooler in the radiator or an external one also?

 

When you received your new dipstick and tube, the dipstick should have stuck out the bottom of the tube a couple of inches. This should be about the depth of the pan. I am surprised that the transmission even worked if it is only half full ! That probably wouldn't be enough fluid to even go through the cooler !

 

For starters fill the tranny up with the proper amount of fluid or the trans will die a premature death due to heat. If you do not trust the dipstick level get another one then fill it up. Also are you running the trans fluid through a cooler in the radiator, or external cooler? If not I would highly recommend you add an external cooler.

 

I'm running the lines to the radiator. It seems to shift good. But I quess it can be a couple low.... It got hot enough to make the drive shaft hot. I'm telling you that thing is hot (pan). I can hold the lines coming from the radiator there warm.

 

This is why I bypass the radiator, and run my trans lines through an auxilliary cooler only. The radiator will only heat your trans fluid. After bypassing the radiator, my trans pan feels a very comfortable gentle-warm, and the gauge reads 120-150F for the trans temps.

 

Just went to the car its been over hour since I drove it. I can touch the engine / exhaust all cold the pan is still to hot to touch. Man I might have messed it up. It was driving good when I parked it. Only thing is the spped odometer stopped..Wonder if the thing got so hot it messed the gears up. The tailshaft is even that hot.

 

Well before you kill that trans, add an external cooler and get a dipstick you trust.

 

3500 is a quite aggressive for a cruiser. What do you cruise at? Bet it's slipping alot.
You should def. invest in an external cooler.

 

I quess I will work on getting a external cooler, but even the way I have it should or would it be getting that hot. Just don't seem right to me. Yes 3500 might be a little aggressive (i'm not for sure) but I see people running them all the time on the streets with no problem. Anyway trying to figure out what might cause this. Low fluid / no external cooler / bad filter ect... I'm running mobil 1 atf full syn in it. Also whats a good, but reasonable ext cooler to run.

 

Over 200 degrees is normal for a trans to operate.

 

And that feels really hot to touch. If you're cooling your tranny with 180° engine coolant, expect it to feel hot.

 

I understand the operating temp will feel hot, but so hot you can't even touch the pan for couple of hors after I believe I may have been way beyond that temp. In fact I could touch anything on the engine except the tranny. Anyway I need to find out whats going on here. I will add 2 more quarts to see, also find some type of external cooler, maybe change the fluid/filter, and find out how to add a temp guage.

 

Also it did'nt just feel hot to the touch it would have made blisters on my hand like the exhaust.

 

Whats a good cooler to run. Any suggestions...

 

Run the largest you can get and route it in the return line back to the trans, usually the top line of the rad tank. Trans to radiator to external cooler back to trans.

 

The stall is decently agressive for a street car, but it's not necessarily about the stall speed, it has to do with the rear gears as well, if you run a high stall with high gears (like a 3.08) to my knowledge the stall will be slipping alot, generating more heat.
I have a radiator with an internal cooler (though I don't use it and run a manual) i can definitely say, it's probably not up to par for a 3K+ stall considering it has to work to keep the motor cool, and on top of that, it probably wouldn't cool a trans that well.

What does your current fan set up look like right now? electric? stock? with a clutch, number of blades, shroud?

Also, a buddy with a 71' chevelle had a 700r4 installed with probably a 2,500-2,800 stall with a vortec 350. He used the internal cooler and the trans went out fairly quickly, with a big cooler, there are no problems now. Can't remember his rear gears, but the car was pretty heavy.

 

My rear gears are 373. Well I will try and see about getting a external cooler today. Hopefully that will do the job. Also need to get a tans temp guage.
1. Any suggestions on type of ext cooler, and

2. what about a temp guage. There are so many opinions on where to install it. But all agree that best to put in pan, but if not there would the 2nd best place be on the return line from the radiator.

3. If I were to drain the pan only to change filter/oil about how much fluid to fill back up (turbo 350). Would I only loose the fluid from the pan? The coverter should stay full correct?? Normal size pan / just chrome.

 

I have a electric fan from a licoln mark iv, pulls crazy air

 

#2 put sensor in line from trans to cooler, if installed in return line, will show the cooled fluid, NOT the real temp,
#3 3.5 to 4 qts, normally, and a chrome pan will not cool as quickly.

 

My suggestion:

Pull the pan.

Verify that the full mark on the stick is correct. Full should be at the machined surface that's on the bottom of the trans case where the pan bolts up. If your stick is not correct, scribe a mark on it that is correct.

While the pan is off, get a drain plug kit and a temp gauge. Most drain plug kits use a 1/8" NPT plug, and most trans temp gauge sensors use 1/8" NPT thread. Make sure they match up and use the sensor in place of the drain plug.

Get the biggest "stacked plate" type cooler you can fit/afford. B&M makes them as well as others. If you have a trans shop local, check with them.

 

Well I added a external stack cooler today. I will see how it works out. I still have to add a guage, and remove the pan and see if my dipstick is in the proper location depth wise.

 

Well at least you get to change the fluid doing that.
I don't think I would want my temp gauge sticking out the bottom of the pan like a drain plug, to get knocked out by something on the road.
I put my temp sensor on the front, facing forward with a welded in bung.

 

Yeah, forgot to mention, drain plug bung on an edge of the pan - not on the bottom. Ouch.

 

That is probably where I intend to mount it.

 

If your going to install the aux cooler and still use the radiator cooler, place the aux cooler between the transmission supply to the radiator, and the radiator, not after it leaves the radiator on its way back to the transmission. If you put it after the radiator you are putting all that extra heat from the transmission fluid into your radiator and then allowing the new aux cooler to further cool the fluid after it leaves the radiator. If you put it before the radiator you are removing alot of heat from the fluid before it gets to the radiator, and if it needs further cooling the radiator cooler can handle it without cooling the fluid down to much. Transmission fluid needs to run hotter than 212 to burn any impurities (water, etc.) out of it just like engine oil does, and if the new cooler is located after the radiator it will cool the fluid down well below the 180 or 200 degrees that it is coming out of the radiator cooler. Running a transmission with to low of a fluid temperature will destroy it over time, as it will build up varnishes, and the fluid will become acidic. Fluid isn't hot in a transmission unless its over 250 to 275 degrees

 

Transmission fluid needs to run hotter than 212 to burn any impurities (water, etc.) out of it just like engine oil does, and if the new cooler

A transmission is not an internal combustion engine; it's a hydraulic unit, and it does not produce H2O as a by-product, like an engine does. There is absolutely no reason to run a transmission as hot as you suggest.

Also, the heat from a transmission is from running the fluid lines through the radiator. Although the factory idea was to cool the trans by running the lines through the radiator, all this does is heat the fluid, and reduce the life of a transmission.

 

Think you better rethink that statement. How many hydraulic systems have you seen that do not have moisture separators on them. Transmissions breathe thru their vent, they expel air as they heat up, and suck air in as they cool down, they will suck in moisture in the air as they cool down, and that moisture will end up in the pan if its not burned off as the car is driven. An automatic transmission creates a lot of internal heat through friction: the friction of the fluid churning inside the torque converter, friction created when the clutch plates engage, and the normal friction created by gears and bearings carrying their loads.

It doesn't take long for the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) to heat up once the vehicle is in motion. Normal driving will raise fluid temperatures to 175 degrees F., which is the usual temperature range at which most fluids are designed to operate. If fluid temperatures can be held to a pan temperature of 175 degrees F., ATF will last almost indefinitely -- say up to 100,000 miles. But if the fluid temperature goes much higher, the life of the fluid begins to plummet. The problem is even normal driving can push fluid temperatures well beyond safe limits. And once that happens, the trouble begins.

At elevated operating temperatures, ATF oxidizes, turns brown and takes on a smell like burnt toast. As heat destroys the fluid's lubricating qualities and friction characteristics, varnish begins to form on internal parts (such as the valve body) which interferes with the operation of the transmission. If the temperature gets above 250 degrees F., rubber seals begin to harden, which leads to leaks and pressure losses. At higher temperatures the transmission begins to slip, which only aggravates overheating even more. Eventually the clutches burn out and the transmission calls it quits. As a rule of thumb, every 20 degree increase in operating temperature above 175 degrees F. cuts the life of the fluid in half!

At 195 degrees F., for instance, fluid life is reduced to 50,000 miles. At 220 degrees, which is commonly encountered in many transmissions, the fluid is only good for about 25,000 miles. At 240 degrees F., the fluid won't go much over 10,000 miles. Add another 20 degrees, and life expectancy drops to 5,000 miles. Go to 295 or 300 degrees F., and 1,000 to 1,500 miles is about all you'll get before the transmission burns up. Note all of these are pan temperatures, the temperature out to the cooler from the transmission will be considerably higher, maybe 50 to 75 degrees. So normally you would expect to see 250 degree or so fluid going to the radiator from the transmission, and the stock cooler is on the cold side, so the 250 degree fluid is hitting 140 to 160 degree water which can easily remove most of the heat from the fluid, without cooling it to much.


Do what you want.

http://www.roscommonequipmentcenter.com/news_notes/nn15.pdf
http://www.roscommonequipmentcenter.com/news_notes/nn15.pdf

 

I build racing transmissions as a profession,
YOU might want to rethink your statement.

trans to radiator (if used) to auxiliary cooler, back to trans.
Thats the way I suggest it be done, that is the way OEM's do it when an auxiliary cooler is used, and that makes the msot sense.
Trans fluid at 212* is too hot, your own post stated that....
More contradictions in your post than useful information.