With all of the problems people been having lately with trannys, at least some I'm sure, I decided to not wait any longer and ordered some coolers and filter kit for my transmission. Currently I run 7 qts of Amsoil synchromesh (http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/transmission-fluid/manual/manual-synchromesh-transmission-fluid-5w-30/?code=MTFQT-EA) for about 4 years and 20k ml now. Heard different opinions on how much to overfill, some say at least a qt some say 8-9 qts. This has probably been beaten to deaf by now, but also some time has gone by, so hoping for some input from guys that use Fast coolers (http://www.genosgarage.com/product/fc-6-spd-dg/transmission-coolers) on one side and filter kit (http://www.quad4x4.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi) on the other, or just fast coolers on NV5600, but feel free to post results on NV4500 or anything you put coolers on. But my questions will be directed at NV5600.

Questions are:

How many extra qts of fluid do you run,

What brand of oil, pros cons

Do you have coolers or a filter or both,

How often do you change your fluid, why,

If you have a filter kit on one side which side do you think would be best for it. Meaning will it work on both sides or does oil fly one way better then the other, I've also heard guys running filter kit mounted on top of fast cooler not sure if there is much room that way. I have 5" exhaust, 

If there are other good ideas I'd like to hear them please. What I'm planning on doing is putting filter kit on the exhaust side and cooler on the driver side and thinking about running 8qts. People say that fill hole on NV5600 is too low so 1qt overfill is needed, I can see a way to have it overfilled by 1 qt with fast cooler and filter kit wold be fill it till oil comes out of fill hole, then put another qt in, but it still might not be as high because filter and cooler will have to be filed together with tranny. What do you guys think. 

That's good read

Ok I got cooler and filter put on and took few pictures, but for some reason can't post them from my phone so I'll put them on computer later and update. But let me tell you I'm glad I did what I did and I will try to explain a bit why later, I hope.

Don't keep us in suspense man!

Ok so I changed fluid not that long ago to Amsoil, and before I did, I flushed it with Pensoil. When I drained it after 1k it was still clear on finger but darker in a bottle due to all of syncro material that was just sparkly. So after putting amsoil in and not having that many miles on it I thought for sure it would be a lot better than before flushing it with pensoil, but it looked identical, lots of tiny brass particles. So after reading few things on these NV5600 I decided to put at least a filter on to get all these or most of particles out, and then decided to get a cooler also just because, plus I got a place to put my tyranny temp gauge now. I guess this tranny is hard on syncros or I didn't flush it as good as I thought. So I put same fluid back in plus a half of a quart to make up difference for cooler and filter, 1/2 quart is probably not enough but I'm running 7qts already instead of 5 so I figured 7.5 would be a good place. Plus you'll see in pictures why I don't think putting any more would be good for filtering as the intake on the filter is submerged in oil, but I'm hopping when I'm driving a lot of oil will be up in the air and filter will work. I'm going to give it some time and then pull it out and see if it trapped any crap. Ether way I think these NV5600 need oil changed way more often than NV4500 or an older trannys .

Ok someone needs to show me a way to post pictures, I just don't see that option on my screen. All I see is insert other media, and I don't think that's it. 

To insert an image you just drag it to the box in the following picture or search for the picture by clicking "choose files...".  Or if you already have the image uploaded, just post a link to the image, the forum software takes care of the embedding.

 

 

Then click the "(+)" icon on the picture to include it into your post.  It will be added wherever your cursor is.

 

Also, I may be mistaken, but I believe the filter relies on being submerged in order to work.  All the gear fluid is spinning around the countershaft, so the deflector on the filter housing channels some of that fluid into the filter.

 

I'm currently playing around with making my own filter using the same principles.  It should be fairly simple to construct, even if I end up going with a pump system on the '96, I'll just throw this on a different rig.  What I'm really curious to see is, if constructed in a manner to get as much pressure as possible, how much is that.

 

Also, if you do not include the picture by clicking the (+) icon, it will still be embedded at the bottom of your post as seen below.

 

Edited May 19, 20168 yr by Cowboy

8 minutes ago, Cowboy said:

To insert an image you just drag it to the box in the following picture or search for the picture by clicking "choose files...".  Or if you already have the image uploaded, just post a link to the image, the forum software takes care of the embedding.

 

 

Then click the "(+)" icon on the picture to include it into your post.  It will be added wherever your cursor is.

I don't have that on my screen, and I can't drag it ether, not sure what I'm doing wrong, I used to be able to do it just fine before but it's like that whole option is gone for some reason.

 

Also, I may be mistaken, but I believe the filter relies on being submerged in order to work.  All the gear fluid is spinning around the countershaft, so the deflector on the filter housing channels some of that fluid into the filter.

 

I'm currently playing around with making my own filter using the same principles.  It should be fairly simple to construct, even if I end up going with a pump system on the '96, I'll just throw this on a different rig.  What I'm really curious to see is, if constructed in a manner to get as much pressure as possible, how much is that.

 

Also, if you do not include the picture by clicking the (+) icon, it will still be embedded at the bottom of your post as seen below.

 

 

I'm not that good with computers as you can see I just replied in the wrong place too, lol.

Do you see the choose files on the left side? It is underlined on on the opposite side from insert other media. Click it and you should be able to upload from your computer. Thats how I do it.

 

Guess I was a little slow on that.

Edited May 19, 20168 yr by dripley

13 minutes ago, dripley said:

Do you see the choose files on the left side? It is underlined on on the opposite side from insert other media. Click it and you should be able to upload from your computer. Thats how I do it.

 

Guess I was a little slow on that.

No I don't, maybe I'm using mobil site or something , I can't see people's real names ether  like I used to.  Plus I used to see at bottom, use mobil site or full version, don't see that ether. 

Edited May 19, 20168 yr by Dieselfuture

It is circled in red on Cowboys post. I see it on my phone also. But it does say Click to choose files. I am not great with the computer either but that one has always worked for me.

23 hours ago, dripley said:

It is circled in red on Cowboys post. I see it on my phone also. But it does say Click to choose files. I am not great with the computer either but that one has always worked for me.

I only have that window pop up for a second and than there is nothing there. I tried different computers and it's same on all of them. 

So I drove about 200 ml today all hwy at about 60-65 empty, my fuel temp on vp was around 145f, tranny temp was around 148f, I noticed it took a while for both to get to that point, maybe a good hour or so. But then in between a few stops it was slightly higher for few miles and then came back to these numbers.so definitely there is some heat soaking going on.

DieselFuture

 

You account looks to have some sort of block on that feature.  I am looking now

 

 

Here's what he see's

DieselFuture,

 

Looks like you hit the 25MB max for attached items for the general member group.

 

You can delete old attachments to free up space by clicking your username in the upper right, then clicking "my attachments"

9 minutes ago, Me78569 said:

DieselFuture

 

You account looks to have some sort of block on that feature.  I am looking now

 

 

Here's what he see's

DieselFuture,

 

Looks like you hit the 25MB max for attached items for the general member group.

 

You can delete old attachments to free up space by clicking your username in the upper right, then clicking "my attachments"

Thanks for figuring it out.

Here is few pictures,  not sure if you're able to see all of the sparkle in that June bottle, but I put it back in, wasn't in the budget this time plus it will be a good test for that filter. 

Didn't wrap my exhaust but made this shield out of aluminum 

4 hours ago, Dieselfuture said:

Didn't wrap my exhaust but made this shield out of aluminum 

I like the heat shield. been thinking of how to do a shield that did not involve welding and this is a good idea.

I also like your 3 gauge pod on the dash. I have the same set up. Though my FP gauge is still in the A pillar mount. I was pleasantly surprised at how visible the gauges are on the dash. I get a little glare on a sunny day but not enough to bother me. I am going to swap out my triple A pillar pod for  a double and use the lower for my EB switch or some thing. Just want to open up the vision a little.

9 hours ago, dripley said:

I like the heat shield. been thinking of how to do a shield that did not involve welding and this is a good idea.

I also like your 3 gauge pod on the dash. I have the same set up. Though my FP gauge is still in the A pillar mount. I was pleasantly surprised at how visible the gauges are on the dash. I get a little glare on a sunny day but not enough to bother me. I am going to swap out my triple A pillar pod for  a double and use the lower for my EB switch or some thing. Just want to open up the vision a little.

Thanks, I like things that come up part some what easy. On that guage pod it's supposed to be by the windshield but it was too far for my liking, so with a little trimming and making two small brackets to hold it in place I think it's in a perfect place, it only blocks about an inch of view above the hood and I'm 5'10".

Edited May 21, 20168 yr by Dieselfuture

6 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

Thanks, I like things that come up part some what easy. On that guage pod it's supposed to be by the windshield but it was too far for my liking, so with a little trimming and making two small brackets to hold it in place I think it's in a perfect place, it only blocks about an inch of view above the hood and I'm 5'10".

Mine is tucked right against the windshield. I installed it not long after I replaced the dash and could not bring myself to put any hole in it. i have grown accustom to it so there she stays.

All of your mods look great man! I really like that exhasust heat shield. It says in your sig you have an edge comp, but isn't that the juice monitor on your pillar, or is that just a monitor?  I'm also curious about the black filter looking thing by the front passenger side of your transmission?

25 minutes ago, leathermaneod said:

All of your mods look great man! I really like that exhasust heat shield. It says in your sig you have an edge comp, but isn't that the juice monitor on your pillar, or is that just a monitor?  I'm also curious about the black filter looking thing by the front passenger side of your transmission?

Thanks, I have qwadzilla adrenalin with v2 monitor, not sure why it says edge. That filter is where I mounted my engine oil bypass filter, didn't want it in the engine compartment. Made a 1/4" bracket and welded it to the frame and then bolted filter housing to it, it out of the way and easy to change. 

I have the 4500 and Fastcoolers and have collected some data over the past couple years.....  Do I think they're worth it?.....yes.  But are they for everyone?.....no, not really unless you pull heavy and run outside any gear other than 1:1 direct drive.  Heat is bad and all petroleum based fluids will begin to oxidize over 180*.  Over 225* and the thermal breakdown begins to increase exponentially.

 

First off, the hot exhaust pipe running right next to the transmission throws off tremendous heat and will most certainly cause the transmission temperatures to rise.  Especially when anything like the aluminum Fastcooler runs within an inch or two of the exhaust pipe.....

 

How do I know?.....  Well I was confused as to why my transmission temps were running so hot when pulling on grades until it dawned on me that the 1000* exhaust pipe had to be playing a part in those tranny temps.  So I blanketed (not wrapped) the exhaust and my tranny temps dropped about 30*-40* on long hot pulls where EGT's maintained the 1000* range.  Yeah.....thats a significant reduction in running temps.  If I can maintain direct drive then the tranny temps will generally get no hotter than 175* under the most strenuous of pulls.  But if I have to drop to 3rd gear then the temps will rise and climb up to 190*-200* if the grade is long enough and steep enough.  Let me be clear too that these temps are NOT during the everyday driving or even with any lighter loads behind in tow.  ONLY while towing a massive 5th wheel up looooong grades in ambient weather of around 80* - 100*.  So I cant even imagine how hot the tranny would get if I didnt have the Fastcoolers and exhaust blankets.  I have read of older hotshot drivers mentioning transmission temps in the 275* range!

 

I didnt care to bother with the filter either merely because I didnt think it seemed like a very functional device.  It only a string filter with a magnet inside meant to trap metallic debris.....  So I just run some extra strong magnets on the PTO covers to hold any floating metal particulates stationary.

 

The 4500 holds about 4.25 quarts.  Each Fastcooler holds an additional quart (6.25) and I put the remainder of the 7th quart in through the tower.  So 7 quarts is in there.

 

As for replacing the fluid.....  Well I dont rack up very many miles on my truck so it may be awhile before I do.

 

 

Edited May 21, 20168 yr by KATOOM

Here is a picture I just took, it's 75f outside, and my speed on hwy was 75 mph. Defiantly hotter then the other day driving 60-65. I probably wouldn't put filter on if it was a 5 speed but having these synchros and not having clean oil worries me a bit. After I'll put few thousand miles on it I'll take filter out and see just what it does, will take pictures and let you all know. But it may be a while. 

Edited May 21, 20168 yr by Dieselfuture