[dannymarilyn]

We returned from Newell today after some work and I noticed the engine running from 180° to 200° on the way home in 92°+ ambient
pulling our 2009 Dodge pickup. What concerned me was the transmission temps edging the 220° mark. The radiator sight glass is more than half full.

Is this about normal, or should I begin checking and worrying? We were running at 65 mph.

Thanks!
Danny and Marilyn Goss
1991 Newell #277 8V92
2009 Dodge p/u towed

[Richard]

Are you reading the vdo gauges or a vmspc? Vdo is notoriously inaccurate. I run 210 to 216 on the tranny. And 194 to max 207 on the engine BUT that is with a series 60

[dannymarilyn]

Watching VDO gauges. Why I'm asking is I thought the engine used to be always around 180 to 190, while the transmission rarely went over 120.

Still not that many miles under our belts with this one as yet.

deg

[Land Yacht]

I have just made a 3 day trip with my VMSpc, and really love it. Digital readout on all gauges. I purchased an RCA Cambio for aroun $125 and use it like a tablet just for the VMSpc, highly recommend.

[Chester Stone]

I can only relate to my 60 series, but the engine temp seldom gets over 210 but the transmission is another story. The problem is that the hydraulic fan only responds to engine temperature, and, for example, using the jake brake over a very long downgrade, the trans temp will get up to 240 to 250. I have been told by the transmission service personnel not to worry about it.

[Fulltiming]

With your 8V92, I would definitely recommend installing VMSpc. It will pay for itself over and over again just in reducing the anxiety levels. I use a cheap laptop running VMSpc and love it. It will not show transmission temperature as it is not electronic on our coaches. My tranny temps are typically in the 180 range on a flat road but introduce hills or stop and go traffic and it will be up in the 210+ range with ease but that assumes that the transmission temperature gauge is more accurate than the engine coolant temperature gauge. A HT-740 tranny temp gauge that rarely goes above 120 would be suspect in my mind in anything other than pretty cold weather. You will see some degree of correlation between engine temperature and tranny temperature with the exception of the use of a jake brake as Chester mentioned where going down hill the coolant temperature will drop rapidly but the tranny temp may not.

[encantotom]

danny,

the challenge with your question is that the accuracy of the vdo gauges on the dash is questionable at best. the temp gauges are non linear and at least on my previous 90 newell with the 8v92, highly inaccurate. they become more of an indicator of temperature trend....

the vms pc that is talked about hooks into your detroit ddec engine control system and reads out exactly what the temp sensor on the engine is giving the engine controller. that is what most of us use. i used it on my 90 and i use it on my 02.

the answers about temps are also different dramatically between the 8v92 you have and the series 60 that others have. i have had both. i was much much more concerned about engine temps on the 8v92. the rear mounted direct drive fan radiator setup is far inferior to the side mounted hydraulic 2 speed fan on the series 60 newells.

that and the 8v92 reacts far more harshly to overheating. most that have the 8v92 start to have panic attacks with the vmspc starts reading above 200 degrees. at 205 michael day starts hyperventalting....ha

your tranny temp of 120 i would guess is suspect as michael said. it is too low.

the piece of mind of having the custom digital dash from the vmspc is worth the 400 bucks or so it costs.

when you toast a 8v92, there are cylinder o rings that melt and put coolant in the oil. becomes a no fun situation pretty quickly

the 8v92 is a great engine. just needs to be kept cool. in trucks, and other coaches they had i believe a better cooling setup than newell did on them.

that said, many have no issues ever. but all savy owners keep a close eye on engine temps.

tom

[ccjohnson]

With the VMS PC you can set alarms to help keep you from inadvertently over heating engine. Mine goes yellow at 200 & red at 205. I have learned that when I get over 205 to pull off road IMMEDIATELY to cool off engine. Trying to get that last 1/4 to 1/2 mile over the hump can be VERY expensive (20-25K) otherwise. I will take the extra 5-10 minutes travel time to cool engine over the 20-25K & 2-3 months in shop for rebuild anytime now!

[77newell]

Tran mission fluid is pumped through a coil in the bottom of the engine coolant radiator, at least on my 93 coach, so the transmission temp should slowly follow the coolant temp.

[Guy]

Having an 84, I don't have the luxury of interfacing with a VMS PC. I have the original analog gauge, and an addition by Todd, a DIGI-PANEL, which seems to
track the analog gauges pretty closely. It has a an alarm which is set at 190. I understand that 190 is conservative, but with this instrumentation, it it really 190, 200, 205 ? The only time the alarm has gone off was hwy 17, Phoenix to Flagstaff. Scared me enough that I went back down the hill and took Hwy 10 instead of 40 to the east coast. I pull an enclosed trailer now, and the engine seems to run hotter. The trailer is only 6000 lbs loaded, but I believe it limits heat dissipation thru the radiator.
i am happy that the only temps that gets in the the orange area in the engine. i don't think my heart could take two alarms at the same time.

Question: When you pull over to cool down, do you fast idle your engine?