MT82 Temp Sensor... where to locate?

[Stangra]

Sorry if I missed the obvious while searching, I see many threads on trans cooler installations and I may end up down that road. For now I just want to install a gauge to monitor what's happening and could use some help deciding where to pick up a temp reading. Any convenient ports I can tap into, or...?

 

[Mad Hatter]

Did a whole pile of MT82s (RIP)... If you are driving your car modestly hard go ahead and put a tranny cooler in... With out a cooler you will see some pretty scary numbers... +300F etc. You have the bottom and topside holes. Even tapped one in at the top to maximize oil flow over the gears on number 3, or was that number 4? can't remember....

 

[Stangra]

Did a whole pile of MT82s (RIP)... If you are driving your car modestly hard go ahead and put a tranny cooler in... With out a cooler you will see some pretty scary numbers... +300F etc. You have the bottom and topside holes. Even tapped one in at the top to maximize oil flow over the gears on number 3, or was that number 4? can't remember....

I'm sure I'm suffering denial and rationalizing about the difficulty of adding another cooler. I have a huge intercooler, oil cooler, A/C condenser, and of course the radiator. Just getting all this to fit and play nice with the intercooler pump & brake ducts is proving to be an expanding effort. My denial voice is hoping that a cooling air scoop will be enough, but I do want to monitor temps and if they get as high as you've seen I guess I'll be looking at space in the back of the car for a cooler/fan setup.

Bottom and topside holes... referring to the fill and drain ports?

 

[Mad Hatter]

I'm sure I'm suffering denial and rationalizing about the difficulty of adding another cooler. I have a huge intercooler, oil cooler, A/C condenser, and of course the radiator. Just getting all this to fit and play nice with the intercooler pump & brake ducts is proving to be an expanding effort. My denial voice is hoping that a cooling air scoop will be enough, but I do want to monitor temps and if they get as high as you've seen I guess I'll be looking at space in the back of the car for a cooler/fan setup.

Bottom and topside holes... referring to the fill and drain ports?

Yes the fill and drain ports. most of my failed trannies were a nice shade of blue inside.. In contrast my Calimer stage 3 gets to 180F with out the cooler pump going. When my clutch blew up and killed the Stage three bell housing, I got a peak in the internals, everything looked fine and dandy though its only been a few track days. Four I think.

 

[Stangra]

Yes the fill and drain ports. most of my failed trannies were a nice shade of blue inside.. In contrast my Calimer stage 3 gets to 180F with out the cooler pump going. When my clutch blew up and killed the Stage three bell housing, I got a peak in the internals, everything looked fine and dandy though its only been a few track days. Four I think.

Many thanks! Do you happen to know what size threads they have?

 

[Mad Hatter]

Many thanks! Do you happen to know what size threads they have?

Sorry can't remember off hand, but TMO has a couple of threads that go into more detail.

 

[Stangra]

...You have the bottom and topside holes. Even tapped one in at the top to maximize oil flow over the gears on number 3, or was that number 4? can't remember....

Any concerns about having a fitting extending from the bottom of the tranny? I worry that it's kinda vulnerable in a lowered car. Even more so if installing a cooling scoop too when I see posts like this, could make a fitting there even more vulnerable?

Curious if anyone else on here has tested the break away strength of the FP M-5025-MBT transmission cooler scoop? My results show that 72 mph into the loamy Buttonwillow dirt will get the job done. Had what should have been a relatively uneventful off yesterday, however the scoop dug in, breaking clean on both sides right near the mounting studs. The bottom side of the transmission took a pretty good shot, and my x-pipe has a dent and small puncture as well. Luckily it didn’t hit anything else on the way out or crack the transmission case, etc. Probably the most concerning thing at this point is the k-member is bent on both sides where the mounting studs are. Alignment seems fine, as I made the 175 mile drive back last night and the car tracks straight, so I think it’s just the sheet metal mounting area that’s pushed up and back a bit.

The scoop definitely makes a difference in temps, so I hate to run without it, but it’s got me second guessing it now. I guess in my mind I thought the scoop would break away from the brace if it took a hard enough shot - never expected it to break the brace in 2 places while bending the k-member.

 

[67GTA]

Any concerns about having a fitting extending from the bottom of the tranny? I worry that it's kinda vulnerable in a lowered car. Even more so if installing a cooling scoop too when I see posts like this, could make a fitting there even more vulnerable?

I have a temp sensor mounted on the side of my Tremec, and it survived this incident unscathed. The Tremec has a separate port that’s a bit higher than the drain plug though, so might not be an apples to apples comparison to the MT82 mounting point.

 

[JDee]

Any concerns about having a fitting extending from the bottom of the tranny? I worry that it's kinda vulnerable in a lowered car. Even more so if installing a cooling scoop too when I see posts like this, could make a fitting there even more vulnerable?

I have my outlet down there, my car is lowered by 1.5". It's not the lowest thing from what I can see. However, I put the temp sender on the input side of the cooler as I wasn't happy with the clearance below the trans with another fitting in there. Problem being the oil temp sender required a dog's breakfast of fittings to make it fit. I know it's not going to be 100% representative of what the oil temp is but it's going to be pretty close, can't see it losing much heat travelling from the bottom of the trans passing close to the engine on the way up to the cooler.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Any concerns about having a fitting extending from the bottom of the tranny? I worry that it's kinda vulnerable in a lowered car. Even more so if installing a cooling scoop too when I see posts like this, could make a fitting there even more vulnerable?

Yes very worried at first.. But we made a bigger tranny scoop the protected the lower fitting, that and a bigger splitter gave some peace of mind.

 

[steveespo]

Many thanks! Do you happen to know what size threads they have?

Thread is M16x1.5 Use M16 to AN-6(or -8) banjo fittings to plumb cooler lines. For a temp sensor you can drill and tap a stock plug for 1/8" NPT and grind flats on the edges to be able to tighten with a wrench.

 

[Stangra]

For a temp sensor you can drill and tap a stock plug for 1/8" NPT and grind flats on the edges to be able to tighten with a wrench.

An elegantly simple solution. Thanks!!!