I am new to this board and have found a lot of great info. Is always nice to hear from people who have real experience with the F150.
I use my 1998 F150 SuperCab to tow a Double PWC trailer. Fully loaded, the trailer only weighs about 2,000#.
I have the 4.6L with auto trans, tow package, and 3.55LS rear-end.
When I tow in the Colorado River area, the outside air temps are often around 115 degrees in the summer. Yes, I run the A/C a lot.
Should I be concerned about the trans getting too hot?
Is the factory cooler as good or better than the aftermarket units?
Should I invest in a temp gauge for the trans?
Any info is appreciated.

 

A trans temp gauge is always a good idea. I have a 2002 and I didn't replace my trans cooler with an aftermarket because the factory one looked just as good as a lot of the aftermarkets out there. I don't know how one for a 98 looks but you would just have to compare what you have with what is available.
Hope that helps.

 

I bought an aftermarket cooler with a fan, and a 180 degree thermostat. When I took it to a friend who is a mechanic to have him help me install it, he basically told me that the stock cooler was about 2-3times more efficient.

What made the aftermarket cooler a good idea, was the fan and 180 thermostat, so, we took the fan off the 'thin little' cooler, and installed it and the thermostat onto the stock cooler!

Basically towing in stop and go traffic will heat up your transmission in a hurry, so you should at least get a temp guage.

If you go over 190 degrees, you should consider upgrading.

 

I've found the trans temp relies a lot on what the outside temp is..... At least that's what I've seen with mine.

You really need to get a trans temp gauge first so that you can see how your specific setup is working now and in your type of temps and your driving style....

Up here in Washington state, we don't get as hot as you do down south.... It'll get into the 90's every now and then.....

When I first got my gauge installed, it was in Winter time.... It would take a lot of slow speed city driving to get it to even budge over the 100* mark.... When it did and I got air flow into the cooler, it would go back down again.

In the Summer, I noticed it would go to around 150* pretty easy in like 70* weather. Stop and go traffic, it would get to 180*, but not really get any hotter then that. If I got air flow into it, it would go back to 150*. In 80* + temps, it'll sit at the 165* mark and eek it's way in stop and go traffic to the 195* mark, but once I got going in the air again, it would drop back down again.

Even on a 90* + day and towing my TT, the most my trans has sustained was 180*........ I was a little concerned, so I called Troyer Performance and inquired about their fan equiped trans cooler.... The first thing the guy asks is "what temps are you seeing and where is your temp sensor placed?" I tell him 180* and it's in the trans OUTPUT line, just before it goes into the rad. He says "that's the correct place for it and since that's the hottest temp the fluid is getting, then you are doing pretty good...... You won't really see much, if any, reduction in temps, even with our fan mounted one.....". He went on to say that "unless you are consistently in the 200*+ range, then whatever you have as a cooler setup now is doing all you need it to do.... I'd love to sell you one of ours, but I also know you won't see much improvement and then you'll call us back up and question it...." I thanked him for his honesty and told him I'm a member of F150Online and I know Troyer Performance is spoken of highly on it. This just proves it to me even more....

That was over two years ago and I've traveled a lot of miles since then. I have the fluid changed once a year and it's still a nice clear red color each time.

Until you know how hot you are now, you won't know if you've done any good if you get a different cooler....

Good luck!

Mitch

 

very good information!!! I feed so much better bout my f150.

 

Thanks MitchF150...That was a great overview and gives me a better understanding of my system ...

 

Thank you very much for some really great info.
I spent last week in Lake Havasu, AZ. High temps ranged from 107 to 122.
I spoke to some local dealer mechanics there and was told I was over-concerned. The 2000# load, even in those temps, would not stress the tranny that much. If I was closer to the max towing of 7000#, I should invest in the gauge. Otherwise, just keep the tranny fluid changed. The factory cooler is a good one. Not worth changing it.
Take care.