How much heat do you guys get from your tranny?

I have always found my tranny to be warm as I feel the heat through the floor. I have just gotten my car back from the dealer after two weeks after having the engine swap done. Of course I am aware of the hi temps we were getting. I reached in to get some change from the cup holder area after about 40 min of driving and the coins were hot!!!

I was wanting to swap the fluid in the tranny anyway so I picked up some Redline MT-90 from Scarboro Spazda on Wednesday to change it this weekend and see if it makes a difference.

Got the car up on stands this morning and when I looked at my tranny it looked like there was oil on the side of it as if it was recently changed and wiped it down. Ok ... maybe they changed the fluid in the shop while swapping out the engine (it was super clean). Ok ... no worries ... I'll change it anyway as I want the MT-90 in it. So I got everything ready and I removed the top fill bolt. I got a gush of fluid from the top bolt!!! Not a little ... a lot!!!! I thought to myself ... "that ain't right!" So I let that drain for a bit and then I removed the bottom and let the remainder out. Once it was completely drained I filled it back up with Redline and tightened everything back up. I have not taken it for a good ride yet, but will soon!

So tell me guys! There is no reason for over filling a tranny which must have been done while the engine was out of the car for that volume! Would that cause me to feel more heat as the hot fluid is too close to the top of the case? Could that cause any seal problems?? What do you guys think? I am hopeful it will run cooler now!

 

no way is the extra fluid going to raise temps. Its just that its hot outside and the heat kind of wells up. let me ask you, that 40 min drive you spoke of...country road driving type thing or stop and go traffic? idle in a parking lot somewhere? when you arent moving the heat really builds up in there im sure you know this...but after not having your car while they were putting the engine in and then this heat wave it might just seem shocking all of a sudden. lol.

also, they didnt fill it while the tranny/engine was out because you cant do that. if you remove the driveshaft and the transmission level is nominal, it will come out the tail stock. likely the reason it was overfull is that
A) most shops will have a pump and just cram in a bunch of oil, let the excess run out a bit and then put the plug in while its still puking out. yes, this means it will be over full by some random amount, but over full is better than low in most cases. (also, its not like the tranny is a sealed unit. there are vents built into the case so the extra vapor coming off the extra oil will have a way out B) the ground you checked the level on may not have been totally level. C) the car might not have been level on the hoist when they filled it.

Also, the main culprit causing rx8s to have "heated cup holders" is actually the exhuast or more specifically the location of the catalytic converter. these suckers dont really start to work until they reach over 600 degrees (with actual operating temps much hotter than that) and its sort of squeezed under/beside the tranny on the passenger side. it sort of shares some realestate in the tranny tunnel and as you know, heat rises. I honestly wouldnt worry about it until things start to get uncomfortable, IE shift **** burning you or iced caps melting the second you put them in the cup holder. lol.

 

If it was overfilled a lot they top filled it and didn't measure it...

 

oh ya, i forgot about secret option D. hahaha. still, most dealerships seem to have bulk gear oil with a pump on the drum...at least the 2 i've worked at and one other that my friend worked at. its cost effective and quick.

 

Thanks for the responses guys!

I took it out for a good drive last night. Got a Timmies and hit the 401 out to Markham area cruising the city streets for a while, then eventually made my way to the DVP to go downtown. At one point I was in a traffic jam as some winner wrecked what looked like a Honda (possibly ... hard to tell anymore) so it was stop and go for a while. Looked over at a convertible a couple lanes over and there was some young teen kneeling on the seat looking backwards and looked like she was about to flash her breasts! Then some stupid Van got in the way. The car behind her had some chick hanging out the passenger window with her cell phone taking some pics or video! Anyway ... took a while to get past this then finally it cleared and I made my way downtown. I drove up Younge for quite a ways, then back again. Got home in Whitby at about 1:45am. I kept putting my hand in the cup holder (after the Timmies was gone back in Markham ) and it only ever got warm!!!! Not hot!!!

This was a huge difference in temp!! I typically drive my 40min ride to work and then back driving along steeles to Warden and Denison each day. I go early in the morn ... leaving 5:50am and head back home around 6 - 6:30pm so that I avoid a lot more traffic. On the ride I explained in my post ... as is typical for my ride ... anywhere past Markham road to Whitby is a breeze as I am going mostly 90 - 105 depending on the flow. A simple drive that should not cause my tranny to over heat!

All good now! Mt-90 made a huge difference so far. Still need a hot day to really compare!