[alcadiente]

Has anyone heard of or have installed a larger tranny cooler on their Armada. The Big Tow package has a tiny one in front of the radiator but the tranny still gets hot going up even small hills towing my 8200lb trailer. Also how about an oil cooler Stillen has one for about $500 bucks and Stillen says it will mess with your cruise control.

 

[05CloudWhite]

Has anyone heard of or have installed a larger tranny cooler on their Armada. The Big Tow package has a tiny one in front of the radiator but the tranny still gets hot going up even small hills towing my 8200lb trailer. Also how about an oil cooler Stillen has one for about $500 bucks and Stillen says it will mess with your cruise control.

I'm not sure about your options for a larger tranny cooler, but it sounds like you need one. Your towing limit is 9100lbs so if your trailer wieghs $8200lbs before you have all you gear in it and the you have an Armada loaded with gear and passengers you could be over the towing limit.

Surprised it is getting hot on little hills though. If you are over the limit, it probably is not much. That's bummer, update your post if you figure it out. I don't have an +8000lb trailer yet, but would plan to.

 

[alcadiente]

I'm not sure about your options for a larger tranny cooler, but it sounds like you need one. Your towing limit is 9100lbs so if your trailer wieghs $8200lbs before you have all you gear in it and the you have an Armada loaded with gear and passengers you could be over the towing limit.

Surprised it is getting hot on little hills though. If you are over the limit, it probably is not much. That's bummer, update your post if you figure it out. I don't have an +8000lb trailer yet, but would plan to.

Sorry about that! Should have been more specific. The 8200lbs is the trailer fully loaded (water, toys, food and gear) at the public scale in San Diego 8286lbs to be exact. (Trailer unhitched).

 

[alcadiente]

I'm not sure about your options for a larger tranny cooler, but it sounds like you need one. Your towing limit is 9100lbs so if your trailer wieghs $8200lbs before you have all you gear in it and the you have an Armada loaded with gear and passengers you could be over the towing limit.

Surprised it is getting hot on little hills though. If you are over the limit, it probably is not much. That's bummer, update your post if you figure it out. I don't have an +8000lb trailer yet, but would plan to.

Sorry about that! Should have been more specific. The 8200lbs is the trailer fully loaded (water, toys, food and gear) at the public scale in San Diego 8286lbs to be exact. (Trailer unhitched).

Also does anyone know if there is a difference in towing capacity for a 4x4 SE with BIG TOW and and 4X2 with BIG TOW I am hearing different stories that the 4X4 has a towing limit below 9100lbs.

Thanks Lot's.

 

[scr38]

In your case another cooler may help, but not much. The Armada has a transmission cooler in the radiator as well as the air cooled one between the radiator and A/C condenser. The best thing to do when the transmission temp starts to climb when going uphill is to shift to a lower gear. This will lessen the slip in the torque converter, which is the cause of the heating.
The tow capacity of all Armadas with the Big Tow is 9100 lbs.

 

[92TripleBlack]

Do you have big tow? I think so as Big tow gives you the tranny temp gauge. Are you engaging tow mode? This will lower the gearing for you, keeping the trans cooler.

 

[Campfamily]

In your case another cooler may help, but not much. The Armada has a transmission cooler in the radiator as well as the air cooled one between the radiator and A/C condenser. The best thing to do when the transmission temp starts to climb when going uphill is to shift to a lower gear. This will lessen the slip in the torque converter, which is the cause of the heating.
The tow capacity of all Armadas with the Big Tow is 9100 lbs.

For 06, Nissan lists 9000#'s for 4WD, 9100 for 2WD.

 

[scr38]

For 06, Nissan lists 9000#'s for 4WD, 9100 for 2WD.

Yes, I read that at the dealer this morning while I was getting a oil and filter change.

 

[alcadiente]

Do you have big tow? I think so as Big tow gives you the tranny temp gauge. Are you engaging tow mode? This will lower the gearing for you, keeping the trans cooler.

Yes I have the tranny temp. guage and I do activate the tow mode and drive in 4th gear when towing and down shift to third up longer or steeper hills.

Thanks for all of your input. I really appreciate it. :awesome:

 

[sturner06]

What is the real temp?

All this talk about tranny temp has me wondering...what is it getting up to? Do you mean the upper 1/3 or so of the gauge or is it truly overheating? Just curious, am watching this thread to learn about the armada tranny. I am sure Nissan has engineered it to pull what they claim it will, but there is likely an aftermarket solution to bring the temp down to near normal levels. Typically it is a UHAUL or Tranny shop type thing that is easily installed.

L8er,

ST

Has anyone heard of or have installed a larger tranny cooler on their Armada. The Big Tow package has a tiny one in front of the radiator but the tranny still gets hot going up even small hills towing my 8200lb trailer. Also how about an oil cooler Stillen has one for about $500 bucks and Stillen says it will mess with your cruise control.

 

[wwjdwithca]

Has anyone heard of or have installed a larger tranny cooler on their Armada. The Big Tow package has a tiny one in front of the radiator but the tranny still gets hot going up even small hills towing my 8200lb trailer. Also how about an oil cooler Stillen has one for about $500 bucks and Stillen says it will mess with your cruise control.

That doesn't make sense....at all. I've climbed steep grades that took 10 minutes to climb and never had an issue with my 3000 lb trailer doing 65 mph, running in third gear the whole time.

So somethings going on:
1. Somethings wrong with your truck, might want to have it checked-out.
2. You tranny is not really hot. It's not over-heating until it reaches the dash mark on the gauge.
3. Your running to high of RPM. In the example I gave you I was running 3600 RPM. I can do that cause I'm only pulling 3000 lbs. You however, cannot. In pulling a steep incline you would need to drop to around 50 mph. Likewise, with small inclines you cannot be run 70 mph like we all have the tendancy to want to do, so we can run with traffic, but you cannot when pulling 8000 lbs. If you don't know what RPM you were running, and approximate grade of the hill....then item #3 is your problem.

 

[adjmcloon]

I pull my cargo trailer with around 6000# or so regularly. My tranny has never went above the 1/2 way mark- most of the time it's a bit below. Granted, most of my driving is flat roads, but I have pulled around the hill country of Texas a good bit with no troubles. Maybe a trip to the dealer is in order?

 

[scr38]

Also how about an oil cooler Stillen has one for about $500 bucks and Stillen says it will mess with your cruise control.

All 5.6 engines have an engine oil cooler. It is cooled with a water exchanger, located in the base of the oil filter.

 

[Cillyone]

It is normal

My tranny temp gauge goes just short of the mark below "H" when doing a long steep hill in any gear pulling 8k+. I have been doing that for nearly 2 years and still works perfect. If you are towing a large load like this I think anything up to that hash mark is normal. I have hauled a Yanmar tractor with a loader and box scraper in my utility trailer which only weighed about 5k total and the temp only went 1/3 to 1/2 way up.

 

[alcadiente]

My tranny temp gauge goes just short of the mark below "H" when doing a long steep hill in any gear pulling 8k+. I have been doing that for nearly 2 years and still works perfect. If you are towing a large load like this I think anything up to that hash mark is normal. I have hauled a Yanmar tractor with a loader and box scraper in my utility trailer which only weighed about 5k total and the temp only went 1/3 to 1/2 way up.

Thanks! My needle goes right up to the line just below the H on the tranny temp. guage when towing my 8500lb trailer up long hills. It is great to know yours has been doing it for 2 years without a glitch. Did you change out your tranny fluid with anything special or just the dealer recommended interval for towing vehicles?

 

[scr38]

You have to use only Nissan J fluid. No other fluid is approved by Nissan at this time. The use of anything other than J will void the warranty on the transmission.