2019 Ranger Transmission Overheat

Jfly96

Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Sep 29, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
Location
Tacoma Washington
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger supercrew lariat
Occupation
High Voltage Electrician
Looking for some answers and or advice. I have a 2019 ranger lariat with tow package, 7500# tow rating. While on the first day of a 2,800 mile trip with my 22' 5000 lb dry & about 6,500 loaded trailer through Washington, Oregon, California and back. Only 200 miles into the trip I felt a weird shuttering of the transmission or engine, I was traveling on flat ground interstate 5 at about 75 mph on a 75 degree day, my foot was in it pretty good up to this point and I figured I may be in limp mode or something from hammering too hard, I backed off and drove like a normal person for the rest of the day , I did pull over and look underneath and noticed I burped out some tranny fluid. Finished my 500 mile trek to Crescent city and the next day had a shop put it up and check the fluid. They could not find the vent if there is one but did notice the wet fluid underneath. They found the dip stick checked the fluid and topped it off, the fluid was still pink and the tranny only took a small fraction of a quart, hardly nothing at all. They saw no problems or reason for me to do anything further since it was driving normal. I did an additional 2,200 miles over the next 3 weeks over major mountain passes like Tioga at 10,000' elevation and several more 8000' passes with zero issues and the tranny shifted like butter. I was easy on it the rest of the trip.
Questions :
1. Is there a vent and where is it?
2. Is there a tranny cooler? some say there is and some say there is not, the dealer says there is, and I asked is it a heat exchanger or actual cooler the tech said its and actual cooler.
3. Where the eff is the transmission temp gauge on these modern trucks and if there is none any suggestions on adding one.
4. Is this the same 10 speed transmission that is in the F150? , for some reason I was under the impression that it was and so there for I thought I could lay into it a little more knowing this but the tranny still seemed to over heat or something.

Any advice would be welcome. I asked the dealer about adding a cooler and they said there is not anything they are aware of unless maybe there is an after market option.

Thanks
Jim.
aaaaaaa.jpg
Sponsored

 
Last edited:

9zero1790

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mark
Joined
Nov 29, 2021
Threads
44
Messages
6,614
Reaction score
22,468
Location
DFW Texas
Vehicle(s)
21 super crew fx4 sport
Occupation
air breather
my guess would be the trucks computer had glitch moment more likely than a mechanical problem. if it had overheated i bet a trouble code and warning light would have come on. the fluid spill could have been from a prior service or even factory. id say if it made it the rest of the way no issues not to worry. you can get the transmission temperature but not from the trucks gauges sadly. if you have certain apps or obd readers / tuners you can see all sorts of info including the temps, air to fuel and so on.
 

GitRDone

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andrew
Joined
Nov 25, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
411
Reaction score
1,144
Location
Orlando Fl
Vehicle(s)
2020 XLT
Occupation
Real estate management
I don't have anything to add, but good to know the Ranger tranny can handle that kind of load at close to its max rating. Also that the Ranger has a trans dipstick. Not a fan of modern transmissions (and engines) with no easy way to check fluid levels.
 
OP
OP
Jfly96

Jfly96

Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Sep 29, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
Location
Tacoma Washington
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger supercrew lariat
Occupation
High Voltage Electrician
my guess would be the trucks computer had glitch moment more likely than a mechanical problem. if it had overheated i bet a trouble code and warning light would have come on. the fluid spill could have been from a prior service or even factory. id say if it made it the rest of the way no issues not to worry. you can get the transmission temperature but not from the trucks gauges sadly. if you have certain apps or obd readers / tuners you can see all sorts of info including the temps, air to fuel and so on.
Thank you for the reply, one thing is the fluid that burped out sprayed all over the underneath rear bumper and from of the trailer RV so I knew it was fresh. Looks like it burped out about 1/10th of a quart at 75 mph so it then just got blown everywhere and looked way worse than it was. I was unsure how much leaked out until the next day at a shop where they tried to put more in and it didn’t need hardly anything. But the leak was fresh with even a few pink drips lingering.
 


OP
OP
Jfly96

Jfly96

Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Sep 29, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
Location
Tacoma Washington
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger supercrew lariat
Occupation
High Voltage Electrician
I don't have anything to add, but good to know the Ranger tranny can handle that kind of load at close to its max rating. Also that the Ranger has a trans dipstick. Not a fan of modern transmissions (and engines) with no easy way to check fluid levels.
It pulled like a champ, as fast as I wanted to go, only catch is down hill. Trailer that heavy runs the truck rpm’s way up so you have to switch between braking and engine braking and even maybe hand operate the trailer brakes. Some of the down hills were 7% grade for miles and miles. Only time I wish I had a full size truck. Otherwise love the Ranger
 

D Fresh

Banned
Banned
First Name
Doug
Joined
Dec 10, 2020
Threads
20
Messages
6,282
Reaction score
13,543
Location
Colorado
Vehicle(s)
'20 Lariat FX4, '17 FiST, '16 CX-5, '95 YJ
Occupation
Milkman
I don't have anything to add, but good to know the Ranger tranny can handle that kind of load at close to its max rating. Also that the Ranger has a trans dipstick. Not a fan of modern transmissions (and engines) with no easy way to check fluid levels.
Don't get too excited.

It's under the truck and a bit of a pain to do. Looks similar to this...
images.jpeg


There is a real dipstick available aftermarket though. B&M I think.



For the OP, as far as cooling is concerned, from the factory we have a heat exchanger, not a cooler. It's there to allow the engine coolant to help bring the transmission up to operating temperature and perhaps help regulate on the top end as well.

Our transmissions prefer to operate in a specific temperature range. A cooler may adversely effect your longevity and or performance.

There is a metal transmission pan with cooling fins available aftermarket you might want to look into. That's the first step I do if I were worried about high temps. While in there you'll have the opportunity to inspect, do a filter change, and replace the fluid.
 

Grumpaw

Well-Known Member
First Name
Steve
Joined
Jul 1, 2021
Threads
70
Messages
4,279
Reaction score
20,024
Location
Fishersville, Va.
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ranger Lariat Sport Supercab
Occupation
Navy Vet., Retired Police Sgt.
We're towing a travel trailer that is now about 7000 lbs. Towed it around 2300 miles so far on several trips, without any problem.
My water temps run arounf 195-198 on flats and can jump to 205 on grades and 210 on mountain roads climbing for several miles. I believe since the trans heat exchanger is tied into the radiator that trans temps would be close to those temps.....not hot enough to worry about.
I have a Scan Gauge mounted which gives accurate water temps and can give trans temp once I figure out how to program it.
As for the venting....most of us are concerned that the trans fluid is/was low from the factory, but yours just might have been overfilled at the factory.....vent might have been blowing off excess.
Also, these readings were at 63-65 mph.....your 75 mph might have been pushing it a bit. Most travel trailer tires from overseas, the "china bombs" shouldn't be run over 70 mph. The Goodyear Endurance are good to 85 mph.
 
Last edited:

DukeCanBuildit

Well-Known Member
First Name
Duke
Joined
Jul 27, 2020
Threads
48
Messages
6,308
Reaction score
29,653
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Vehicle(s)
2019 XLT SuperCab
Occupation
Husband-Caregiver
Vehicle Showcase
1
We're towing a travel trailer that is now about 7000 lbs. Towed it around 2300 miles so far on several trips, without any problem.
My water temps run arounf 195-198 on flats and can jump to 205 on grades and 210 on mountain roads climbing for several miles. I believe since the trans heat exchanger is tied into the radiator that trans temps would be close to those temps.....not hot enough to worry about.
I have a Scan Gauge mounted which gives accurate water temps and can give trans temp once I figure out how to program it.
As for the venting....most of us are concerned that the trans fluid is/was low from the factory, but yours just might have been overfilled at the factory.....vent might have been blowing off excess.
Right from our very own……

CCDF50BD-B0F1-44C2-BE91-AD36BB07F6ED.jpeg
 
OP
OP
Jfly96

Jfly96

Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Sep 29, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
Location
Tacoma Washington
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger supercrew lariat
Occupation
High Voltage Electrician
Don't get too excited.

It's under the truck and a bit of a pain to do. Looks similar to this...
images.jpeg


There is a real dipstick available aftermarket though. B&M I think.



For the OP, as far as cooling is concerned, from the factory we have a heat exchanger, not a cooler. It's there to allow the engine coolant to help bring the transmission up to operating temperature and perhaps help regulate on the top end as well.

Our transmissions prefer to operate in a specific temperature range. A cooler may adversely effect your longevity and or performance.

There is a metal transmission pan with cooling fins available aftermarket you might want to look into. That's the first step I do if I were worried about high temps. While in there you'll have the opportunity to inspect, do a filter change, and replace the fluid.
Thanks for the advice. I am going to look into the cooling pan with fins. That sounds like a good idea.
 
OP
OP
Jfly96

Jfly96

Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Sep 29, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
Location
Tacoma Washington
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger supercrew lariat
Occupation
High Voltage Electrician
Right from our very own……

CCDF50BD-B0F1-44C2-BE91-AD36BB07F6ED.jpeg
Yeah I wondered about maybe it was overfilled. Especially since it happened on flat freeway in 75 degree temps and then I did another 2000 miles over mountain passes with zero issues. Couldn’t really go any easier when trying to maintain a reasonable speed up long grades so I figured if I had an overheating issue it would surly happen again but it didn’t.
Sponsored

 
 



Top