Towing with 2011 Yukon Denali

[Geotrash]

So made it for the first 3.5 hour drive. Ambient temp has been in mid 80s. In the hills and slower speed around Kansas city temp got up to 220 and trans up to 218. On the high way been running a little over 60 and on hills temp would climb a little. All that ok? And that's been using 5th as top gear. At what temp should I be concerned if the trans and engine temp go up? Thanks!

Yes, that is perfectly OK.

 

[RDEVans]

So made the first leg of the trip today. Towing up some hills at 55+60mph engine temp would hit 225-230. Something to be concerned about? Should I spray some water on the radiator to try and clean it some? Once I would get over the hill and level out or down hill the temp would come back down to right above 210. Thanks

 

[RDEVans]

And my Denali does not have the k5l heavy duty cooling code. Anything I can do anything on the road to make sure everything stays ok? Or while I'm here at a koa?

 

[gooffeyguy]

Buy a bottle of Water Wetter from Autozone/Advance/O'Reillys, etc for $10 and add it to the radiator. It may help keep the coolant temps a bit lower

 

[RDEVans]

One more comment. Just looked in the book. It said while towing loads or going uphill, common to see temp fluctuate and to even approach or hit 250. At 260 is when operating above max cooling capacity.

Do you guys concur with that?

 

[Geotrash]

One more comment. Just looked in the book. It said while towing loads or going uphill, common to see temp fluctuate and to even approach or hit 250. At 260 is when operating above max cooling capacity.

Do you guys concur with that?

It’s not common but it’s okay for short periods. I’ve never experienced te is that high in mine

 

[RDEVans]

It’s not common but it’s okay for short periods. I’ve never experienced te is that high in mine

Thank you for your input Sir. Going up some hills today temp was 225 maybe up to 230. But went down when I leveled off. Trans temp looked like it did well, hitting 216-217 a couple times then going down.

 

[Geotrash]

Thank you for your input Sir. Going up some hills today temp was 225 maybe up to 230. But went down when I leveled off. Trans temp looked like it did well, hitting 216-217 a couple times then going down.

Yup. That’s normal for towing.

 

[RDEVans]

Yup. That’s normal for towing.

Thank you Sir. You have eased my mind tremendously.

 

[Geotrash]

Thank you Sir. You have eased my mind tremendously.

Happy to help. If it eases your mind even further, here is some more information direct from GM engineering:

In the February 2011 issue of Trailer Life magazine RV Clinic in response to a reader about the maximum transmission temperature allowed in a 2009 Chevy Silverado, the Tech Team had this response.

“General Motors’ in-house towing team expert provided RV Clinic with this statement: The maximum allowable automatic transmission fluid temperature is dictated by the transmission oil itself. The oil begins to degrade significantly above 270 degrees Fahrenheit, so we design vehicles so that in all but the most extreme conditions, the fluid temperature in the transmission sump stays below 270 degrees F.

We allow for up to 285 degrees F in extreme conditions (i.e. towing a trailer with combination loaded at GCWR in Death Valley). But for customer usage anywhere else in the country, even at GCWR, transmission sump temperature should stay well below 270 degrees F. Above this point, certain internal components, such as seals, begin to disintegrate rather quickly. Although newer synthetic fluids can withstand higher temperatures we still recommend this (270F) as a maximum temperature. "