OBD Thread: PIDs, Apps, Dashboards

I didn’t - it was resetting every 45 seconds or so.. it wouldn’t have been hard to tell if it worked at all anyway. Hopefully they’ll fix the bug. Car Scanner was only $6.99 but doesn’t have nearly as many sensor options and the dashboard i set up is kind of blah. FWIW, the 2019 AT enhanced PID AT sensors seemed to work... I was momentarily connected to the 2019 in the pic I posted. Will be trying this in the 2019 tomorrow when I get to work. Will post the results.

 

Any chance you have a older phone you could use? Got a buddy, wife or neighbour with an android?

 

My kids have a couple of old I Pods - I’ll give one a try this week sometime. As for this morning, it’s not a very long ride to get to where I’m at for the day. The outside temp was 14 degrees with light fluffy snow falling. I have most of the stuff in my trailer so probably 5200-5400 lbs give or take. Pretty easy ride... rural roads and a bit of interstate. It actually took the transmission a long time to warm up but once it did... the T/C temp spiked to 235ish a few times and the pan temp hung around 205... but spiked to 215 a few times. This was about average when I was stopped and could grab a screenshot.

 

I wouldnt worry too much about the trans temps. I had exactly the same pan temp when I was plowing. As far as the TC temp there's not much you can do about it spiking higher. It's a normal condition when the TC is unlocked.

 

When you were being advised to go that route, I wondered if you understood that these Apps are phone/device dependent. Having no experience with the recommendations, I didn't want to be contrary to the advice stream from ardent fans. Plus, not spending a lot seemed important to you, and cheaper is better imo...if it will work.

Ultra-gauge has connected reliably with my iPhone 6, ios 12.4.4. UG does cost a little more than what you've spent on an inexpensive scanner and App. The dashboard is not as nice as Torque Pro, but it can be made attractive and informative. I don't own any UG stock, and I have no endorsement deals with them. I wouldn't disagree that UG website lacks the clean sophistication of ScanGauge website. Some of the obscure SG codes such as TPMS and engine oil temp that allegedly work on UG, will not work for Tundras. I can live without those parameters. See the thread link below:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/tra...-ultra-gauge-blue-adapter.58930/#post-1588508

 

Thx JohnLakeman... I’m only in this to add data points to compare the 2017 temps with the 2019 temps as I own both. I’m not at all worried about the trans temps on my 2019 as it’s a 24 month lease and I’m using is 90% for work. If I owned a 2019 I’d probably change the fluid more often and not worry about anything else. But if I can help others by comparing the 2017 and 2019 ECU behavior/interface I’ll be happy to contribute that info. But I’m not a tech guy lol... so no ultra gauge for me.

 

Awesome thread. I have torque pro and rarely use it now since my Sequoia has most of the gauges but always good to get exact values and more info when I need it. It would the awesome if I could program tpms values. Not sure if it's possible but torque pro has PID for Ford TPMS? And the idatalink enables reading of TPMS values so I stay hopeful that it is possible.

 

Here’s a question for you guys with the better tech devices: do we know what the initial “warning” point was for the Tundra/Sequoia transmission temp that it was running hot? I put the range value in from 100F-260F with 220F-260F in the “red.” But it seems like I’ll be in the red a lot, especially once the weather gets warmer. I’d like to recalibrate and put the right values in. Should I set the red line at 230F? 240F?

 

Were these temps running in 4th with towhaul?

 

Good question. I thought I read somewhere the warning light doesnt come on until 280+/-. I remeber thining that is ridiculous when i first read it. it was in a thread from a member that installed an extra transmission cooler in line with the stock cooler.

Here is the thread. Some good testing performed as well.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/install-complete-on-additional-transmission-cooler.12385/

Check post #24, shows 300 degrees for idiot light.

 

He was hitting at least 240 loaded even with a cooler. I hate to imagine where a 19/20 will be under those conditions.

 

That's the debate, what is a too high temp? As armchair engineers we can assume 240 is too high but why do we think this. I can't imagine Toyota would sacrifice reliability over saving a few dollars by not installing a cooler.

 

Yeah the unknown. Still 240 with a cooler, so towing are we 19/20's going to see higher or is/was the condensor/cooler not doing a damn thing.

 

@jtwags Wow... thx! Up to 275 is “acceptable” for Chevy and Toyota. Makes me think running it all the time at 210-220 with spikes to 230 really isn’t that big of a deal at all. I’m going to set my red line for 260 and have the gauge read up to 300 then.

@sask3m I always have tow/haul on when I’ve got the trailer hooked up but I didn’t have it in 4th - I just let the truck do it’s thing most of the time.

 

So just in D then? If so I wonder what the temps would be in 4th or even 5th. Don't think D is a recommended towing gear regardless of towhaul on or off. Anyways thanks a bunch for doing these tests for us.

 

I’ll tow in 4th or 5th tomorrow morning and see if I get different results. Trailer has the same stuff. Temp is supposed to be marginally warmer but nothing significant.

 

Its really not what gear your towing in that causes the heat rise. When the TC clutch disengages is where all the heat is generated.

 

Yup and D is in and out constantly when towing any amount.

 

Ok - so I have my 2017 at work today. It was 12 degrees when I left the house and 14 degrees when I left the shop. I was going to the same location I’ve been at all week. The drive is as similar as I could ever get it in terms of temp and traffic. I took the pic in the exact same place... which is at the end of the off ramp of the interstate. Same trip, same stuff in the trailer and same time of day traffic wise.

 

Oh ya. Used tow haul just like I had all week..... just let the truck do its thing. I’m going to consider this my winter baseline. Things I wonder about:

1. Is there a different thermostat in the 2017? Or is the 10 degree difference in coolant temp a function of it absorbing the heat from the transmission fluid? Both held those temps pretty steady.
2. Is 15 degrees any meaningful difference in tranny temps? That seems to be about the average difference right now in these conditions (easy drive, flat landing, cold temps, towing a decent amount but not nearly maxed out).
3. How much difference there will be in hot weather. I assume with the air to liquid cooler on the 2017 the colder air of winter is advantageous. The 2019 doesn’t benefit from that as it seems to run between 205-210 most all the time once it’s warmed up. But I’ll say this: it takes a relatively long time to get the transmissions up to temperature. Like 15-20 miles of relatively high speed driving on rural roads and they’re both still not fully warmed up until I hit the interstate for about 5 miles. Even driving my 2017 from home to the shop before hooking up the trailer didn’t make a big difference. I wonder if that’ll be the same in hot weather for both.
4. If I was really experimenting, I might throw a different thermostat in the 2019 and the bigger pan. My guess is if you kept the coolant at 180 and increased the volume of fluid passing through, you’d end up with temps that weren’t much different than the 2017. But that’s just a wild guess.

 

I kicked the shifter over to S4 for awhile yesterday but didn’t leave it there long TBH. I was on the interstate going about 75 and the RPMs were at like 3800 or so. I was watching my MPG indicator drop. Lol If the transmission ever gets hot (pan holding 230+) I’ll use it to see what happens.

 

I know that the 2019 and 2020 do have a higher coolant temp by design. I think the purpose of this was to increase mpg and I thought I saw a increase in the mpg on the new 19/20s by 1 to 2 mpg. My 2020 runs at 195-198 all the time and it's cold here. This could explain why we see an increase in the tranny temps in the new truck.

 

In the US, higher coolant temperatures didn't happen in 2019. Vehicles in the US have been running 195 deg thermostats since the early seventies, and I'm pretty sure my 86 4Runnner had a 195 degree thermostat. I presume 195 degree thermostats were dictated by the EPA. Higher coolant temps reduce emissions and increase fuel economy. In the early days, the heat cooked the under hood elastomers, but manufacturers learned to cope with the new rules.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Some have reported higher temps on the 19-20 Tundra and I was speculating that it may have been a Toyota design change that may explain the mpg difference.

 

There’s seems to be a roughly 10 degree difference between the 2017 and 2019 coolant temps for me. I’ll be driving it home tonight and using it for work tomorrow and will see if the 2017 ever gets up to 195ish.. but it didn’t budge from 185 this AM...

 

Sorry. I should have checked the Tundra specs before opening my big mouth, but I'll have to eat crow on this one: Tundra 1UR-FE/3UR-FE thermostat begins to open at 176-183 degrees, has a lift of 10mm, and should be fully open by 203 degrees. As far as the number "stamped" on the thermostat, I suppose it might say 195 degrees, since 193 would be half of the linear range, bwdik.

At present temperatures in Texas, my 2017 is running 190-195, so I thought that confirmed a 195 degree thermostat. To get 185 degrees @WNY PAT, it sounds like your thermostat is barely cracked open. Wouldn't take much 14+ degree coolant to have your thermostat barely cracked and at equilibrium.

 

Ok - last of the baseline values. About 26 degrees on the way home today. Here are my numbers - FWIW - my truck LOVES 185 degrees. Lol It spiked to 191 once, went to 188 on some of the smaller grades I go up but always headed right down to 185 when I was just cruising.

 

So after many back a forths with Fussion regarding some of my pids not working and sending them debugging logs we discovered the it was my Elm327. I have a new updated one ordered up. I don't think the older adaptors can read K line.

 

A bit off topic but... for fun I jumped in the 2018 4Runner this morning and hooked up the scanner. I drove around for about 30 minutes doing some errands, making a few stops. The 4 Runner coolant thermostat hangs around 185 as well. Rarely got above 187 and would quickly drop to 180–182. The transmission never got above 125 or so.... takes all these transmissions SO long to warm up. I’ll take it again later and see if I can get a lock on the actual operating temp of the transmission. Next up will be the 2013 LX... but that’s got the same set up as the 2017 Tundra so can’t imagine there will be any difference.

 

It's good to get some experience with the monitoring process and the equipment limitations, but I predict those readings will be "wishful thinking" when July temps arrive, and you're towing a big honking camper.