Towing problems- No transmission cooler on 2020 TRD Pro

What temperatures did you see?

 

Never passed 220
I drove 65-75mph

 

Strange because mine rose to 245 at only 60mph but with a headwind and pulling 5K. We have a trip planned out to the Rockies in the late summer and without a cooler I expect the temps could rise above 260F.

 

What wheels/tires do you have?
Mines bone stock
Has 1200 miles when I started the trip and has 2100 after

 

Stock wheels and tires. Truck has around 10K for miles.

 

If your 2017 has the 5.7L, it has the tow package WITH a transmission fluid cooler. You shouldn't have any concerns...your Tundra should tow up to the manufacturers rating without problems. Monitoring your transmission fluid temperatures is a good idea even if you have the cooler, and there are threads here with details. This discussion is primarily for 2019+ owners WITHOUT the transmission cooler.

Edit: Sorry, @Silver4x4trd, I have relied on information from the internet. I am not sure if ALL 5.7L engines had the "Tow Package" with transmission cooler in 2017. The Toyota parts catalog shows some earlier Gen3 Tundra 5.7L as NOT having the tow package. If you have the "Tow Haul" button and the OEM integrated trailer brake controller, you should have the "Tow Package". Inspect the radiator/grille area for the OEM air-to-fluid exchanger.

 

I wish op would clarify how he determined the fluid was overheating and was "told to pull over". Any warning light, etc.?

Also very surprised how quickly both Toyota and the dealer admitted the shortcomings if any.

Post #1:
dealer contacted Toyota and was told they no longer have cooler ...

Post #2:
Dealer told me to look into external cooler ...

 

I just bought a 2020 TRD Pro and towed a 5K trailer 6 hours each way through western MT/ID. Had no issues and did use the tow/haul on inclines. No movement on temp gauge. Mine came with cooler as part of tow package...

 

HD battery.....lol also known as piece of crap

 

What temperature #'s did you see?

 

Actually, the attachment below shows what you have as a "cooler" on 2019+. As someone said earlier, they used to call it a "warmer". Now that the "cooler" has been eliminated, the "warmer" is having to do both jobs. Unfortunately, there's not enough heat transfer area in that warmer to do much cooling of 280 degree ATF using 200 degree engine coolant.

 

Lol. 2017
https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/brochures/toyota/2017-tundra.pdf

2014, so first year of what you refer to as Gen 3.
https://cdn.dealereprocess.net/cdn/brochures/toyota/2014-tundra.pdf

Few links from here
https://www.tundras.com/threads/does-my-new-tundra-have-a-tow-package.12214/

https://www.tundras.com/threads/history-of-the-tundra.1208/#post-17326

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Tundra

 

I towed my TT over 6,000 miles on a stock set up with no issues at all. We climbed many mountain ranges and crossed deserts with ease. I just put towhaul mode on and left in in D. Because of my trailer weight, it did not go into OD. The tranny did NOT search for gears either. I was very pleased.

 

Sure but what were your trans temperatures? The light does come on until 302F so by then you have cooked your transmission fluid. Just because you didn't notice anything doesn't mean you wont have an issue later on.

 

I'm honestly not super concerned. I have to have a little faith in the engineers. If my transmission fails, i definitely bought the wrong truck. I don't think that will happen. My truck drives like a top, and in use the heck out of it.

 

Like @JohnLakeman explains...You don't have a cooler in the traditional sense. We have a warmer/"cooler" that runs coolant through it. Could probably equate it to spitting on a bonfire.. ...There is nothing hooked to the transmission that is cooling the transmission fluid exclusively. I learned this here and have been pissed about it since. I will add a cooler one day. A real cooler that has trans fluid flowing through it.

Thankfully I have not had to tow any significant weight as of yet but fully loaded down with the tent, camping gear, and my dirt bike on a hitch rack I was seeing 229 degrees through a scan guage in the mountains. Completely unacceptable in my opinion. I pretty much run tow/haul full time now and frequently run S mode if in the mountains. I definitely pay attention to what the trans is doing and adjust as needed.

 

The OP was admittedly running in D mode an not swapping down to S4. This is a good example of folks not doing there research ( no offense) before doing things they are unfamiliar with an then complaining about the truck.. I've never towed before last week but always heard folks say you don't tow in overdrive.. Tons of guys tow large trailers with this truck with no issue. Mostly becuase they research first on how to properly do it.. " no one told me" excuse only goes so far... It doesn't sound like OP is towing beyond the trucks capability. Just needs to take the damn thing out of overdrive..

 

Does the Tow/Haul switch keep you out of OD? In all fairness to the OP I would not have thought to go to S4 either, just tow with the Tow/Haul switch.

 

Agreed.... the things you find in the Owners Manual are quite interesting. According to the Manual, our trucks are designed primarily for passenger and load carrying (notice it doesn’t including towing as a primary design feature!)

 

Well then I stand corrected.. But based on what alot of other tundra owners said in my research, many run in S4/S5 unless on flat ground.. I'd rather be in control an shift down or up as needed. I'm still new to towing myself but you can feel when the trucks dragging an to me it makes sense to manually shift it down an get the RPM up. But hell I could be wrong..Again all my life I've been told don't tow in overdirve..Granted things change.. Hope the OP can figure it out becuase a 4500 lb trailer should not cause an issue..

 

Yeppers. I'm a Toyota fanboy, but a conspiratorial mind might rationally believe that Toyota USA probably did some testing out in the desert before they deleted that transmission cooler to pay for "other features". Probably got the test Tundra out there on the test track in that desert heat, and that damn warning light kept coming on. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't keep raising the set point on that annoying light to keep it turned off. That's how they determined the set point. Now, when that alarm light comes on, it's like that chime on your microwave that says when your food is "done".

 

I don’t do a lot of towing and I didn’t buy my Tundra as a main tow vehicle but I think if I ever had a need to tow regularly over long distances, I’d probably take a lesson from what others learned get a different truck that is designed as a tow vehicle.

I’ve read too many threads about the 2019+ Tundras and transmission temperature concerns. Only time will tell in how durable these newer trucks are that do a lot of towing.

 

I use to have a Tacoma with a 2.7 with an auto. Great truck and I pulled a 4K trailer with it and it actually did OK. The 2.7 never came with a external trans cooler so I fitted a OE one from a V6. I still saw temps north of 220F. I ended up installing another aftermarket cooler in series and temps stayed below 220F pulling up the longest grades. When I bought my 2020 Tundra and now pull 5K I was never expecting to see 245F on a test run without any grade. Pulling in the mountains I know I'll see 260F if I dont add a cooler. It's common knowledge that 260F will degrade the transmission oil and would result in a shortened transmission life. My take on it is that most people don't tow with their truck and when they do aren't towing to max capacity. The few that do will unknowingly do damage because they aren't monitoring their trans temps. So the small amount of warranty claims for transmission failures is worth it for all the cash they save for deleting the cooler on only two model years.

 

Is the trans temp available on the head-unit or instrument cluster? What's the best way to read that real time?

EDIT: I found what I need to buy to do this. Disregard.

 

FYI for those of you who have an aftermarket HU and use the Maestro with idatalink and an OBD2 input, you CAN get transmission temps to read on the aftermarket HU. I have a Kenwood DMX906S with the Maestro and OBD2 I put and just figured out how to show transmission temps (thanks to another forum post). See pic below.

It was a little tricky because at first I couldn’t select it to display but I revalidated the PIDs on the HU and presto - it was now available for display.

 

I just use the gauge on the dash that tells me it is In the middle

 

Every time I look at that gauge I imagine it yelling at me... "nothing to see here, move along".