Transmission flush

Planning to make some calls Monday to some local shops that do AC servicing and see if anyone's willing to do it

 

Be sure to ask about a credit for the expensive R1234YF that they remove from your truck. It's pricey stuff.

 

Will do, good advice

 

I don't see why it can't be done.

 

Anyone using this? https://sdhqoffroad.com/products/09-19-toyota-sequoia-ab60-transmission-hi-tek-trans-pan

 

Have you actually seen any abnormal transmission temps? My wife's 22 TRD PRO runs pretty cold all the time, even when loaded up for overlanding trip.

 

I like the idea of that, but don't think it's necessary on any truck that has a proper cooler.

I have a slightly deeper Camaro pan on my G8, along with a 20k secondary cooler, and I am lucky to see 160 degrees on a summer day. The high stall convertor creates a lot of extra heat, so this all helps. But on my 2016 Tundra, even while towing heavy and up hills, I've never seen over 210 degrees. I would add an additional cooler before I add that pan for that cost.

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/b-m-trans-pan.139806/

The 22+ has a cooler I believe. The 19-21 will run hot all the time even unloaded since theres no way for it to cool down once it gets hot.

 

2022 was the last model year for V8 Sequoia. Bad ones, with flat screen TV in dash and lawn mower engine with 2 fans are 2023+.

2022 does not have a transmission cooler. I don't see any pipes running from the engine compartment to the transmission.

Coolerless Tundra cools down to coolant temp, which is like 220 F.

 

Sorry your post didn't say Sequoia so I assumed you were talking about a Tundra. I have a 2019, it does not cool it down to 220, it will easily run up to 240-250 and never come down unless you add a cooler then it will run around 185-195.

 

I know Toyota says those temps are okay, and really I don't think the fluid is going to break down too bad at those temps, but man I don't like that lol.

 

Lie. In 19k miles since new, in "cold" New England, on a fully stock truck the ATF was already brown. Wasn't towing, no nothing. ATF shouldn't turn brown. Brown = thermally broken.

 

This

I now pin my thermostat

because

I’m houston simple hwy driving I was hitting 211 unladen

with cooler installed I top out at 177

 

Wow, that is horrible. Well, good on you for checking it and changing it then. I've only seen maybe 206 degrees MAX in my 2016 while towing a probably overloaded camper.

 

This is why poor us (2019+) are paying a few hundreds to get that cooler back.

 

I know it has been hotly discussed. Is there any data on failures, etc on the non cooled transmissions? I haven’t seen much on it. Also, what about people running cat shields? Do you run hotter? I can say, my vehicle was parked a few hours before I got the shield removed yesterday to start the drain and fill and the pan was still pretty damn hot.

 

As an old Volvo fanboy I've collected and seen a few Aisin transmissions split apart. Most of them stock (ATF/coolant heat exchanger only, like in 2019+ Tundras) and one is mine, with external cooler added at 1/3 life. My transmission had much less damage happened to internals: less discoloration in thermally hardened parts (loss of blue hue), plastic shims are less brittle, less bushings damage, less case wear where clutch packs move, less wear in clutch packs, less wear in valve body. Torque converter was still alive. All others at similar or lesser mileage had TC lock up friction disintegrated and bearing destroyed by heat. My guess, most of the damage I found in my transmission can be attributed to the first 80k miles / 7 years when the car has been driven without the cooler, on a "lifetime" ATF. Engine compartment in my turbo Volvo runs super hot, that does not help with the engine/transmission cooling, too.

I overhauled one low mileage transmission that had the least case wear, resolved a few well known birth defects, put in a new valve body, run it with OE ATF (Volvo adds a lot of extra slippage additives) and hope it will last me another 10-15 years. It almost never reaches 190 F, even in hottest days.

Exactly same fallout happens in other transmissions when ATF is hot and does not cool the internals properly.

Adding a skid plate raises the ATF temp by like 15-20 degrees in my observation.

 

I don’t think there are mass failures and really only heavy towers would probably need the cooler. They ran this setup on the tundras and sequoia for a good bit before the new generations. Plus I believe the 4.6 without the tow package did not come with the cooler so it would probably have a similar setup

 

The cooler cost 1300$ through genie? That b&m pan is more than adequate for the cost alone if you decided to use it. You’re talking about 3.5 quarts of transmission fluid and a cast aluminum pan. Also, that pan has a two huge magnets one inside the pan and another near the drain plug. You can also add a temperature sensor and monitor real time temperatures if you wanted as well. It’s a pretty decent upgrade especially if you plan on keeping the truck forever.

with that being said, I think that pan is definitely worth the money. I’ve driven on mine for almost a week now and I’ve seen some pretty good results not just with shifts but also at the needle.

final thought’s I would tell you it’s a decent contender versus that cooler 100%. But, if I was towing let’s say 6-7000 pounds a couple times a month I would probably do the cooler just because heat is definitely a lot easier to maintain through a radiator and having a secondary thermostat opening and closing at 190 seems pretty nice for that purpose alone.

I think this is something you guys will wanna try yourselves on the pan. I am a pretty big stickler for what I add onto my truck personally but I can tell you it’s worth it from what I have noticed and experienced.

 

I have seen Toyota master techs say The ATF in Toyotas turns brown fast so color is not helpfull or doesnt mean much as to what happens with the Fluid. A oil analysis would be helpful.

 

I change all fluids in all my vehicles regularly, correct issues when I see them (like ATF turning brown) and I never see Toyota techs, master or not

 

Truth be told. This is the first time I have ever touched a transmission so I really don’t know what it should look like. At 60k miles I don’t expect it to be red like out of the bottle but I don’t know what darker shade of red is bad. I may do a drain and fil again at 90k since we only get a portion of fluid out. Hell, I may do a few. Don’t know.

 

Getting darker is "fine" - one of ATF's duty is to suspend worn friction particles in it. It may even turn black - when torque converter lockup clutch fails. It is bad when ATF turns brown.

 

Thanks for the feedback! On my 07 (146k miles), 14 (112k), 16 (90k), 19 (43k) I was towing a 6x12 trailer daily 7 months a year loaded the gills with rolling racks, hangers, clothing and gear. I never worried about the tranny temps, but my 19 was NASTY when they opened up right before I sold it.

We plan on keeping this seqouia for goodbit and was debating finding an OEM cooler off a wrecked tundra and adding it in, but this pan has my interest peaked. Id rather buy this pan, get a monitor for it, use an OEM cooler and get the truck VF tuned vs buying the genuine coolers kit

 

The older Tundra has the trans cooler integrated with the AC condenser sobrhat won't be an option.

All that is needed is the two hard lines, two hoses, and the thermostat from Toyota then add an aftermarket cooler. When I did it on my 2020 the cost was only around $600 and I got the Toyota parts from Megazip in Japan.

 

Any chance you have the PN handy for oem parts?

 

It certainly wasn’t brown. But darker red for sure. I’m guessing I will be ok. I rarely tow anything. If I do it is a small side by side on a 8x10 trailer. Like I mentioned. I may do more frequent changeouts since it is easy and I tend to drive vehicles until they can no longer be driven. The longer you can make that last the better!

 

Sorry but I don't have it handy.
There's a thread on it. Enter the part numbers in the megazip website. Two rubber hoses, two hard lines, 8 spring clamps, the thermostat and an aftermarket trans cooler which you have to mount but the thread has good detail on mounting. Use the Toyota spring clamps and not gear clamps.

 

Changing ATF regularly still must do even if the application has a top notch cooling system and unimaginably good filtering system, because ATF has slippage additives, which are consumed normally by friction packs. When ATF becomes dull, the frictions wear accelerates drastically.

 

Did you use a scan tool to monitor the ATF temp or the paper clip jumper on the obd2 port?