Trip report, Trans temps, Turkey etc.

We just returned from a very enjoyable boondocking out near Yuma for Thanksgiving.

This was the first real tow since I installed the Kenwood HU, giving me the ability to monitor trans temps, so I was very curious (and a little nervous) to see what the transmission temps would be in my '19 (No external cooler)

Overall I'm pretty pleased, and I think I'll stick with my plan to just monitor temps, do drain & fills every 30K, and not install a cooler.

I'll preface this by pointing out that my trailer is only 5,500 lbs., most of our trips are not terribly far from home, (stupid FT job) and we're lucky if we get out once a month. (usually less, unfortunately)
If I were towing heavy, or retired and going on major cross country trips, or towing regularly as part of my business, or something like that I might feel differently.

San Diego to Winterhaven, just this side of the AZ state line, 170 miles straight out I-8. Ambient temps of low to mid 70's on the SD side of the hill, probably low to mid 80's once we hit the desert floor.

Towing at 62-ish most of the time, coming up the long and gradual grade from El Cajon into the hills and ultimately Sunrise Highway at just over 4'000' I had pretty consistent temps of 220º with a peak of 228º.
Once I crested any climbs the temps would immediately start dropping nicely. This was one of my concerns, that once things GOT hot, they would just stay hot.
When cruising on the flats, it'd stay in the low 200's for longer than I expected (50-60 miles) and she'd finally settle in at 210-212º.
San Diego to Yuma (almost) was 9.6 MPG on the dash. (My computer and hand calculations are usually really close, within a couple 10ths)

It was hotter on the return trip, and those of you familiar with the area know that the westbound climb from desert up Mountain Spings/In-Ko-Pah grade to Jacumba is pretty brutal, gaining 3'000' in 11 miles.
They have turnouts with water every 1/2 mile or so, and you almost always see a car or two pulled over.

It's two lanes, steep, and a bit curvy... cars can boogie up it at 70, but then there's big rigs or motorhomes/trailers in the right lane struggling @ 35-40.
I was pushing it up this one in some sections so as to not get stuck behind the guys with their flashers on, sometimes you have to hammer it when there's an opening to get over and around a slow rig. Overall probably climbing at 50-55 with a few manual downshift to S3 to keep ATF flowing and not jug in S4.

This grade was where I recorded my highest trans temp, spiking to 240º just before cresting. Even though you're still climbing a little after the really steep part, temps started coming down. That was comforting.

Yuma to San Diego was 10.6 MPG.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with that. Would I prefer they'd kept the external trans coolers in place? Yes, absolutely. But I feel very confident now that for my usage and with regular drain/fills everything will be just fine.

I planned on taking more gauge pictures periodically, but we... errr, I mean, my WIFE was watching Lincoln Lawyer and Mayor of Kingstown on Netflix and Paramount+.

 

Good update, but I trust Toyota on this one. There is ZERO evidence that the lack of transmission cooler is impacting them Tundra's, long term or short term, right? That is how I look at it.

 

Agreed, I feel like the Toyota engineers are smarter about Toyotas than I am.

The "not knowing" part was always in the back of my mind, I just feel a little more confident in my decision now.

 

Thanks for sharing Sir

 

It seemed appropriate.

 

Nice! Glad you had a good trip!

You might want to see if you can get the PID to add an icon to let you know if the torque converter is locked. Any time it's unlocked under a load, that's when your temp is going up quickly.

As a reminder to the above, the torque converter does not lock in 3rd gear...only 4th, 5th, and 6th gears.

 

That would be nice! That's one of the things I like about the scanner & app combos.

When I bought the Kenwood trans temps was one of the ways I justified to myself spending the money, and then when it was done I wasn't getting the temps! '19 apparently isn't compatible by default.

It took @centex pulling the pid's off his Scangauge and giving them to the guys at iDatalink Maestro, who worked them up and pushed out to his, and then my account in a beta test version.
So I was pretty happy to get them at all.

I do watch the tach and pay pretty close attention to TC lockup, but it would be nice to have sort sort of digital icon to show it with certainty.

And yeah, the trip was pretty good, thanks.

 

Not sure if this helps, but this is the PID ScanGauge gave me to show lock-up. I works well on my scangauge II.

Torque Converter Lockup (ON/OFF)
TXD: 07E02185
RXF: 046125850000
RXD: 3001
MTH: 000100010000
NAME: TCL

 

Great info, I'm very familiar with that drive... That spot looks great too, I wasn't aware there was boondocking out that way other than the dunes or further into Ocotillo.


I have a Banks iGauge and sadly it doesn't display Trans Temps

 

That looks like sidewinder rd, hill looks like pilot knob. Miss that area.

That last stretch of mountain right before the look out tower is probably the toughest part.

If you get off on mt springs rd and stop on off-ramp, put ride in N, it’ll seem like you’re rolling up hill because of the grade. One of those gravity illusion places.

 

70 & 80s ambient temps help a tremendous amount. Not sure about summer temps climbing that 'hill' and then the desert over 105 (done it myself a few times so I know it is a Bear - only thing harder IMO is I70 west of Denver in both directions.) Luck all.

 

Gorgeous skies! Very nice pictures.

 

HUGE open area, this is the second time we've camped here. The Gold mine is inactive but there's still some sort or quarry or something so the dirt road in is very well maintained. (It's actually smoother than most of the roads in my neighborhood)
Close to the road is flat and open, good for groups or bigger rigs. I like my neighbors a little further away, so you just pick a trail and slow roll it in a little deeper.

Our closest neighbor was a group of 3 rigs that look like they might be full timers, probably 500 yards away.

Exactly right... Sidewinder &/or American Girl Mine rd.... I think they cross each other.

 

Nice, north from I-8. Tons of trails up there.

 

Ambient temps were hotter on that return leg, I should've checked (sometimes I forget my fancy modern truck tells me the outside temp) but it was pretty toasty when we stopped for gas in El Centro, maybe 90º

Like I said, if it was holding sustained temps of 220º plus, or hitting those spikes frequently, I'd probably re-think the cooler.

A spike here and there that cools back down right after, I can probably live with... Maybe... I dunno'...

I had done a few Borrego trips before I could see temps... Banner grade is no cupcake either.

When I did the drain/fill @ 30K my mechanic said the fluid was discolored but by no means burnt.

He knows the cooler/temp kerfuffle is a concern of mine, actually I think he's probably pretty sick of me talking about it He's like "I can put a cooler on it for ya', but I don't think you need to spend the money for what you're doing."

 

YES! We found a couple. When we went to hook up and leave I was like "Why is my hitch receiver full of dirt?"

 

My old 4Runner, on a BLM flyer and this is American Girl mine rd before it drops into the mine. This was about 2018

 

Sounds like my kind of place, thanks for the info.... looking for a place for Xmas, so might head over there

Looks like it's right by the Center of the World too, which I've always wanted to check out.

 

Whoa, that's freaking COOL! Your 4Runner poster child is kinda' famous!

Did you submit the photo, or they took it or what?

 

Some friends are BLM medics and they submitted the pic for their flyer. Sort of cool. 4Runner is still close by, sold it to a buddy, who also happens to be in VA but from Yuma/ El Centro.

 

Indeed it is, last thing I drove by before getting off the freeway.

 

On another note, had a chance to play in the dirt a little after unhitching.

Nothing too crazy since it's the ride home and mostly bone stock, but we had some fun on a couple of mild trails and ripping up the washes a bit. Wifey likes it when I throw it a little slideways.

Very impressed with the Toyo AT3's I put on a couple months ago. Stayed with stock size but went to an E-Range, the peace of mind is nice knowing that a stray twig probably isn't gonna' rip open the sidewalls.
Some of the areas I was exploring there was no real trail, just a field of rock.





Even at towing PSI (never aired down) the traction and flotation was really good. Like I said, nothing extreme but there was some gulley crossings where I expected they would break loose and claw at least a little on the uphill side, but just walked up super easy.
Felt some very soft silty sections in a couple of the washes but never felt her sinking or digging in even with the rears at 50+ psi.

I was also surprised that I didn't scrape more, this '19 is considerably longer than my '00 both in wheelbase and overall length, but I think the shorter overhang from wheel to bumper in the rear makes a big difference.

I think I've almost determined the max approach angle for a stock SR5 TRD
without scraping though.







Departure angle, not so much.



We did a day trip to the Colorado river to scope out some possible future camping spots at Senator's Wash, and I applied my first real batch of desert pinstriping on a narrow section of trail.
Ugh, that noise... "SCREEEEE!"

Part of me is sad, part of me is kinda' proud. lol





Found some nice looking potential campsites for the future. I'm guessing it'd probably be hard to get the good waterfront spots on a first come-first serve basis.

 

I have that same kenwood unit, what’s needed to get trans temps on it? I bought the banks Idash (not installed yet) for my trans temps, but this is a cleaner setup off the head unit.

 

Go to the settings menu in the HU, then "gauges". Select "Validate PIDs". I think with your '17 that should get it for you.

You may also have to play with the placement of where the gauges display in the P1 &/or P2 screen. Trans Temp will only let you put it in certain places.

For example, on this screen (P2) I can put trans temp in the big center spot but I can't see RPM's of MPG.

On the P1 screen, Tach is in the center, trans temp bottom right, but I can't see coolant.





*EDIT TO ADD*

This is from my thread when I couldn't get them to work, and @centex spoke to the guys at Maestro, who are very nice and SUPER helpful.

"You can try going in the radio and validating the PIDs on the vehicle. It'll be in the radio menu, something like this:

OEM Setup > Maestro Features > Gauges > Validate PIDs.

If that doesn't light it up, we're not seeing the universal PID on network for Trans Temp and won't be able to display it.

Thanks,

Chris LaRoche I Maestro Technical Support




Automotive Data Solutions Inc.8400 rue BougainvilleMontreal, QuebecH4P 2G1CanadaT514.807.2888
TF 866.427.2999"

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/rea...-about-model-year-device.142942/#post-3593626

 

The iDash is honestly pretty useless on our trucks and won’t display transmission temps. Even a $10 OBD2 dongle can get that info so why Banks can’t figure it out is beyond me.

 

Changed the wallpaper on my HU to a pic from this trip.

Used to be this:



Changed it to this... whaddya think?