2019 Trans cooler for my personal situation?

Sorry, I know the topic is heated, but I’m just learning about this, and just curious if a trans cooler would be recommended for my 2019 with 42k. I don’t tow, most trips are around town. I work from home so no stop and go. The most I haul would be a bed full of mulch from Home Depot or some furniture from time to time.

Would I be safe changing fluid at 60k intervals instead of spending big money on the trans cooler? I tend to do shorter intervals anyway.

I also have a Lifetime Powertrain through the Toyota Dealer, which so far I’ve been able to keep active because of religious maintenance (they’ll void it for a single missed oil change).

Thanks!

 

Probably get a scangauge and monitor temperatures for your situation. I have a cooler and climbing hills I've seen 230f torque converter temps not towing anything with pan temp staying at 195f. As soon as I slap over to S4 it cools back to pan temperature rapidly. Mind you, we live in the desert.

 

Yeah I'd do as Tunrod said - Monitor temps for a bit so you know what's happening. I like Torque Pro yet it only works for android ($5) + an odb2 blue tooth dongle (ELM327 type) and a couple custom pids (formulas available online here for the trans temps) and you can monitor everything the ECU reads in real time.

You could always do 30k drain/fills to stay really on top of things.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque&hl=en_US

 

I too have a 2019, I occasionally tow a little travel trailer.

I bought it as a CPO with 20K miles, and had my mechanic do a drain n' fill about 2 years after I bought it at 30K miles. He said the fluid was discolored, darker, but definitely not burnt.

I have since installed a new head unit that allows me to monitor trans temp but haven't towed the trailer yet since getting it. I'll know in a week or so what kind of temps I'll see towing.

I'll continue to monitor and do drain & fills at "Severe Duty" intervals, if I see anything too alarming maybe add the cooler but I'm thinking it's probably a non-issue.

That being said, I tow in S4 and Tow/Haul per the manual, and I pay close attention to torque converter lock-up, and I'll manually downshift if need be rather than let it lug. Keep the fluid flowing and line pressures up.

For your uses a cooler might be unnecessary, and I'd ask your dealer if installing one would have any effect on your warranty. Wouldn't hurt to get a scangauge or similar to monitor temps, if only for peace of mind.

 

Thanks! I may default to more periodic drain and fills. At 50k intervals I think I’d be at 250k before I paid myself back for the cooler.

 

That's my thinking too.

I used to do 12K+ miles/year but since my job is close to home I've only been driving like 5,500/yr so I figure doing a drain & fill every year or two should keep the trans pretty happy.

 

I bought my 2019 used and it did not come with the owners's manual. My understanding is Toyota axed the trans cooler for this model year (annoying). Using tow/haul to tow or haul seems self-explanatory, but I wasn't aware of Toyota's recommendation to haul in S4. What is the reasoning behind this? I'd guess that keeps the torque converter locked and cooler. Are gears 5 and 6 both overdrive ratios?

 

Yes to keep the trans as cool as possible because as you said 5/6 are OD and therefore will allow slipping at different degrees based upon pedal pressure and speed. 5 does not heat up near as much as 6 so sometimes you can easily get away with using 5 and save a little gas. If you know what your truck is doing you can shift manually up and down as needed while monitoring trans temps.

 

I would do absolutely nothing if all I did was haul a bed full of mulch from time to time.

Full disclosure, I have a 2019 with the added cooler and it’s been great. But I tow 5-6k loads relatively often.

 

Yeah, I found out right AFTER I bought mine that they deleted the external cooler... ugh.

I didn't get a manual either, I thought "No Problem, I'll just print it out at work."

Found it online and hit "Print"... I didn't notice until the printer ran out of paper that the manual is like 764 PAGES! Well, seems kinda' silly to stop now.

It took awhile, but I now have a GIANT ring binder that I never look at.

Correct, 5th and 6th are both OD gears. I used to sometimes give her 5th on the flats if it would hold the gear, but then I started reading numerous people with scangauge or OBD readers saying that temps in that exact scenario were actually significantly higher in S5 than S4, presumably due to not circulating as much fluid at lower RPM's.

Our Toyota's will run @ 3K till the cows come home without breaking a sweat, and any MPG difference is negligible, so I just stick with S4. I figure the engineers at Toyota are probably smarted then me.

 

I own and use my '21 CM for towing our less than 6k trailer. I have been going back and forth with the cooler option since I bought this truck. I have read all of the posts on both sides and watched quite a few videos on this issue. One of my "for a cooler" was the fact that I have a full CAT shield and I was concerned that the heat build up would affect my temperatures.

One YT'er who I enjoy learning from is the Car Care Nut who had a video on the non cooler Tundra for the newer model years. It was interesting.

We travel for weeks at a time east of Texas up and down the states. I used to drive in S5 with tow/haul mode on, but I found the truck really working. I changed the trans fluid at 50k even with some strange looks from the service advisor. The fluid wasn't burned, but pretty worked down.

After some more research, I changed our routine.....I now drive in S4 on the local flat streets....my temps are about 185/200 degrees. When we get on the freeway, I usually turn on Tow/Haul mode and really like the responsiveness in head/side wind conditions. My temps usually rise 2-5 degrees, but outside temps affect it.

Note: the CAT shield hasn't affected the temperatures.

 

Severe Service calls for drain and fills every 30k miles. I would go with that. My '13 has a transmission cooler, my '15 sequoia doesn't. The tundra is always hauling stuff and tows weekly; the sequoia pulls the travel trailer a couple times a year but also road trips - this year in ambient temperatures up to 116*F for hours on end. I've performed a drain and fill on the tundra every 30k miles for the life the vehicle and just did the same service on the sequoia after owning if or 30k miles. With 215k miles on the tundra, the fluid looks WAY better than the fluid that came out of the sequoia at 110k miles.

IMO, not having a cooler cooks the oil pretty bad. The fluid is engineered to withstand the heat without failing, but I would think that it breaks down much faster than fluid in a cooler running vehicles with the cooler.

Also, as has been mentioned, a monitoring device is very handy. I use my Kenwood head unit tied in to the vehicle OBDII via iDatalink Maestro. It gives me a good deal of information and gauges to choose from, including transmission temperatures.

 

I'm on the side of monitoring your temps and changing fluids.

That's what I'm doing. I drive 18-20k miles a year and don't tow or haul heavy. I saw 242 degrees on the torque converter after I got off the highway when I went backpacking in the hills. Quickly after, it dropped back down to 210. Transmission pan normally stays in the very very low 200's. I monitor it and unless I start to see anything wild, I'm running it.

If you're inclined to spend the money and do the cooler, there's nothing wrong with being cautious if spending the money gives you a better piece of mind. As you can tell, there's a million opinions, you just get to decide what works best for you.

 

You do not need a transmission oil cooler.

1) The transmission oil cooler-less Tundras (2019+) have been out in the wild for at least 6 and a half years now and there are zero reports of massive transmission failures.

2) If its any indication, third generation Tundras don't have a transmission oil cooler either.

3) I am yet to see a single legitimate transmission overheating instance. There are some YouTube videos, where some YouTuber measures the transmission oil temperature, and proclaims its "overheated"; there are no messages in the instrument cluster indicating an overheating. Truck thinks it is fine. YouTuber thinks its overheating.

4) The owners manual clearly says that when towing, you must put the transmission in S4 to lock out the over drive gears, turn on the tow haul button, and do not use cruise control. None of the YouTubers follow these simple steps. They are towing a large trailer in overdrive up a mountain and are surprised when the transmission oil temperature goes up? Duh. What are they expecting?

Anyways, IMO, the problem of lack of transmission oil cooler in 2019+ Tundras is a mountain created out of mole hill. If you follow the user manual when towing, the temperatures are fine (One member measured the temps when towing an 8000# trailer and even in the hills, it was fine, ~230). If you do not tow, you are certainly fine. I think after 6 and half years, its time to accept that Toyota was right and these trucks are fine without the transmission oil cooler.

 

When this topic is being discussed I'm always surprised how many people say "Pffft, I just put it in "D" and go, the truck can figure it out."

Most of our members here have educated themselves on the matter, but it's scary how many people on the Towing with Tundra's FB page I browse think they're smarter than the engineers at Toyota.

 

I'm towing from San Diego to the CA/AZ border area over Thanksgiving.

This will be the first trip since I got the Kenwood installed and I'm looking forward to monitoring trans temps to see what they do.

I'll have a couple of good long grades in there as well as many miles of straight flat highway.

(That reminds me, I need to put new batteries and O-Rings in my trailer TPMS cap sensors.)

 

I don’t have a transmission cooler and don’t plan on getting one.

 

If your primary use is not towing, or you tow very infrequently I'd not worry about it and just do a drain and fill every 30K. Look up degration temps for ATF - an extended duration over high temps will fry your ATF and destroy your transmission. 30k will keep it new.

 

thanks! With my driving that’s honestly about every 3-4 years so very reasonable.

 

@telemeister62 like others have said, for your application described, you do not need one. I added a GCS cooler last year but I tow often. Rule of thumb for my OCIs.

Oil & Filter: 5k miles or 6mo. -- Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w-30
Transmission Fluid (drain/fill): 30k or 6yrs. -- OE Toyota Brand.
Coolant: 50k miles or 5yrs. -- OE Toyota Brand.
F/R Differential: 30k (OE or aftermarket). --

$39 75w-90 GL-5 Limited Slip, Ultra Long Drain 500k Miles, Manual Transmission, Gear/Differential Lubricant (1 Gallon)

75w-90 Amsoil Severe Gear
Transfer Case: 30k (OE or aftermarket) -- 75w Ravenoil
Power Steering Fluid (OE or aftermarket Fluid) -- OE Toyota Brand.
Brake Fluid DOT 3, inspect at 3 years (aftermarket)
Sparks Plugs: 120k (OE)