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- Mar 26, 2024
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Hey everyone. If you've done some deeper dives or experienced it yourself, the new Tacos seem to have an issue with transmission cooling. I've seen it happen mainly while people off-road, but also a few reports while towing.
The first time it happened to me, I was driving around in 2WD on some very basic forest service roads. Running 33s, small lift, some armor, and my new GFC camper. I left the truck in 2WD since it didn't even require 4WD. Towards our campsite, I hit some slightly bigger inclines and smaller rocks, and the trans temp went into the red. Not for long, but I was pretty confused.
Now with 37s, I ran some trails in Colorado a few weeks back, and it happened again. This trail was definitely more difficult, but it still wasn't anything that should cause any overheating. The rest of the trip, we only hit harder areas, and while it didn't happen again, I was watching the gauge, and the temps climbed faster than they should be.
The main way to avoid it is to throw the truck in 4Lo. It seems to do better with the lower gearing.
Has Toyota offered any software updates, etc.? I haven't seen anything, but I'll ask about it during my next oil change. Outside of that, I imagine the only real solution is to add an auxiliary cooler. It's something I've done on all my previous Toyotas. But I can say this much, the previous gen transmissions can handle a lot more abuse before they hit numbers that warranted any concern.
I'm not worried about my transmission right now; the temps only briefly crossed into the red a couple times. But it's still annoying on an "off-road" truck. If this happens to you, don't freak out. Just pull over and let the transmission cool with the truck running for 5-10 minutes and keep an eye on temps.
The first time it happened to me, I was driving around in 2WD on some very basic forest service roads. Running 33s, small lift, some armor, and my new GFC camper. I left the truck in 2WD since it didn't even require 4WD. Towards our campsite, I hit some slightly bigger inclines and smaller rocks, and the trans temp went into the red. Not for long, but I was pretty confused.
Now with 37s, I ran some trails in Colorado a few weeks back, and it happened again. This trail was definitely more difficult, but it still wasn't anything that should cause any overheating. The rest of the trip, we only hit harder areas, and while it didn't happen again, I was watching the gauge, and the temps climbed faster than they should be.
The main way to avoid it is to throw the truck in 4Lo. It seems to do better with the lower gearing.
Has Toyota offered any software updates, etc.? I haven't seen anything, but I'll ask about it during my next oil change. Outside of that, I imagine the only real solution is to add an auxiliary cooler. It's something I've done on all my previous Toyotas. But I can say this much, the previous gen transmissions can handle a lot more abuse before they hit numbers that warranted any concern.
I'm not worried about my transmission right now; the temps only briefly crossed into the red a couple times. But it's still annoying on an "off-road" truck. If this happens to you, don't freak out. Just pull over and let the transmission cool with the truck running for 5-10 minutes and keep an eye on temps.
