Trans cooler/radiator

More math is fun! So they saved $1.6M. Good on them.
Let's assume that the average selling price for those 644K Tacomas was $30K. That means they had sales of over NINETEEN BILLION DOLLARS.
More math, carry the one, add two...
That is 0.000087% savings....

 

whoa rainbow warrior thats wrong

 

How are you guys seeing the temp of the transmission? Something in the settings?

 

Get bent mad magazine. Go check your truck

 

That’s about the same in my second gen - 220’s heading up the mountain to 5K from 500 feet. Went into the 230’s a few weeks ago, westward from El Centro Ca into the mountains on I8 but ambient temp was 105+ and I had luggage for three. And it had an oem trans cooler. Now has an upgraded Hayden. I have an Ultragauge to measure temps.

 

the trans cooler is in the radiator, its not deleted

 

I think we all know I'm referencing the external trans cooler that came with every Tacoma with a tow package since about 2005. So I repeat, get bent mad magazine

 

both type of coolers are external if they are not in the trans

 

So you are saying because it’s only x% of sales it’s not worth it? If only companies thought that way we’d probably still have trans coolers.

 

Pretty much every auto transmission has been cooled by the engine coolant for 50+ years. That's nothing new. Toyota deleted the secondary external cooler.

 

Naw, there are practical limits though. For example, we spent several hundred thousand to land a customer that will never spend that much. Stupid decision.
Maybe it sped up the line by not installing the external cooler? More efficient? Maybe external cooler only gave a degree or two? Wh knows but I don't know many companies who go out to the 7th decimal. There is a law of diminishing returns.

 

Why all this anxiety about tacoma automatic transmissions failing due to overheating? I’ve not heard of a single case of this.

 

True. But also keep in mind there isn’t much work to get that 1.6M. It’s just updating some parts and assembly instructions. Also sure it’s a low % but if you have multiple groups all shaving off millions it adds up. At least that’s how it’s worked for me when I’ve had to shave money off.

Lastly I think you might have an extra zero in there (assuming I followed what you were mathing).

 

I think part of it is the availability over the past decade of monitoring tools. I’ve noticed myself constantly checking my ultragauge even with nothing in tow.

meanwhile five years ago I was pulling something at the top of my old Subarus weight rating up a 10 mile hill without a care in the world

 

Yep. Pulling 3500# from Breckenridge through to Denver I saw TF1 and TF2 temps of 240* F up to the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnel and I was getting close to pulling over if it went a degree over 240. It didn't. That was taxing on my Taco but I didn't do it any favors with a stock tune, stock gears, and 275/70/17 KO2s. I normally see TF1 temps in the 190 - 205 range through the Wyoming mountains and TF2 will briefly spike to 210 - 220 and then back down to 190 - 195.

I did the trans flush using the fill and replace method from Tim the Toolman's YouTube (disconnect the ATF cooler return line and use the Taco's pump to flush out the old fluid... flush a quart, fill a quart, flush and fill so on and so forth for 12 quarts). At 30k miles despite the occasional spike to 220, 230, and 5 minutes of 240* F the trans fluid had plenty of pink. It looked good.

I'm still installing a Setrab aux cooler in the near future though. I was not comfortable with TF1 and TF2 getting to 240*F on CO-9 and I-70 through the Rockies.

 

Check out how many issues are fluid / heat related in this AAMCO blog post. That is why.

Edit: it isn't Tacoma specific, it is AT specific. I had the same level of concern in my 3/4 ton diesel Ram.

 

This is true. We all call it the cooler in the radiator but it's really more of a trans temp regulator. Auto transmissions should run between 180°-190°. We all know temps above this aren't good for the trans, but what most don't know is temps below aren't good for it either.