Proper warm up before engaging transmission

This morning here in NC it was about 26 degrees. I warmed up the truck for a good while before I drove it. I went to the gym and the truck sat for at least 1 1/2 hours. I walked back to my truck to go home and only let the truck run for about 2 minutes. I put the truck in drive and it felt like it did not want t go forward. Almost like the brakes were engaged. After letting it sit for a while it drove fine. It did the same thing again once I got home and tried to leave for work. Mind you no lights or alerts were on the dash. I took it to the dealer and they could not find anything wrong with it. They said the transmission needed to properly warm up before driving it. I have a 2016 TRD off-road and I don’t recall this happening before. The truck is about to hit 50,000. Has anyone encountered this same issue?

 

Parking brake sometimes sticks when it's cold and gets wet

 

That’s exactly how it felt. Today was a damp cold and first of the winter. Thanks for the insight.

 

Nope...maybe give it more throttle.

 

It is not necessary to warm up a vehicle, in fact it is recommended that you don't let it sit and idle even in cold weather.

 

There shouldn't be any resistance in the transmission just because it's cold. I've never heard of anything like that before.

From what I've read, modern engines don't need much time to warm up on cold starts and should be ready to boogie after only a minute or two. I usually wait until the cold idle does its thing and the engine speed begins to fall to normal idle, then put it in gear and drive it conservatively for the first few miles.

 

Unless you drive a company rental vehicle. Start it up, place in drive, and it’s immediately pedal to the metal to make it up a hill

 

When in doubt floor it. LOL

 

Dealerships giving more terrible advice.

 

Start up, wait 5-10 seconds, put in drive and GO!

 

How does letting the engine idle warm the transmission? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

It went into gear with no problem. I had a couple folks mention the parking brake cable sticking due to the cold temperature and it being damp.

 

I give it a few seconds tops before driving.

 

the Engine is connected to the transmission by the transmission input shaft by way of the torque converter . The input shaft is attached the the transmission pump

As the pump pushes the ATF thru the transmission it creates heat from the clutches and gears inside the transmission to work properly . A cold auto transmission won't work as efficiently as a warmed up transmission . So yes a transmission needs to be warmed up as the engine does

 

And a cold trans can mean big trouble on slippery surfaces.

 

Automatic transmissions are an engineering marvel based on hydraulics and contain roughly 800 separate parts.

 

Hydraulic logic. Aka, magic.

 

Where's the shiny ball bearing and the twisty knobs ?

 

Yeah . . . . . I let mine warm up about 15 seconds. Never had an issue.

G.

 

The heat is conducted between engine and transmission since they are connected. If you want I can upload some pictures off an Ultragauge showing the transmission temps rising with just a block heater and engine oil pan heater plugged in.