Transmission oil Change at 18k? Have towed 4k in past few months...

Hi all,

So the title says it all really but here is the back story... Truck is a 2020 OR A/T with 18k miles.

I'm in the middle of a big road trip and need to do an engine oil change next week. I have towed a 4,700lb travel trailer over 4k miles this year. I've pulled the trailer through many mountain passes within our trip, the highest being nearly 11,000ft and many 4,000ft elevation gains.

I do analyze transmission temps coming out of the torque converter and the max I've seen is 230' for a very short time...but on many of the big elevations pulls I've seen 215' for a couple of minutes at a time. The pan temps have been very consistent and never higher than 200'.

Wandering if should do a transmission flush now or wait till done with this towing trip...

Photo of the rig at nearly 11,000 ft elevation on Wolf Creek Pass, CO.

TIA

 

@gearcruncher may have some good advise. Also good vid here.

 

Waste of money so soon

 

Thanks, interesting video.

RE transmission oil change he doesn’t recommend doing early, however most people aren’t cooking their transmission oil on a regular basis.

I think a lot of guys wheeling in 4lo are probably doing the same damage as I am and getting the TC temps high.

TBH I haven’t heard too much talk about messed up transmissions in here.

 

I’m curious as to size/weight of your trailer. Looks to be on the heavy side. What is dry weight and GVWR? I.m asking because I’m looking to purchase one myself.
Did I read right that Gen3’s don't come with an ATF cooler? I would definitely add one, or if it has a dinky one like Gen2’s, replace with a larger one. Your maintenance schedule should state at what mileage to flush ATF if you tow. It’s 60K for my 07. However, with that size trailer, and the amount of towing you are doing, I would flush at 40-50K.

 

I’ve done a write up here… https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...4-700lb-travel-trailer….760812/#post-27122598

Toyota removed the dedicated transmission radiator mid 2020, mine has one.

Im thinking changing the transmission oil after this trip, could be another few thousand of towing, time will tell…

I’ll do some more research and maybe see if I can speak to a Toyota technician when I need to service in the next week or so…

 

I’ve done a write up here… https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...4-700lb-travel-trailer….760812/#post-27122598

Toyota removed the dedicated transmission radiator mid 2020, mine has one.

Im thinking changing the transmission oil after this trip, could be another few thousand of towing, time will tell…

I’ll do some more research and maybe see if I can speak to a Toyota technician when I need to service in the next week or so…

 

Deja vu! I had just spotted your other thread. Thanks, will check it out.

 

Change oil every 5k miles. Change trans oil every 30k miles aswell as the diff. Change the trans filter every 90k miles.