Real World Transmission Failure From Towing

I want to real world miles driven while pulling a trailer on somewhat of a regular basis and if and when you had your transmission fail from heat. My trans temps are the same as everyone else reaching into the 200's in slow/hot traffic.

Unfortunately if you want to keep your warranty you basically just have to run the truck as is without changing fluid or adding a better trans cooler. This is total BS in my opinion but it is what it is and it boils down to what is best, just go for it and do nothing while hoping warranty actually covers it, or go "old" school and blow off the warranty, add a cooler, and change fluid regular.

If you read all the posts with high tranny temps using a scan gauge you will learn that we are all running hotter than normal even at times not pulling a trailer. I know all about high transmission temps and the damage it causes but want to see if I can find real world numbers on what you pull, how often you pull it, how many miles driven, and most important if your tranny failed as a result of pulling or high temps, or at least high temps based on the scan gauge.

I'm just trying to decide if its worth it to buy a bigger truck verses toasting my tranny, when you look at the costs of a new truck it makes a new tranny seem cheap, even if you have to pay for it and would be cost effective to do that once over the life of the truck verses a new truck. This goes against everything I've been taught but were living in a new world now folks and it is what it is.

 

Depends how much your towing. Bigger cooler isn’t going to kill your warranty. Change to a synthetic fluid and you’ll be good to go.

 

Changing cooling will not void warranty, dealer will have to prove that added cooling poped the trans.... also fluid is to be changed every 60k, its NOT lifetime.

 

Add a cooler. Changing AT fluid has become a scam. Drive it till it dies. The money saved by not changing AT fluid every 30,000 miles will just about pay for having it rebuilt at 300,000-400,000 miles. They will die at about the same mileage whether you change the fluid or not.

That depends on what you tow. Realistically around 4500 lbs is all you can comfortably tow with a Tacoma. If you're not pulling more than that your Tacoma should be fine. More weight and you need a bigger truck. Just choose carefully. It is payload rating that is the true limiting factor. You can pretty much ignore tow ratings on any truck. Virtually all of them run out of payload 1st. Some 1/2 ton trucks have less payload than a typical Tacoma and won't tow any more weight. Some 3/4 ton trucks are rated at 15,000 lbs towing, but are over payload with a 10,000 lb trailer. Some 1/2 tons will tow and haul more than some 3/4 tons. It all comes down to how they are equipped.

 

Not all fluids are the same, some actually give you better gas mileage. Not sure on trans temps, but it would be great to measure. (I’ve got a MT and use RL MT-90)

https://www.redlineoil.com/d6-atf

 

Your joking right?

AT fluid is ~ 100-120 bucks and about 1 hrs of your time. every 60k miles is FAR FAR less expensive than a full trans rebuild let alone the hassle of being stranded.

 

I was wondering the same thing. A new transmission, hell even a used one is thousands of dollars including installation/labor. How on earth would that equate to the hundred bucks you "save" every 60k miles by not changing the fluid lol

 

if towing it is 'severe service' and regular 3-quart dump and fill is recommended

maybe in the 60's yes but this is 2019 and a typical AISIN multimatic thingamaboob rebuild is gonna hurt ya to the tune of roughly 2400 bucks or so if you are lucky and know someone

 

That's what I mean, replacing the fluid is cheap compared to a new or rebuilt trans. Not to mention the added risk of getting stranded somewhere when it fails prematurely because it was never serviced properly, especially if the truck was used to tow regularly.

 

Literally says right in the manual, Replace fluid (ALL 11ish qts) every 60k.

That stated, i have a neighbor with two first gen tundras with the same 5 speed we got.... something like 200+k miles on em never been touched. Not that i would do that ever, my truck sees way harder use than his, so they are a tough trans... but still "lifetime" is a joke, and not replacing fluid is stupid.

 

Dealer told me lifetime on tranny fluid and if I change it it will void warranty, this is on a 2015

 

No need for an argument here, I've read the charts explaining what happens as the tranny fluid gets hotter. I'm asking for real world experience from guys who have done a bunch of towing to try to figure out what to expect. Did you even read and comprehend my entire post?

 

All dealers I've called said its lifetime and don't change it, they wont even do it and said if I had it done somewhere else they will know and it will void the warranty.

 

they all say that, might void the warranty using a non-OEM fluid but how would they know either way

 

You know, I don't know but its what they said.

 

Dealers are a complete joke most of the time. I did a complete at flush, replaced the filter, cleaned the magnets and replaced the pan gasket. It Wasn't difficult.

 

get learned and search the TWs GEN2 threads about this issue

 

This is straight out of my Maintenance Guide for my 2015 TRD Off Road

 

Transmission threads seem to go downhill fast around here haha

Only thing I would say is there's really no way for the dealer to know if the fluid was flushed (provided you did it right and didnt over/under fill). Just clean up any spills / drips, go drive around some dusty roads for a while and maybe get a carwash