Transimission Temp Question

[Rainy4RNR]

Did a search, but couldn't find an answer to a question I have.

I live in WA state where you can drive on the beach's, so did some beach driving with a friend yesterday. We both have 2014 SR5 4Runners and did air down a bit before getting on the sand. I stayed to the packed sand as much as I could, but this was my buddies first time on the beach, so he went a little nuts trying to find the deeper, softer sand to see what his 4Runner could do.

As I drove along, I looked back and saw him stopped a little more inland on some sand that didn't look to soft. I went back to see if he was stuck, but he wasn't. He said a warning light came on and the display read something to the affect of, transmission temp hot, and shut the car off when he saw that.

Where he was at was a good place to stop for the day to relax on the beach and let the trans cool down. Of course I had to listen to him all day about if he messed something up and how the rest of the beach driving would be as we had to drive on the sand to get back to pavement.

About 5 hours went by before we started the cars again, plenty of time to cool down and we drove back to pavement without any issue.

So, question time. He is wondering if any major damage occurred for overheating his trans.

He is due for his 30k maintenance soon and is wondering if he should have his trans fluid changed.

Any thoughts or comments on this are welcome.

Thanks

 

[Hellamatic]

I doubt he did any damage: the warning light came on and he shut it off - that's exactly what the warning light is there for. I'm sure the setpoint of the temp light is well below the temp that would cause any damage.

 

[BobsTrail]

I doubt he did any damage: the warning light came on and he shut it off - that's exactly what the warning light is there for. I'm sure the setpoint of the temp light is well below the temp that would cause any damage.

:iagree:

Use 4L instead of 4H. I have had mine all over very soft dunes for hours with no problems. Tell him he should not try to go fast like in the commercials.

 

[Rmack]

Worked as advertised. If there were no warning light (as most vehicles) he could have done damage. I had a trans temp gauge on a truck once. After pulling a heavy trailer the temps went crazy. I ended up staring at it so much I removed it.

If this will be a regular cruise for ya'll, look into aftermarket heavy-duty trans coolers. They will extend the life of your transmission even if you do not pull anything.

If he is running it to the point of a trans temp warning light, I personally recommend the tranny fluid change. Others here will call me crazy and tell you that you never need to change it. The transmission fluid is the LIFE of your tranny. The worst enemy to any lubricating fluid beside metal debris or low fluid level is heat. As far as any damage, the truck did exactly as it is supposed to do, and so did the driver

 

[Rainy4RNR]

Thank you for the responses. I explained to him that no damage was done and he just needed it to cool down. But I know that he does baby it to some degree, so I would not doubt if he changes the fluid out.

Btw, just out of curiosity, is there a DIY trans fluid change on the 5th gens at all? I have seen some DIYs on the FJ and Tacoma forums, which I would assume is the same for the 5th gen 4Runners, but didn't know if anyone took the time to document it.