Overheated my 4L80E on the way to Moab.

[muddysub]

This was the first time Daisy has towed the Toyota this far from home, didn't really know what to expect, hoped for the best. The hills on I-70 hurt me, one of them knocked me down to 40mph for a while. When we topped out the hill we stopped at a rest stop and checked the trans out. The fluid still looks/smells good, the TCI programmer was showing an over temp fault code. According to TCI, it had to have hit 260*. Not awesome. I'm hoping I didn't do any permanent damage.

I was wondering if having it flushed and the filter replaced while I'm here in Moab would help at all.

The fluid is reddish brown and still smells ok. I've heard of older automatics failing after a flush if it's gone too long. The fluid in mine has 26k on it, no idea what's on the trans itself. It was used when I put it in the Suburban.

 

[Big Ray]

Change it. Fluid breaks down with heat, and towing puts that much more heat into it. Are you using a cooler?

 

[muddysub]

Change it. Fluid breaks down with heat, and towing puts that much more heat into it. Are you using a cooler?

That's what I was thinking. Yeah I've got whatever is in the radiator and a 10x13" cooler with a 10" fan on it, mounted under the truck. It's been fine til I tried to tow the yota 500mi.

 

[sweetk30]

what gear are you towing in ?

should be 3rd with any decent hills and heavy load . this gets you full line pressure and no tiny clutch pack of overdrive .

mabye @Greg Ducato will chime in here for ya .

and that seems stupid for it to get to 260 on a temp before indicator of a code .

cant wait to try my us shift controler unit . i can set just about every thing i want in there . and 4 programs on the fly selection .

 

[Bent77]

Didn't help it's hotter than a snakes azz in a wagon rut out there

 

[brans87]

Don't flush I would drop the pan and change filter. If want to do your own flush get like 12 or more quarts and pull line then set in bucket crank it up start dumping fluid till comes out nice red then cut off button back up and check fluid to see if at correct level

 

[TreeFarm]

Should have went with a manual

 

[muddysub]

what gear are you towing in ?

should be 3rd with any decent hills and heavy load . this gets you full line pressure and no tiny clutch pack of overdrive .

mabye @Greg Ducato will chime in here for ya .

and that seems stupid for it to get to 260 on a temp before indicator of a code .

cant wait to try my us shift controler unit . i can set just about every thing i want in there . and 4 programs on the fly selection .

2nd and 3rd on hills. It drops out of OD pretty quick. It warns you at 230 also but according to the guy at TCI, I hit the top one. This thing has a bunch of adjustments too, there's a few things I don't like about it. I need to have my harness & ECM setup to run the trans so I can ditch the aftermarket controller.

Should have went with a manual

Yeah I should have.

 

[TreeFarm]

I need to have my harness & ECM setup to run the trans so I can ditch the aftermarket controller.

Ive been meaning to ask why you went with the TCI and not have the ECM control it.

 

[muddysub]

Ive been meaning to ask why you went with the TCI and not have the ECM control it.

BD turnkey wasn't setup to segment swap my ECM to run the trans.

 

[Bowtie85]

Pan drop and slap a filter in and call it a day.

I'll agree with above posts, flushing does more harm than good.

 

[76zimmer]

This method has worked good for me in the past.

Bring the trans to operating temp.
Turn off engine.
Have your female helper remove her shirt so it don't get dirty...really this works!
remove the transmission pan drainplug, drain the fluid, then remove the pan. This will drop about 4-5 qts total.
Change filter, then put on a new gasket and reinstall pan.
have your female helper bend over the fender to pull the dipstick out, and install a funnel.
When she has done that, have her sit in your line of view so you can try to figure out exactly what it is your trying to accomplish.
have her go make a sammich while you refill your trans to HOT level.
start the truck, run for 5 minutes and shift the trans through all gears PRNDL, momentarily holding each gear for 10 seconds.
Turn off the engine and drain the pan by removing the drainplug. This will drop about 3-1/2 to 4 qts. replace plug, refill to HOT level.
Eat sammich while admiring your topless female helper.

WARNING, under no circumstances should you attempt this with a male helper, as permanent eye injury may result.

 

[blazinzuk]

Zims full of da funnies today lol

 

[sreidmx]

This method has worked good for me in the past.

Bring the trans to operating temp.
Turn off engine.
Have your female helper remove her shirt so it don't get dirty...really this works!
remove the transmission pan drainplug, drain the fluid, then remove the pan. This will drop about 4-5 qts total.
Change filter, then put on a new gasket and reinstall pan.
have your female helper bend over the fender to pull the dipstick out, and install a funnel.
When she has done that, have her sit in your line of view so you can try to figure out exactly what it is your trying to accomplish.
have her go make a sammich while you refill your trans to HOT level.
start the truck, run for 5 minutes and shift the trans through all gears PRNDL, momentarily holding each gear for 10 seconds.
Turn off the engine and drain the pan by removing the drainplug. This will drop about 3-1/2 to 4 qts. replace plug, refill to HOT level.
Eat sammich while admiring your topless female helper.

WARNING, under no circumstances should you attempt this with a male helper, as permanent eye injury may result.

This is excellent advice.

 

[sweetk30]

Don't flush I would drop the pan and change filter. If want to do your own flush get like 12 or more quarts and pull line then set in bucket crank it up start dumping fluid till comes out nice red then cut off button back up and check fluid to see if at correct level

thats not good to do with nothing going back in the other line. . . . . and the fluid flow on some trans will be so fast you will never keep up to the output of the line to your input of the new .

and if you want to have fun try your method on a allision trans . i know a guy who cobbled together a set of lines to a std flush machine . then fired up the truck and BLEW up the machine as the line pressure was so high on them .

if normal maint i dont mind a flush machine . but if its been hot or old nasty fluid with no real service ever just a pan drain & filter is all i would do if you even want to touch it .

 

[brans87]

Meant to say pull both lines off. Yes doable but 2 people are need less you move super fast and make sure all your fluid is open.

This is only recommend on gas car. Done it many times no problems on toyota's and Chevy cars

 

[brans87]

In his case I would drop pan change filter and fluid if he is worried.

 

[454Sub]

A simple filter change and fluid change from the pan drop will be fine.

Amsoil now has fluids capable of short stints of 300* and doesn't break down so bad. Amsoil is not cheap by any means, but you only change transmission fluid every 40-80k miles anyways. It can be worth it.

 

[Greg Ducato]

If it were mine I would find a good shop with a flushing machine and have the system flushed and filled with synthetic fluid. The fluid is what has suffered from the heat, not getting rid of all the damaged fluid and replacing only part of it isn't enough to get you back to square one. A five gallon bucket of spring water with a teaspoon of piss in it is a five gallon bucket of piss.

 

[sreidmx]

If it were mine I would find a good shop with a flushing machine and have the system flushed and filled with synthetic fluid. The fluid is what has suffered from the heat, not getting rid of all the damaged fluid and replacing only part of it isn't enough to get you back to square one. A five gallon bucket of spring water with a teaspoon of piss in it is a five gallon bucket of piss.

Totally agree..