Towing info

[Danda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Danda]

Hi All,
having a towbar fitted soon and wondering if the 150 needs an oil transmission cooler, read a couple of reports that the transmission gets hot in them ? also whats the go with towing, do you need to drive in shift as theres no overdrive to speak of , any tips greatly appreciated, BTW I'm towing a 1.500 tonne Jayco Freedom,
cheers,
Dave

[pinko351 Member Find all posts View Profile Close pinko351]

Dave

I have a D4D auto and regularly tow a van and horse float. The van is equivalent to your jayco and the float loaded with two large horses weighs over the 2T mark. I vary my driving style from shifting to sports as soon as I see a hill or by leaving it in sports if in hilly country. Just remember if you plan to leave it in sports mode, bump it up to 5th - so it uses all 5 gears. What ever method you use keep the rev's above 2500rpm, that will help to keep the converter locked. With the converter lock the heat produced will be greatly reduced. Using these methods my auto has never over heated.
Even tho I have never had the warning light come on, I recently fitted a cooler just to be sure. Their are many that would disagree but I believe the cooler the oil the longer the life of the box. Good piece of mind!

Hope this helps

Pinko

[Davros Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Davros]

If it were me, I would fit the cooler.

Very cheap insurance IMO.

[Danda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Danda]

Thaks for that guys, I had a cooler fitted in the 90 series and as you say it was peace of mind, wasn't sure if I need it in the 150, but for $300 I'll err on the side of caution, Pinko how would you rate the 150 's pulling power on a scale of 1 to 10 ?
cheers,
Dave

[2cows Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 2cows]

Hi guys,
I have read a bit but after some advise from people who have done a bit of towing before. I am taking my Petrol, Auto 150 on a 4 hour trip towing a 4x4 camper trailer weighing about 650-700kg this weekend. "D" or "S" and not use Over drive.? From what I have read on forums, just leave it in "D". The Toyota manual says use "S" and don't use Overdrive. My 150 has a massive 1600km on the clock (she is only 4 week old). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Moo

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Use "S" I use all the time and it drives better.


Hutch- 2012 Prado 150, some TJM Kit.

[2cows Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 2cows]

Thanks Hutch,
were you at KippaRing around lunch time today?

Mooo

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Yes 2Cows was their all day, that is my parking spot...
That is home during the day.

[maxjj Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close maxjj]

Hi guys,
I have read a bit but after some advise from people who have done a bit of towing before. I am taking my Petrol, Auto 150 on a 4 hour trip towing a 4x4 camper trailer weighing about 650-700kg this weekend. "D" or "S" and not use Over drive.? From what I have read on forums, just leave it in "D". The Toyota manual says use "S" and don't use Overdrive. My 150 has a massive 1600km on the clock (she is only 4 week old). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Moo

I tow 2140kg van plus gear, on the odd occasion where I forgot and had it in D, its only noticeable when you get to 100km/hr and it hunts between overdrive and 4th. In S mode it stays in 4th.
I don`t have an additional transmission cooler and have towed on a 40c day with no temp problems, but that is in S mode in 4th.

With only 650-700kg, I would be surprised if you even notice that you got a trailer on. I have had my 6*4 on with a heavy load and towed it in D, but if you are concerned about excess heat being generated from slip, put it into S mode and try 5th gear. Watch instant fuel read out, I noticed with my van it uses more fuel in 5th in S mode at lower revs, than in 4th with more revs on board. More revs aren`t necessarily a bad thing, less slip in torque converter, more cooling available from waterpump, etc

[2cows Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 2cows]

Thanks Maxjj and Hutch,
Sounds like I a plan, Just need to sacrifice a beer to the Weather goods. Well maybe half a beer. :wink:

Thanks

Moo

[okkanui Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close okkanui]

Hi guys,
I have read a bit but after some advise from people who have done a bit of towing before. I am taking my Petrol, Auto 150 on a 4 hour trip towing a 4x4 camper trailer weighing about 650-700kg this weekend. "D" or "S" and not use Over drive.? From what I have read on forums, just leave it in "D". The Toyota manual says use "S" and don't use Overdrive. My 150 has a massive 1600km on the clock (she is only 4 week old). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Moo

I have a 2010 150 VX petrol that is bog standard, and regularly tow my 2 tonne boat/trailer all around Victoria. I also do trips up to south coast of NSW, which takes us over some pretty hilly territory (especially around Eden). I just stick it in D and let the auto work out the best gear it needs to be in. I would typically sit on 100kmh when on highway (if safe to do so) and the auto usually stays in D5 (except if hill). I have never had the transmission warning light ever come on.

I have seen other posts here telling of probs with transmission overheating, but this seems to be more prevalent with D4D powered vehicles rather than petrol models (IMHO).

[pradokit Find all posts View Profile Close pradokit]

I have a D4D 150 auto. I towed a 2 ton caravan from Melbourne to Port Augusta over 2 days in July (Winter). I had the auto in D most of the time. Transmission temp. warning light came on. This was in the evening when the outside temperature was probably about 10 degrees C. I was travelling at about 100kph. After stopping for 5 minutes the light went out. The Toyota dealer pointed out that the manual recommends towing in 4th gear. I subsequently towed it to Alice, Tanamai, Broome, Laverton, Great Central Hwy, Uluru, Oodnadatta, Strezlecki, Cameron's Corner and home to Melbourne using 4th gear. No further lights coming on.
Follow Toyota manual instructions!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Transmissions don't NEED coolers. Toyota autos are very good.

However, it will help keep it cool & therefore last even longer, it's a bit like brushing your teeth. LOL......
Heat is what kills autos.

[Prone Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prone]

Just been checking auto transmission cooling details in the manual. It would appear that there is a big difference between petrol and diesel models.

The diesel has an crossflow water radiator. The transmission cooler is in the drivers side end tank of the engine radiator.

The petrol model has 2 possibilities. One is same as diesel but with a conventional vertical flow radiator so the transmission cooler is in the bottom radiator tank.
This version appears to have a thermostat in the transmission fluid flow.
The other option for petrol is the radiator cooler with an air radiator transmission cooler in front of the radiator as well. Strangely without the thermostat. (This would be similar to adding the air transmission fluid cooler to the diesel model.)

I have the diesel model and can confirm the diesel cooling arrangement above. However I cannot confirm the arrangement for the petrol models, but it would seem that there is at least an option for the petrol models to have extra cooling for the transmission.

Can anyone confirm if the petrol auto 150s have a transmission cooler in front of the radiators as standard from the factory? If so maybe an extra cooler for the diesel models is not such a bad idea.

Cheers
Prone

[toddles79 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close toddles79]

I tow a 2 tonne car trailer with my 150 diesel auto in SE Qld, and mostly leave it in Drive. It rarely changes out of 5th at highway speed, just over hills on the highway. It cruises along at 2000rpm no dramas. Haven't checked the fuel usage - thou it does use a lot more. Never had a problem with transmission temperature, but I don't flog it over the crests, slowing to 90 or 95 if necessary. I sometimes use cruise control if its flat, but in the hills it tries to hold the speed too much, and works too hard by changing back gears.

I do have a chip fitted now, and doesn't really change my methodology from pre-chip.

I sometimes use the Select mode to keep it in 4th or 5th, as sometimes when I brake down a hill in Drive it wants to change back to 3rd with the predictive braking / gear selection function thingo to keep the speed the same. With the extra weight it doesn't work, so the revs go up to 3500 or something, so I bump it to S and change up a gear to prevent over-revving.

The other thing I have noticed when towing, is when I am on a tight twisty range with switchback corners, either on dirt or bitumen, the car trailer might push the Prado around a bit near the apex of corners because of a bump or whatever, and the traction control will brake the inside rear wheel fairly hard for 1 second or so. The Prado is on mud tyres which do walk around a bit on the tread, which is also probably contributing to this happening. Its pretty annoying and I think a worse case scenario could be a jack knife if you were driving too fast? Has anyone else experienced this cutting in of the VSC when towing?