Transmission heating up ?

[David C]

Hi, while driving through the Adirondack mountains on my way to NYC and then back from Boston (Montreal-NYC, NYC-Boston, Boston-Montreal), I've noticed a lot of heat build-up by the transmission shift lever, mainly on the top of the lighted transmission position indicators (P-R-N-D-3-2-L), on both side of the floor center console (between front seats) near the shift lever and on the flat storage surface between the shift lever and the center dash. I don't know if my car ('07 A/T 3dr LB) has a transmission fluid cooler module or if this is normal and non-hamrful to the car, but I'm concerned about this being a sign of needed maintenance.

I was driving non-stop highway for hours, up and down hills, usually about 120-140km/h, so 3 000 to 3 500 RPM, with a quite heavy cargo weight and one passenger. After noticing the heat (about halfway through), I then did the remaining 300km staying below 3 000rpm, but even so the heat would still be moderate. On the way back, no passenger and lighter cargo (about 300lbs lighter overall), but still on mountain terrain highway, driving below 3000rpm would still produce moderate heat, but then when I got annoyed of driving slow and stepped it up to 3 500rpm (130km/h) up and down the mountains, the transmission and overall engine heat would actually reduce to minimal. Then when I got back driving 3000rpm (110km/h) and below, heat came back. I don't know if the cooler ambiant temperature and added air flow from driving faster and mostly downhill when I was doing 3500rpm in the mountains was enough to cool everything down or if the car is actually having issues managing the heat/cooling of the transmission at times, but I'd like to learn about what is going on and if anything should be done. I am due for an engine oil change (about 12 000km since last oil change), but I don't know if that plays with the transmission and if I should also change the transmission fluid ? Last time I did a check (few weeks ago), all fluids levels and color where good using the dipsticks. I've owned the car since january this year and I don't know the full service history, despite everything being in very good condition for a decade old car.

Thanks for reading

[thebarber]

How many km on the car since the last transmission fluid change?

12000km oil change interval? If you're using Toyota stuff it's 8000km...

[David C]

How many km on the car since the last transmission fluid change?

12000km oil change interval? If you're using Toyota stuff it's 8000km...

Like I said I don't know the service/maintenance history of the vehicle prior to january 2016, beside that the previous owner who had the car for the previous 2 years did the basic recommended maintenance like engine oil change and brake inspection, so I have no clue regarding any maintenance or work being done on the car beside the sticker of last oil change being made at 168 000km and now I'm at 180 000. I was meaning to do the oil change before I took my trip last week, but ran out of time to do so and the trip did add over 1 000km to the car.

The best I can say is no garage maintenance to the car as been made over the last 8 000km (which is the mileage I did since I bought it).

But other than the heat, there's no signs of malfunction or wear coming from the engine. Shifting is fine, exhaust is fine, starting is fine, braking is fine, etc.

[thebarber]

1. Change engine oil
2. Change transmission fluid
3. Do it today

[rabbito]

3. do it today 😂😂😂😂😂

Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk

[CoryM]

Hi, while driving through the Adirondack mountains on my way to NYC and then back from Boston (Montreal-NYC, NYC-Boston, Boston-Montreal), I've noticed a lot of heat build-up by the transmission shift lever, mainly on the top of the lighted transmission position indicators (P-R-N-D-3-2-L), on both side of the floor center console (between front seats) near the shift lever and on the flat storage surface between the shift lever and the center dash. I don't know if my car ('07 A/T 3dr LB) has a transmission fluid cooler module or if this is normal and non-hamrful to the car, but I'm concerned about this being a sign of needed maintenance.

I was driving non-stop highway for hours, up and down hills, usually about 120-140km/h, so 3 000 to 3 500 RPM, with a quite heavy cargo weight and one passenger. After noticing the heat (about halfway through), I then did the remaining 300km staying below 3 000rpm, but even so the heat would still be moderate. On the way back, no passenger and lighter cargo (about 300lbs lighter overall), but still on mountain terrain highway, driving below 3000rpm would still produce moderate heat, but then when I got annoyed of driving slow and stepped it up to 3 500rpm (130km/h) up and down the mountains, the transmission and overall engine heat would actually reduce to minimal. Then when I got back driving 3000rpm (110km/h) and below, heat came back. I don't know if the cooler ambiant temperature and added air flow from driving faster and mostly downhill when I was doing 3500rpm in the mountains was enough to cool everything down or if the car is actually having issues managing the heat/cooling of the transmission at times, but I'd like to learn about what is going on and if anything should be done. I am due for an engine oil change (about 12 000km since last oil change), but I don't know if that plays with the transmission and if I should also change the transmission fluid ? Last time I did a check (few weeks ago), all fluids levels and color where good using the dipsticks. I've owned the car since january this year and I don't know the full service history, despite everything being in very good condition for a decade old car.

Thanks for reading

If this is the first time you've run it hard over the mountains, it's probably just normal exhaust heat. Eventually if you keep the exhaust hot enough it will start to transfer heat through the tunnel. You feel it at the A/T shifter because it is the easiest part of the console for heat to transfer through.

So long as it was shifting correctly, and the engine temp was fine you probably have nothing to worry about. 12k oil services are pretty long btw. It's asking a lot out of the oil and filter and will probably reduce the life of the engine.

Cheers.

[David C]

I did the engine oil change today. Would make sense that the exhaust pipes are the culprits (assuming they run right by the console). Still I'm curious to know if there's any fluid cooling system for the A/T on the Yaris or if there's an overheat protection/warning signal.

[CoryM]

A/T have a cooler in the radiator. The A/T is under the hood, and would fail by the time you physically noticed it was hot inside the cabin. I do not think the Yaris has any over-temp warning for ATF, but pretty sure it disables 4th gear when over-temp is measured. I don't think it will turn the CEL on though.

Cheers.

[thebarber]

Don't change the ATF, it's easier to replace the transmission

[jra]

I think CoryM has it right. Transmission is under hood on left end of engine. Exhaust manifold is on passenger side of engine with exhaust pipe running under floor, so, most likely you are just felling heat from exhaust pipe.