Towing and Hot AT

[chrisgrind Spammer Find all posts View Profile Close chrisgrind]

Im unsure if the 120 is similar, but the 90 series temp gauge is not to scale. By this I mean that if it reaches 3/4 it's overheated and any higher will have the coolant bubbling like mad. The boiling point of properly mixed coolant is between 127 and 132 degrees. If it nearly reaches the red it's dangerously high. If you go up to or over the red then you're at real risk of doing damage to the engine.

When I had my skyline, I had oil and water temp gauges, and it was amazing to watch. If I recall correctly (10 years ago now). The stock water temp would show 'normal' where the after market would show 60 through to 130, after 130, it the stock would start to move and move very quickly.

The really interesting thing, was I had the gauges before I put an engine oil cooler on, so I could see the difference the oil cooler made. It made the coolant a constant ~20 degrees cooler on a 'normal' day driving around town, and made a huge difference when 'racing' (ie. normally I'd get to 120 water temps after ~30 seconds of drifting and have to d a cool down for ~30 seconds, with the oil cooler, I'd get ~10 minutes drifting before water temps got to 120).

So basically, if the stock gauge goes above where it normally sits, you really need to shutdown immediately.

Happy to be told I'm wrong in regard to Prado's as I haven't got one yet.

[t303 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close t303]

Check the viscous coupling in the fan hub as well, a search on here will give you the info. I threw an extra tube of silicone oil in mine years ago when I changed the radiator.
cheers
Steve

[74Damo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 74Damo]

might need trans service

I have recently done a several thousand km trip towing a caravan with a GVM below 1500kg. The majority of the trip was uneventful but there were a few hill climbs that gave me some grief.

The most recent climb was the Cunningham gap (between Brisbane and Warwick) with the temperature in the mid 30's. The AC was off and I was driving at around 60km/h in 3rd or 2nd with the revs around 2,500-3,000. The temp gauge was high and near the top, got very close to the red band. The AT Tenp light came on during the last kilometre and so I stopped at the top until gone.

I have had the AT Temp light come one before at the end of a climb but not seen the engine temperature so high.

The van is we'll below the Prado's limit and I'm wondering why it struggles so much. I am thinking about installing a transmission cooler to help.

Any advice please on what I can do to help the Prado and transmission run cooler?

[Rusty62 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rusty62]

You will need to have a cooler fitted. And a torque converter lockup switch. This will all but fix the overheated transmission as well as reducing your fuel usage.

Sisters 120 TD 4 sp auto towed a 2500kg Kedron around Australia with cooler and no temp light. It did before though.

Rusty.