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1Gen-SequoiaGeneral discussion forum for the first generation 2001 to 2007 Toyota Sequoia.
This is a discussion thread titled "Towing Questions", within the 1Gen-Sequoia forum, part of the SUV Forums category.
When I am towing my 2 place enclosed snowmobile trailer and 2 sleds do I need to have the OD turned off while towing? If I had to guess on the trailer it is about 500 to 600 pounds, each sled is 500 pounds plus a couple hundred pounds in gear gas etc. So I would say around 2000 pounds that I would be towing. I thought I read on here to always turn OD off when towing but want to make sure. When I have it off on the highway at about 75 MPH the RPMS get right up there. When I turn leave OD on RPMS really drop to normal. Just want to avoid burning the tranny up.
Or should I keep it on and only turn it off going up inclines.
I regularly tow a 3000 boat/trailer with my 03 Sequoia and I always turn off the OD, even if I'm on the interstate running 75+. I used to tow the same boat with a 1500 Dodge Ram and never turned off OD, and it kept shifting gears and messing with the tranny even at slower speeds.
I had two Expeditions and towed many many thousands of miles and never turned off OD. I have not towed a lot with the Sequoia but it does not nearly tow as well as the Expedition did. Oh well it will last longer I guess. So I guess the answer is turn OD off when I am towing the trailer and sleds. Boy that really kills the MPH even more .
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sequoia311
I regularly tow a 3000 boat/trailer with my 03 Sequoia and I always turn off the OD, even if I'm on the interstate running 75+. I used to tow the same boat with a 1500 Dodge Ram and never turned off OD, and it kept shifting gears and messing with the tranny even at slower speeds.
I towed a 3000 lb. boat about 400 miles round-trip 5 times last summer with O/D off, for the sake of not nuking the 4th gear planetary, a problem that seems to plague the early tranmissions. Averaged about 12-13 mpg even with the a/c on.
(I towed the same boat with my '95 V-6 4Runner and averaged a steady 11 mpg with the O/D on. Couldnt use the a/c, not enough power to do both the boat and a/c at the same time!)
For the sake of the 4th gear planetary, I would leave O/D off. The few extra hundred rpm's are not going to hurt this engine at all, the gas mileage difference will not be that much, its not that much noisier, and the extra torque is nice. I'm sure many with the early transmissions tow with the O/D on and have lots of miles doing it this way without problem, but since I have an '01 with a known weak spot I'm not willing to take the chance for such a small gain.
It is only necessary to turn off OD if the transmission is hunting and searching for the correct gear (shifting up and down constantly and can't decide which gear to use) as this will cause overheating. as long as this is not the situation then leave the OD on and allow it to take care of itself even when towing.
My neighbor said the same thing tonight if it is not searching for gears leave it on. It was sorta a catch 22 where I do not want to fry the tranny or over work the engine with OD off. In reality it is only about 2,000 pounds so that is not that much weight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToyotaServiceManager
It is only necessary to turn off OD if the transmission is hunting and searching for the correct gear (shifting up and down constantly and can't decide which gear to use) as this will cause overheating. as long as this is not the situation then leave the OD on and allow it to take care of itself even when towing.
It depends on the tranny, but on my 2002 4runner hunting for gears wasn't the issue, the problem was if you left the OD on you would get MUCH better mileage towing (went from 11mpg to 15mpg) but it would unlock the torque converter and if you weren't careful you would overheat the tranny from running 10 minutes with the torque converter unlocked. It never bothered to downshift to third, just kept cruising in 4th with the torque converter unlocked. Turning off the OD not only caused it to downshift to 3rd, but it allowed the converter to lockup which is critical. You can tell when the torque converter unlocks if you watch the tachometer carefully.
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Towing Questions
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