Do 5th gens have good engine cooling capabilities?

Hello,
I have a 2020 4Runner ORP. All stock. I am curious if the radiator, fan, etc, can maintain proper engine/tranny temps in extreme conditions. I.E. do I need to worry about using the air conditioner if I'm driving up long mountain passes at 70mph in 107° heat with a loaded vehicle? Or maneuvering desert trails, below 5 mph, uphill, in the summer? The vehicle is new to me, I'm just trying to get an idea of what a properly-maintained cooling system is capable of handling on a stock 4 Runner. Please let me know your thoughts on what it should handle and what I should avoid. I know this vehicle is tried-and-true, but I don't want to make any assumptions. Thank you.

 

Haven't heard of the engine overheating, but I have heard of the trans temp getting warm in the conditions you describe. Just hearsay though. Not sure if the individuals were pushing it too hard, running the wrong trans fluid, ect.....

I would't rush out and buy a trans cooler right now. Test it out first as it is and see how it does.

 

Towed a trailer in big bend up the (not huge) mountain. Trans temp got up to around 240 degrees. More than I'd like. But that was a 8 hour day of traveling on the highway, long hours, hot sun.

However, years later, and no transmission flush later (55k miles on truck now), it's been fine, temps remained low normally (160 degrees - 170 degrees). I have sold the truck to a friend and he's going to do the trans service around 60k miles, which is likely still overkill but just to be safe.

95% of the 55k miles were no towing, the other towing times it never really crested 190 degrees, so the 240 degree was just for maybe 30 minutes. Never got an idiot light on the dash, but watching temps with a ScanGauge I didn't like it going over 230 so I pulled off for a bit.

 

I've never seen the gauge go above normal on mine. I haven't done any heavy towing or extreme off-roading, but I haven't babied it either.

I like the scan gauge idea! This is something I've wanted to get but I keep forgetting.

 

For what it's worth, even when the trans temp got warm the engine temp never got above 205.