04 Transmission Issues

[04UZJ100]

I had my mom's 100 serviced at our dealer at 93k for the stealer's 90k service, timing belt, water pump, spark plugs and entire "fluid exchange" of the transmission. I cant tell you how many people I asked looking for a straight answer as to what they were going to do with the trans but finally the service advisor said that he "knew" how sensitive they were to the temp of the fluid and that you had to move through D-L etc. Needless to say - I was most worried about this.

Now, I'm at school so cant comment on exactly what is happening but she has noticed a shuddering after engaging reverse. It engages fine; however, the car vibrates sometimes when in reverse which it didnt do before. Futhermore, at idle she is getting a similar vibration/shudder that wasnt present before and it only happens occasionally.

I talked to her today and she said she'd note MANY more details when it happens again. I told her to monitor RPM, temp, and a more exact definition of what/when it happens.

I drove it home 20 mies from the dealer and it felt fine - shifts were equally as smooth and had no issue.

So...what COULD it be? I am aware they are very sensitive to fluid - the dealer receipt said they used 16qts of WS fluid.

I will get back to you with more details

 

[NMuzj100]

Carefully check the fluid level. The Toyota transmissions can be very sensitive to overfilling.

What are the chances that the shop droveit for the 20 minutes or so that it can take to get it up to the proper temp?

 

[04UZJ100]

Carefully check the fluid level. The Toyota transmissions can be very sensitive to overfilling.

What are the chances that the shop droveit for the 20 minutes or so that it can take to get it up to the proper temp?

hahaha i dropped it of with 92328 - picked it up with 92330 so i doubt that.

I cant check the level - it doesnt have a dipstick.

 

[Elijah]

Sounds like possible symptoms of being low on tranny fluid.

 

[04UZJ100]

OK, happens when its cold. Shudder/vibration is the best description I can give you.

Could it be toast being that its been driven about 500 miles since then albeit mostly highway with a light foot?

What recourse do I have with the dealer as far as getting it replaced after their mistake if it is gone?

 

[100 TD]

First thing, check the tranny fluid yourself, there is a procedure here in the FAQ I believe, there is no dipstick but there is a level screw to undo.

 

[2000UZJ]

If you haven't taken in back to the dealer. Stop driving it and take it to the dealer. Make sure everything was done properly. Get a rental and be safe. If it's shuddering and vibrating it can't be right. Take it there before you have a rebuild or failed component. That will be worse than taking it in for a day

 

[NMuzj100]

I cant check the level - it doesn't have a dipstick.

Of course you can. The dealer techs aren't PHD rocket scientists. There's a reason you have to deal with the service writer.

A750 Tran PDF w/ fill instructions - Credit to uHu

Sing the song - "Anything you can do I can do .... eventually with some help from MUD"

And if the fluid is a bit low or high then there is unlikely to be any long term damage just get it fixed.

 

[Anthony.L]

So if I read that PDF right, you remove the overflow plug and if nothing comes out then it's either at the right level or too low. The only way to know if it's not too low is add more fluid in the fill hole until it comes out the overflow and stops at a trickle. Sound correct?

 

[NMuzj100]

Yes, I believe the usual procedure is essentially fill to over flow plug. Then get tranny up to temp (158 - 176 degrees f ). This can take up to twenty minutes if the transmission is cold and you are driving. The FSM says to just let it idle until it reaches temp. You could use an IR thermometer on the pan or follow the procedure in FSM to use the light. Then pull the level plug again.

Maybe one of the Scan Gauge users can tell us how long it takes the temp to get to 170 from a cold start.

 

[04UZJ100]

UPDATE:

Been at the dealer since Saturday. Last call back said they "could not replicate"

Its still there. My dad says it thumps in reverse and the engine idles strange when stopped in drive.

I believe the transmission as the incorrect amount of fluid and they possible over-filled the engine oil.

I will report back.

 

[Craabs]

sound like might need to grease the drive shaft??

 

[04UZJ100]

Turns out it was a faulty spark plug. I had them replaced at the service and I guess one was a dud so the dealer made it right and replaced all of them.

It took them 4 days to figure this out and we never got a CEL...any ideas why?

Car runs as smooth as ever now. Thanks for your input.

 

[bamabrock]

Of course you can. The dealer techs aren't PHD rocket scientists. There's a reason you have to deal with the service writer.

A750 Tran PDF w/ fill instructions - Credit to uHu

Sing the song - "Anything you can do I can do .... eventually with some help from MUD"

And if the fluid is a bit low or high then there is unlikely to be any long term damage just get it fixed.

I cant get the attachment to pull up.

 

[uHu]

Same. Can't get the attachment. And can't upload. Whazzup today? Other posts show up without the pix showing.

 

[re_guderian]

Turns out it was a faulty spark plug. I had them replaced at the service and I guess one was a dud so the dealer made it right and replaced all of them.

It took them 4 days to figure this out and we never got a CEL...any ideas why?

Car runs as smooth as ever now. Thanks for your input.

Did this fix the problem? I am having a similar issue. Best described as a hesitation/shudder/miss/stumble for just a few seconds in first and reverse, then all is good. i just did a coild pack replacement a few thousand ago. But it doesn't happen in N or L, only D or R, so not sure how a misfire would only show up in those gears? It's tough not to think tranny or TC when it idles just fine in P and N. No codes thrown now. I did not change the plug after the coil pack failure, and they probably have 80K on them. It "feels" like a misfire, but the lack of consistent occurance is - uh, interesting... I have had no tranny issues so far, with ~175K on the rig, but it's a 2000. I've just cleaned the trottle body, so that's not it.

 

[re_guderian]

Did this fix the problem? I am having a similar issue. Best described as a hesitation/shudder/miss/stumble for just a few seconds in first and reverse, then all is good. i just did a coild pack replacement a few thousand ago. But it doesn't happen in N or L, only D or R, so not sure how a misfire would only show up in those gears? It's tough not to think tranny or TC when it idles just fine in P and N. No codes thrown now. I did not change the plug after the coil pack failure, and they probably have 80K on them. It "feels" like a misfire, but the lack of consistent occurance is - uh, interesting... I have had no tranny issues so far, with ~175K on the rig, but it's a 2000. I've just cleaned the trottle body, so that's not it.

Follow up: Last week my coil pack on cylinder 5 totally died. Swapped in a new one I had at home, and problem solved. Must have been a slowly dying or damaged coil pack. The first coil pack failure was on cylinder 1, and this "miss" showed up at the same time. It never threw a code though until last week when it died completely. As to the symptoms only being felt while stopped in D or R, I can only surmise that the problem only occured at low engine load, or was there all the time and was just masked by the higher RPM's.

FYI - All the research I did last time my coil failed indicated it was bad to drive "far" with a failed coil, but nobody ever said how far "far" was. The risk supposedly was damaging the cats by sending unburned fuel out the exhaust. This time, I had to drive about 15 miles (had carpool going) without the cyclinder on city streets. Last time a coil failed I was on the Outer Banks and I limped it to Elizabeth City (about 50 miles to nearest part source - and that was about 5000 miles ago). After the first coil failed, I wanted to see if I had jacked anything up. Based on my IR temps of the cats taken just upstream of the heat shield, the DS cat (side with the failed coils) was exactly the same temp as the PS one, so I'm assuming I didn't melt the internals and restrict the flow. Does anyone know for sure if the ECU will shut off the injector if it throws a P030X code? Seems like easy logic to incorporate, but I'm not sure if it does it or not. Anyway, if you're wondering, driving 50 miles on a failed coil pack didn't seem to damage my catalytic converters... [crosses fingers] Just keep the RPM's down below ~1800. Fourth of July traffic on the Outer Banks pretty much gauranteed that.

 

[04UZJ100]

Sorry, never saw this. Yes the replacement plugs worked - I think they replaced all eight after dropping $2.3k on services at the dealer.

About 125k on it now and it still drives like new. At around 160k we're going for new shocks all around, indexing of the torsion bars, and new rear springs. I'm also going to replace most of the suspension bushings.