Transmission concerns (1 Viewer)

[KLF]

Having weird behavior with my '11 200 series. 110K miles.

Yesterday on my commute home, driving up a slight hill about 45 mph, suddenly the truck acted like it was stuck in gear, trying to shift, stuttering for about 10 seconds. I let off the gas and it went away, then got on the gas and it was fine the rest of the way home. This morning, it did it a couple more times but for only a second or so. It's only a 10 minute drive so I didn't have much time to play with it.

Tonight I took a much longer drive, all at around 45-50 mph. I'm able to reproduce the weird behavior sometimes but not reliably. It happens mostly when downshifting, best I can tell is it is the 5 to 4 shift, but it also happens sometimes when accelerating and going from 4 up to 5. It's really quite alarming.

The Torque app with my Bluetooth OBD2 dongle shows no codes or anything unusual. Coolant temps were stable around 190d.

If I manually shift, it doesn't happen.

What concerns me the most is I'm supposed to leave early Thursday morning for a 1000 mile road trip. I have no time to work on this or have it looked at. I really don't want to be in the middle of the NJ Turnpike and have the thing go south on me. I'm gonna try getting up to highway speeds tomorrow and see how it is. It pisses me off that I just had a bunch of engine maintenance work done last week (serpentine belt, water pump, pulley, tensioner, plugs, all new coolant) to prepare for this trip and winter. I was really looking forward to this drive.

Just wondering if there's anything else I can try. Otherwise I'll just have too suffer through driving the wife's Lexus IS instead. Thanks.

 

[NMNORSSE]

Could it be that when you had that work done the battery was disconnected and now the ECU is relearning your driving style?

 

[KLF]

Well... I did install some OME LED bulbs last weekend so I had to pull the battery. But I used a memory saver on the OBD2 port.

I can call and ask, but I don't think he messed with the battery.

 

[gaijin]

I recently experienced very similar symptoms to yours - thought it was transmission, maybe intake related, maybe electronic ... There was a long (12 mile) uphill stretch I drove almost every day where the symptoms would occur.

Long story short, all the problems went away when I filled up with a fresh tank of gas from a different station from my usual one (Sinclair instead of a Chevron quick mart). Now the truck runs up that hill with no stumbling or stuttering at all.

Not saying that's your problem, but you could try some different gas - couldn't hurt.

HTH

 

[KLF]

But I filled the tank on Tuesday morning, after the first incident, and it's still doing it. Plus, now I have a full tank that I can't exactly get rid of before tomorrow morning.

 

[Willy beamin]

if you want add some gas treatment to your new tank - that's a cheap test

 

[linuxgod]

When did you have all that engine work done? I would suspect a loose sensor wire, leaking vacuum hose, or something similar. Might be something a tech bumped loose?

 

[TeCKis300]

Sorry to hear of the issues.

I would take it back into the dealer to have them troubleshoot, saying you never had an issue until they serviced it recently. Better yet, I'd take it into them, right before your trip. Take the loaner, and head out on your trip while they diagnose the issue.

I wouldn't head out on a trip like that, hoping it was bad gas.

 

[KLF]

The service was done last Wednesday, and it was a private local shop, not a dealer. The tech is the owner, he is Toyota certified, used to work at several dealerships, and knows this engine well. His shop specializes in Toyotas (it's called ToyTech), he's done work for me in the past so I trust him.

I have no ability today to take it anywhere, regardless, work is too busy. I need to leave at 0500 tomorrow. There is no loaner opportunity and we don't need it anyway, we have a 3rd vehicle.

I guess I'll park it for the weekend and take the other car. I'll probably put it's nose into the corner of the garage since it's being naughty. Ya I'm pissed.

Update: Talked to the tech/owner. He did not disconnect the battery. He is trying to reach into the dealer network since he still has contacts for any TSBs or other knowledge/experience.

 

[KLF]

Update:

Talked to a master tech at the biggest dealership around here (Portsmouth Toyota). They said it can happen if the WS fluid is dirty or low. They recommend a flush, which I will probably do, next week. I've seen the NLScooby video, I may give that a try. I think it's pathetic that there is no dipstick on this transmission, but that overflow plug thingy is interesting. If I tackle this I'll go ahead and drop the pan to look at the magnets and replace the screen.

Meanwhile they suggested I also disconnect the battery for a little while, which I've done. I doubt it will help, but it was easy and cost nothing. I have a couple cans of gas treatment at home, maybe I'll dump one of those in too.

 

[KLF]

Minor update: truck seems totally fine now, I can no longer get it to misbehave. Regardless, I think that at 110K miles it's time for the fluid to be changed. The experienced tech I used for the engine work recommended I have the dealer do a flush, so it's going in on Friday (first time in over 30 years I've ever been to a dealer for service, other than recall stuff). Based on the NLScooby video, I also requested they drop the pan, clean the magnets, and change the screen. The service manager replied "oh this transmission doesn't have a screen." Oh really.

So I transferred to parts and ordered the screen, gasket, a few other things.

I have one BFG tire that won't balance, making a weird vibration. Having a road force balance done.

 

[NLScooby]

I hope you get it sorted out.....funny part about my video is that I was flushing the trans fluid the day before our 1000 mile trip and porked up the drain plug! Ended up renting a car - which felt like a kick to my already bruised ego!

I used an Amsoil transmission fluid (WS compatible) and noticed an immediate improvement in response. I don't know it was the fluid or the clean filter screen, but it definitely felt peppier!

I'm done with the dealership as they also told me there are no driveshaft zerks to lubricate when I went in for an oil change...It was the same visit that they messed up the cabin filter install and I had to reset the recirc door. I guess they just don't see these vehicles often enough.

 

[KLF]

Finally got the truck back tonight. Wow what a PITA experience this was.

Dropped it off last Friday morning, they said it would be done that afternoon, but no loaners available. Based on my friends recommendation, I requested a specific tech do the work, which they were fine with that. Called them just before closing... Ya he got tired up on an engine swap so its not done yet, and he won't be in on Saturday. Fine, let's shoot for Monday. Tech called in sick on Monday, lost another day.

Got a message Tuesday morning from the service advisor... seems the tech broke 5 bolts removing the pan, now they needed to be drilled out, he wanted to let me know it was gonna be an additional $275 to fix. Whaaat?? I finally got ahold of the advisor yesterday afternoon, ready to chew him out, but got nothing but apologies, repair would be N/C, and they were offering a loaner.

Picked it up tonight, total bill for the flush, dropping the pan, 15 quarts of WS, new gasket and screen, plus "road force" balancing all the tires (one had to be remounted) was just under $500.

The good news is: It was worth it! Truck drives soooo much better now, it's amazing. Tranny shifts very smooth now, honestly I can't feel it shifting at all, I can only tell by listening to the engine or watching the tach. And the tires are perfectly balanced now, truck is smooth as glass.

If you're over 100K miles, I highly recommend this process. But honestly I would just do it myself next time. Just watch the @NLScooby video.

 

[cc93cruiser]

Finally got the truck back tonight. Wow what a PITA experience this was.

Dropped it off last Friday morning, they said it would be done that afternoon, but no loaners available. Based on my friends recommendation, I requested a specific tech do the work, which they were fine with that. Called them just before closing... Ya he got tired up on an engine swap so its not done yet, and he won't be in on Saturday. Fine, let's shoot for Monday. Tech called in sick on Monday, lost another day.

Got a message Tuesday morning from the service advisor... seems the tech broke 5 bolts removing the pan, now they needed to be drilled out, he wanted to let me know it was gonna be an additional $275 to fix. Whaaat?? I finally got ahold of the advisor yesterday afternoon, ready to chew him out, but got nothing but apologies, repair would be N/C, and they were offering a loaner.

Picked it up tonight, total bill for the flush, dropping the pan, 15 quarts of WS, new gasket and screen, plus "road force" balancing all the tires (one had to be remounted) was just under $500.

The good news is: It was worth it! Truck drives soooo much better now, it's amazing. Tranny shifts very smooth now, honestly I can't feel it shifting at all, I can only tell by listening to the engine or watching the tach. And the tires are perfectly balanced now, truck is smooth as glass.

If you're over 100K miles, I highly recommend this process. But honestly I would just do it myself next time. Just watch the @NLScooby video.

You paid close to $500 BUCKS for basically a tranny fluid flush? Wow, pockets must be thick to throw away money like that! Sorry to rain on your parade, but doing the fluid flush per NLScooby video is extremely easy and only took about an hr tops.. Oh well, you don't have to worry about it for another 50k or so..

 

[teambell]

You paid close to $500 BUCKS for basically a tranny fluid flush? Wow, pockets must be thick to throw away money like that! Sorry to rain on your parade, but doing the fluid flush per NLScooby video is extremely easy and only took about an hr tops.. Oh well, you don't have to worry about it for another 50k or so..

Other work was done as well, but you made your unneeded point anyway!

 

[KLF]

Cost of the WS fluid alone was $165 (15 quarts at $11 per quart)
Screen, gasket, O-ring parts were ~$100.
Road force balancing 4 tires was $100.

So I really only paid $135 to have someone do all that work, that I would definitely do myself next time, but I just didn't have time to do right now. I was worried about the stuttering in the tranny that was happening now so I couldn't put it off any longer. Problem is gone.

 

[TonyP]

The fluid alone is quite expensive.

Edit: beat me to it

 

[KLF]

The tire balancing was trying to find an annoying vibration, it required 3 road test drives. Vibration is gone. Worth it.

 

[NLScooby]

You paid close to $500 BUCKS for basically a tranny fluid flush? Wow, pockets must be thick to throw away money like that! Sorry to rain on your parade, but doing the fluid flush per NLScooby video is extremely easy and only took about an hr tops.. Oh well, you don't have to worry about it for another 50k or so..

Yeah, but you forgot to figure in the $400 I had to pay to rent a large car for the week after I porked the drain plug on the transmission pan the day before we were going on our trip!

 

[cc93cruiser]

Other work was done as well, but you made your unneeded point anyway!

I wasn't trying to offend the OP, was just saying to do it himself for sure next time (even though the parts alone add up, it would not be worth my time/money to have the rig dropped off and not have it finished when they said they would & then screw up/break bolts).. Easy diy if you can follow the video. Funny how my comment ruffled up your feathers and the op didn't have a problem with it.