Transmission Inquiry

At 1700 mi

Truck jerks backwards when most of the time when going from PARK to REVERSE and jerks forward when going from REVERSE to DRIVE, even when not on an incline. It doesn’t technically move since I am holding the brake, but it jerks hard.

Truck also noticeably hard shifts between 1st and 2nd and vise versa no matter the drive mode. All others gears are butter smooth.

I don’t recall it doing this until the last 100 mi or so. Can others confirm this is normal. Maybe hyper sensitive with all of the xmission issues.

 

I don't have anything to report on the "jerking" issue, nothing like that on mine.

The rough 1-2 shift seems to be a thing. Mine does it along with other members. We have a '23 Camry with an 8 speed variant and it does the exact same thing.

Nothing wrong with being a little paranoid on the transmission. Seems to be some will fail, some will not. Hope if they fail it'll be within the 5/60,000 warranty.

 

Take it to the dealer and have them check fluid not uncommon for transmission to be under filled from factory or this might be a sign of yet another failing transmission. Either way it’s documented at the dealer in case the transmission implodes.

 

Hopefully not a failing transmission. Toyota is gonna have to give answers soon on this, can’t have people driving around every day wondering if their transmission is going to fail any second now. Spot light is on Toyota big time especially with the tundra recall. Mine has a slight “rougher” shift from 1-2 gear first thing after cold start then it’s fine, I noticed the transmission can be kinda “clunky” sometimes but so was my 3rd gens.

 

Sometimes it's just a rough shift. Not every headache is a brain tumor and not every stomach ache is pancreatic cancer.

 

Warranty inspection.

Don't bite on the 'it's normal' routine either.

Just be sure you can replicate it every time, so you don't get the 'could not replicate' answer.

 

Both issues happen 75% of the time or greater.

I worry less about a complete xmission failure and more about one with inherent issues that last the life of the vehicle and are not diagnosable as a warranty issue. Sounds like the 1 <> 2 gear transition may be normal at least for some xmissions, so will keep an eye on it.

I’m curious what the early warning signs of some of the failures were. Thanks for the serious responses guys. Will talk to the dealership about this one.

 

The 1-2 gear shift I believe is a software problem, the 3rd gens had a tsb for this early on in 2016 for the exact same thing. A software update fixed the issue, still amazes me though how this kinda of stuff isn’t figured out during the prototype phase and testing

 

If you bought a ‘24, congrats to you because you are the final prototype phase. And, thanks to early buyers, so far we know that overall it’s a pretty good truck that should be buttoned down by late ‘25 to early ‘26 **


** assuming there’s not a potentially catastrophic engine problem due to….debris.

 

Jerking you say? Is there an ATF dipstick on these?

 

No. The process to check the fluid level is very simple. If it's anything like the Tundra with the sealed transmissions:

You first need a scan tool that can measure temp gauge plugged in. Ideally wireless so you can track the temp real time.
Then you warm up the transmission temp to something like 113 to 135F, and nothing outside of this.
Then you crawl under the truck with it running, and you crack the fill hole. If some goo dribbles out, you're golden. If not, turn off and add fluid until it dribbles out and then reinstall the plug.
Then warm the fluid back up to the special temp range.
Then climb back under the truck with it running, with your face next to the screaming hot exhaust, and open the fill port. If a little stream of goo dribbles out, you're good.

That's it. Very simple.

 

A few days of cool weather and the transmission temp gauge showed mine is a tad smoother when all warmed up but overall it doesn't behave much differently than 8-10 speed automatics I've used from other makers.

I might be lost on the rest and other posts. Nothing yet is pointing to more than a few of 100,000+ of these shipped having problems. The waits some have had were not as long as we had for a 2015 Toyota recall or getting parts in and out of warranty for our other makes of vehicles.

Of course I'll be very bothered if I have a major warranty claim and parts wait but they are risks I understood from our other experiences.

 

The transmission might technically be a bit different, but I can tell you from experience the 8 speed in the Highlander has had hard shifts like you're describing since 2019. It's one of the main reasons I sold mine. Hard shifts 1st to second, hardish again from 2nd to third, butter smooth on everything else. Toyota excuse was always they did it that way for fuel efficiency . Bought a hybrid. No more crappy shifting.

 

I have the same shift feel on mine. Depending on throttle pressure I can change the shift feeling. It does seem like something a software update could fix.

 

For sure it could, but don't hold your breath. Dealer will go out and drive another one that does the same shit shifting and say "it's normal".

 

My sounds similar to others with a rougher / harder shift from 1 to 2, and 2 to 1 when just starting out cold. But it didn't do this for the first 2400 miles - just started last week, but has been consistently doing it now every morning. I don't notice it in the afternoon after being at work all day.

 

Mines done it since day 1. Sounds like it’s pretty normal, most people it seems are reporting the hard shift in the morning

 

UPDATE @ 2300 mi + [video]

Hecho en Mexico in June 2024

On Aug 17 I received an invite from Toyota Quality <quality@toyota-innovation.com> to take a survey regarding my experience with the new vehicle purchased on July 17. I rarely fill out surveys, but thought that this would be my best opportunity to give Toyota real feedback on the negative aspects of the vehicle and suggestions for improvement. I submitted several design and vehicle specific issues. They created a quality case and Angelica reached out via phone and email. These are the three issues she singled out for more information:

• Transmission rough shift between 1 <> 2, rough transition between P / D / R
  • She took down as much detailed information as I could give her
  • She setup an appointment with my local Toyota dealer to investigate
  • Said she will call 3 days after dealer looks at the vehicle to follow up
• Key fob distance less than 20FT
  • Said that the dealer can test a key fob on a new vehicle to compare
  • Other vehicles I have work at least twice this distance, or at least through my window / garage entry door
• Various paint defects, mainly with clear coat
  • Asked me to submit photos of the paint defects and said they were covered under the standard new vehicle warranty

Some other things that I put in the survey that she didn't bring up

• Locking me out of the vehicle user profile / app / website after changing my password on the website. Vehicle and app kept trying to login with old password and locked me out of the account permanently on all devices
  • This was previously fixed by their Connected Services team after a week of back / forth
• CarPlay does not connect consistently when remote starting the vehicle, infotainment sometimes get stuck on black screen
  • They definitely know about this because the survey asked about this issue specifically when you select "ISSUE >> CarPlay"
  • Also asked if doing the infotainment 5-second power button reset fixed it (yes)
• The useless animation between Drive Modes (Sport / Normal / Eco) need to be removed
• Needs walkaway locks
• Needs seat / mirror memory
• Remote window up / down needs to be on the remote by default, not a Carista / dealer "hack"

Here is a video of the jerk when switching between P / D / R

https://youtu.be/uJxIEJ_ry9o

00:03 - Shift from P to D, drive forward a bit
00:10 - Shift from D to R, drive backward a bit
00:17 - Shift from R to D, drive forward a bit
00:24 - Shift from D to R, drive backward a bit
00:33 - Shift to P and release brake

Parking brake is never engaged between shifts, this function has been turned OFF. Manual brake engaged between shifts.

Maybe this is normal, but it sure didn't happen in the first 1600 mi and no other vehicle I have had jerks between drive modes like this. It feels much more violent inside of the vehicle than it looks on the video.

 

Compare Symptoms-2024 TRD OR Auto with 3100 miles. In the last 5 weeks my Taco has developed a hard upshift and more noticeable, a hard downshift between 1-2 or 2-3. It did not do this for the first 2k miles. Today I had the hard shift occur twice in a 10 mile (mixed city/state road) driving and then -- I stopped the vehicle, left it running in park to open a gate, and when I put it back in drive from park it did nothing! I shifted back and forth between park and drive several times but drive never engaged -- even tried reverse--no joy. I shut the engine down in park, let it sit for a few minutes, restarted and all was normal. For those of you who have had total trans failure, does this sound like symptoms that lead to trans failure??? I am scheduled to take it in to the local dealer next week--when I asked the service manager if he had seen other situations like this he said this is the first time????? BTW, the vehicle was built in Feb 2024.
Cheers,
db

 

First time my ass… lol it’s all over the internet. Plenty of failures occurring and Toyota needs to quickly offer an explanation and solution. Don’t think people buy Toyotas to wonder when their transmissions are going to fail within the first 5k miles. How hard were these shifts your referring too? Really hard?