08 SR5 transmission rumble.

JohnnyT

JohnnyT

New member
Just got my 08 SR5 about 10 days ago and love it. Never had a t4r before but there is something bugging me.

When I'm cruising about 40-45 mph I get a low level rumble from the transmission. Faster or slower and it doesn't happen. I don't know much about cars mechanically or if they call this "hunting" between gears but I find it very odd. My wife has a Pilot and this does not happen. Only 35k miles on the T4R. The whole family notices it - "what's that?"

Otherwise I love the car but don't know if I should be concerned.

Any thoughts?
 
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Please forgive me if this is already converted in the “Rumble Strip” thread as I have not read that entire thread I only skimmed it.

I had this same exact issue on a 1998 Honda Accord. Right at 40mph the whole car would start to rumble. Any slight acceleration or deceleration and it would stop. The issue is with the torque converter slipping. Basically, as it was explained to me, the transmission fluid creates hydraulic friction which transfers the power from the engine to the drive shaft via the torque converter. When the fluid breaks down, if the wrong fluid is used or you are low on fluid it can reduce this hydraulic friction and cause slippage at the torque converter resulting in the rumble effect. It seems very common from what I have read that it happens right between the 35 -45 mph range. In talking with my local transmission shop, I had 2 options with my Accord, do a full flush and see if that fixes it or rebuild the transmission. I decided on neither and instead traded it for my 4runner.

Now for your situation, with only 35k on your truck I don’t think the fluid is broken down however it is possible that someone fubar’ed an oil change and drained the transmission instead. A lot of folks have accidentally drained the transmission fluid in stead of the oil. I, and I say this with shame, speak from experience on that one.

Since you only have 35k it’s possible that you are either way low on fluid or someone, having messed up an oil change, put in the wrong fluid to top it off. What I would suggest doing is having your transmission completely flushed and refilled with Toyota WS fluid. Its very important that you use Toyota fluid, don’t use aftermarket fluid for this. If this does not rectify the issue then I would take it over to my local transmission shop.
 
JohnnyT said:
...since I don't think you can replace the fluid on mine since it is closed system.
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Yes you can replace the fluid. Even though it's considered a "closed' system there is a drain and fill plug. If you search the board you will find the procedure on how to service the sealed transmission. However this will not flush the system. When you drain it you only get about 3 - 4 quarts out. You need to have all 11 quarts replaced so you will need to have it flushed.

Here is a good link on doing a full flush:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/maintenance/86790-toyota-4runner-sealed-transmission-diy-flush.html
 
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Interesting. Being as I have bumper to bumper and Platinum warranty remaining, I'll be bringing this back to the dealer to check out. Your insight has been most helpful. I doubt the fubar part but it is certainly possible so i'll get it checked.

Thanks
 
I too noticed the other night that something was going on with my '08 SR5. It was around 40-45mph. The way I would describe it would be, very light on the throttle, in 5th gear, rpms were low, it felt as if a cylinder in the engine dropped out. Not like going over a rumble strip, unless you are going real slow. The engine still had plenty of power. With a little more throttle input the trans would downshift into 4th and the feeling would go away. At higher speeds it felt normal. When I parked it that night the engine seemed to be idling rougher than usual. I can't duplicate it now though.
 
gm350reratliff said:
I too noticed the other night that something was going on with my '08 SR5. It was around 40-45mph. The way I would describe it would be, very light on the throttle, in 5th gear, rpms were low, it felt as if a cylinder in the engine dropped out. Not like going over a rumble strip, unless you are going real slow. The engine still had plenty of power. With a little more throttle input the trans would downshift into 4th and the feeling would go away. At higher speeds it felt normal. When I parked it that night the engine seemed to be idling rougher than usual. I can't duplicate it now though.
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Thats called "LUGGING" its the motor bogging down. It does not have enough power at 1000 rpms to push the t4r in 5th gear. if your cruising at 45mph put it in 4th. 5th should only be used above 50mph in my opinion.
 
Just heard back from the dealer who looked at and drove the truck and they said it was the driveshaft and they added grease to it.

Does this make sense??

I pick it up later and will let you know if there is a difference.

They also performed the recall work for the interfering with the gas pedal thing. I didn't even know about this. They said they just got approval to move forward and repair these last week. I honestly have no idea what they did.

Will find out tonight.
 
Easy

The easiest way to tell if you have the 'rumble strip' issue is to drive around with your gear shift in '4' instead of 'D'.

If the problem never happens in '4' then you have the issue.
 
Thanks for all the info.

Picked up the car and honestly it seems to be a better from what I can tell. Further driving situations over the next few days will be the true test.
 
Ducman said:
The easiest way to tell if you have the 'rumble strip' issue is to drive around with your gear shift in '4' instead of 'D'.

If the problem never happens in '4' then you have the issue.
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What rumble strip issue are you referring to? Guess I should do a search.. lol. Just wasn't aware.

***Edit. I found out what this is. For anyone else curious, heres the thread discussing the issue.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/72998-rumble-strip-transmission-issue.html

As an FYI and "take it for what it's worth", I had a 95 Buick Skylark years ago (while in college) that had what sounds like the exact same issue, pretty much when I got it with 100k miles on the clock. I drove that thing for 50k+ miles with the issue just either hitting the gas a little harder to disengage the torque converter or letting off... Sounds ridiculous, but thats what I did and nothing ever totally gave out. The demise of that car was the fact that it was OLD and the radiator was cracked, a ball joint was done, and the belt tensioner broke... Just wanted to provide my experience with what sounds like the same type of issue.
 
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TOYLUVA said:
Thats called "LUGGING" its the motor bogging down. It does not have enough power at 1000 rpms to push the t4r in 5th gear. if your cruising at 45mph put it in 4th. 5th should only be used above 50mph in my opinion.
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Went to Toyota dealership earlier this week and this is the same advise they gave me and they also feel the "lugging" is just the nature of this transmission. This is from their head mechanic who took a ride with me after they had only done a drain and fill of 4 quarts after I asked for ALL of the WS to be exchanged. I wasn't happy after the misunderstanding but they talked me out of the full exchange and suggested using 4th gear when driving 30-40 mph.

Other knowledgable mechanical people I know suggested the same thing. I guess part of it is I need to stop being so anal about it. So long as they assure me that nothing is wrong, then I'm satisfied.

One senior mechanic at the dealership also stated that this electronic controlled transmission will "learn" and adjust to my driving mannerisms as opposed to the individual that owned the truck prior to me. I've only had the truck for 6k miles of the overall 40 k. Does this sound right or is this crap? I've heard of this in the BMW world but nowhere else.
 
No it is not normal, sorry. You need to get all the fluid out of the transmission and torque converter before permanent damage is done.

This is also what happens when Toyota puts a drivetrain clearly optimized for a V8 into a V6 with mediocre low end grunt.
 
ClockWork said:
No it is not normal, sorry. You need to get all the fluid out of the transmission and torque converter before permanent damage is done.

This is also what happens when Toyota puts a drivetrain clearly optimized for a V8 into a V6 with mediocre low end grunt.
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Are you saying then that this is an issue with all 4th gen v6's?

Also I keep likening this to the rumble strip issue that Ducman describes but mine isn't as severe as that. Driving over rumble strips, As he describes it, can be pretty violent and cause real vibration and shuttering. My experience is more of a low "drone" when my foot is merely resting on the gas pedal but it doesn't happen when I use 4th. I agree that no driver should need to knowingly use 4th in a family vehicle, but is there any harm in driving in 4th sometimes?
 
JohnnyT said:
Are you saying then that this is an issue with all 4th gen v6's?

Also I keep likening this to the rumble strip issue that Ducman describes but mine isn't as severe as that. Driving over rumble strips, As he describes it, can be pretty violent and cause real vibration and shuttering. My experience is more of a low "drone" when my foot is merely resting on the gas pedal but it doesn't happen when I use 4th. I agree that no driver should need to knowingly use 4th in a family vehicle, but is there any harm in driving in 4th sometimes?
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No there is no harm in leaving it in 4th all the time. Like I said, get all the fluid out of the transmission. Go to a dealer that knows the proper procedure for the fluid EXCHANGE not FLUSH. It will take at least 12 quarts of WS fluid.
 
JohnnyT said:
Are you saying then that this is an issue with all 4th gen v6's?

Also I keep likening this to the rumble strip issue that Ducman describes but mine isn't as severe as that. Driving over rumble strips, As he describes it, can be pretty violent and cause real vibration and shuttering. My experience is more of a low "drone" when my foot is merely resting on the gas pedal but it doesn't happen when I use 4th. I agree that no driver should need to knowingly use 4th in a family vehicle, but is there any harm in driving in 4th sometimes?
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Absolutely no harm is being done with driving in 4th. All it does is "lock" out 5th gear which will affect MPGs on the highway. For around town, leaving the tranny in 4 is perfectly fine. As mentioned before, if the droning doesn't happen when in 4th, then you don't have the issue. I've had my 2005 V6 Limited (mechanically identical to yours) for almost a 2 years and do notice that it feels/sounds like it's "bogging" down at 35-40mph, but all cars do this (my parents have Lexus cars/suvs). It feels as though it should downshift, but only does when I further tap the accelerator. However, I've never experienced my truck physically shudder. To answer your question: This is NOT an issue with 4th gen drivetrains.

ClockWork said:
No there is no harm in leaving it in 4th all the time. Like I said, get all the fluid out of the transmission. Go to a dealer that knows the proper procedure for the fluid EXCHANGE not FLUSH. It will take at least 12 quarts of WS fluid.
Click to expand...

I agree 100% Some Toyota dealers offer this service. Make some calls (cheap insurance)
 
CookieRoe said:
Absolutely no harm is being done with driving in 4th. All it does is "lock" out 5th gear which will affect MPGs on the highway. For around town, leaving the tranny in 4 is perfectly fine. As mentioned before, if the droning doesn't happen when in 4th, then you don't have the issue. I've had my 2005 V6 Limited (mechanically identical to yours) for almost a 2 years and do notice that it feels/sounds like it's "bogging" down at 35-40mph, but all cars do this (my parents have Lexus cars/suvs). It feels as though it should downshift, but only does when I further tap the accelerator. However, I've never experienced my truck physically shudder. To answer your question: This is NOT an issue with 4th gen drivetrains.



I agree 100% Some Toyota dealers offer this service. Make some calls (cheap insurance)
Click to expand...

To be clear and make sure I'm reading this right, if I go to 4th gear and do not experience the drone, then I DO NOT have the problem? Is that correct?

I hope so, because I do not have the drone when I use 4th gear.

Thanks
 
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