4th Gen Transmission Problem

jonz

jonz

New member
I have an 08 SE 4WD with 33k miles. Periodically, with no regularity, when I shift from reverse to drive, the transmission does not engage for about 3-5 seconds. It's as if I just shifted to neutral instead of drive. I have to be careful not to step on the gas while waiting for the tranny to shift into drive. Otherwise the shift at high RPM sounds like the tranny is going to fall out.

This is totally random..hot or cold engine, 1st drive of the day, middle of the day.

Took the car to one dealer at 28K miles, and they couldn't replicate so they sent me on my way. I'm at 33K so thought I'd have it checked with other stuff before the warranty expired. Took it to a different dealer and explained the problem. This dealer (where I bought it) immediately decided to replace the transmission under warranty.

Has anyone else had this problem and if so, how was it corrected
 
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jonz said:
I have an 08 SE 4WD with 33k miles. Periodically, with no regularity, when I shift from reverse to drive, the transmission does not engage for about 3-5 seconds. It's as if I just shifted to neutral instead of drive. I have to be careful not to step on the gas while waiting for the tranny to shift into drive. Otherwise the shift at high RPM sounds like the tranny is going to fall out.

This is totally random..hot or cold engine, 1st drive of the day, middle of the day.

Took the car to one dealer at 28K miles, and they couldn't replicate so they sent me on my way. I'm at 33K so thought I'd have it checked with other stuff before the warranty expired. Took it to a different dealer and explained the problem. This dealer (where I bought it) immediately decided to replace the transmission under warranty.

Has anyone else had this problem and if so, how was it corrected
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Powertrain is 60k 5yrs so you have a bit yet. It says it can take up to 2 seconds to shift from forward to reverse in tech specific transmission literature. Its really 5 seconds?
 
Eskimo, yeah it's more than 3 seconds..... I have actually counted "one thosand one, one thousand two", etc... up to 5 or 6 on more than one ocassion. I didn't think too much of it at first, thinking it was a fluke event. But it's happend 20+ times over the last year since I bought the vehicle. My 04 SR5 with 120K miles has never done that over the 5 years I drove it before handing over to my daughter.

Biggest surprise to me was how quickly the dealership decided to put in a new transmisssion in the 08.
 
jonz said:
Eskimo, yeah it's more than 3 seconds..... I have actually counted "one thosand one, one thousand two", etc... up to 5 or 6 on more than one ocassion. I didn't think too much of it at first, thinking it was a fluke event. But it's happend 20+ times over the last year since I bought the vehicle. My 04 SR5 with 120K miles has never done that over the 5 years I drove it before handing over to my daughter.

Biggest surprise to me was how quickly the dealership decided to put in a new transmisssion in the 08.
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Wait im confused...the new one is doing the same thing? Your asking about the old one? whats the deal?
 
The 08 SE 4WD is the one having the problems. My 04 SR5 has never exhibited any similar problems.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
jonz said:
The 08 SE 4WD is the one having the problems. My 04 SR5 has never exhibited any similar problems.

Sorry for the confusion.
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You still didnt clarify. You have a new trans in the 08.......,correct? The old trans in the 08 did this or the new one..........?
 
No, the original transmisiion is still in the 08. Dealer will install the new transmission next week.

I was curious if anyone else on the board had this problem and if the "cure" was replacing the tranny. Just seems like overkill to me......
 
My '07 with 37k miles sometimes takes about 2-3 secs to engage. I don't view it as a problem as it can sometimes take this long as mentioned in an earlier response.
 
mndanielsncsu said:
My '07 with 37k miles sometimes takes about 2-3 secs to engage. I don't view it as a problem as it can sometimes take this long as mentioned in an earlier response.
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3 seconds?? Mine has always been pretty much instant, I have 43K miles on my 06. Even my 2000 never took close to 3 seconds and it had 200K miles on it with a S/C.


To the original poster- the dealership is looking at billable hours to Corporate for the new transmission. :biggrin2:
 
IOP25 said:
To the original poster- the dealership is looking at billable hours to Corporate for the new transmission. :biggrin2:
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MikesToy said:
Dealerships make big bucks replacing major components under warranty.
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I knew that going in and the $$$$ in their eyes was a dead give away.:biggrin2: I'm just hoping they don't create more problems than they solve, especially since the first dealer I went to made no attempt to swap out the transmission since they couldn't replicate the probelm during a test drive.
 
I also have a similar hesitation in my 04, I bought mine used last year and it's always made me wonder/worry.

I have an 05 Tacoma also which, correct me if I'm wrong, but I beleive uses the same 5spd auto as the Runner (Runner is a v8 so 5spd also). The Taco has almost triple the mileage of my Runner 90kms vs 256kms (56k miles vs. 159k miles) and there is no hesitation at all from the Tacoma.

Seeing your post has inspired me to maybe get things checked out.
 
gptoy96 said:
I also have a similar hesitation in my 04, I bought mine used last year and it's always made me wonder/worry.

I have an 05 Tacoma also which, correct me if I'm wrong, but I beleive uses the same 5spd auto as the Runner (Runner is a v8 so 5spd also). The Taco has almost triple the mileage of my Runner 90kms vs 256kms (56k miles vs. 159k miles) and there is no hesitation at all from the Tacoma.

Seeing your post has inspired me to maybe get things checked out.
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IIRC they are not the same transmission
 
It's actually cheaper for Toyota to replace the entire tranny under warranty than to rebuild it or troubleshoot it while your car sits up on the rack since it's warranty work man-hours. They'll ship your old one off for a rebuild at some point.
 
jonz said:
I'm just hoping they don't create more problems than they solve, especially since the first dealer I went to made no attempt to swap out the transmission since they couldn't replicate the probelm during a test drive.
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That first dealer you went to must be buncha newbies. :lol:
 
MikesToy said:
That first dealer you went to must be buncha newbies. :lol:
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Nah, "unable to duplicate problem" is the best answer to tell the customer when things are under warranty and also warranty work pays the dealership less in terms of billable hours.

Also, Toyota (along with any manufacturer of anything) don't like replacing/repairing stuff under warranty. It costs them money.
 
tranny problems...

okay first of all, toyota does not allow us to rebuild auto trannys... second, we have seen this a lot. on the 08's they use w/s fluid. if they were to have diagnosed it correct, they would have done fluid level check which takes many hours as you have to wait for the fluid to cool to a correct level and ect ect... thats prolly whats wrong. we see it a lot. second, the 04's did not have w/s fluid. i dont remember if is dex or t-IV but its different. the tacos and runners use different trans's... your problem is prolly simple to fix but most techs will not fix under warrany as it does not pay jack s**t. lemme know if you have anymore info or anything on what they have done. warranty is 5/60 so your cool till then. just make good notes as to when, temp, what your doing, surface, load anything you can relay to writer will help. most likely fluid level problem see it a lot.
 
drive or in neutral?

I had this similar delayed engagement from reverse into drive... it took a few seconds to engage in drive. I just thought I didn't shift the gear into drive properly, believing it was in neutral... My car is 08 sports ed with only 17K miles and experienced this 3 times within the last 6 months... Now I'm worried. What's your advice on monitoring this problem before bringing it to Toyota because my dealer hasn't been too great in pinpointing/resolving a different problem I currently have...
 
toyota rep will want to see that tranny. 4runner tranny are usually bullet proof so very rarely do they do tranny on a 4th gen 4runner
 
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