Hi all- just joined the forum after buying a 2017 TRD off-road. I’m sending out my first thread in search of transmission advice.
5,000 miles on the clock. I bought and put about 1100 break-in miles on it before a 3700 mile road trip across California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. Only mod was aftermarket air filter for those 1100 miles before going back to stock filter for the trip-knowing how much dust/dirt I would encounter.
During break-in, no weird behavior. About 250-300 miles into the trip, a couple of really obnoxious transmission behaviors popped up.
Scenario 1- Happens about 45mph or higher when climbing a hill (highway/freeway). I’ll be in 5th gear and need more power. I’ll dip into the throttle and it downshifts to 4th gear just fine. More throttle gets me 3rd gear for steeper climbs. The issue is after I have the speed/momentum I want I feather the throttle to get an upshift back to 5th. The 4Runner will do 3rd to 4th fine, but is reluctant to go back into 5th. Even with foot off the throttle altogether, it stays in 4th for another 30-60 seconds beyond what would seem needed. When it does make the upshift- no slipping or hesitation and it’s not a hard shift. Same thing happens at the top of a climb and even starting down the other side. If I want more power, it’s in 4th when I just want the bit of power that 5th would normally give me. It's like the 4Runner is delayed before it decides 5th is okay. Some type of stress point within the powertrain computer triggering an unwanted hold. This does not happen cruising around town or going up gentler slopes/small hills (500 feet with gradual gain). It cycles through the gears just fine.
Scenario 2- When coming to a stop or coasting down a hill- transmission is automatically downshifting from 5th to 4th. This is with foot off the throttle and hovering over or using the brakes. Tapping the throttle to try and get it back into 5th (such as reaching the bottom of a hill on the freeway)- it takes 30-60 seconds like above, and since it’s in 4th-I’m again getting more power than the situation would call for and the engine is needlessly over-revving.
I’m reverting to using the manual shift mode to adjust. Using cruise control- same behavior happens but not as much. Scenario 2 seems transmission programming and me not getting along. I get the idea of using engine braking to slow a vehicle-just don’t like how intrusive it is after I think the job is done. Scenario 1 however, is extremely irritating and I feel affects driveability.
Before I visit the dealer, I’m trying to get a better idea of what this might be, or what to tell them to look at. I’m also wondering if disconnecting the battery would reset any of the powertrain/control modules and unlearn the behavior? Can it be unlearned/reset? The first 1100 miles of daily driving were mainly flat with maybe 300 miles up and down passes-none over 3,500 feet. The road trip was different- up and down passes from negative feet in death valley to 9,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada’s.
Thoughts? Ideas? Sorry for the long thread and thank you for any information. It’s a beast of a machine otherwise. Just want to enjoy it more.
-Matt
5,000 miles on the clock. I bought and put about 1100 break-in miles on it before a 3700 mile road trip across California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. Only mod was aftermarket air filter for those 1100 miles before going back to stock filter for the trip-knowing how much dust/dirt I would encounter.
During break-in, no weird behavior. About 250-300 miles into the trip, a couple of really obnoxious transmission behaviors popped up.
Scenario 1- Happens about 45mph or higher when climbing a hill (highway/freeway). I’ll be in 5th gear and need more power. I’ll dip into the throttle and it downshifts to 4th gear just fine. More throttle gets me 3rd gear for steeper climbs. The issue is after I have the speed/momentum I want I feather the throttle to get an upshift back to 5th. The 4Runner will do 3rd to 4th fine, but is reluctant to go back into 5th. Even with foot off the throttle altogether, it stays in 4th for another 30-60 seconds beyond what would seem needed. When it does make the upshift- no slipping or hesitation and it’s not a hard shift. Same thing happens at the top of a climb and even starting down the other side. If I want more power, it’s in 4th when I just want the bit of power that 5th would normally give me. It's like the 4Runner is delayed before it decides 5th is okay. Some type of stress point within the powertrain computer triggering an unwanted hold. This does not happen cruising around town or going up gentler slopes/small hills (500 feet with gradual gain). It cycles through the gears just fine.
Scenario 2- When coming to a stop or coasting down a hill- transmission is automatically downshifting from 5th to 4th. This is with foot off the throttle and hovering over or using the brakes. Tapping the throttle to try and get it back into 5th (such as reaching the bottom of a hill on the freeway)- it takes 30-60 seconds like above, and since it’s in 4th-I’m again getting more power than the situation would call for and the engine is needlessly over-revving.
I’m reverting to using the manual shift mode to adjust. Using cruise control- same behavior happens but not as much. Scenario 2 seems transmission programming and me not getting along. I get the idea of using engine braking to slow a vehicle-just don’t like how intrusive it is after I think the job is done. Scenario 1 however, is extremely irritating and I feel affects driveability.
Before I visit the dealer, I’m trying to get a better idea of what this might be, or what to tell them to look at. I’m also wondering if disconnecting the battery would reset any of the powertrain/control modules and unlearn the behavior? Can it be unlearned/reset? The first 1100 miles of daily driving were mainly flat with maybe 300 miles up and down passes-none over 3,500 feet. The road trip was different- up and down passes from negative feet in death valley to 9,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada’s.
Thoughts? Ideas? Sorry for the long thread and thank you for any information. It’s a beast of a machine otherwise. Just want to enjoy it more.
-Matt
That "Huh? Oh! Let's go" hesitation in 1st gear we get sometimes is annoying as hell and seems to be fairly normal across the board with this motor and trans. I guess Toyota is still figuring out the throttle by wire thing.
