3.5 long-term dependability

So do I.... I don't have the manual handy but what's the overall capacity of both with and without the transmission cooler for the towing package? How significant would 1/2 quart low be on it if total capacity were 10 qts

What's max and minimum capacities for safe operation?

Anyone know?

 

How long do you wait between releasing the brake when shifting from reverse to drive?

I usually wait a second or two when I feel the transmission engage before I release the brake, have been doing that on my first gen too. In fact I also do it on the wife's car too. Never had any sort of slip ever since I've been doing that.

 

Nope, my Tundras were great. As tne Tacoma has gained mileage, it has become much smoother and shifts less. Originally, shift, shift, shift,...shift, shift, shift. Now a bit over 12,000 and it and I have settled in together. Lots of fun to drive and, except for rare xwind howl, runs like a clock and none of the problems others describe. Made 12/15 Baja. Engine design is closer to a chain driven ohc Alfa Romeo (Ferrari) than anything else I've had apart.

 

And you're smarter than the Toyota engineers? As you know I'm still on the fence about the longevity of my trucks transmission, but do you really think they just "threw a bunch of parts together" like you said earlier just randomly having no idea how they'll work together? C'mon.

 

I find this not something thats exclusive to this truck. Pretty much every vehicle I've owned with an automatic transmission I've given it a second or two to get into gear. You're in that much of a hurry where you have to be there that 1 second faster at the risk of stressing the transmission or causing damage?

 

Was your truck one of the ones that was under-filled, and are you having any issues? If not, you really have no grounds making that claim. Did you tow 3,000lbs over mountain passes after your truck was broken in per the Owner's Manual only to find later on that your transmission was under-filled? Are you experiencing random, erratic shifting, the truck mysteriously going into neutral while driving and clunking when down shifting when coming to a stop? If you answer no to these questions you have no place making that statement.

 

Still doesn't mean the 3rd Gen looks burlier. I never said they weren't the same size.

 

Not the point. I was responding to his assertion that "a bunch of parts thrown together" from a previous design "seems to work great." Which does not prove the new system will meet or exceed previous and differing designs; for obvious reasons. It doesn't make it bad. It just doesn't mean it is proven either.

 

Either way, I doubt they just 'threw a bunch of parts together!" Many vehicles share the same power plant at it's core. Even with motorcycles, Triumph for example, will use the same 1050cc platform for a high performance race bike and a lower HP/higher torque touring bike. I don't think making that previous poster's claim holds water.

 

Damn that is f'd up.

 

Yet no one around here seemed to notice or even care that GM slipped a Camaro/Cadillac engine into the new Colorado.

 

Uh, yeah but the Colorado/Canyon is still relatively new too.

 

To answer the original poster's question .... toyota has been using different variations of the 3.5L for over 10 years.

 

But the 2GR is not new. Yes...some of the tech on the top-end is new, but the "meat" of the engine is not. The 2GR debuted way back in 2004 in the '05 Avalon. People forget that it's been doing duty in the Sienna/Venza/Highlander/RX for years without issue. All those vehicles are on the larger side and all are rated to tow in that 4500-5000 lbs range with tow package....limited only by their FWD setup. The 500cc difference in displacement between the 2GR and the old 1GR was lost in stroke not bore, so the internals of both engines are quite similar. Remember, they are both in the same GR engine family.

Quit sweatin' the details and enjoy that rig.

 

10.5 Quart for V6 and 10.7 for V6 with tow per the owners manual: http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM04005U/xhtml/OM04005U.html?locale=en

Min Max? Dunno. I've seen automatic transmissions take a gallon of fluid to correct and they got around fine after. A quart or two low.... probably isn't apocalyptic for the transmission.

I'll respond in your next quote below.

Good practice IMO.

Not being intimately familiar with this particular transmission and basing my opinion on automatic transmissions I'm familiar with..... I think the key is the fact it is random is quite important. If it were something with significant mechanical damage (ie, clutches, steels, pump) it would be around all the time. It being random, makes me think that there is a flaky solenoid, bad ground, or a piece of trash in one of the hydraulic circuits. It might even be a flaky sensor the computer is depending on to make changes. Kinda sounds like a lag in a hydraulic circuit..... low fluid would likely cause it often. You might pay attention to if the transmission is hot or cold. Might help determine the cause. I could be off my rocker, but that's what I'd think.

Maybe/maybe not. Did your transmission get better when the fluid was corrected? How low on fluid was it? If it was grossly low, it would be hard to argue that low fluid was the cause. If it really was, I'd expect the transmission to slip pretty badly (which would be a key identifier of a problem) and/or transmission temperatures to cause the light to come on. Maybe not, but if low fluid was a serious issue, I'd expect to see those things.

Were you having those issues early or after it was corrected? I think my response to deergetr is probably applicable to your situation. If you did have transmission damage, that could be the source of debris..... or it could be any one of those things I mentioned and likely due to some QC issue at the plant..... especially with so many people having the issue. After all, the low fluid is a QC issue. How many more QC issues need to be addressed with the AT?

I really don't think low fluid is the cause (unless grossly low), I think there is some other issue likely due to QC at the plant. I could be wrong though.

 

High revs are pretty much only going to wear out the cylinder walls. You probably wont have a mechanical failure rather you'll just start burning oil. High RPM and long strokes don't go together, heavy weight internals and high rpm don't go together. A lot of factors here, all things that engineers take into account. The redline is not a line that once passed would cause the engine to explode, it's merely a safe limit set by the engineers. They probably use forged internals to give strength and lower the weight to decrease stress. But then, they are using new techniques where they line the cylinder walls with special materials so i can't really comment on how those age. Regardless more RPM = more wear, but I'm guessing the wear rate is decreased so you can still get a long life out of the engine vs is old school cylinder linings.

 

Yup.... Manufacturing methods and materials have gotten much better over the last couple of decades.

 

my 16 V6 Auto Trans has the same hesitation between R & D when it is cold first thing in the AM or after setting for a couple of hours. When engine temp gauge is up to normal there is no problem and it has never experienced any slipping between shifts in any gear. The truck was built on 2-16-16 and has done it from day one. Took it to dealer with just over 1000 miles on it to have Trans oil checked it was 1.25 Qt low. Now has just over 3100 miles on it and has had a gental life with no trailer towing as of yet but soon will be pulling a trailer with total load rate including trailer weight of 4600 lb. Iam taking it back to the dealer to complain about the hesitation because it is annoying as hell and I have never had a Trans feel or act like this

 

My 2011 E90 M3 had a V8 that redlined at 8,400 rpm. A V6 that redlines at 6,000 really isn't a high-reving engine these days.

 

Yeah but we have to see a high-volume, high-revving truck be on the market for a significant amount of time.