Super Bummed

...and lots of it.

 

My local Toyo dealership is adding on to its service bay as we speak. Not the best sign.

 

Not a transmission issue. driveshaft angle and leaf springs are what seems to cause this issue. theres a tsb for it.

 

Read page after page of any TW thread. There is a lot less mechanical ability and understanding here than I would normally expect. Maybe it is laziness or people just like to chat but people seem to come here with questions instead of doing any sort of diagnosis or reasearch. The conclusions people have here don’t seem to be connected to any sort of mechanical understanding.

 

I've felt the same way. To be fair, the Tacoma is pretty capable out of the box and doesn't require mods like say trying to get a Camaro to run 11.50's in the 1/4 mile..... or build a buggy for climbing up a bunch of boulders. The Tacoma, you can just kind of buy and go do fun stuff. It's generally pretty reliable and doesn't require as much attention.

The Tacoma just allows you to go ahead and have experiences instead of getting the experience of modifying a vehicle so that you can have experiences.

 

If the mechanics were always interacting with customers directly your oil change scheduled at 9am would result in you getting your truck back after lunch or end of day. The mechanics and dealership would see their income drop due to fewer jobs booked and completed so shop rate would go up to compensate.

 

My guess, since this is such a common problem, is that they fill the tranny, maybe with as much as will fit. Then, once it is run, either some fluid fills the torque converter or flows into some void. This drops the level to the point where it is a problem.

The easy fix would be to analyze the problem on the line and add a second check / fill for the fluid. Otherwise, put a dipstick in there and have the dealer PDI it.

 

Pretty good guess.

 

I have not looked under the hood of an automatic Taco or 4Runner. I would think, with all the great folks here, someone could fab a dip stick that could be used in the fill hole? It could be marked on a truck that just got a correct fill?

 

tow package trans cooler

 

OP, as @EdgeCrusher said, the shutter is typically from driveline angles and should be resolved by correcting the rear with either updated leafs or axle shims (which I had thought they were doing from factory now). That's a good first place to start.

Some people have had to take matters into their own hands and install 1, 2, or 3 degree shims themselves to correct it. Hopefully your dealership will take care of things for you. If they get stuck on the trans as the problem, you might offer this as a suggestion to steer them in the right direction.

 

There you go!

 

Lots of good info here.

I too wouldn't suspect the tranny but with the ways things go who knows...

OP at least they're getting the fluid levels fixed so no more worries about that.

 

Just don't worry too much. It's not a huge deal, and if it comes down to it and they won't/can't fix the issue, lift that shit like a boss and move on

 

At least its under warranty..

 

Alright - just got an update - things are looking up! Posted update to the first post to keep things easier (timeline).