Clutch slipping after 8k?

My truck is a 2010 4cyl 4x4 5 speed. It only has a little over 8k on it and in the past week it seems like the clutch is slipping on occasion. The first time it happened was last saturday night when I was going up a hill at about 40-45 mph in 4th gear. I always go up this hill in the 4th at that speed. I noticed that the rpms somewhat quickly went up from about 2k to 3k and my speed stayed about the same. So I let off the gas the rpms dropped and i down shifted a gear and all was fine.

Same thing happened a few days ago. Then went away.

Last night I was hauling some fire wood home, had maybe 1/3 of the bed full so not much weight at all and it did it a couple times this time in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Did not do it all the time when i hit the gas pedal but maybe 3 or 4 times in a 5 mile stretch.

It seems this happens when the rpms are between 2 and 3k and i give it more than half throttle.

Any ideas whats going on with the truck?

And NO, I did not learn how to drive stick with this truck, I have been driving stick since I was 16, I am now 23.

 

mine does it every once in a while, i would take it in, but i'm sure they will call and say they are unable to replicate the problem.

 

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Please let us know what they say.

 

well guys I am planning on taking it in. its just a matter of when...

two thoughts here...
first is the truck is due for its 10k mile service in about a month. since it only does it on occasion part of me wants to wait till that service is due this way in the meantime maybe it will either go away or become more consistent or something that will make it easier to diagnose.

second thought is could it be bad do wait in a sense that i am damaging the clutch or whatever it is that is causing the slipping by not having it looked at right away?

what would you guys do? wait it out the 1,500 miles/roughly a month or take it in ASAP?

 

I would call them up and tell them what's happening ASAP.

 

I have 265/75/16 wrangler duratracs on this truck. do you guys think they will blame this problem on the tires, or is it possible that the tires actually caused this? They are only one size bigger then stock so I really hope not.

 

If you have the stock tires, I guess you could put them back on. It never hurts to put stock parts on before you go in for service. Just one less thing for the dealership to blame the problem on.

 

nope, dont have the stockers anymore. hmm what to do...

 

update...

stopped in at the dealership on my way home from work and explained what i was noticing. the mechanic said lets go for a ride and i said sure. i drove the truck and of course i couldn't get it to slip. anyway he told me it is definatley the clutch and or the pressure plate and should not be doing that at such low mileage. the truck is at 8,500 miles now and we decided to wait it out until the 10K service to see if it gets worse, stays the same, or can replicate the problem easier. either way he said once we can replicate the problem Toyota should replace whatever needs to be done under warranty even though they are considered wear items because the miles on the truck are so low.

 

are you also getting the death rattle at idle truck in neutral and the a/c on?

 

first i heard of this issue. im going to say not that i can recall but ill check it out tomorrow. is this something thats a common problem?

 

Well at such an early mileage.. its possible you ruined the clutch if you were off roading it and aren't doing it right. Or are one of those folks that uses the clutch as a parking brake at red lights. You an take out a clutch in a couple of bad starts if you really try. I've seen people roast em to ruined on one rock ledge.
But I would suspect air in the clutch cylinder or some other clutch cylinder problem. Usually they happen the other way round though, can't get it into gear. Its not clunking between gears or grinding into first is it? But they can not return as well if there's junk in the valve disallowing proper return.

Worst case is your rear main is spraying oil, but that wouldn't be intermittent.

 

Truck hasn't been offroad yet. And yea I know you can burn a clutch up real easy but trust me, I am not the one causing this, I am very easy on the truck. And no, there is no clunking or grinding going on.

 

update:

the clutch slipping issue has gotten progressively worse. the truck has about 9,500 miles on it so i took it back in. we barely made it out of the parking lot and the mechanic said thats enough proof of it slipping. so he is ordering a whole new assembly, he said he will replace the clutch, pressure plate, bearings, etc. all under warranty.

this is along with my 10k service is getting done next wed.

im just happy to hear toyota is taking care of this even though its considered a "wear item"

 

This happened to me today, just as you described. In 4th, gave it gas and the rpm jumped 500 and came back. This blows! Truck has 10500 miles.

 

I would bring it in ASAP if I were you. Even if you can't get the clutch to slip at least get it on record. The mechanic told me that when its this low of miles its relatively easy to get Toyota to cover the cost of repair but when the mileage starts creeping up to 15-20k its difficult.

Good luck, hope it works out for you like it should be for me.

 

Got it to slip this morning. Taking it in after work. It happens in 4th gear traveling about 50mph, rpms are at about 2200. Give it gas to quickly accelerate, the rpms climb normally to about 2500 and then shoot to 3000+ before I let off the acelerator. Irked by this.

 

dropped the truck off this morning and got it back this evening with a new clutch, throwout bearings, pressure plate, AND flyhwheel! truck drives great now. i almost stalled a couple times on the way home because i wasnt used to a clutch that grabbed nicely anymore. all this at no cost to me! 10k service was completed to while it was there.

 

You should take it in just to establish a complaint...take it in several times if it continues.

When the clutch fries at about 50K miles you can then say you told them about it multiple times and they didn't fix it.