??TRANMISSION TROUBLES??

I have a huge mystery here,

I have an 09' Automatic TRD Sport. When I am driving around town in "D" - DRIVE, if I lightly accelerate (not floor it but go with traffic and slightly depress the gas pedal) to around 23mph and my RPMs don't exceed 1500, the truck starts shake until I power out of it at 1500+ rpms and typically a speed of 30mph. If I do press the gas pedal hard enough to exceed that 1500 rpm's at around that 25mph mark, nothing happens and it shifts normally. Further more, if I am decelerating in this speed/gear range with my foot still lightly pressing on the gas, it begins to rapidly stutter until I take my foot all the way off the gas. I do not experience the shakes and stutters under any other speeds or conditions!! It sounds great when it changes gears too.

I found that I can completely avoid any of these symptoms by driving in 3rd gear. The throttle and acceleration feel a lot healthier, when staying in 3rd as well.

Any thoughts on how can address this issue. Throttle body and MAF were just cleaned, I have an appointment with a different shop as the first shop couldn't figure it out. Any tips on things I should have them look at? Any thoughts on what it could be?

I will respond to all posts, so please ask away!

 

You might want to change the name of this thread..

 

Just a heads up, your thread title "Please HELP" is usually reserved for members requiring immediate assistance such as being stuck or broken down somewhere.

 

It does this in 4th gear too?

Next time this happens, press the brake pedal while still giving it gas.
Only press the brake pedal enough to have the brake lights come on.
What you are doing here is forcing the torque converter to unlock.
By doing this, we can see if the issue is the torque converter.

If the shudder stops when you tap the brake pedal, and then comes back after you let off, it’s probably the torque converter.

 

Have you checked your trans fluid level or condition lately?

 

Okay I'll try that.

It doesn't happen in 4th either, which I don't understand. Only happens in drive

I tried pressing the brake pedal after inducing the shudder, it stopped, and came back for a second before I powered out of it. After doing so, the shudder and shaking hasn't been as frequent, but it still there.

I'll have the shop check the condition of the torque converter and do a transmission flush as well.

Anything else I should check or keep an eye out for?

 

If you are under 40-45 mph consistently don't use D. Just put it in 4th until you get on a road where speeds above 45 are the norm. It's OK to just leave it in D if you're accelerating through 45. But right at 40-45 mph is sort of a no-mans-land. The truck wants to shift into OD. But the engine doesn't have enough power to work properly at 1500 rpm at that speed.

Not saying you don't have another problem. You might, but I know my truck is happier not being in OD when putting around at slow speeds.

 

I appreciate the responses. I did a full vehicle flush 20k miles ago.

Here’s an update from the shop: After installing some new plugs, they determined it to be the converter slipping and recommended that the transmission be replaced to negate any damage the bad converter has cause so far.

Now Im looking for advise on how to proceed. I didn’t buy this truck and put $8,000 in upgrades thinking the transmission would go out on a Tacoma! Would it be worth fixing or should I consider selling and moving on?

 

The torque converter shudder is a common thing and people drive 100 000 miles with it. I doubt it has caused any damage to the transmission. You don’t need a whole new tranny to replace the torque converter and you probably don’t need a torque converter.

Add a tube of Lubeguard Platinum to the tranny fluid and it will probably fix it. The torque converter does a “flex lockup” where it pulses the lockup on and off many times a second. This is a fuel mileage function. If the converter clutches are glazed they skip a little giving the chatter effect. Lubeguard changes the friction properties and eliminates the slippage. And it will cost you under $100 installed if you pay someone to squeeze it in.

 

Good next step.

 

My only hesitancy going that route is that its at the point when I am decelerating in DRIVE from high speeds, and then go to give it gas, it is non responsive unless I swap it into 4th to get it going again. Would lube really address this?

 

Another possible issue it could be for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK-PHcTiBkc

Has anyone changed cam oil control valves?

 

Mine does this. I slide it into 4th until Im going 50 or so. If it grenades the transmission I will worry about it then. I have been doing this for the last 25000 miles.

 

Have you read through this thread? Read the first post anyway...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...th-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/

 

Most all vehicles should NOT be driven in D around town, in traffic, on country roads...!

Like mentioned, unless you are going to be going 50+mph for miles, don't drive in D.

They program vehicles to go into overdrive as early as possible, and this can be hard on a transmission and torque convertor over time.

Drive in 3 (or 4 if needed) when running below 45-50 mph...you might lose one-mile-per-gallon in fuel economy. (BFD, considering the cost of tranny replacement.)

And be careful having your transmission "flushed". That is generally BAD, and should never be done with modern automatics---it can stir up too much gunk that can kill your tranny.

Drain-and-fills are the simplest and most reliable way to go. You introduce a few quarts of new fluid every couple weeks maybe, that way your transmission gets "use" to the new fluid. Three, four, or even five D-n-F's are required to get mostly new fluid.

Anything by LubeGuard is good stuff. They have instant shudder-fix, synthetic additive, and others.

ToolCat

 

I have read through this thread and from the sounds of it this shudder seems to be a common problem. Has anyone seen a video or steps floating around on how to add and how much Lubegard is needed?

ToolCat,

I am the second owner of the vehicle and I have always drove in "DRIVE" as I'm assuming the first owner did as well. Moving forward I will drive around in 3 or 4, but at this point when I do need to shift into drive on the freeway, I am noticing that when I go to accelerate after braking in traffic, it is nearly unresponsive to get going again. Could you see LubeGard solving this as well or has the damage already been done?

 

Here's another helpful video with some re-assuring comments for anyone else experiencing these problems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cd7LwwUtuc

 

He can’t answer that and no one can. Personally I would try the cheap option first. Get a full fluid exchange (it’s NOT a FLUSH, the tranny pump works as usual pushing old fluid out as new fluid is added) and add a tube of Lubeguard. Or spend $8k on a tranny or trade the truck in as you seem to want to be convinced to do.