Has anyone had an actual trans failure?

Highly doubtful these trucks will ever make it into the 300,000 Mile Club.Remember this is not your Fathers truck which was made 100 % in Japan by highly skilled and well paid Auto Workers using high quality in house materials.

 

Try S mode more around town and see how it shifts when under 45

That "lurch you feel at speed (55-60 mph) might be the truck shifting between 5 and 6.

Stick it in S5 at that speed and see if it lurches, that removes the 2nd OD gear if that speed and rpm is right at the shift point.

 

The computers likely won't last 200k.

 

When I told the service manager about how the transmission acted, he said "maybe you need to drive it in that other mode all the time." Yeah, uhh, no.

 

I was told that is normal

 

You did a great job explaining all the issues I have. I have a hard time explaining to my dealer what I experience and will use this when I go back to the dealership and when I call Toyota cooperate to submit a complaint tomorrow.

 

I think as a whole most of the transmission issuest are overblown but the truck technology is a little different than others you might be used to.

It's different in how most other autos drive because it has two OD gears so if you leave it in D, it tries to lower rpms to maintain fuel economy. Some just expect it to drive like everything else they've driven and the truck doesn't do that, some are fine with it like myself, some think it's like Toyota committed a serious crime.

The truck has two overdrive gears, 5 and 6 and the earlier versions of the transmission programming pushed for maximum use of the overdrive gears so you're lugging along at 1k rpms in 5th or 6th all the time to save gas mileage. As you speed up in the overdrive gears the transmission would have to either be slow to respond or kick down a gear or two to accelerate. In order to defeat accessing the OD gears 5 and 6 the engineers installed S mode so you can drive around saving gas with lower RPMs in D (ECO for lack of a better term) or just use S4 around town and S5, S6 or D on the highway.

If you don't want it to hunt using cruise control , use S5 with cruise on. The revs will be higher than in D but the hunting will be less. if setting cruise on flat ground over 75, use D or S6 just remember at the higher gear it will still kick down depending on slope to maintain speed. Just like riding a multispeed bike and if you want to maintain speed, you might need to downshift to keep up momentum.

I've said this a few months ago, I think a lot of the transmission complaints regarding shiftiness would not be so prevalent had they labelled things differently. If they programmed S4 to be "D" on the transmission selector, S5 as OD1 and S6 /D as ECO and a little light turned on the dash indicating such, people wouldn't be complaining as much. They would probably use D (S4) and OD (S5) all the time and think the truck shifts fine, when they set it to ECO they think the shiftiness is normal due to the truck trying to save gas at all costs.

But because everyone wants to set it to D and forget about it, people are complaining because in this case D doesn't drive like other cars or trucks in the past.

The current TSB removed the R-D delay and reduced the aggressiveness of accessing the OD gears 5 and 6 at lower speeds by extending some of the shift points but it will still climb to them eventually to maintain better mpg. To prevent the transmission from climbing to the OD gears at all S mode is still available to use.

You can also play with the ECT button which improves throttle response but lowers fuel economy.

Bumping from D to S mode is as simple as bumping the gear shift left or right while in motion. To me it's a non issue but you need to drive it for yourself to see how you like it.

 

^3000 miles. This is about what I think too. That clunk downshift while braking is the only thing that bothers me, hope it gets worked out in the flash.

 

"Catastrophic failure", no...But Toyota did replace the transmission at ~1500 miles in my 17 Limited (9/16 build date) due to "no upshift past 4th gear while using cruise control"...It was replaced the same week that the latest TSB came out and I got both at the same time...My truck just turned over 5000 miles and I have not had that problem since...

I opened a case with Toyota Corp when my dealership "could not duplicate the problem"...I never ask and they never offered an "extended warranty"...

With that being said, could/should the transmission be better, absolutely...Can S mode and/or ECT mask some of the issues, sure...

Personally, I had rather put my new truck in D and enjoy driving it, but that is not the case "yet"...Just my experiences and opinion...

 

Someone had some Toyota Documents Posted up here not so long ago on the 3.5 and it only had an Expected Service Life of 160,000 Miles, so I imagine the Trans probably has similar expected life.

 

If they hadn't fixed my transmission issues with adding fluid and with the TSB flash I would have lemoned the truck long ago.

It shifts soooo much better now. It's super smooth and it downshifts like you'd expect when you add gas. Every once in a while it holds a gear oddly on the interstate, but it's not a shift happy, clunky POS like it was.

It shouldn't shift so badly that you have to ask this question on an internet forum. They owe you a truck that works--the truck you paid for.

The last major issue I have is the diff howl. I'm holding on the hope that they address it. Otherwise, I'll unload it when I think the math works out (and or I can find an adequate replacement like a T4R,F150, Ranger, or even an old Tacoma).

 

An engine spending its life at 4500+ rpm won't last the same as one spending its life at 2500 rpm when they are both traveling the same amount of miles, displacement being fairly equivalent.

 

Lowest revving motor at speed I've ever owned.

 

I live 3 miles away and work 5 miles away from a Toyota dealer. If I had these issues I would be mad as hell. With you being 130 miles away from a dealer you need to stay at a holiday inn and waste vacation days to get your crappy truck diagnosed? What a joke.

Trade in for a 2015 4.0L auto asap and take the financial hit.

 

THIS is EXACTLY what I have been searching for. Thank you so much.
I have wondered on several occasions if I just simply need to learn how to drive THIS truck and you have confirmed that.
This makes so much sense to me right now.

Yes, I still think it's quirky but after reading this I think I "get it" more than ever before.

That kinda sucks but I'm not shocked. Honestly, if I make it to 100K in this truck (at my current rate that'll be in about 5 or 6 years), then I will have owned it longer than my last truck and I will be ready for something else by then anyway (I know, flame away).

Thanks again!!

 

I've had all that computer bullshit and mine still clunks when I come to a stop. I can hear it and feel it. Good luck

 

I have 509 miles and my truck has probably spent 6 seconds max @4500 rpm

Obviously I'm still new but don't see the truck staying at 4.5k for any extended periods

 

I think you bring up some good points but there's something you haven't thought of...

I had an 06 Dakota DCSB with a 3.7L and a 4-speed auto. It too drove exactly as some of the guys on here describe and how I experienced one drive... hunting for gears, couldn't stay in OD on overpasses or flat roads with moderate wind, supposedly improved performance at the push of a button labled "tow/haul" mode...

The real issue with that truck was simply too big a truck, too small of a motor.

In Toyota's case, it's too big a truck with too tall of gears (my MT has plenty of guts in 6th).

I think a lot of people are pissed because, not only does this pickup not drive like other vehicles, it doesn't even drive like it's predecessor! I got out of the Dakota and bought a 2011 Tacoma because it improved the driving experience. A 2017 AT would have detracted from it, which is what a lot of people are thinking.

The S mode is not some revolutionary idea... it simply keeps the transmission in the gear you pick and lower. Ford has had S mode for years. It's just like every other auto ever made where you can select any gear you want. While it's nice for certain situations (towing, driving in mountains) it would be a pain to 90% of us if we had to jump in a new truck and use S mode to solve the rubix cube of a transmission.

Besides, most people go from MTs to ATs so they don't have to row a stick.

If Toyota had left the gearing of 5th alone and, as you say, "added" an eco mode (or tall 6th) as an option you could select, along with clearly defined parameters of where it will work and where it wouldn't, there wouldn't be any confusion or issues. It would simply become an option that nobody uses because it sucks.

 

There have been quite a few reports of transmissions getting replaced under warranty , however none of which were catastrophic failures .
Sometimes dealerships dont have a choice because they dont repair transmissions anymore , they just remove the old and replace with new . Thats not to say the dealer technicians are incapable of fixing internal transmission problems , but the fact that their hands are tied by Toyota to the amount of internal work they can do

 

Anyone own a Nissan? Your lucky to get 75k-80k before the tranny goes out completely. It's been that way for 10 years or so.