Manual Transmission Getting Stuck in Gear

Thanks for your help. Any idea what the ideal contact is for Toyota Corporate in this situation? https://www.toyota.com/support/contact-us

 

If they play hard to get then call Toyota, best to give the dealership as many chances as your patient enough for, or if they really try to pull some bullsh*t.

 

Hill Start Assist is on the Sport Manual but not Off Road or Pro

 

Just want to say this thread has been a major help. I received delivery on my TRD Sport in August 2016, drive only occasionally. After 2 years of ownership I have done 11,000 miles. Once a year I do a trip in excess of 1000 miles and this problem exhibited exactly as other forum members described. In my case I tow a trailer and the west Oregon terrain was just right to make 4th, 5th and 6th gear nearly impossible to change, especially as I started going a long uphill or downhill. Dangerous to have the vehicle not able to change gears!

My first call was to the dealership, and got the exact runaround reported by so many on the thread: "We cannot perform any service until one of our techs can verify the problem with a test drive." Screw that. Second call was to Toyota Corporate (1-800-331-4331) and after a fifteen minute call I have a case #. A troubleshooter should be calling me back within 24 hours, and with luck the test driving requirement can be bypassed. I just want the repair done and to move on with life.

I guess one option is to buy the $10 part online (Toyota 33292-0K011) and then take it to my local independent shop, pay them to do the 1 hour operation. (I'm mechanically inclined but don't have the tools to drop the tranny myself.) If anyone has done this service at home, I'd be interested to know how long it took and if it can be done w/o dropping the unit.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the thread! It was great bedtime reading last night and I woke up ready to deal with Toyota.

 

What part was it?

 

It's a simple fix to do yourself, and it's cheap as well. This way you can avoid playing the "cannot reproduce" roulette w the service people. Explanation and photos in the following link.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...medy-tsb-0088-16-for-rc62f-6-speed-mt.522894/

 

Followup to my Sep'18th report. Two weeks ago Toyota Corporate arranged for me to bring the truck in for testing. The case manager at the dealership told me "we're ordering the part just in case" which I felt optimistic about, even though both corporate and dealership made clear that a tech must be able to diagnose the problem during a test drive first.

To make a short story shorter, the test drive and work were completed in less than 3 hours with no additional fuss at the dealership. I was told "the tech drove it around a bit and thought he felt the problem you describe." Good enough for me! All I wanted was the TSB to be covered under warranty, and it was.

I've driven twice now under conditions similar to what would have caused it to stick and so far so good. Again, many thanks to those in this thread who helped paved the way to this smooth fix. I no longer feel like I'm driving a lemon. I agree with the advice given many times in this forum to get Corporate involved for this TSB if you get any resistance from your dealership.

 

I bought my 2016 Tacoma in May this year, at 31,000 miles. It's still under warranty. I knew (or maybe my gut feeling told me so) there is a problem with this vehicle - there were not one, but TWO previous owners, the last one dumped it after only 4 months. But... I liked the color, darn it! And, being an engineer and liking to dig in a car's guts, I said to myself "If something goes wrong, I can fix it."

It turns out, fixing the problem at the dealer is not that easy, is it? When I went to the dealer (AutoNation Toyota, in Irvine, CA), I was prepared with all the things needed (IMHO) to fix the problem in the most efficient time: case #, explanation of the problem, a copy of the TSB report (which I gave to the advisor upon him playing the old tune: "You know, sorry, but we cannot replicate the problem because we cannot drive your truck that long.").

They took the truck, and after about 2 hours, they called back. I thought it was resolved, and I thought "Wow, that was fast!". Well, guess what THEY said? "You know, sorry, but we could not replicate the problem because we cannot drive your truck that long." I said "Well, of course you cannot replicate the problem if you don't replicate the right driving conditions!" (Duh!)

I inquired about the TSB #, and explained (once again) that Toyota acknowledged there is such problem three years ago. And (that was THE surprise!) the advisor said they couldn't find it in Toyota's database - they contacted Toyota, and they could not find the TSB #. I don't understand: Are these service bulletins set to expire after a certain time?

I called again Toyota customer service, and explained the situation. They gave me another case #, and a promise there will forward the case to a regional case manager. The customer service rep was quite annoyed with me what I pulled the TSB # out of the hat; I could feel it by the change is his voice's tone.

So, there you have it. With a case #, and the TSB #, and the screenshot from Toyota's headquarters acknowledging the problem, this dealer still doesn't want to make the repair.
If the next case manager still doesn't solve it as they should, I'm going to just buy the part, and do it myself. Although, IMHO, the problem with this approach is that you let the dealer refuse its responsibility to fix the issue. And that will hurt other Tacoma owners who will experience that problem, and go to the same dealer.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how else to approach this issue? Does somebody know of another Toyota dealership in my region (S. California) that would take my truck and make the repair without telling me "Sorry, but we cannot replicate the problem"? It would be much appreciated.

 

Sorry for your woes, read my post just 2 postings up from this one of yours, and explore the link. I didn't care to play the "cannot replicate problem" game, and just fixed it myself. I bought a second MT 2016 Tacoma, and just went ahead and did the repair on it as well even though I had yet to experience the issue. You know what I'm going to tell you already. Just pull out the wrenches and roll up your sleeves. It's just not worth the hassle otherwise. It's also a safety issue......you get jammed in the wrong gear at the wrong time and can't get off the roadway, or up the hill etc and become a road hazard, etc.

Please tell us your outcome, PM me if you have questions, etc.

 

Hey Opihi59,

Sorry for such long absence from the forum. I've had some very important things to attend during this time, and never had a chance to get back to TW.

During this time I tried working with the case manager AND the main stealership, and I ended up playing phone tag with the service manager - I would call, and he was never there for one reason or another. In the end I drove to the stealership in order to meet him in person, but he was not there, and people I inquired couldn't (or wouldn't) tell me where he is. I tried a different stealership, some 50 miles away, however, I ended up with the same resolution - "no, can't do because I can't reproduce the problem".

A that point I resolved to do it myself. Screw the stealership and their warranty! I went on to your other post that shows pictures and instructions how to do it, and I found it truly easy. This weekend I went underneath the truck, found the things, but I didn't start the work yet because I don't have a transmission jack - I have to borrow one. I'll do it next week, then update you on the work.

Kind regards,
PilotFerdi

 

This is my final update:

First: many apologizes for my absence from the forum for such a long time. I had to finish something important in my life that was in the works for the past two years.

After my last post 1 year ago, I bought the pin and cap, and I set to change it at the first scheduled maintenance (45,000 miles). When I got under the vehicle, I observed oil on the shield next to the transfer case. I removed the shield, and there was quite an amount of oil leaking from the transfer case. A friend of mine who is an auto mechanic advised me to contact Toyota about the leak since the truck is still under the 100,000 miles/7years warranty. While they were working on the problem, I had this idea where I called the Service department, and asked them to also replace the pin and cap since they already opened the transmission. The pin and cap, along with the TSB were in the gloves compartment.

Guess what? They agreed to make the change, but they wanted to order the pin and cap rather than using mine - a thing related to how they justify their work with Toyota. That would take an extra two days, which was alright with me. In the end, I had the pin and cap replaced along with the transmission repair, and cost me $20 - the cost of the pin and cap, which (as I said) they didn't use. If somebody on this forum need a brand new, pin and cap in their unopened plastic bags, just send me a message. They're free.

I drove 15,000 miles by now, I will do the 60,000 miles maintenance in a day or two, and never had a problem with my transmission anymore after they replaced the pin.

Again, many thanks to all of you, and especially Opihi59, for the help in this matter!

Warm regards,
PilotFerdi

 

@PilotFerdi Sorry, I've been away as well. Glad things worked out for you here.

 

Thank you for sharing this information!! I’ve had this problem for a few years now, but don’t drive long distances often so have been at a loss to figure out what the problem was. It’s difficult to explain it. It needs to be witnessed.

Anyway!! Just wanted to let you know your post is still helping people years later! I’m looking forward to getting my beloved Tacoma fixed! ☺️