Torque converter chatter?

thanks. after posting all over about the ultra gauge i found it wouldnt. kinda sucks since i already have it. oh well.

I will certainly let everyone know what the dealer says.

 

Considering the vehicle uses adaptive learning , why couldnt the OP disconnect the battery and re-teach the transmission to shift later or deeper into the throttle ? I know the trans uses pulse width modulation but a more agressive shift strategy may help with the early Tcc apply rate . I remember the days when you could buy a black box in the aftermarket to control the converter . It was a common install with the 700r4 . No Pwm mind you .
The folks in the engineering dept at Toyota are making their customers suffer a lot of driveability issues in order to acheive an estimated better fuel economy . Does locking or partially locking the converter this early really save that much fuel ? Can you imagine what a set of main journal bearings look like after lagging an engine for 150,000 miles ?

 

I am a little curious on that loaner. My sister has a new (reasonably) Camry, and I thought all of them had the same transmission hers is, which is a CVT transmission that doesn't actually shift gears. Of course it does have a TCC, so it could still have that shudder.

Good point on the adaptive learning. The question would be if the TCM uses volatile memory or EEPROM memory for the adaptive learning.

Yeah, I remember the same days with the 700R4. As soon as they redesigned to the 4L60E, PWM came into light. I like the PWM system myself, and think it is great. But Toyota can't tell us that they can't work out a new algorithm for theirs to fix this.

 

I just stumbled on this thread and thought I would share my experience. About 2 years ago I got the "rumble strip" feel in very low RPMs when the truck was in OD. It was violent, the whole dash would shake pretty bad. Right around 38-40MPH. I took it to the dealer, they troubleshot, even drove around in 4x4 w/o the rear driveshaft in to diagnose. They checked the transmission fluid and topped it off, and it was fine for another 2 years. Then it started again, same symptoms. Took it to the dealer again and they troubleshot A LOT. Even did a transmission fluid flush which did not resolve the issue. They questioned the 5100 Billys and AAL I have on the rear, but dismissed those and kept digging in. Finally they got approval to put in a re-manufactured transmission as they were suspecting something with the torque converter or clutch packs. It's been fine since, that was about 5 months ago.

I have an '09 TRD Sport, Double Cab. 5100's on the front at 1.75", AAL in the rear, and 265/75/16 Duratracs now. Set of tires before that was 265/70/17 Dueller Revos.

 

Don't beat yourself up - there isn't a dipstick on our trucks. Just a fill and a drain hole. With the tranny at operating temp (and truck off), pull the fill plug. If you get a little coming out, you're good to go. If you have to dip your finger in to find fluid, you're low and need to top it up.

 

I beleive you need to check the fluid with the truck running . Thats the only time the transmission pump is turning . Checking the fluid with the truck off would give you a false reading or a very high level since the pump is not circulating transmission fluid .

Here is the tutorial http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/63851-how-drain-refill-automatic-transmission.html

 

Sorry, whatever the case - look it up in the tranny fluid change sticky and go from there.

Didn't want to give catastrophic advice and regret it, that's all.

 

so they couldn't find any problem. i took my service writer for a drive and he saw the issues and explained they actually see it in a lot of them. but since toyota hasn't admitted there is a problem they cant do anything. i asked them to please take a look at the fluid levels and they finally agreed to that. they are also going to try the TSB for the 2013 and see if that will work even though the 2014 doesn't actually have the TSB issued for it. we will see how it goes. At least they acknowledged there was an issue. but the dealership doesn't want to put any money in it to fix it if toyota isn't going to reimburse them. i also called and filled my second case with toyota.

 

My 2011 does this.I bought it used with 20k on it.Around 20 mph and downshifting it shakes and feels a bit funny.Nothing devastating but in slow traffic you feel it and when coming to a stop and it's downshifting you also feel it.When accelerating I go through that band pretty quick.It is still there but not as pronounced.

since I put an aal in it and 5100's I am going to try and shim the carrier bearing first.Cheap fix if I can get it to work.

 

are you supposed to check levels at running temp or cold? and there anyway to change fluid yourself and not have to have the dealer do like i always have had to do?

 

Did you read through this thread ?
There are 2 links posted that show you how to check the fluid level at home

 

Yeah the carrier bearing drop didn't work for me.Made my angles worse and created a vibration at 60 mph. I greased my u-joints and returned the carrier back to it's stock position.On to my next theory......

 

To the OP, I know this is a old ass thread but I have the same exact issue on my 2010. Did you ever resolve this? I'm going to check my transmission fluid level as well eventhough I had it changed last year.

 

Not only that, he's not even logged in since Nov of 2016.

 

HP Tuners.

Screw Toyota and their crap-ass engine and transmission tuning on these trucks. The best way to fix these sort of issues is to just override it entirely by writing in a new set of values.

Personally, I never experienced this issue and the sort of "chatter" I did was when the carrier bearing was failing and allowing the driveshaft to sloppily bounce up and down on hard acceleration. I went polyurethane and have never looked back since, then went HP Tuners and went even more aggressive on tuning across the board on nearly all values modifiable.

 

fluid level, and how clean it is, is my only input.
my family had a mercury minivan that had a similar issue, we bought it like that with 160k miles. we ran it till 255k miles when it shreded itself. not like we cared, since it was 1500$.
i will say my a340 paired with the 2.7 is a lot less picky than any of the 4.0 toyotas or 4.0 nissan autos which ive heard of.
but thats a transmission older than my project truck.

If you ever want any awesome transmission write ups check out anything @gearcruncher says in tons of threads. he knows his stuff.

 

I second this. my vibration wasn't quite as violent as some, but it was present and annoying. moving the TCC unlock values up so it unlocks at like ~1200 rpm instead of ~1000 rpm has virtually eliminated the vibe.

Edit: and its well worth the money for the HP tuner and credits. Plus, once you have that, you can get a better engine tune for better feel/mpg. so its a definite win/win

 

So does this mean that your TC is working how it should if the shutter returns or does this mean that there is a TC problem?

 

Means the torque converter clutch is slipping and causing a shudder. Touching the brakes tells it to unlock so the feeling goes away and then comes back qhen cruising

Some guys have had luck with a fluid additive, some have had to replace the torque converter

 

If the brakes are tapped and then released, a non problematic TC shouldn’t shudder after letting off the brake and cruising? Asking because I need to test mine.