On November 29th, the transmission on my 2000 Limited Tundra 4x4 with Access Cab called it quits. According to dealer, torque converter failed and came apart, ruining the entire transmission. Have waited for over a month (January 3rd) for new transmission to arrive and be replaced. Work done under 5/60000 powertrain. Finally get back this week. Dealer said that this is the first one (Tundra, Sequoia, Land Cruiser) transmission they've had fail--hence difficultly in part availability. After much work with dealer and Toyota Corporate customer service they finally got my part on the "critical" list and in-house at the dealer.
Transmission was not abused at all. Only hint I had was two abrupt up-shifts a couple of weeks apart then complete transmission failure. Has been very frustrating experience. Dealer has been good (paying for rental car) but still can't believe it took over a month.
Also, I've owned/own several Toyota's (have 96 Avalon as well) and swear by them. Starting to think that my old Ford f-150 was not so bad. Have been Toyota faithful making fun of my old F-150 and reliability of Big Three trucks--guess this is what I get.
Two questions:
1. Wondering if anyone else has had transmission problems/failure.
Hopefully this is just an isolated part failure.
2. Brake vibration issue has not been a problem for me--see a lot of traffic on this issue and was wondering how widespread it is? At 38k should I expect this to be a problem down the road?
After putting about 500 miles on my new 2002 Tundra SR5, it needed a new transmission. It had very rough shifts, and more importantly, after I would reach about 50 MPH on the highway, it could not find the gears, the engine would just rev. I would have to get to the side of the highway and come to a complete stop. After stopping I was able to get in gear again, only to have it happen over and over after reaching highway speeds. This was actually really traumatic in rush hour traffic, I felt like the car put me in a really unsafe situation.
The dealership told me that it is toyotas policy to completely replace the transmission, as opposed to fixing it, when the car has under 10,000 miles, or something like that. So this was a relief to me. They did it really fast, it took them two days to get the new transmission and another day to put it in. The dealer said it was "better than new" ??? However, the whole ordeal really pissed me off, as you can imagine.
But, after all is said and done... I'm pretty happy with the Tundra at 8,000 miles. It looks awesome and drives really well, super smooth engine. The tranny still has an occasional rough shift, but it really sounds like this is extremely common/normal, and it seems to be getting more smooth the more I drive it. Maybe I will try ATF at some point.
The only real problems I have are a dash rattle, and a bit of a hissing/squeeling noise when steering. I intend to have the dealership fix the rattle, but they cannot find anything wrong related to the steering. No problems with the brakes so far.
I had my transmission come apart on me at 55,000 miles! The dealer told me the overdrive unit came apart and contaminated the entire transmission, torque converter and the trans cooler! They had to replace the transmission, torque converter and flush out the trans lines and the trans cooler. They told me also that mine was the first they had heard of going out! I can sort of believe them because when they were taking the trans out they broke the modulator valve to the transfer case.
No towing on mine, I only put about 500 miles on it before it blew. I guess something was wrong with the transmission before it even reached the dealership.
I am really curious though, as to whether the dealership really replaced the transmission. I dont have any reason to think they would deliberately lie to me. Its just that it was done so fast. I hear of people waiting for a long time for a new transmission to come it (i.e. johnmgeorge) or even that "there is not one available in America" How is it that my new transmission arrived in 2-3 days and installed in 1 day???
Do you think a trained eye could tell whether my dealership replaced the transmission or fixed the existing one?
Like any mechanical part, all things do fail, some earlier than others. I found it common for the Dealerships to say "this never happens, it's not a comon problem." My Dealership has replaced several transmissions and simply takes the old one out and puts in a rebuilt one. Note that the vast majority of rebuilt/reconditioned engines/transmissions are actually better than the new ones as every part is checked for problems, while new ones are simply put together.
At 1000 miles, I would flush the transmission and use a good synthetic fluid.
Johnmgeorge, Mercer, and tenntundra, what was your experience with the transmission before it blew? Did it feel like it was not shifting at all or it just gave up with out you notice any difference when driving. I'm asking because yesterday my Tundra felt a little different when driving. The truck will have vibration in the cab when I'm going about 30 mph and go away when I get to a higher speed, which I thought was my drive shaft, but I'm kinda of thinking it's the transmission not shifting to the next gear. Any one nows a way to check if it's my transmission or drive shaft? It never had this problem before. I do have the 4.5 " Tuff Country lift kit on, but never had drive shaft vibration, so I'm kinda of thinking it's the transmission. Let me know what you guys think. I need HELP!!!
Mine was shifting rough (not like the rough shifts that everyone talks about on this web site) It was quite a bit worse than that I think, really rough. But mostly it was what I discussed in my original reply to this topic below. I would be driving along and all of a sudden the engine would just rev, like I was in neutral, but I would still be in Drive??? I dont remember feeling any vibrations.
Thanks for the info. Stooge. Maybe if the dealer fixed my transmission instead of replacing it, i'll be better off. I'm still curious to know if they really replaced it, I think i will try to find out.
Only signs I had were 2 very rough/abrupt upshifts from 3rd to overdrive. Happened twice (two weeks apart). Nothing more for another month--then it just gave out a stop sign.
Transmision failure at about 27k miles. Prior symptoms were slipping out of gear (1st or 2nd) once or twice and a hard jolting shift two or three times. Note: Exposed to deep flood waters but no fluid contamination noted.
I have an early 2000 Tundra V-8 and the automatic transmission went out at 40K miles. The dealer replaced it promptly but the vehicle shakes and shimmies (sp) when shifting from 1-2 at 15-20 mph. This was noticeable the instant i drove it off the lot. The transmission slips under moderate acceleration on shifts form 2-3 and 3-4. The worst vibrations comes when i slow down to make a turn at 10mph and attempt to accelerate. It feels as if the engine or transmission isn't bolted down. I took it back to the dealer 3 times and they say it is normal and nothing wrong. Probably the worst vehicle built after the dealer screwed it up. Went to another dealer and they didn't want to attempt to figure it out since the first dealer worked on it. I now i 58K on the truck and am surpised it even goes forward somedays. Haven't contact Toyota yet. I too have had brake problems and the dealer says they are not covered, thought a dealer in CA replaced the pads and turned the rotors at 10K at no charge. The dealer here in IL also screwed up a basic oil change showing no oil on the dipstick and wouldn't claim responsibility the day after the oil change. Added oil and no leaks. I have only easy mile on this truck and no towing. It is quiet and comfortable but ready to trade off quickly before it falls apart. Any ideas about the vibration problems.
If it started after you new transmission was installed than I would check the drive shaft alignment. Some cars shafts are dimamically balanced. It could be 180 out. Tipically we would index the shaft before it was removed. Good luck.
My 2000 limited 4x4 tranny grenaded this morning. Blew up at highway speeds while in overdrive. I bought it new in Oct of 2000 and it has about 65,000 on it(mainly hwy). There had been much warning that I have tried to relay to my dealer. Unfortunately, they had given me the run around until it was too late. This is a very long story.....The short version: I had been experiencing rough shifts and some minor slipping. This started somewhere around 20-25k mi. I been complaining to the dealer and had a trans service around 30k. Didn't help, they didn't listen. "Normal, it is a pick up afterall". I knew the truck and knew the trans wasn't right. Finally, after having them check it for rough, banging shifts and with the same "seems fine" response I got an engine light as well as some good rattling/rumbling when in overdrive. NOW, they were listening(around 64500mi, officially out of warranty), they dropped the pan and found metal. They wanted to drop in a new tranny but Toyota wouldn't approve it, just to replace the torque converter lock up solenoid that threw the code. Toyota said the metal was normal clutch metal(??does this sound right?) New fluid and solenoid, they told me the truck "shifted fine and drove fine" and was ready. Covered under warranty incl rental(they had the truck for 3weeks!) I drove it off the parking lot and by the first light knew it was not fixed. Still had the rumbling in OD that would rumble and rattle badly as I came to a stop. As if the tranny was stuck in OD and couldn't downshift normally as I stopped. I took it right back and went for a test drive to point out this obvious prob to the srvc mgr. This was last Friday, a week ago tomorrow. He told me he would check into the noises with the Toy rep and for me to drive it over the weekend and note any changes. I called him this past Tues to tell him the noise was worse and he told me that the rep authorized replacement of the front fluid pump and scheduled me for this coming Monday. Well she didn't make it. Now I'm back in a rental car, surfing this site only to see that some others have had tranny failures like me. Let's see how Toyota responds to this now. Oh, I've got the tapping/ticking sound from the headers too as well as the brake vibration. Neither of which, seem to be diagnosible by the dealer. They do acknowledge hearing the ticking noise but say that by the time they try to diagnose the cause it warms up and goes away. I love the truck, but I am extremely frustrated with it and Toyota. I have preached foreign cars for years, which makes my first Toy experience so ironic and frustrating. Any advice?
Replacement Transmission for 2000 Tundra with 38k
Transmision Failure
failed transmission
Linear Mode
