05 Highlander Accelerator Delay

[Craig G]

Hi Everyone

Recently got my car out of the dealership to check for what I considered a substantial delay in acceleration, at very low speeds (under 10mph). I have had the car since last October, and for about a month or so noticed a drastic increase in the amount I need to press the accelerator to get the car to "nudge" forward, say for example, in heavy traffic. About 4/5 times the car feels like it "jumps" slightly, and I assumed that it had to do with the drive-by-wire computer in the car, that for some reason it was not catching my slight pedal pressing all of the time.

The dealer told me that it was a normal drive-by-wire- delay in the time the accelerator is pressed to when the car actually moves forward, but I don't know if they really checked it out, or if they just gave me an explanation for what I thought was a problem. I definitely can tell that there is a slight delay between pressing the accelerator and getting the car to nudge forward at very low speeds, and now I think (unless I am just getting paranoid) that I can slightly feel the same issue at typical highway speeds, but not so much that driving the car feels dangerous.

Has anyone heard of any issues with the drive-by-wire acceleration in an 05 Highlander?

Thanks so much for any help!

[soulstalker]

It's a standard problem with the whole "drive-by-wire" system. This has been a problem for Toyotas (and Lexus) for several years now on their "drive-by-wire" vehicles.

[kenhighlander]

Checkout the TSB: ECM Calibration: Shift Feeling Enhancement TC004-05
Did the dealer perform this? I think you need to be real specific in describing the problem to convince the dealer to perform because it is covered under the Emissions Warranty. I am going to have this performed on my 05 Highlander soon. Good luck!