[KZJ78]

I have a new to me 2008 Sequoia Platinum. Bought this used from a Toyota dealer (150km's away) where 2 previous owners purchased and fully maintained the truck.

So 30 days of regular family driving, city and highway, I start to feel a shudder. This only occurs between 65 to 80km/h, almost always when going up a hill, can be slight grade or more, AND when it seems the transmission is in 6th gear. At first, about 1 weeks ago, this was happening intermittently but now it seems to be easily reproducible. Accelerating, and therefore having it shift to 5th gear, will stop the problem. Sliding to 'S' will stop the problem.

The shudder feels like I hit a bump in the road, think rumble strip, but just one at a time. Bump ... a few seconds or more and maybe one or two more on an irregular sequence and by that point I gas it to stop the nonsense.

I also noticed yesterday that they PO had a brake controller in it from the screw holes by my right knee ... I guess they towed with the truck.

Help please - I really like this truck, I'm a land cruiser guy myself, and need it for a cross country haul with my family (5 kids) in July. I've done some searching but haven't found anything related to this specific gen of Sequoia.

 

[cheapskate]

Cant help with the shudder but if you just bought it from a dealer they usually give a 30 day warranty. You should call them right away to find out what, if any, kind of used vehicle warranty they provide.

 

[KZJ78]

Cant help with the shudder but if you just bought it from a dealer they usually give a 30 day warranty. You should call them right away to find out what, if any, kind of used vehicle warranty they provide.

Beyond 30 days and checked the paperwork ... nothing in there gives me any indication that they would be willing to help. Thanks though.

 

[cheapskate]

Bummer. You said it might have had a brake controller which means the PO towed with it, maybe change the driveline fluids and see if that helps. And hopefully someone else chimes in with some ideas. Good luck.

 

[MtnClimber]

Total km? 4WD?

I have no experience with such a shudder, so this is just a guess. Not sure why it only happens in 6th gear, but it sounds like something in the driveline is starting to act up. If it was mine, I would inspect the entire driveline and while there, grease the u-joints and slip joint (if it has a zerk fitting - mine is sealed so it doesn't have one), and see if that makes any difference. Also could possibly be a rear CV joint but seems less likely. In any case crawl under there and look for anything out of the ordinary (boot slinging grease, looseness or play, flange bolt loose, etc.).

You said the truck was well maintained; do you have a record of when the driveline was last lubed? I'm reasonably sure it wouldn't hurt anything to do it again even if the dealer "said" it was done yesterday.

 

[atmac]

I have never had this happen on a Toyota vehicle, but what you described sounds exactly like a problem I had on a 2006 F150. For me (and I know it's common in other vehicles if you search on google) it turned out to be a misfire. It was noticeable on inclines when in a high gear. When the AT needs to downshift at low rpms, it makes the misfire noticeable but not enough for the computer to trigger a check engine light. In my case, I changed the spark plugs and it solved the issue. May not be your problem, but may be worth looking into before digging into more expensive items, especially if you don't know how old the plugs are.

 

[KZJ78]

It's a 4WD with 181k on it. You can see the maintenance history in the attached scan that I got from the dealer. New plugs just before I got it!

What drive line maintenance has been done on it can you tell me? To be honest I can't decode some of what's there.

 

[MtnClimber]

It's a 4WD with 181k on it. You can see the maintenance history in the attached scan that I got from the dealer. New plugs just before I got it!

What drive line maintenance has been done on it can you tell me?

Transmission was serviced at 105.5K. Not sure if that is a drain and fill or complete fluid change.
Differentials and transfer case fluids changed at 126.3K.
Propeller shaft (U-joints) lubed and propeller shaft bolts torqued at 105.5K, 126.3K and 163.8K

On my 2012 the recommended service intervals (in km) are:
Inspect transmission fluid 24K, replace at 97K (if under severe service conditions)
Differentials and transfer case - inspect each 24K, Replace at 48K (if under severe conditions)
Lube u-joints and re-torque propeller shaft bolts every 24K (every 8K under severe conditions)

Spark plugs are due on mine at 193K. Interesting that a fuel injector cleaning was done at the same time the plugs were changed. They may have been chasing a drivability issue at that time.

 

[Methodical]

Have someone run a scan on the vehicle to check for any codes - sometimes the check engine light don't show, but there could be codes in there.

Just realized you said you need to solve by July. Did you find out the problem?