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2014 5.7 Transmission Symptom?

12K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  kspann 
#1 ·
Hello all. I am experiencing an issue that I am positive exists but no one else notices. About a week ago (only 8k miles), I noticed that when the truck is warmed up (10 minutes or so), the truck drives like I am towing something light. I can give it a bunch of gas and it will haul a$$, but normal driving is a bit laggy. I have also noticed that shifting from 1 -> 2 and 2 -> 3 will have a noticeable bump/thump that was not there before.

I have no CEL messages (visible or stored) and the only "thing" that has happened lately is I was moving a charging cable from over the steering wheel at a stop light and I hit the Tow/Haul button accidentally. As impressive as that was :D, it startled the ever living $#!t out of me as I did not know I hit it. Not saying that caused anything but it is all that has happened.

I am hoping that someone might have an idea or two that can help me out here. I am going to take a guess that the dealership will not notice any issues.
 
#2 ·
Sounds pretty normal to me. The transmission is so electronically controlled that it will act differently just about every day it seems. I have an 08 Tundra, and the transmission will shift somewhat weird until it warms up. Just idling the truck does nothing to heat up the transmission unless you let it idle for about 20 minutes. The truck does have a tranny heater if I recall but it doesn't do much.

Tow/Haul mode just changes the shift points in the transmission and doesn't harm anything by accidentally hitting the button.

I also get the bump from behind feeling quite often...been having that issue for a couple years now.
 
#3 ·
On newest trucks the tow haul is like hitting nitrous. It gives them the power that all of us in the older trucks always had. Changes the ramp up of the throttle plate to a quicker speed.



Aside from that, it sounds pretty normal. If the truck is in cruise mode trying to save fuel in a higher gear it will be laggy till it kicks down.

Also the truck will "learn" your habits. Drive it like a dick for a week and it will reward you with quicker downshifts and faster response to throttle input.
 
#5 ·
Can't hurt to try to manually re-set the ecu
 
#6 ·
Operation "Drive It Like You Stole It" commenced today. I noticed something else. With aggressive use of the accelerator coming out of a turn, I am in the 3500 RPM range. Now this is a 90 degree turn and I am pretty damn sure I should have been going a lot faster than what I was going, especially at that RPM. I also noticed that the transmission was either not sure what gear to be in or bipolar as it shifted around quite a bit when I hard accelerate from a cruising speed of around 50 mph.

I just wish I could take the service manager on a test drive in my truck and then one from the lot.

I will be doing the negative disconnect either tomorrow at work or tomorrow night.

Thanks for the input so far.
 
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#7 ·
So I went to leave work this evening and the truck started up like it always does. No issues there, with the exception of one thing. If you have ever seen what a Seafoam treatment does to a 150k mile vehicle, that is what happened. Idle was smooth but a HUGE white cloud shot out of the exhaust. It was a concentrated cloud and after about 8 seconds there was no smoke coming out of the truck.

Might have been my mind, but I think it drove correctly on the way home. Now I am a bit concerned why a Tundra with 8,300 miles would do that.
 
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#8 ·
That has been posted on here before. Kinda normal. If it is the right weather conditions it will just do that, seem like smoke but it is condensation burning off I guess.

I have seen mine do it, thicker white smoke looking, but it is just vapor.
 
#10 ·
Sorry to revive this but the same thing started happening about a week ago. I even got it to the dealership this time. They told me that there was an actual Toyota Field Engineer at the site that day and they tore down all the brake calipers and checked fluids and stored CEL codes. They see no issues. I explained over the phone the symptoms and they test drive several times with no diagnosis. I swear I am not going nuts. I drive this truck several times a day and I know that something is different (has changed).

If anyone on here has driven a car with a CVT transmission (Corolla / RAV4) then you will know how the transmission is feeling. This is with all non-agressive driving. I can usually get to work without even going over 2100 rpm. Now when it gets out of first gear it will hover at 1800 rpm while accelerating and then shift after a while. It did not do this before.

I asked the Service Tech to take a ride with me in a new Tundra from the lot ... but they did not have any ready for the road. He said I can bring it back anytime or if symptoms change. Any ideas?

Yesterday I left the battery disconnected for the evening to no avail. No change.
 
#11 ·
So, with my daily troubleshooting (dealer says they see no issues) I think I might have found the culprit. I wonder if anyone here is familiar with transmissions and could elaborate on the 'Lock-Up Function'. As far as I can gather, it works like an overdrive. The scenario that points me in this direction..

Truck warmed as necessary (20+ minutes driving). Travel at a steady 50mph on flat terrain. Apply some gas. The rpm's will rise but it does not downshift. Return to normal driving and the rpm's drop back down. I have verified this works in another '14 Tundra... and nearly all other modern automatics.

My Tundra does not do this. It does not raise rpm's when gas is given at 50mph. If I give it more gas it does downshift and there is more power but it is still missing something.

I don't know if this statement makes sense or is possible but I think my transmission is stuck in the 'Lock-Up Function'. I would love to take it to the dealer and tell them this but if I mention something then they look at just that and nothing else.
 
#12 ·
Like the other posters above have said, your symptoms seem "normal" in your transmission. Also, from what I understand, 5th and 6th gears both lockup the torque converter. Could you check the fluid level in your transmission?
 
#17 ·
...Relax and enjoy your truck!
I wish i could. I have verified that this is not normal. I went to assist a friend with relocating a riding mower on a small trailer and I thought I was driving a ford.

I think you need to go to a transmission shop. I'm betting you have a torque converter problem...
I was hoping that the dealership could check it as it only have 22k miles on it. I will check my local shops.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
#16 ·
Every newer automatic I have ever owned have a noticeable lock up on the torque converter. When giving it even throttle it is locked up in sixth or fifth. As you lay into the throttle progressively it will eventually unlock the converter and raise the RPMs. I've also noticed that if you are at even part throttle and lift off the throttle and get back into it the torque converter will unlock momentarily and then lock up again, unless you give it more throttle. I actually use that technique when I want it to unlock without having to give it alot more gas.
 
#18 ·
Another symptom to add. Unlike nearly ever other person, I am now getting more MPG than before with this issue. When I remember, I snap a picture of my miles for the tank. I reset to zero every time I fill up. Here are a few of them.







I used to get about 305 (without driving insane) per fill.

The previous suggestion to check local shops is not an option as they will all require payment for diagnostics and I can cover that right now.

I have an appt with dealer mechanic to do a ride along this week so we shall see.
 
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