2005 Tranny Sluggish, Steering Clunks - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Gearhead Jim · 12-14-2009, 12:57 PM

We have a 2005 Camry, XLE V6 with automatic. Mostly a good car, but two issues:

The transmission is very reluctant to downshift at low speeds/moderate throttle. The typical situation is that we come around a corner in residential area and start to accelerate moderately. The engine is lugging because the tranny stayed in a higher gear. We apply more and then more throttle because the car is barely accelarating, finally WOW it downshifts and revs a lot (not flare, just accelaration) for about 1 second, then properly upshifts to the higher gear. Is there any cure for this?

Also, we get a slight "clunk" in the steering occasionally, not enough to hear but definitely enough to feel. Suggestions?

The car has just over 36k miles, Toyota Platinum extended warranty.

I tried Search and found a lot of threads but didn't see anything that directly addresses how to fix my problems.

Thanks!

littlebookworm · 12-14-2009, 03:39 PM

Toyota had a TSB dealing with clunking sound in the intermediate shaft of the steering column on Camrys and Solaras. Repair involves replacing the shaft. Check with your dealer. When my Solara was outside basic warranty, I got them to replace shaft with me paying for labor, Toyota paying for part. Transmission shifting problem may be related to a need to reflash the computer. Again, check with your dealer. Mine was reflashed under the 80k miles air pollution warranty because the shifting delay causes greater pollution. Good luck and let us know what you find out. Hy

Gearhead Jim · 12-22-2009, 11:32 AM

The dealer says both issues were listed in service bulletins.

They reprogrammed the engine & tranny computers. That has made the car a lot better. Not perfect but close enough, not a PITA like before.

But now when we lock or unlock the doors with the fob, we get the electronic "chirp" outside. Not the horn, just the electro-tweet noise. Can that be selected off, or is it locked in as part of the new program?

The steering clunk was fixed by installing a grease kit on the steering system. Seems like maybe a band-aid, but working good so far.

No charge for the fixes, not sure if they were covered by the extended warranty or the emissions warranty.

catric69 · 12-22-2009, 12:04 PM

Check your owners manual to anwser your "chirp" question. 2007 and newer can be customized and disabled at the dealership. The steering clunk sounds like a 100% band-aid fix.

Gearhead Jim · 12-22-2009, 03:29 PM

The beep had not originally been turned on in our car, but the owners manual explained how to turn it off. Done! Thanks.

The steering grease does indeed sound like a band-aid, but that's what TSB-0296-08 says to do. And it was free under the extended warranty. We'll be watching to see how long the fix lasts.

littlebookworm · 12-22-2009, 05:08 PM

Glad I could help with steering you in the right direction to get your problems fixed. As to the "band-aid" fix on the clunk: You now have it on record. If you comes back, you can complain loudly and demand that they follow the follow-up TSB - to replace the intermediate shaft. Good luck. Hy

johnfrisco · 12-22-2009, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlebookworm

Glad I could help with steering you in the right direction to get your problems fixed. As to the "band-aid" fix on the clunk: You now have it on record. If you comes back, you can complain loudly and demand that they follow the follow-up TSB - to replace the intermediate shaft. Good luck. Hy

Good advice--keep it documented!

Gearhead Jim · 12-22-2009, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlebookworm

Glad I could help with steering you in the right direction to get your problems fixed. As to the "band-aid" fix on the clunk: You now have it on record. If you comes back, you can complain loudly and demand that they follow the follow-up TSB - to replace the intermediate shaft. Good luck. Hy

Is there a separate number for the follow-up TSB? Nice to be ready...

Also, the TSB for the herky-jerky engine/tranny is listed as TC005-05. Does anyone have a link to a pdf copy?

Thanks.

islandboy57 · 12-23-2009, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearhead Jim

Is there a separate number for the follow-up TSB? Nice to be ready...

Also, the TSB for the herky-jerky engine/tranny is listed as TC005-05. Does anyone have a link to a pdf copy?

Thanks.

I'm not aware of a follow-up TSB.. But I did pay to replace my steering intermediate shaft and when I went back again, they said they'd do the TSB free of charge this second time - and they replaced the steering intermediate shaft, not grease it like I thought they would. I fully expect the problem to come back for most of us so I guess it's time to learn how to do it myself