highlander shifting gears

[Evo[5.0]]

i havent really drove my highlander on the highway much so i dont kno if this is normal. its kinda hard to describe but ill try my best

well today while i driving on the highway, i was speeding up to change lanes and notice kind of jolt while pressing on the gas panel, kinda like the car wasnt shifting gears property(maybe)

i never really notice this while driving in the city because im not heavy on the gas

o btw this is around 30-40 mph, while driving faster at around 60 and above i dont feel this happening

hope i explained it correctly

Thanks!

[TrailDust]

This is a common complaint with Highlander owners. Take a look in the Common Problems & Solutions sticky thread, and click on the two links located in the Transmission Lag/Hesitation issues entry.

[Evo[5.0]]

just read both thread..glad to see its normal

Thanks alot traildust

[Yazon]

I'm having something similar and it is not normal. Most of the time at low speeds when i need to speed it up it seems like the engine is starting to wind up but something is holding it back and then i feel this really hard kick and the car shifts gears.
Its like the transmission should have gone into gear, but didn't and then it finally catches...

[sweeneyp]

Originally Posted by Yazon

I'm having something similar and it is not normal. Most of the time at low speeds when i need to speed it up it seems like the engine is starting to wind up but something is holding it back and then i feel this really hard kick and the car shifts gears.
Its like the transmission should have gone into gear, but didn't and then it finally catches...

mine has done that as well. At low speeds when slowly accelerating. It sounds like it "slips" into gear and knocks/jumps a little as it finally catches. I haven't really thought anything of it though because I have other vehicles (1999 lexus lx470 and 1994 jeep grand cherokee) that do the same thing

[Evo[5.0]]

Originally Posted by sweeneyp

mine has done that as well. At low speeds when slowly accelerating.

mine does it a low speed while acceleration quickly (ie speeding up to changing lane on highway)

well i think im going to ask the toyota technicians this friday when i bring the car in for oil change

[05Moose]

Originally Posted by Evo[5.0]

mine does it a low speed while acceleration quickly (ie speeding up to changing lane on highway)

well i think im going to ask the toyota technicians this friday when i bring the car in for oil change

If it's at a really low speed and you're "punching it" (flooring it to accelerate very fast), it's totally normal. Every Toyota we've owned is like this. First gear is so low and to drop down to first to accelerate quickly, the engine has to rev up so high that there's a long pause. So much so that you may even find yourself leaning forward due to loss of acceleration and then you're forced back into your seat when it finally engages in first gear. I've always thought of it as the difference in the gearing ratios between first and second gears. That's one area that Toyota has not improved on in decades (their vehicles in the 80's and 90's did this as well).

[Yazon]

I've had many cars in my family including 3 toyota's before the HL and none of them did this. I think the tranny may need to be checked for quality of fluid and level.

And no, it doesn't happen when trying to accelerate very hard from low speed, you can be trying to get from 5-10mph while driving away from parking spot and it will give this hard kick in the back.

Either way...I will be checking mine out when i get a chance.

[05Moose]

Originally Posted by Yazon

I've had many cars in my family including 3 toyota's before the HL and none of them did this. I think the tranny may need to be checked for quality of fluid and level.

And no, it doesn't happen when trying to accelerate very hard from low speed, you can be trying to get from 5-10mph while driving away from parking spot and it will give this hard kick in the back.

Either way...I will be checking mine out when i get a chance.

Yeah, it does sound like you two have different situations. One sounds normal while the other doesn't. But then it could be that the other person's description isn't detailed enough to be lumped into the same situation as yours.

[Evo[5.0]]

so i ask the mechanic about it, and he said its normal. the reason behind the hesitation is when you press the gas it takes time for the computer to respond, especially with the v6 engine, therefore the hesitation. is that true?

[Yazon]

No....Computers do millions of calculations per second (1 million for 4Mhz CPU to 160 million in modern Intel CPUs).

So computer can respond to the input in what the driver can perceive as "Real time" (even though there is a preset delay). In fact, computers are so fast compared to humans, that by calculating the pedal travel, current speed, current engine RPM and a hundred other things - i can predict how fast you want to go in the next second or two.

Now, even if the computer responds before you are done pushing the pedal - it does take some time to rev-up the engine and get all the components going faster. Yet, this is also not the reason for the hesitation (look at other cars and even motorcycles - they respond to the tiniest inputs of throttle...).

There is only one reason behind a perceivable lag in the gear shifts - bad programming or mechanical issues. Bag programming can be fixed with new firmware which instructs the tranny to behave differently. The mechanical issues can be due to even something as simple as low AT fluid level or worn gears/plates.


In either case - the mechanic needs to go back to school