2012 highlander cold acceleration issue-confirmed, restricted "fluid flow"

[lornalane]

Hello All.

Unfortunately 2012 is not turning out to be a good start for Highlanders. Confirmed Issue. When cold, the 2012 Highlander will not full throttle accelerate until the vehicle has warmed up. Go full throttle (to...uh...merge onto a highway) before gage is 1/8 tick above C and you are taking your life in your hands! Vehicle peaks at 3.5k max, then immediately drops to 2k and stays. Take foot off gass and try again...NO DOWNSHIFT at all. Pray an 18 wheeler isn't creaping up on you. Once the car warms up, no issues. Full throttle tack jumps to 6+, downshifts and rockets you forward.
Toyota has the data at corporate and "is aware of the problem". Evidently they are currently OK that we need to first warm our car up before we can drive it safely. I don't remember the disclaimer when I just bought the car that it needed to be warmed up before it can be driven safely.

[TrailDust]

I'm wondering if that has something to do with the ECU, based on the conditions of the cold acceleration and the fact that Toyota appears to be aware of it. Be interested to learn more about this issue.

BTW, again to TN!

[lornalane]

Thanks. Will advise. Waiting to hear back on that. Vehicle bakc in the dealership again for the steering column knock. This is after having the intermediate steering shaft replaced.

[cisco911]

anyone else with a 2012 having this issue? Mine is being delivered mid march and want to make sure this isn't an issue. I don't understand...you should be able to feel it on your street as you will go over 3,500 on the first gear change.

[lornalane]

Hi Cisco911. This only happens when the car is cold and goes away 100% when the temp gage comes up about 1/4 inch above the C. Before that, if you are doing local driving, you may never figure out that this issue exists-b/c once warm...its not there. However, if like me (live in NY) you need to get on a highway and don't have 10+ minutes to wait for the car to warm up (which I hav eno idea how long it is when the winter weather is normal cold. Been VERY warm here all winter) at 32°F. If I try to go accross our parking lot and get directly on the highway (which is really the only way home), I need to give myself a TON of extra space. When you put your foot to the floor, the tach will jump to 3.5k. BUT, immediately drop to 2K and stay there. Yes, you are accelerating...but not at a speed that lets you merge onto a highway without taking your life to risk. Back off the pedal to let the car "catch up"...nope. Go full throttle again...to the floor...and the vehicle WILL NOT downshift. Once it hits that warm up point, go full throttle, the vehicle IMMEDIATELY downshifts, tach up to 6+, rockets forward. COMFIRMED computer data received by Toyota engineers in California last Thursday. CONFIRMED by dealership that multiple 2012s (all that they tried) had same issue. The loaner 2012 that I drove THIS weekend (they gave me a prius LAST weekend) has 1100 miles on it and did the exact same thing when cold.

[JMSinMD]

Now that you mention this, I did notice this happen 1 time in our 2009 Highlander.

[AVConsult]

The Yaris does something similar and is documented in the owners manual. A friend owns one. There's even a dash light that warn's it's in reduced performance mode.

[nitronate33]

sounds more like "extended reliability mode". if my car performed like that i'd be pretty pissed. i have never heard of anything like that before, if it is truly by design.

[sweeneyp]

mine does that. the exit of the neighborhood i live in goes uphill somewhat steeply, and in the mornings when I leave if I accelerate hard it does exactly as OP says drops down to 2k rpm in a higher gear until warm. I personally like that, I have always heard its hard on engines to rev them high when they are cold, this prevents that. If its helps the engine run better longer, I live with it.

[cisco911]

I think that what toyota is trying to implement makes sense, except for the fact that they are using such a low rev limit for it. The BMW Ms don't rev to the full redline until they are warm to protect the engine. The tach actually has red lights for the red line that change depending on whether the engine is warm or cold, but it is nothing silly like 3.5k!!!

Is there a fix for this or are we stuck with it like this for now? I hope this bug is fixed in production of mine!!!!

[dtown40]

I live on street over from the freeway that I use to get to work on every morning, and have never experienced this. I do admit that I never engage the transmission after start up until my RPMs drop to below 1000. Maybe that's just enough?

[MikeyD25]

What happens if you drop it down a gear or two and then punch it? Haven't experienced this phenomena yet as all Hwy entrances are a bit aways from the house - ample time for the engine to warm up.

lornalane what about an engine block heater in the mean time? Could help to keep it warm enough for the engine to get to normal operating temps sooner.

MD

[nevada]

Originally Posted by sweeneyp

mine does that. the exit of the neighborhood i live in goes uphill somewhat steeply, and in the mornings when I leave if I accelerate hard it does exactly as OP says drops down to 2k rpm in a higher gear until warm. I personally like that, I have always heard its hard on engines to rev them high when they are cold, this prevents that. If its helps the engine run better longer, I live with it.

sounds good to me. start your car sooner, if you need it to be warmed up.
racing a cold engine is bad.
doesnt sound like a bug to me, sounds like its designed that way. to protect stupid people from themselves.

[Tomrock]

My Rav4 V6 didn't get full power until after the engine warmed up a bit as well.

I traded it in last week for a Highlander and a noticed a similar warm up period and assumed it was designed that way on purpose.

[9volt]

Originally Posted by sweeneyp

its hard on engines to rev them high when they are cold

+1 Lots of cars do this. IMHO this is a non-issue and is working as designed.