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Transmission shifting hard ???

22K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  charo2016 
#1 ·
Hi All:

Thanks in advance for any help...

All of a sudden, I noticed my transmission shifting hard through all the gears. Also, coincidentally or not, my CHECK ENGINE light came on this weekend too. I am not saying they are related (last time it happend it was a leaky gas cap), but I don't know.

I have an '05 Matrix XR Automatic with 117,000 miles.

Any suggestions? I am coming up on the 120K transmission service interval. I have always been a little nervous about changing the xmision fluid. On some of my previous vehicle, the car never was quite the same after changing the fluid (granted, they were older pieces of junk).
 
#3 ·
120K miles on the original transaxle fluid? Bit on the long side, even for relatively stress free driving conditions.

As long as you do a drain and refill at regular, short intervals, transaxle flushing is generally not necessary. Also depends on the type of transaxle service being done - some flushes run through the dipstick, some through the cooler lines. The best ones run through the pump pickup - which require the transaxle pan to be dropped and the filter assembly removed.

Most owners reported good results with a 30K miles drain and refill schedule. If you tow or drive hard - then dropping it to 15K miles wouldn't hurt. I believe the 2005 models years still spec'd a Toyota Type T-IV ATF, which is a conventional oil base with a specific friction modifier. Still with Toyota Type T-IV or if you go aftermarket, make sure it says in writting - compatible with Toyota Type T-IV.

Transaxle takes approximately 4 quarts with a drain and refill. Assuming the pan hasn't been off the car, good idea to drop the pan and clean/replace the filter inside. Also can gauge if there is any issues with excessive wear - bottom of the pan will have some metal slurry, nothing to worry about - but if there is any larger chunks of metal or metal shavings, then you might have some cause for concern.
 
#11 ·
Well, I needed to get an inspection sticker in June, so I broke down and took it in to dealer for repair. I didn't even finish telling the Service Advisor the problem and he knew already it was the ECM issue discussed earlier in this thread.

Of course it was not covered by warranty (too many miles) so I had to fork over $650.00 for the repair.

It works fine now, just leaves a bad impression on Toyota relationship.

Thank all for your help
 
#13 ·
Whatever it turns out to be I'd be flushing that fluid. I just did mine at 85K of pretty light duty driving and there was plenty of crud in the bottom of the pan and in the screen as well. I did a drain, pan drop and refill and then I pulled the return line that comes out of the cooler and attached a clear tube to it using a brass barbed nipple. I ran that tube into a washer fluid jug and pumped it out a half a quart at a time by starting the car. After every half quart I would ad another half quart through the dipstick tube. I did this until I could see it running clean through the clear tube. It's also helpful to make half quart marks on your jug so you can keep close track of how much your draining out.
 
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