thedudey

Hi, I just ran into the same issue. I noticed a slight shutter during very slow acceleration (traffic). Somewhere around the 2-3 or 3-4 shift.

Have any of you managed to solve the issue without replacing the transmission? Also wondering whether I should address it now or wait for a more significant failure? The issue only pops up in very specific circumstances.

Thank you!

J

ellocovg

iTrader: (1)

I would seriously consider blooming into what CarMax would give you for it.

thedudey

I'm not in the US - and just bought the car in January... I don't have much to gain and the taxes on a new (used) car would probably run similar to a new tranny...

ellocovg

iTrader: (1)

ahh got you. If it was me I would take a sample of the fluid to have it analyzed by one of the labs to see what types of metals you might have going on. If it’s nothing serious a series of four or five drain and fills might make it better. But if you have serious metals going on I’d just leave it alone and start saving for when it eventually goes. If it’s beyond a good ole fluid change it’s not going to do any additional damage so no sense in fixing it until you need to.

Louczar1

It sounds like do a full transmission flush every 60K. Good to know since my wifes 2015 has 68K on it. Will not be taking it to a dealer.

PEK

This exact thing happened to us around 100k miles. Brought it to Toyota dealer for transmission flush, the issue disappeared (been about 3 years since). Hope this help!

GknowFotos

I came across this thread as I'm currently going back and forth between whether getting an F-sport or not, or just going hybrid, 2014-2015. I'm starting to rethink whether I should completely avoid the 8-speed if these seems to be a common problem. Anyone had personal experience driving both the 6 and 8 speed and can share any noticeable differences between the two, enough to take a chance with the 8 speed?

Clutchless

You need to drive both the (U660E) 6-speed in a regular model and the F-Sport with the 8-speed and feel the difference yourself. I have driven both transmissions although the 8-speed was in a 2017 Toyota Highlander. I found that the 8 speed felt like it hunted around for the correct gear and took too long to get there. But that is just my opinion. However, I was asked to drive it by a friend who had just bought it used and thought there was something wrong with the transmission. He was coming from a Toyota Tacoma pickup that had a different 5 or 6 speed automatic transmission. I much prefer the driving experience with the U660E 6-speed transmission.

Now the hybrid will feel completely different from both as it uses what Toyota calls a Power Transfer Unit (PTU) to combine the internal combustion engine and electric motor systems.

The PTU is easy to maintain as it takes only a simple drain and fill of the fluid like a manual transmission. Just fill it up until ATF spills out the fill hole and you are done! Holds about 4 quarts. Do that every 50,000 miles.

If you get the Hybrid, just swap out the struts and shocks for Bilstein B6 struts and shocks and you will transform the ride and handling closer to the F Sport.. There are a few threads that identify the model numbers to get, however the hybrid may take a different part number than the gas model.. They are formally specified for the Highlander by Bilstein, but it shares a suspension with the RX.

GknowFotos

So much great info, thank you! I'm only considering the the 350 because the 14-15 450H is like a damn unicorn. I'm hoping I'm lucky enough to find one with the f-sport bumper and was already planning on doing the RSR springs + Bilstein's as well. Do you own the hybrid yourself?

Clutchless

No, as identified in my signature, I have a 2010 RX350,
I also have a 2016 Sienna AWD which has the same engine, 6-speed transmission, and a similar suspension to the RX.
Plus a hybrid Lexus HS250h, which is how I know about the PTU maintenance.

In used car hunting you sometimes have to be willing to travel long distances to find that elusive vehicle. I drove the Philadelphia from Virginia to get the Sienna because it was a Limited AWD with only 29,000 miles.
I have flown to New York, Chicago and Nashville to get cars.
Try using cars.com and expand your search mileage distance to 500 miles or more. You can also search used cars on the Lexus.com site, CarFax, TrueCar etc as they often have cars that are not on the other sites.

GknowFotos

I'm using my phone browser, so it doesn't show any signature. And yes, i hear you on the car search. I just recently flew to Las Vegas to pick up my wife's CT we're just bought, so i have no problem doing that. Also got all the alerts going on multiple car sites, including auto tempest. But mostly hoping to find something locally so i can at least test drive both before further pursuing a 350 or 450. After reading thru this thread though, my instinct tells me to stay away from the 8 speed.

Cedrock

Im also having this problem, 20-30 mph it happens then again around 40-45 mph. The RPM also drops a small amount when this happens. I had a partial flush about 10 days ago and sadly that did not help.

edit, diagnostic i had stated that it was the torque converter . In addition, coolant contamination from trans oil cooler allowing coolant to get in trans fluid. So new transmission torque converter and radiator .