Transmission Flare

[Freddo]

Finally took my car in for the recall oil line replacement thing. Told them about the transmission flare, and they "topped up" the trans fluid 400mls as recommended by "toyota".

So far so good. even feels like there is a better transfer of power thru the box? it feels like the box is less lazy and there is more torque. could be just because the mechanics thrashed the car and the ecu adapted :P NO MORE FLARING!!!!

Will report back in a few days on this.

also got my grille replaced free as paint was missing from it. real happy about that.

told them about the clunk during takeoff but they said its normal and its the system check. shoulda pushed them to at least change the intermediate shaft spline?

Edited June 2, 2010 by Freddo

[Silver-Aurion]

Finally took my car in for the recall oil line replacement thing. Told them about the transmission flare, and they "topped up" the trans fluid 400mls as recommended by "toyota".

So far so good. even feels like there is a better transfer of power thru the box? it feels like the box is less lazy and there is more torque. could be just because the mechanics thrashed the car and the ecu adapted :P NO MORE FLARING!!!!

Will report back in a few days on this.

also got my grille replaced free as paint was missing from it. real happy about that.

told them about the clunk during takeoff but they said its normal and its the system check. shoulda pushed them to at least change the intermediate shaft spline?

To be honest it could have been the mechanic thrashing your car. Those mechanics seriously thrash the crap out of the owners vehicles.

edit: This seems to be a big issue with this transsmision. I seriously think who ever manufactured this ****** up badly.

GOTO GOOGLE AND TYPE: U660E flare and you will see heaps of results of people over in the US feeling the same problem.

Recall recall recall!!!!!!!!! :help:

Edit: Wait a sec, they replaced your grill because of a bit of paint missing? Mine has a slight paint chip as well. What did you say for them to get it replaced? I thought things like this won't get replaced.

Edited June 2, 2010 by unique

[SecaBoy]

the clunk could be one of many different things...

the intermediate shaft is only one option...

"topping up" the gearbox fluid will actually help it change gears better if it was on the low side...

in my old silvia, i'd have to change gear (it was a manualised auto box) 2000rpm BEFORE redline if i didnt want it to bounce of the limiter for a few seconds between gear changes...

the solution was to just add more fluid to the box... after i did that, it used to snap in to gear so hard i'd get whiplash...

[Freddo]

no flaring at all on the 2nd day...

so did the box burn the ATF? why would it be low? they assured me that it wasnt "lost" they were just recommended to add more. but i didnt believe them.

confirmed it drives much better. i think even the shift patterns have changed.

re: replacement grill - i had a 5x2cm piece of paint missing off the grill exposing the chrome when i bought it off the dealer.

so how come toyota can paint over chrome but smash repairers cannot?

haha i miss the huge amounts of pull when it changes gears in a modded car... i did the value body in the Legacy and upped the line pressure. man that think pulled hard in the gear changes.

[SecaBoy]

on a new transmission, i cant see it 'burning' or 'using' the atf... unless there was something severely wrong with it...

all of them have a maximum suggested fill level... so as long as its within those guidelines, i cant see why it would need to be 'topped up'... especially in a new car...

but then again, i'm not as mechanically minded as some of the other boys on here, so maybe they'd be able to shed more light on this issue... :)

a good modded auto box is fuqn awesome to drive... i prefer it to a manual any day...

once i manualised the auto in the silvia and got the fluid level right, it was such an awesome box to drive with...

so predictable and i knew exactly what revs in what gear i could change up and down to get the best out of it...

the best thing about it was that the gear changes were so quick and so hard that even with half throttle it used to chirp the tyres when i'd change gears... full throttle was a different story though... it used to smoke the tyres all the way to third gear...

the other beauty of it is that the acceleration becomes as if its just one gear... it just pulls and pulls and pulls... no delay in between gear changes... ;)

the only problem with a fast shifting auto box (that wasnt designed for it, ie, the VW DSGs) is that the wear and tear on it is quite high...

beauty of the silvia was that the box was only $100 to $200 for another one... haha

*sigh* i miss the fun i used to be able to have in that car...

if i have the trd for long enough that the warranty runs out, i'd definitely be looking at upgrading the auto box on it... ;)

although with my track record of keeping cars, that will never happen... lol

[Rulke]

Toyota has a service bulletin out on flaring, rough downshifts for the aurion. Only applies to certain manufacture dates. There are a couple of fixes I think, one includes adding extra oil, the other is a transmission ecu swap or reprogram.

[Silver-Aurion]

Toyota has a service bulletin out on flaring, rough downshifts for the aurion. Only applies to certain manufacture dates. There are a couple of fixes I think, one includes adding extra oil, the other is a transmission ecu swap or reprogram.

Thanks for the valuable information. My shifts have gotten worse I can tell. They are horrible at changing gears. It flares like crazy and gear change is horrible and laggy and sloppy. They better do something on Monday, because if they find nothing wrong that would be the biggest bullsh*t.

[Waynus]

Toyota has a service bulletin out on flaring, rough downshifts for the aurion. Only applies to certain manufacture dates. There are a couple of fixes I think, one includes adding extra oil, the other is a transmission ecu swap or reprogram.

Is it possible to get a copy of this service bulletin?

I have a 2007 ATX which experiences this issue from time to time, mainly when cold.

[SCOOTA44]

If you have any warranty left and can replicate the problem to a toyota mechanic, they may replace the transmission ECU with a 2009 software upgrade this is what I did, which fixed the problem.

[Rulke]

Sorry, I cant give you a copy of the bulletin. Best advice is to go see your toyota dealer and explain your problems.

[dave262]

Does the "fix" also improve the gear change lag between 1st and 2nd?

[Silver-Aurion]

Does the "fix" also improve the gear change lag between 1st and 2nd?

Yeah that lag kills doesn't it. Mine holds third gear a bit once at operating temperature. On cold start take offs it holds third gear for quite some time.

Will be dropping the car off to the dealer tomorrow. Lets see what they say. Hopefully they can find a fault in it.

[Wulfkind]

Toyota has a service bulletin out on flaring, rough downshifts for the aurion. Only applies to certain manufacture dates. There are a couple of fixes I think, one includes adding extra oil, the other is a transmission ecu swap or reprogram.

Had both of these things done, still have a flare... I decided that it's not getting any worse, so it must be OK.

[Silver-Aurion]

Toyota has a service bulletin out on flaring, rough downshifts for the aurion. Only applies to certain manufacture dates. There are a couple of fixes I think, one includes adding extra oil, the other is a transmission ecu swap or reprogram.

Had both of these things done, still have a flare... I decided that it's not getting any worse, so it must be OK.

Hmm, my car is at the dealer right now. Dropped it off this morning. Just annoyed that I won't be able to pick up the car today as I won't have any time at all so it might have to stay over night :(.

With the ECU update, I really really wonder what other things that is in the update besides "fixing" the flare. Does anyone know?

[Wulfkind]

Toyota has a service bulletin out on flaring, rough downshifts for the aurion. Only applies to certain manufacture dates. There are a couple of fixes I think, one includes adding extra oil, the other is a transmission ecu swap or reprogram.

Had both of these things done, still have a flare... I decided that it's not getting any worse, so it must be OK.

Hmm, my car is at the dealer right now. Dropped it off this morning. Just annoyed that I won't be able to pick up the car today as I won't have any time at all so it might have to stay over night :(.

With the ECU update, I really really wonder what other things that is in the update besides "fixing" the flare. Does anyone know?

Sorry mate, should've been clearer... they replaced the Transmission Control Unit... No updates.

[Freddo]

feels good still. it might have flared once but i cannot reproduce it.

i might send it in anyway and say it intermittently flares so they flash or replace the tcu. my warranty is running out in october :)

[Silver-Aurion]

Well I ended up getting my car yesterday, its been a very busy two days. The prognoses, a brand new ECU for the transmission being shipped over from Sydney. They are going to give me a call when the new part is in.

Yay, best news ever. Very happy with the outcome. I was 90% expecting to hear, nah mate, there is nothing wrong.

So glad I got the extended warranty.

[Silver-Aurion]

Got a call today, the part is in. Booked the car in for Wednesday morning.

[Silver-Aurion]

Alright, car is back from Toyota and the transmission computer was replaced. I'm not that happy with it because I'm ecstatic about it :P!

Gear changing feels so much more synchronised, taking off like a granny the car changes between gears so smooth you can no longer feel it. That lag is completely gone when you would accelerate slowly. I tried kick downs, the kick downs have improved. Before a kick down literally felt like someone was giving the transmission a round house kick

Very happy with the outcome. And I gotta say, the car picks up speed amazingly fast. I hit 80KM/h by a slow acceleration bloody fast compare to the lagging gear changes as before. The car "feels" faster.

The real test will be driving the car after leaving it over night in freezing cold temperatures and then drive off, see how she performs on a cold engine now.

Anyone in doubt, get it done now!! It's bloody awesome to finally have smooth gear changes.

P.S I asked how much would this have cost me without warranty the guy said easily $1500.

edit: Please note that I changed my transmission oil with toyota ATF WS @ 63K. So in conjunction with fresh oil and new computer, it's perfect.

Edited June 16, 2010 by unique

[DJKOR]

Anyone in doubt, get it done now!! It's bloody awesome to finally have smooth gear changes.

Either it is an improvement from stock... or you just had a dodgy setup to begin with and now you are feeling what a normal Aurion feels like

[Silver-Aurion]

Anyone in doubt, get it done now!! It's bloody awesome to finally have smooth gear changes.

or you just had a dodgy setup to begin with and now you are feeling what a normal Aurion feels like

This

edit: does anyone know where the comp is located?

Edited June 16, 2010 by unique

[DJKOR]

edit: does anyone know where the comp is located?

Look underneath your air filter box/battery and you will see it attached to the gearbox.

[tekkyy]

Gear changing feels so much more synchronised, taking off like a granny the car changes between gears so smooth you can no longer feel it. That lag is completely gone when you would accelerate slowly.

sounds good

a small thing but bugs me sometimes

[Silver-Aurion]

Well after big driving today including two cold starts gearing has definitally changed. So much better. Flaring has gone I can say easily 100% so no more :).

[SCOOTA44]

Anyone in doubt, get it done now!! It's bloody awesome to finally have smooth gear changes.

or you just had a dodgy setup to begin with and now you are feeling what a normal Aurion feels like

This

edit: does anyone know where the comp is located?

small black box under battery base, the replacement unit has "V2" on the top.