Kluger gearbox hesitation

[Blackkluger]

hi all. I just recently purchased a second hand grande awd. It is fantastic but one thing which I have noticed is a slight hesitation of the gearbox(and or accelerator pedal).

Also seems to be second gear, going slowly in traffic, and of course, trying to be nice and not forceful to close gaps, sometimes I will slightly depress the pedal to more and I will get no response from the car, so I end up pushing the accelerator down further then it goes. '

'

Has anyone experienced this? I do not have it is Sport mode, just regular as I find the gear shifter in Sport mode hits my left knee...

thanks

[CROCO]

Hi black kluger ,my kluger does somthing similar,you drive around a corner to enter a side side street or slowly exiting around about and the gear box seem fall in to hole it seems it wants go back to first,its like its doesnt know what gear it should be in,I also somtimes have the same problem when entering a busy motorway and you dont need full acceleration ,so you only push the accelerator down a bit more and nothing andthen you push it down harder and all hell breaks loose she goes like a cork out of a bottle, my old prado use to do the same thing,so might be how toyota autos work,there designed to be driven with a heavy foot, mine works better if you drive it a bit harder than gently.most times the v6 works brilliantly with the gearbox and offers strong performance from most of the rev range.

I also really dont use sport mode as I find the auto mode works good enough most of the time,the only time is when overtaking one car and I dont want the gearbox to shift back hard for maximun acceleration.

[11/16Aurion 12Kluger]

Mine is only 1 yr old but I have not experienced any of the symptoms mentioned.

Mine feels like a CVT transmission, so smooth and difficult to pick when it changes, power always feels instant.

It also seems to preselect a lower gear when slowing down so there is no delay when accelerating again.

I would assume that both your vehicles are AWD where mine is 2WD and that may have something to do with it? I have had a short drive in a AWD version with 70,000k on it and the transmission and responsiveness was impeccable.

With the op's query two things are unknown, the year & km's travelled and what may have been done to the vehicle by the previous owner. That is always the mystery when purchasing used.

From my experience it is not the norm so it may need looking at?

[tpl]

i found when the engine is cold the gb hesitate to down shift even though u floor it. I think it's to 'protect' from cold revving.?

[11/16Aurion 12Kluger]

Again no such thing here. I do wait a minute or two before driving off though.

If I floored it I would end up in the luggage area!! :-)

I have found that using anything but the best premium petrol does noticeably affect performance and economy.

I stick to Caltex 98 & Shell 98 (beware... shell have a 95 that they call "premium").

FYI ... Both Caltex and Shell market two premium petrols. Check their web sites for the details and where you can buy what as not all servos carry the good stuff.

[Blackkluger]

I find all Toyotas I have driver, camry, vienta, kluger, prado, do not allow a cold engine to rev high. I find this a little frustrating if I have to enter a 80km zone from stand still, so basically I have to wait for a much bigger gap that I do with my other car(v8).

this is a default setting which obviously designed to protect engine.gearbox.

[11/16Aurion 12Kluger]

I had a 2000 V6 Camry that would stay in gear a little longer when it was cold but once the temp indicator moved off the lowest mark it went fine. This seems like a good idea anyway.

I have had 2 4cyl Camry's, a 94 and a 07 and currently have another 07 as well as the new Kluger.

I never rev engines hard when they are dead cold anyway (common sense) but have never experienced any odd behaviour from any of my Toyotas when cold.

Other cars, YES :-) but that is another story.

These days I always let the engine run for a minute or two when starting from dead cold before hitting the road. Best thing to do in any car, mostly for safety's sake.

No car will perform at optimum level from dead cold.

[marshall]

I have the exact same hesitation symptoms as Blackluger.

My 2013 Grande had just 4,000k when I bought it off the dealers wife. Naturally it had been looked after.

I run 98 octane and do not start driving until the revs drop to 1000.

My local dealer couldnt detect what the cause is and claims that Toyota Australia does not list this 'problem' in their circulars to dealers about issues that have been brought to their attention.

I do not know if it is a gearbox lag from 1st to 2nd or an accellerator issue. Being intermittent it is most annoying, particularly when it occurrs half way thru a turn into traffic.

If anyone finds an answer to fix - please let me know.

Marshall

[11/16Aurion 12Kluger]

While my now 2.5 y/o KXR 2wd transmission has performed perfectly the entire time, changes almost undetectable, I did have a similar problem with a 2000 camry v6 once that was sometimes a bit hesitant to change... With that one I cleared the ecu by disconnecting the battery for an hour or so and after that it worked perfect. Not sure if this would fix the prob mentioned by some above but may be worth mentioning to the dealership?
Alternatively take a look at the US owners website Toyota nation or even the aurion site on this forum as the pre 14 klugers have the same motor and transmission afaik.

Re the 98 octane... I used to swear by it but since e10 has become so cheap lately I tried some of that and it loves it. Noticed the consumption went up a little though which seems to be common with e10. I currently am trying a tank of 91oct non e10 and it runs very good on that also. Will see how the consumption goes compared to the e10.

[KlugerCal]

I had the same problem...hesitating between gears at certain points  like slow corners at lights. Felt like it was confused. Anyway i just cleaned the mass airflow sensor and its running soooo much better. Problem gone. Engine feels way smoother. Cheap and easy 20buck fix to try first. Im.guessing that with all the bushfire smoke it dirtied  it up..not to mention never been done before.

[Dutchy]

Hi all

I have a 2009 AWD Kluger

it has started this hesitation in the last 6 months, always been serviced (not at Toyota)

I thought it maybe the gearbox filter so I removed te pan and replaced it and new oil, the problem is still there but a little better

next I think the MAF is a great Idea also to change the air filter 

next I think to remove the injectors and get them tested/cleaned

my car/work truck has done 230,000 Klm never miss a beat

towing a 1 ton trailer day in day out. I find the problem worse with the trailer on

don't want to buy another suv as I  own this body is good to

air con is starting not to blow cold on passengers side mine is ok

any way I am not a member but will mark page and keep track

good luck all

Dutchy

 

[campbeam]

On 10/2/2020 at 7:36 PM, Dutchy said:

towing a 1 ton trailer day in  day out.

I certainly hope that the transmission fluid has been changed very regularly. You will most likely find in your owners manual that the vehicle is being operated in severe conditions [towing] so the transmission fluid should be changed at least every 70,000 kms[?]. In the AWD system there is a separate rear differential. This should also be changed regularly.

Apparently the dry fill capacity of the transmission is 8.8 litres. I am guessing but with a pan drop and transmission filter, only about 1/3rd of the ATF has been changed. Another change of ATF should hopefully improve the overall condition of the ATF in the transmission.

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/product-selector#/recommendations

[11/16Aurion 12Kluger]

On 1/15/2020 at 1:03 PM, KlugerCal said:

I had the same problem...hesitating between gears at certain points  like slow corners at lights. Felt like it was confused. Anyway i just cleaned the mass airflow sensor and its running soooo much better. Problem gone. Engine feels way smoother. Cheap and easy 20buck fix to try first. Im.guessing that with all the bushfire smoke it dirtied  it up..not to mention never been done before.

Cleaning the MAFS at least once a year is a cheap and easy thing to do.  I doubt that a regular "service" at the dealer or local mechanic would include this unless they are unusually efficient.  You must use the right spray and procedure to do this.  I use electrical contact spray on our cars.  The MAFS must not be touched with anything.  Penty of how to's on the net.
Another thing that should be done at the same time is a throttle body clean.  Again, it is an easy thing to do and usually delivers a noticeable improvement.  Same as the MAFS, use only throttle body cleaner and guides are on the net.