Avensis Auto Transmission!

February 13, 2011

Hi Team,

2005 Avensis 2.0 auto T4

My Avensis is having some issues. When I shift from D>N getting into N is difficult. N seems very slack and shifting the stick there does not always change the gear, and there seems to be little resistance - sometimes the car stays in drive (yet the stick is in the N position). You can juggle the stick while in neutral and there is a lot of give back and forth. All other gear shifts work fine inc. N>D and all locate fine.

I had the AT fluid changed 4 weeks ago which initially made a world of difference, but now the problem is back - not as bad but still there. It goes away after about 15 minutes driving. After thsi time the gear stick and gear locates and stays just perfectly - a proper CLUNK and no give at all which is good.

Any suggestions as to what could be going on in my dear auto gearbox? Odd that is is one way, and goes away after a fashion.

Many thanks in advance!

February 16, 2011

UPDATE: I have been finding that if I nudge the gear stick above neutral (towards reverse) a tad that the gear, upon its return to the neutral location is nicely located in neutral. Also I have found that the problem dissapears when the car has been drive around 15 miles.

I dived into the Toyota dealer who said it sounded like trasmission cables were out of adjustments given that it will locate firmly in neutral with that extra nudge, and that warming the car up affects the issue.

Has anyone had their auto transmission cables adjusted and if so how much have you been charged?

Quoted over £300...

February 20, 2011

Over £300 is daylight robbery! As the cables have obviously stretched slightly in use, you could try just tightening the adjusters very slightly once or twice to see if there is any improvement to reduce what is obviously too much slack. Haynes manuals usually give instructions on this.