Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||||
| 00103 | 02/28/2003 | 10001370 | A750 transmission solenoid identification. *tt | 05/01/2003 | |
| POWER TRAIN - TRANSFER CASE (4-WHEEL DRIVE) | |||||
| 00104 | 04/29/2004 | 00104R | 10007100 | 4wd ecu service precautions. *tt | 05/26/2004 |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 01/15/2004 | 20 | ||
| When coming to a stop and/or accelerating from a stop the car will jerk forward with a thud. sometimes two or three thuds are felt and heard. the dealer witnessed this problem and ourisman toyota in chantilly, va replaced the transmission at 14,500 miles. the problem seemed to go away for a while. i returned to the same dealer with the same complaint at 32,000 miles and they replaced the drive shaft. i returned again on 11/30/04 and the service manager witnessed the same problem within 200 feet of driving. the service manager indicated he believes this is normal (even though this was not a problem till about 12,000 miles). he is going to discuss this with the toyota rep who is in town this week.*ak i | |||
| 10/05/2004 | 13000 | 50 | 05/20/2003 |
| This condition could be related to item 2. this condition started last winter and is getting worse.) after being at a stop and releasing the brakes, i get a hard shake/thud from the driveline/brakes. this occurs in 90% of stops/starts. (e.g., if it was normal, it would do it all the time to some degree.) there is no metal on metal noise, just the shake/thud like the brakes are releasing too hard or the driveline has too much lash in it. (condition is worse if you come to a hard stop, before starting again.) 2) sometimes (about 20% of the time) after coming to a complete stop at a stop sign or red light, the transmission goes into first gear hard and/or the converter/torsen differential is unlocking/locking incorrectly. it will actually rock the vehicle forward. sometimes it gives the same sensation as in item 3. (actually, on a few occasions i get item 2 problem followed by an item 1 problem. *ak | |||
| 09/05/2003 | 1 | 07/28/2003 | |
| Gated shifter, on 2003 toyota 4 runner, allows you to shift the vehicle past neutral (into reverse or even park) while driving, with out depressing the brake pedal. if you push straight up on the shifter it locks it out (against the staggered plastic of the gated shifter). but if you accidentally hit the shifter on an angle, it can slide past neutral and into reverse or even park!*ak | |||
| 05/01/2003 | 5455 | 2 | 01/10/2003 |
| My wife was driving her 2003 toyota 4runner limited,v8 when the transmission popped out of gear.she had it in 4d gear for normal driving.she pulled over and put it in 4d gear again and it popped out a second time.the check engine light also appeared. she pulled over again and turned off the air conditioner and she proceeded to drive to her destination without the gear popping out.she called our son to pick up the car to take it to the dealer for service.they found nothing wrong with the vehicle. they said it had to happen while they were testing the car to fix the problem but they couldn't repeat the same thing that happened when my wife was driving it. this situation could be potentially dangerous.where do we go from here,who do we contact? my wife's work number is 412-875-1481 | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - LEVER AND LINKAGE - COLUMN SHIFT | |||
| 1 | 06/12/2003 | ||
| While driving can shift into reverse without applying pressure to the brake pedal. vehicle was taken to the dealer. dealer stated tha vehicle has a gated shifter, and it was normal for that to happen. consumer concerned that there was no locking feature on the shifter. *ak | |||
| 02/06/2003 | 444 | 1 | 01/08/2003 |
| The gear shifter was able to go from neutral to reverse. ph while driving from 0-45 mph, the shifter was in the fourth gear, and had shifted to drive. the consumer accident's pushed the shifter to park while the vehicle was in motion. the consumer felt that most vehicle's have a shift lock between neutral and reverse when the vehicle is motion. scc | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - TORQUE CONVERTER | |||
| 10/08/2003 | 3500 | 50 | 08/10/2003 |
| When coming to a stop or even when stopped, a loud thud is heard and felt as if torque converter is still down shifting. when brakes released, thud is heard and felt again as car accelerates. dealer says brakes are fine! i'm concerned as this is not a normal sound and recently car actually felt like it wanted to move forward as thud was felt and heard. (this is unrelated to the car wanted to lurch forward at stop when a/c is on!)*jb | |||
| 11/04/2003 | 1 | 04/04/2003 | |
| Vibration in drivetrain of 2003 4runner (awd-v8). i do not see my original complaint listed in the nhtsa complaints,submitted october 2003. i am writing to let all consumers know that toyota usa was forced to buy back my 4runner on nov 4th 2003 thru the new vehicle lemon law in florida,(due to this drivetrian vibration).*ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE | |||
| 10/05/2004 | 13000 | 50 | 05/20/2003 |
| This condition could be related to item 2. this condition started last winter and is getting worse.) after being at a stop and releasing the brakes, i get a hard shake/thud from the driveline/brakes. this occurs in 90% of stops/starts. (e.g., if it was normal, it would do it all the time to some degree.) there is no metal on metal noise, just the shake/thud like the brakes are releasing too hard or the driveline has too much lash in it. (condition is worse if you come to a hard stop, before starting again.) 2) sometimes (about 20% of the time) after coming to a complete stop at a stop sign or red light, the transmission goes into first gear hard and/or the converter/torsen differential is unlocking/locking incorrectly. it will actually rock the vehicle forward. sometimes it gives the same sensation as in item 3. (actually, on a few occasions i get item 2 problem followed by an item 1 problem. *ak | |||
| 10/03/2003 | 15535 | 1 | 01/23/2003 |
| Vibration in steering, most prevalent around 70 mph. started at 15,000 miles. rebalanced tires 3 times and dealer determined that oem tires were bad. tried new tires and the problem persists. believed to be same as lexus gx 470 problem with tsb fix st004-04. no toyota tsb yet. *jb | |||
| 08/23/2003 | 1 | ||
| Vibration in steering wheel ,floorboards, driveline and droning noise. this is an update to id# 10060725. lexus of toyota has announced a tsb for the gx 470 which has the same mechanicals as the toyota 4runner. this tsb addresses the indicated problem that is in both vehicles. it is :steering st004-04 steering vibration and driveline vibration/drone. unfortunately the fix can only be applied to the lexus vehicles per dealer.*ak | |||
| 09/01/2003 | 150 | 1 | 08/23/2003 |
| Drivetrain vibration felt in steering column and floorboards at approx 1200rpm to 2000rpm. this is not to be confused with wheel shimmey due to tire or wheel imbalance. service dealer indicates this is normal and will resolve itself with more mileage. *ak | |||
| 10/01/2003 | 500 | 100 | 08/23/2003 |
| 2003 toyota 4runner v8/awd w/ under 5,000 miles at highway speeds there is a vibration and low frequency roaring noise that appears to come from the from axle/differential. sound ceases when coasting. noise and vibration was noticed within first 500 miles of ownership and is increasingly getting worst. thought to be tires which were rotated and did not solve problem. dealer analyzed and stated this is a normal working noise from the differential which has aluminum parts. noise is getting louder. concern there is a defect and safety issue.*ak | |||
| 08/01/2003 | 100 | 1 | 07/29/2003 |
| Have had the vehicle for a month now. i went back to the dealer after the first week with noticeable vibration in the steering wheel and the vehicle in general from approx. 45 mph and above. dealer balanced wheels. returned again another week later with same symptoms. dealer again attemped to balance tires and analyzed rims, speed balance, etc. and determined it was the tires. after the song and dance about the dealer being unable to replace the tires without a long drawn out process, i was directed to the local bridgestone dealer for tire replacement. had tires replaced the following tuesday. same symptoms re-occurred after a few days. back to the dealer a third time this past friday. re-balanced the new tires again, service manager drove it afterwords and said everything was fine. left that afternoon on a trip, and the symptoms re-occured again. have had enough ! i am filing a lemon law notice to toyota this week with one last chance to repair. if unsuccesful, will be filing for arbitration to receive a refund.*ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE - DIFFERENTIAL UNIT | |||
| 08/19/2003 | 500 | 1 | 06/17/2003 |
| 2003 toyota limited 4-runner v8- awdfront-end vibration problem first presented the vibration problem at 5048 miles to my dealer the last week of august! it is mostly felt through the steering wheel and the accelerator and occurs at various speeds. there is also a droning noise associated with the vibration and is most notable under load. they tried balancing the wheels with no improvement. they agreed the problem was there and notified corporate. their technical staff had them remove the front axels and retest. the vibration, which started at 22 mph, went to 32mph 42, 55, and 62mph now disappeared! the dealer was advised that there was an angle problem with the front drive shaft. a week later a technical representative met with me and mentioned that several similar vehicles in phoenix had the same problem. he suggested it probably would take about two months to get a fix. he felt that toyota would probably just replace the whole unit rather than putting in different parts. two months later i talked to the tech. rep. again and he mentioned that the engineering group had determined the problem to be interferences in the spider gear assembly in the front differential, they were trying to correct the condition with thrust washer shims and other things. they claimed that the problem was not a safety factor; i wonder though what would happen if the front end were to freeze-up since its in 4wd all the time! i have presented my claim to the toyota customer support group. i have called them regularly once a month and have had no success at finding what their schedule is for the fix, --only to say we are working on it and your dealer will notify you. ive since heard from my dealer staff that they have a number of lexus gx470's as well as 2004s 4-runners involved. im beginning to feel that they have so many vehicles involved it might be a long time before we see a fix! i haul a pop-up trailer and does it magnify the problem! *ak | |||
| 08/01/2003 | 63 | 1 | 08/01/2003 |
| 2003 4 runner. bought 8/1/03 with 63 actual miles. 1st owner. vehicle vibrates at 75 mph and becomes severe rumble at 80 to 83 mph. dealership explained the problem as the tires. tires re mounted. rumble still exists. tires then replaced. rumble still exists. i called toyota customer service hot line, received claim # 2003-1212 0940, which happens to be the actual date and time of call also. i am still in wait for a solution to this problem that toyota acknowledged has been happening with several 4 runners. please help. wayde *cb | |||
| 08/28/2003 | 100 | 500 | 08/28/2003 |
| There is a whining noise comming from the front differential at all speeds, but noticeable mostly at 80 mph and hiogher. toyota aknowledged, but refuses to repair.*ak also drivers seat is loose and comes out of place during emergency stopping. again toyota is aware, but refuses to correct. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE - DRIVESHAFT | |||
| 03/24/2005 | 9000 | 2 | 09/23/2003 |
| I presently have my 2003 4 runner v8 limited in for the second time in less then a year for air suspension problems. in both cases the air suspension stays in the fully inflated position. they replaced the compressor the first time in (21 days to get parts), and this time they tell me it?s the air release portion of the compressor. which means their replacing the compressor again (7 days and counting waiting for parts). i also had the vehicle in for a wobbling sound, the problem was a driveshaft that was installed backwards on the assembly line. toyota indicated that this occurs once in a while during assembly. *ak | |||
| 06/30/2003 | 150 | 20 | 06/23/2003 |
| From the date of purchase thered has been a loud thud noise when releasing the brake pedal. this does not occur on a continual or predictable basis. the toyota dealership examined the 4runner and didn't find the brakes to be faulty; however the sound and a surge are still present it reminds me of the thud sound that was inherent in the t-100 pick-up truck when it was started in reverse. i have an automatic transmission in my vehicle and wonder if failure is imminent there or in the drive shaft. in either case this is an obvious flaw and must be addressed by toyota. my daughter owned a 2002 toyota pick-up truck and said it made the same sound for as long as she owned it. *ak | |||