2002 Toyota Highlander Transmission issues….

Z

Zack1978

Joined
Jun 13, 2006
Messages
186
Location
NJ
Hi everyone,
I am looking for some help with my 2002 Toyota Highlander. it currently has 140,000 miles and it has developed a transmission issue.
It started to whine and shift hard, at times. I assumed the worst and started looking for a replacement transmission. At the same time I mentioned the issue to my mechanic (who is not a transmission expert/shop) and he said let’s try changing the filter and fluid.
I had the Highlander towed to him to reduce the risk of further damage. He flushed the transmission throughly by pulling the cooler lines and used Lubegard trans flush and cooler flush.

Did it help? Sort of…….

Now the whine is gone, but it still shifts harshly (bangs into gear) when it’s cold. He noted that after about a mile or so, it warms up and works perfectly fine with”buttery smooth” shifts.
He put about ten miles or so on it and said warm it’s great with no noise or any issues.
As noted above, he is not a trans expert. He doesn’t know where to go from here. He noted that going to a trans shop is probably going to result in them Simply saying, you need a new transmission. He mentioned possibly shift solenoids, but there are no codes whatsoever.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be going on?
I was thinking of trying Lubegard Red. I know it might be snake oil, but it has great reviews.


Thank you!
 
Lubegard Red is NOT snake oil (it actually contains synthetic Sperm Whale oil). It is one of the few additives that actually does what they say it will do. It certainly wouldn't hurt anything to try it (that is the other thing about it, it doesn't hurt anything). One of the things that it helps with is harsh shifting.
www.lubegard.com

Lubegard Technology - Lubegard

It started here, during the preliminary development of the company’s proprietary LXE Technology, that International Lubricants Inc. took the opportunity to manufacture products that were friendlier to the environment, benign in their affect on users, and superior at resolving many common...
www.lubegard.com www.lubegard.com
 
I might just drive it a while. I’m not familiar with how that transmission responds to wear, adaptives and all that. I think, though, I would drive it for a couple of weeks and see how it settles down before doing anything else. It may just need time to relearn and possibly some cranky clutch surfaces to acclimate/wear/shed. Don’t change too much at once.
 
CharBaby said:
Our 2001 RX300 V6 dumped its tranny just past 150K and the tranny had regular D&Fs its whole life.
Click to expand...
ugh! We are the second owners but we were friends with the original owners and the trans was always maintained from the day it was brand new.
This is not inspiring news.
 
Zack1978 said:
Also what symptoms did you experience before it went out?
Click to expand...
Slippage. So we did another service including filter(pan drop). No help.
We owned this RX300(V6 AWD)since new for 15 yrs and then sold it to my SIL. 5 yrs later at 20 yrs &150K it died. The tranny had 8 and then a 9th tranny services in that time. According to ClubLexus, these were a problem tranny.
 
It was also during this time that Toyota was going through a couple of Class Action Law Suits.
One was with the slugging engines and the other was with automatic transmissions. So even TOYOTA
has their problems.
 
My dad's 2006 Highlander 4-cylinder (98k miles) bangs hard into gear from neutral, hot and cold. But once the trans is in D, it shifts normally between all gears. Otherwise no issues and drives fine. I believe the transmission was serviced once around 50-60k miles and the fluid level and color look OK. Also, every cold start produces a rattling noise that sounds exactly like a loose heat shield or similar, but on further investigation the rattling noise comes from inside the engine or transmission case. The noise goes away after the fast idle comes down. Doesn't seem right but again it drives just fine, always has. Not sure if this is helpful but wanted to chime in.
 
wag123 said:
Lubegard Red is NOT snake oil (it actually contains synthetic Sperm Whale oil). It is one of the few additives that actually does what they say it will do. It certainly wouldn't hurt anything to try it (that is the other thing about it, it doesn't hurt anything). One of the things that it helps with is harsh shifting.
www.lubegard.com

Lubegard Technology - Lubegard

It started here, during the preliminary development of the company’s proprietary LXE Technology, that International Lubricants Inc. took the opportunity to manufacture products that were friendlier to the environment, benign in their affect on users, and superior at resolving many common...
www.lubegard.com www.lubegard.com
Click to expand...
+1 for Lubegard red.

I have a 1991 Ford Ranger with automatic (A4LD). I got the truck with maybe 60k; it had a "reverse bang" which was not uncommon to those trans, i.e., cold start, put it in reverse and it would engage harshly. Once warm, not a problem as I recall. Shifting was okay.

Several years ago, someone here on BITOG contacted Lubegard about the dosing of their product in ATF. Bottom line was they said you really can't overdose it (within reason) but that doubling the dose was sometimes worth doing, with low/no risk of damage (assuming not overfilling it).

I had already changed to Mobil1 ATF and had some improvement but not what I'd hoped. The second bottle of LG Red did the trick. The reverse bang went away completely, never to return some 40k later.

Like is always said, YMMV but for the very low cost of a 2nd bottle of Lubegard, I would try that.

HTH.
 
michaelluscher said:
2002 Highlander, I4 or V6?
4WD?

If it's the U140E, that wasn't one of Toyotas best transmissions
At this mileage, the end might be near
Click to expand...
It's the 3.0 V6 and 4wd. Yes, I believe that it is the U140. I know that either the E or F denotes 4wd.....I think the 4wd trans is the U140F.
 
CharBaby said:
It was also during this time that Toyota was going through a couple of Class Action Law Suits.
One was with the slugging engines and the other was with automatic transmissions. So even TOYOTA
has their problems.
Click to expand...
Strangly, my SIL had the same year RX300 V6 AWD and her tranny went out at a bit over 100k miles.
 
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