Gear slip on the 150

[Weirdo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Weirdo]

I've had my 150 GXL about 9 months and I'm experiencing all sorts of random gear change characteristics.
The auto gearbox is totally unpredictable. I plant the foot and nothing happens - I hear the revs build then slowly the gear seems to take up. Sometimes with a thud. I reckon I'm loosing at least 10% fuel efficiency via the slipping gears.
The weird change down on hills thing is totally weird. Sometimes its a comfortable one gear change down then other it will change down 2 or 3 gears and the poor motor screeches. Then of course there is the huge flat spot that I also suspect is to do with the gear change. As I power on from a rolling stop it goes to change gear for the kick back and it feels like the motor is going to stall. This is now way beyond quirky and is just plain dangerous.

So fellow Pradoites - have any of you enjoys these extra features??? Keen to hear if our friends at Toyots have a solution.

Thanks,

Weirdo.

[Frankmoli Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Frankmoli]

Hi Weirdo,
I had the same issue and explained it to Toyota. They hooked up their computer and did 2 soft wear upgrades. Apparently the upgrade relates to the transmission. Now the Prado runs perfectly. The problem was so frustrating I thought it was my driving coming from 20 years driving a manual vehicle.
Hope this helps

[Frankmoli Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Frankmoli]

Hi Weirdo,
I had the same issue and explained it to Toyota. They hooked up their computer and did 2 soft wear upgrades. Apparently the upgrade relates to the transmission. Now the Prado runs perfectly. The problem was so frustrating I thought it was my driving coming from 20 years driving a manual vehicle.
Hope this helps

[VeeZeeSS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close VeeZeeSS]

Anyone have an idea of the software version they are now running when the "fix" was applied ?

[Weirdo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Weirdo]

Thanks for that confirmation. Sometimes it drives OK and I start thinking I'm imagining it. Then off it goes again doing all sorts of random and sloppy gear shifts..

If any one can tell me the firmware version or fix number it would help when doing battle with the big T.

[Frankmoli Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Frankmoli]

I've got a 2010 Prado and have never had it serviced at Toyota. I did read it somewhere on the forum where another member had the software upgrade and noticed the difference. So all I did was call Toyota and made an appointment for a software check and with in 15 minutes the job was done.

[Riv39 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Riv39]

There are a few firmware updates for the trani that I know of:

Overheating issue - I believe this just alters the max temp for the alarm so better to change your driving method i.e. downshift maunually as required

2400rpm flat spot - Fixes this issue but makes the car downshift and hold 4th much more (won't select 5th till 60km/hr post update)

Surging issue - I believe this is another trani update.

All the above are covered in different threads.

[Weirdo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Weirdo]

All Sorted

Thanks to all for your responses.
I put the 150 in for its 40K last week and mentioned the slipping gear thing.
They started off by denying there was any known issue.
They wanted me to take them for a test drive to prove to them that there is a problem.
I was able to quote PradoPoint and tell them that the issue is a known problem and that there are two updates available and please just apply the fixes as requested.
Then they finally admitted there was a fix available.
BTW if anyone else has this issue Toyota's fault description is "Kick Back Delay".
Anyway, problem solved - the 150 is a totally different beast. It is smooth, responsive and predictable. It kicks back when I plant the foot. No more flat spot pulling out of roundabouts. It's a very different car.

Thanks everyone.

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

Thanks to all for your responses.
I put the 150 in for its 40K last week and mentioned the slipping gear thing.
They started off by denying there was any known issue.
They wanted me to take them for a test drive to prove to them that there is a problem.
I was able to quote PradoPoint and tell them that the issue is a known problem and that there are two updates available and please just apply the fixes as requested.
Then they finally admitted there was a fix available.
BTW if anyone else has this issue Toyota's fault description is "Kick Back Delay".
Anyway, problem solved - the 150 is a totally different beast. It is smooth, responsive and predictable. It kicks back when I plant the foot. No more flat spot pulling out of roundabouts. It's a very different car.

Thanks everyone.

Do you mind nominating the offending dealership?

[Aidy Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Aidy]

Do you mind nominating the offending dealership?

Gentlemen, now that i am a proud owner of a 150, going up from a 120, i feel am having the same problem. Could u tell me whether there is a code number for the software upgrade or should i just mention the kick back delay to the dealer?

The vehicle is just shifting crazy upwards to the highest possible ear and it feels very slow compared to the old generation i had.

Thanks

[watto1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close watto1]

kick back delay

Gentlemen, now that i am a proud owner of a 150, going up from a 120, i feel am having the same problem. Could u tell me whether there is a code number for the software upgrade or should i just mention the kick back delay to the dealer?

The vehicle is just shifting crazy upwards to the highest possible ear and it feels very slow compared to the old generation i had.

Thanks

I am also having this issue on my 09 prado 150 kakadu. . Toyota are saying they only have a fix for the diesel 150.? Anyone had their GRJ150 flashed for this issue?
Cheers..

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

I am also having this issue on my 09 prado 150 kakadu. . Toyota are saying they only have a fix for the diesel 150.? Anyone had their GRJ150 flashed for this issue?
Cheers..

I have the same question because when I last asked Toyota they said no upgrades were available. It's in for a service today so would like to get any updates applied if available. I do seem to get a surging issue from time to time but am having all sorts of electrical gremlins at the moment which makes it hard to pin down the cause.

[watto1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close watto1]

I have the same question because when I last asked Toyota they said no upgrades were available. It's in for a service today so would like to get any updates applied if available. I do seem to get a surging issue from time to time but am having all sorts of electrical gremlins at the moment which makes it hard to pin down the cause.

The 'tech' that came for a drive with me was confident he could just hook up a computer and apply the low and high speed 'kick down' fix. After 2hrs wait... they told me 'Apparently there are no such fixes for the V6.. only the diesel..'

[watto1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close watto1]

Anyone else had issues with the Auto in the v6 150? Mine really only does it around 20km/h and light throttle from a corner.. then it revs its guts out before going up a gear..