At least
ten 2007 Toyota Tundra
owners at TundraSolutions.com (TS)
have posted experiences of six-speed transmission anomalies that all
share a common symptom. The transmission randomly rough-shifts
for several seconds, making the truck feel like it's riding on a roadside
rumble strip. Hence, the problem has been given the informal name
'rumble strip' transmission issue.
TS members
in the discussion thread recount that Toyota dealers who have serviced
impacted trucks have acknowledged the issue, saying it's caused by
the truck's torque converter not disengaging properly during gear changes. The
torque converter takes the place of a clutch in an automatic transmission.
It smoothly transitions gear shifts and disconnects the driveline from
the engine at stops, so the engine doesn't stall.
Owner anecdotes
also describe that the Tundras have quickly
had their transmissions replaced with new or remanufactured units - to
the satisfaction of most owners.
A Toyota
service tech I spoke to at a dealer in the Dallas, Texas metro area
said he was well aware of the problem but had only seen one truck
so far with the issue at his dealership.
Asked
if Toyota's U.S. headquarters is aware of the Tundra's transmission
issue, Toyota spokesperson Joe Tetherow confirmed to PickupTruck.com
that the issue exists and that it's been traced back to the torque
converter.
Mr. Tetherow
says going forward only the torque converter of impacted trucks will
be replaced, instead of the entire gearbox. He was not able to quantify
the potential number of trucks affected, but did say that it's not
a safety or design issue.
For
additional information, you can find a related
story here at Automotive News. A subscription is required.
