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On rare occasions my '01 exhibits hesitation and thus I don't think it's caused by the introduction of fly-by-wire (too lazy to check previous posts but thinking other pre '04 owners experienced the problem too), although its possible the problem is exasperated by the introduction of fly-by-wire.
I remember in the first days of driving the HL that I found its shift points to be somewhat awkward and acceleration a little sluggish, and I adjusted my driving habits to compensate and eventually it became a subconscious act. Others may have different expectations in how a vehicle should respond and may be less tolerant of its idiosyncrasies.
At any rate there apparently is a fix for the RX330, so it's a real problem that Toyota is aware of.
FWD vs AWD..
I4 vs V6...
For those of you experiencing hesitation, COLD engine/transmission?
I swear it feels like it's either in neutral or some high gear like 3rd or 4th when it happens, the engine rpm's spin up from about 1000 to nearly 2000 before the trans engages abruptly. The hesitation occurs in that 1000 to 2000 rpm range where I think the computer brain is trying to figure out what to do then it finally finds the lower gear and goes. I wonder what will make Toyota fix this, at least for the models affected. Will it take a few injury lawsuits or a class action lawsuit? It is a very real and dangerous problem.
So file a complaint if you are experiencing the hesitation problem with the '04 Highlander here;
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
Click on "secure submissions" and fill out the simple form. When you get towards the end of filling out the form, you'll be asked the component. Click/highlight "POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION." Some have posted under "VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL" so file where you want.
Thanks
BTW, you can review all submissions on this topic by also clicking on the above link and selecting "search" under Complaints then "vehicle" under "type" then year, make, model, component, etc....
I don't have any hesitation issues, just prematurely "burned" transmission fluid.
Simply verifying wil's statements.
There are a lot of oil sludge complaints there for the Highlander, but none for the hesitation issue as yet.
If CAS receives enough of them, the organization may be able to take some action. CAS claims to have "used consumer complaints to obtain recalls and make auto and tire companies take responsibility for their defects and lemons."
So, besides filing a complaint at;
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
Also file one at;
http://www.autosafety.org
Click on "File/View Complaints" and fill out the simple form.
Thanks hmurphy! :-)
Here's some of them:
http://www.autosafety.org/showconsumercomplaint.php?compid=13413&- amp;failure=-1&Make=57&modelid=-1&offset=0
http://www.autosafety.org/showconsumercomplaint.php?compid=13099&- amp;failure=-1&Make=57&modelid=-1&offset=0
http://www.autosafety.org/showconsumercomplaint.php?compid=11335&- amp;failure=-1&Make=57&modelid=-1&offset=0
http://www.autosafety.org/showconsumercomplaint.php?compid=10688&- amp;failure=-1&Make=57&modelid=-1&offset=25
http://www.autosafety.org/showconsumercomplaint.php?compid=8949&a- mp;failure=-1&Make=57&modelid=-1&offset=25
http://www.autosafety.org/showconsumercomplaint.php?compid=8124&a- mp;failure=-1&Make=57&modelid=-1&offset=25
Both check engine / VSC warning lights on. Have been told to take it to the dealership. Since you had this problem, how was it fixed.
Terry
some previous posts show that a loose vacuum hose might be the reason. So I tight it myself couples of times, but the light was still on for about a week.
during that week, I was changing the coolant for the first time, and couples of days later, the check engine/VSC light was off. everything back to normal and never happened again. I can't tell any difference when the light is on or off.
I guess there might be a sensor to tell that coolant needs to be changed and that generate error on Check Engine/VSC light? Could it be?
try search by "engine light" in this forum, you will find all the information about loose vacuume hose issue. Good luck.
There are several other things which I wasn't aware of until after the fact but documentation and spend as long as it takes in the 'drive test'
to make sure the arbitrator has a full knowledge of what this car is doing. They will assume it is hesitating from stop to start rather than cutting out in the 20 to 30 mph range. In other words ....Be Specific and use the time to your benefit.
follow up with complaints to every agency listed in previous posts and any other you might know of.
I am in the process of beginning to write to Consumer magazines, groups, etc to stop the Toyota hype and prevent them from continuing to
bamboozle unsuspecting customers.
When I had a ton of brake problems with my new Honda Accord (and lots of other owners had them, too), I wrote to Consumer Reports about it, and they simply directed me to the NHTSA to file a complaint.
I don't want to put a damper on your efforts... I'm just relating my experience.
It has been shown many times that it is possible to register complaints there without any authentication whatsoever.
Be advised that none of the complaints there are verified, and it's easy to log a complaint without a legitimate E-Mail address.
A similar situation exists at the NHTSA site, where acomplaint can be logged, but it doesn't mean there has been any authentication of that complaint, nor does it mean that any e-mail addresses are legitimate.
None of the complaints I've seen there seemed ludicrous or suspicious, but I guess you have to take everything with a grain of salt. If someone complained of vehicle demon possession, that would be one thing, but I haven't seen anything like that. Yet :-)
Since the people here will undoubtedly be registering legitimate complaints, I don't see any cause for concern.
Personally, I'm not concerned about it, and as you say, we have to take most of what we see in these places with a grain or two of salt.
does it occur on both 4 cyl, and V6?
" " " 2wheel & 4 wheel drive?
Before learning of the problem I was debating getting the 4 or 6 cylinder FWD, this may be the deciding factor.
Thanks
dealer "worked on it" 3 times - still pulled.
private mechanic then said the camber was off on one side and that there was no factory adjustment.
For $30 he elongated a hole in the strut on the "bad" side and fixed it.
dealer would not or could not do that. car was probably made a little off. Dealer futzed me around - kept saying pull was common due to road crown. BS
The dealer should definitely be held accountable to fix this. This time ride with the service technician and ask him to release the steering wheel to prove to him it pulls to the side. At a minimum have them rotate the tires again (if you didn't do it before, this time actually watch them to make sure they actually do indeed rotate them!).
Haven't paid too much attention to the posts as to whether FWD or AWD related, but suspect its independent of this.
But I'd do a thorough test drive of the V6 before deciding against it, putting it through all the paces you normally subject your car to under all driving conditions you typically encounter, possibly on successive visits to the dealership.
Atleast in my case I observed more hesitation when the ENGINE is COLD. Everytime you start the vehicle , just let it warm for 5-7 mins (I know its very annyoying and not possible everytime) and the hesitation is reduced . Try this if it helps for you guys and post the results.
I am hearing 2-3 seconds of hesitation after application of WOT, wide open throttle.
I am also hearing that oftentimes there is entry to a turn involved.
Is it possible that the reports of 2-3 seconds of hesitation before acceleration correlates to exiting the turn, straightening, or beginning to straighten, the stearing wheel?
Whether I have to deal with it or not, I hope it gets resolved quickly. Aside from the potential for injury or harm to occupants, the resale value of these vehicles will fall like a rock if word gets out.
My dealer's Service Manager says there have never been any complaints about it that he knows of. If it does exist,I don't think it affects very many Highlanders, and it certainly isn't a safety issue like the sudden and unexpected accelleration issues referred to above. I also don't think it's likely resale values will be affected one way or the other.
Not sure what the hesitation problem is, or what model years it applies to, but I don't ever recall experiencing any. Mine was a V6 AWD.
What I did experience, was typical (to me) Toyota (and other cars, I'm sure) gas pedal twitchiness. IOW, just touch the pedal - and vrrooom - whoa - hold me back kind of built in to make you think your driving a real powerful machine throttle response. My wife's old Camry did this a little, too. Takes a while to get used to, and then you find yourself feathering your way from every stop...
I did however experience times when there'd be a reluctance to downshift at just the wrong moments, making me floor the thing and then wind up (literally!) in 1st gear at about 35 or 40 mph. Maybe this could be thought of by some as hesitation. These things are probably issues with a lot of cars these days with processors controlling everything.
Before setting off alarm bells about something that, so far, has been posted about by just a few individuals, it might make sense to cool the rhetoric a bit.
The idea this "hesitation" issue constitutes a serious safety hazard sounds to me like a chapter out of another activist's handbook--one who is long since gone (perhaps?) named Blake.
The Trac system in my 92 LS400 would instantly apply the brakes and also instantly dethrottle the engine.
More that one time as I accelerated from a stop, not even close to WOT, and as I then crossed wet plastic crosswalk stripping and the wheels spun the engine would get dethrottled about the time I was 45 degrees to the travel lane I wanted to merge with.
Terrifying at times, multiple second for the dethrottling system to allow decent engine torque recovery.
Unless you've been there yourself, don't denigrate someone who has.
When the vehicle accelerates normally, as one would expect of a Lexus, 99.99% of the time, one tends to accept that performance as the norm.
It's like the Lexus Nav in my 01 RX300, that totally unpredictable .01 percent failure mode causes me to NEVER trust it.
I'm not saying that the hesitation "problem" Wwest describes hasn't happened, but I suggest it's an extremely rare and unusual situation. I feel the same way about the Highlander hesitation "problem" some suggest should be promoted as a serious "safety hazard." It just doesn't warrant that kind of alarmist publicity.
An aside about your nav system Wwest. It's a satellite based GPS system like all the others out there. Yours is an 01 configuration--3 years old and climbing. You must know that databases in such systems require updating semi annually. Things do change--the most important of which are isogonic lines of magnetic deviation. Have you had yours done, and if so, you may find the accuracy factor will be more reliable.
Regardless, there is nothing lost if those who experience the hesitation report their problems to appropriate safety agencies. These agencies can then determine for themselves how much of a hazard this presents.
I have been reading up on this problem here and would suggest that the naysayers search this forum using the word "hesitation" to read some of the history on this. It has been an issue when merging into high speed traffic (such as merging onto an interstate), when pulling into a passing lane to pass a slow moving vehicle, when making turns, and so on. It seems like it is mostly reported when traveling at a slow speed then needing to accelerate. There are also some suggestions as to cause, one being that it occurs in those vehicles with "fly” or “fly wire” acceleration.
Furthermore, I don't intend to get into any argument over what's a big or little issue here, all I've done is state my opinion that this hestitation thing is unusual and rare, plus doesn't represent any safety concerns for those few who might experience it.
So I'll just leave it at that. If you feel the need to editorialize the issue, go ahead.
If 99.99% of the time the hesitation doesn't occur then you adjust your driving style accordingly, always "judging" a good margin of safety before pulling out in front of a line of on-rushing traffic.
Then suddenly that remaining .01% reaches out and bites you in the behind.
Since I couldn't reliably predict when my rear wheels might slip on my 92 LS400 the simple thing to do was disable it each and every time I started the car.
Lexus Nav....
The Lexus service manager proved that the problems I have experienced have to do withe the base Nav routing computation, not the map data or lack thereof. Exists on everything up to and including 04 model.
I can tell you from my aviation experience (I have 3 on board GPS receivers)that if databases aren't updated regularly to adjust for constant changes in magnetic North, errors will be there, and get worse over time.
Two of my units are current, one isn't(an older unit I keep as a spare), and I can get differences of up to 15 miles in a 200 mile trip.
What airplane do/did you fly, or how do you fly it such that you have need to rely on magnetic directional information?
I suppose VFR on top....??
VOR's have very little to do with magnetic compasses. All they are is fixed ground based navaid transmitters which provide directional bearings and DME info (distance measuring equipment--my DME unit is a King KN64). Tacan is the military version of a VOR.
GPS is a satellite based navaid, and GPS receiver databases are preprogrammed based on maps and charts at a given time. As you no doubt know from your ground school curriculum, VFR charts are only valid for a three month period, and IFR charts for a 28 day period. the biggest reason for this is magnetic deviation--magnetic North is not stationary.
I still use VORs, but GPS units approved for IFR are much quicker and easier-- they do all the calculating and triangulation for you. GPS units have only become approved for IFR use in the past few years.
And yes, a GPS satellite will give you your position relative to the ground, but if the reference points pre programmed in your GPS receiver have moved (magnetic deviation), your position will be off with respect to the pre programmed map or chart your GPS receiver contains.
I am going to check and see how much the position would be off at my lat/long from the DVD date
interesting !