2010 Toyota Corolla transmission whine

[dkrivosheyev]

I believe the whine issue is two-fold if it happens on a new car:

1. The tolerances in the differential gear assembly from the factory may be such that there is too much play in the gears and that can cause the whine.
2. Item (1) combined with the transmission fluid that is too thin can increase the whine. Event with the tolerances are good the differential can experience some whine if wrong (too thin) fluid was used.
I suggest you try redline D4 in this corolla and see if the whine goes away.

 

[panthermike]

I just might do that. Come to think of it, I did the 3 drain/fills with Maxlife(6.11 @100C). I did feel like the shifts were smoother, but the whine may have gotten louder.

So what you're saying makes sense.

 

[dkrivosheyev]

I also tried redline high-temp ATF in my 2003 Echo that has pronounced gear whine and high-temp works even better than D4 - the whine is a lot less! So if D4 does not cure the whine in your corolla you can try high-temp atf. The shift quality will not be affected

 

[dkrivosheyev]

Wanted to revive this topic. We had a little 10th generation corolla meet in my city and I naturally asked 5 or 6 people if their U341E transmission whines under load between 55 and 60mph or not. Surpisingly, most people said it does not, but when we went our for a ride, I pointed out to 4 out of 6 owners that their transmission does actually whine. The sound is so subtle that most people think this is a tire/engine noise, but when you take the load off the transmission, it goes away immediately... So looks like it is time for another TSB or recall for toyota, we will be calling their customer hotline here soon. If 4 out of 6 transmissions make this noise, I suppose it is a whidespread defect, most people just do not pay enough attention....

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: dkrivosheyev
I believe the whine issue is two-fold if it happens on a new car:

1. The tolerances in the differential gear assembly from the factory may be such that there is too much play in the gears and that can cause the whine.
2. Item (1) combined with the transmission fluid that is too thin can increase the whine. Event with the tolerances are good the differential can experience some whine if wrong (too thin) fluid was used.
I suggest you try redline D4 in this corolla and see if the whine goes away.


You are probably right on both accounts. I had a whine experience in RAV4 and Toyota replaced trannies with rebuilt ones with honed gears. Looks like they skipped gear honing in the manufacturing process. To me it sounds like cost cutting (honing is expensive) and hoping owners would not notice the difference. While the whining you have sounds like a minor issue, RAV4 had annoying one.

 

[dkrivosheyev]

After the corolla meet described in my last post, I called Toyota Customer Hotline and complaibed about the whine. The representative took my vin number and said that they do not have any TSB on this issue at this time but will "look into it". Surprisingly three days later I got a call from my dealer asking to bring the car in. They were going to keep it for a week for investigation and gave my 2011 corolla as a loaner. After three days I got a call that my car is ready for pick up. Upon arriving at the dealership I found out that they replaced the transmission with a new unit! On the way home I tested it and heard the same whine between 55 and 60 mph! It was a lot quieter and I believe nobody except me would notice it, in fact, when I asked my wife to listen, she could not hear it, but I can. Also, while replacing the transmission they scratched the plastic engine cover and some paint inside the engine compartment. I am now wondering if I should take it back and pursue yet another transmission replacement or should I just live with it? Again, if you turn the radio on or if you driving on a rough road, the whine cannot be heard at all, and I really don't want the dealership to screw up anything else...

 

[odie]

" Also, while replacing the transmission they scratched the plastic engine cover and some paint inside the engine compartment. I am now wondering if I should take it back and pursue yet another transmission replacement or should I just live with it? "

Know how you feel . When we had the H.C.G. of the '08 YARIS sedan replaced under warranty they scuffed the heck out of the plastic engine cover , likely from throwing it on the concrete floor . Then they didn't tighten oil filter ( leaking oil ) so I could spin it off by hand and had to retighten . They also ruined the new air filter by throwing that on a dirty bench so it was covered with grime .

I really don't want the dealership to screw up anything else... "

Thus we're wary of getting work done by TOYOTA service centers .

 

[tigrpal]

So the dealership replaced your transmission for a "faint" (your word) whine that only occurs between 55-60 mph on acceleration, only when the transmission is warm, that most people can't hear until you point it out to them, that, as you said, doesn't do any harm to the transmission, after the service manager spent two hours with you searching for this whine, and your wondering if you should ask them to do more for you?

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: tigrpal
So the dealership replaced your transmission for a "faint" (your word) whine that only occurs between 55-60 mph on acceleration, only when the transmission is warm, that most people can't hear until you point it out to them, that, as you said, doesn't do any harm to the transmission, after the service manager spent two hours with you searching for this whine, and your wondering if you should ask them to do more for you?



+1 Be glad they did anything to try and make you happy. The 99-02 Lexus RX trannies had a definite problem, and Toyota would not fess up to it what so ever. Oh I`m sorry, they did re do the planetary gear set with an updated stronger carrier. But you had to pay for it.

 

[friendly_jacek]

While Toyota fessed up to a whining problem in RAV4 and issued TSB, that tranny replacement in your corolla sounds like overkill. But, I suspect dealerships will do anything to earn some money.

 

[dkrivosheyev]

I guess the dealer is paid by Toyota for warranty work and if they can prove that the work is really needed Toyota will pay for it... They did not even call me until the transmission was replaced and the service manager was very nice to me when I came to pick up my car. I guess I don't need to push the issue any more...

 

[dkrivosheyev]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: tigrpal
So the dealership replaced your transmission for a "faint" (your word) whine that only occurs between 55-60 mph on acceleration, only when the transmission is warm, that most people can't hear until you point it out to them, that, as you said, doesn't do any harm to the transmission, after the service manager spent two hours with you searching for this whine, and your wondering if you should ask them to do more for you?



+1 Be glad they did anything to try and make you happy. The 99-02 Lexus RX trannies had a definite problem, and Toyota would not fess up to it what so ever. Oh I`m sorry, they did re do the planetary gear set with an updated stronger carrier. But you had to pay for it.


Although I understand that Toyota did go out of their way to make me happy, I do not consider this something extraordinary. I work in the resort business and in our organization we will go above and beyond and do whatever it takes to make the customer happy, even if it means losing some money. It is all about long-term commitment and not immediate revenue right now. If you make a customer happy, he will most likely come back and spend more money with you, so if Toyota does good for me, I am very likely to buy another car from them.

 

[panthermike]

I would just live w/ it and be happy that you now have a fresh transmission. Sounds like Toyota has done right for you, which is quite rare.

My fiance's mom has an '05 Corolla w/ a quite audible whine. It's done this since I can remember. It's almost at 130,000 miles now, the trans still shifts very well and it's only had 2 services.

I would be highly surprised if you ever have real issues w/ this transmission.

 

[cancov]

Has anyone ran Amsoil Synthetic Fuel Efficient Automatic Transmission Fluid in their 10th gen Corolla(2009-Present)?

From Amsoil's Website:
Originally Posted By: Amsoil
AMSOIL Synthetic Fuel Efficient Automatic Transmission Fluid is recommended for automatic transmissions and other applications requiring DEXRON® VI, MERCON® LV, SP or Toyota WS.


I understand if you haven't hit the recommended change interval yet as these are newer vehilces, but I was just wondering if someone had attempted Amsoil in this transmission. Perhaps someone OCD enough to change their ATF earlier than suggested.