I have a 2012 Toyota Camry LE 2.5 with 168,000 miles. Great car, however just noticed a slight vibration when going into 4th or 5th gear at low acceleration. Researching a bit I found a flaw reported for 2012-2014 for software bug.
T-SB-0034-14April 30, 2014Torque Converter Flex Lock-up Shudder
I'm reaching out to a transmission repair shop, thinking about the dealer who has maintained the car but fearful of their costs.
Is this something the dealer should do? Can I safely go somewhere else? Any suggeestions are appreciated, the promblem at the moment is minimal, I suspect it may get worse? Will the software bug fix it or is it too late and the torque converter replacement .. which requres to pull the enging 2-3K likely?
Thanks
Researching a bit I found a flaw reported for 2012-2014 for software bug.
It's not a software bug. It's a badly designed transmission, and they've tried to patch it up with a software update, with varying degrees of success. In my opinion it's better to avoid this generation of 4-cyl Camry altogether.
See our topic on this subject (which you can find using the search box for future reference)
The TSB https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2014/SB-10060723-2280.pdf involves some straightforward stuff, like draining and refilling the transmission?
But it also requires replacing the torque converter, which will involve a lot of disassembly/reassembly and thus costly.
Finally, the reprogramming - reflash of the ECM probably requires a Toyota-specific tool not likely to be found outside a Toyota shop.
Have you ever had the ATF drained and replaced? If the problem is new and minimal, you might improve the situation with an ATF drain and refill - that worked on my Toyota when I was starting to get a little roughness on downshifts.
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Thanks for your feedback! I have not done a ATF yet so perhaps this will buy some time! It's barely noticable, another shop said he probably would not have the tool to do the software upgrade, so I will be heading to the dealer next week .. to get their assesment. It will be worth fixing, the car looks and rides like new, but It's irritating they waited 4/5 years for the fix .. and unless you research it, you would never know it existed. What I have read is the software fix could have prevented torque converter issues if done in time .. should that not have been a recall? 