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V6 Transmission Whine - Who HASN'T had it? How many miles?

60K views 131 replies 61 participants last post by  Tacorav 
#1 · (Edited)
There have been postings and threads regarding the possibility of having the transmission whine issue in the 4.3 RAV4 with the V6 engine.

As most people only report on forums like these when they have problems, that may implicitly lead others to believe it's an extremely common problem, possibly inevitable, when it may very well not be.

Although mine - which is still quite young - hasn't shown any sign of the issue, what I'd like to get is a feel for is how many R4Wers have the V6 RAV4(s), ideally since new, and have *never* had the transmission whine on their original transmission. It would be nice to know the year and miles as well, and 2WD vs. 4WD too.

For example:

2012 V6 Limited 4WD - 8,000 miles

Thanks!

.
 
#3 ·
2012 SPORT V6 4WD 20k miles no noise.
 
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#8 · (Edited)
2007 V6 2wd with 97k miles on it has no whine. Bought it back in Jan with 89k.
 
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#10 ·
Don't start jumping for joy if you haven't gone over 18,000 miles yet. That when the whining started for me. The replacement transmission now has 15,648 and is still quiet!
 
#13 · (Edited)
True, mine started about 20,000, initially summer only. By 25,000 it was all year long. It wasn't too bad, but got it fixed by 36,000 when the TSB showed up.
Mine is AWD.
 
#12 ·
2006 V6, 116K no whine.
Also bought two Honda Odysseys, a 2002 & 2003 with 135K & 199K. Neither whines but a friend bought an '03 Odyssey a month ago & asked me to listen to the noise it is making. Wow, now I know what the whine sounds like! I'd never be able to live with it.
 
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#14 ·
Awesome to hear. That really helps reinforce that we're not all destined to get it, at least with reasonable miles on the vehicle.

Thanks!

.
 
#16 ·
Just for information purposes mine whined loudly @ 5,000 miles. Went through the engine/trans mounts replacement, then the complete transmission replacement. Now it is doing it again @ 40MPH. Right at 16K miles.

As mentioned her Base model trans is perfect, even shifts better than mine after the replacement.....nice firm shifts where mine slops into the next gear................I give up!
 
#42 ·
Just for information purposes mine whined loudly @ 5,000 miles. Went through the engine/trans mounts replacement, then the complete transmission replacement. Now it is doing it again @ 40MPH. Right at 16K miles.
Interesting. I have about 15,000 miles on the new tranny and there is some new whine, but only at 30 MPH. Faint, but noticeable. The old tranny had whine at both 30 and 40-50 MPH.
 
#17 ·
I'm so bummed to hear that!

How many miles does she have on her base model?

It seems so random, which is WEIRD given that these are mass-produced, assembly-line mechanical devices. One would certainly think there would be more consistency.
 
#18 ·
Curious if it happens more on the 4wd vs the 2wd.
 
#19 ·
Crud! It hadn't occurred to me to ask that. I have updated my original post to ask that as well.

It would be greatly appreciated if others who replied would go back and edit their original reply to mention whether or not they had 2WD or 4WD models.

Thanks very much!

.
 
#22 ·
Mine (09 V6) has whined since I got it with 24K. My last 08 I4 also whined, so I figured it was a normal thing (although different transmission).

So I wonder, June Bug, what Toyota told you was the cause of the whine when they agreed to replace it? And should I expect a transmission failure in the future?

I've got about 44K on it now. Couldn't really say it's gotten worse over time, and I certainly can't say I've gotten used to it. It bothers me always, like how does Toyota get away with it in this day and age? My dad's '83 Carolla with a three speed whined and behaved similarly to this one. I mean, really?
 
#23 ·
Mine (09 V6) has whined since I got it with 24K. My last 08 I4 also whined, so I figured it was a normal thing (although different transmission).

So I wonder, June Bug, what Toyota told you was the cause of the whine when they agreed to replace it? And should I expect a transmission failure in the future?
I was told that the final drive gear in the transmission is the culprit. They designed a new gear with a special honing process in the new "H" transmission that doesn't whine. It's covered by the 5 year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty. They usually honor it even if you're a little over. It's just a nuisance, really, and doesn't cause any damage that I'm aware of.
 
#24 ·
It's my understanding that there are NO failure or safety issues if the transmission whines. It's only an audible annoyance thing.

It is sadly also my understanding that for some crazy reason the later year 4.3 models (e.g. 2011, 2012) did NOT get the updated "H" transmissions installed at the factory, even though Toyota new about the problem and had the newer transmission design available. :mad:

I am, albeit only loosely, reminded of the Ford Pinto debacle of the 1970s, when Ford felt it was cheaper to deal with the lawsuits for people that died in the fires that resulted from rear-end collisions than fix the problem to begin with. It's not about lives (and future sales), it's about short-term profit. (No, Ford, we haven't forgotten.)

Toyota probably felt it was cheaper to replace some transmissions under warranty than prevent the problem for all customers by using a newer designed transmission at the factory in the first place.

Those transmissions that had the problem after the warranty expired were the customer's responsibility to pay for.

Interestingly, continuing to use the older transmissions that sometimes exhibited the problem when the newer design was available, happened AFTER the "unintended acceleration" debacle, where Toyota quality was seriously called into question.

But obviously a noisy transmission isn't a safety issue, and while safety needs to be the priority when it comes to quality, should safety really be the only thing when it comes to quality?

.
 
#26 ·
We had the Honda Odyssey whining transmission in our '02. While it caused no safety issue it was always there to annoy me. We had the transmission replaced twice under extended warranty and it still whined. We put over 50k miles on it before we sold it. Never had any issues with the transmission other then the noise.

DVS, Your statement about the Pinto brought a thought to my mind.... What auto manufacturers are notorious for build quality? Of course, Chrysler, Ford, and GM are at the top of every list. Here is an interesting article on Forbes about the "Worst built cars for 2012"

Over all I would buy another Toyota over any other manufacturer if I continue to have a choice.
 
#30 ·
Well if it's within the 5 year warranty period they will fix it for you free of charge and pay for the shipping (if there isn't a Dyson repair center near you).
 
#32 ·
Way off Topic.... but I will join in.

We also have a Dyson that we bought off of Woot 5-6 years ago. Has never given us any problems. Works fantastic on carpet, tile and wood flooring. More suction then anything this light and quiet should have. We haven't even had to replace a filter yet. Absolutely no additional cost to the original purchase price (~$240), which was the same as any other brand with similar features and warranty. We also bought a reconditioned "Filter Queen" off of eBay just prior to that. That is a pain to clean. Inconvenient to use because it is a canister. It is now the backup or loaner sitting in the closet.

One of my contractors had a Commercial Hoover that was bulky and heavy. They bought a Dyson and now the Hoover is stuffed in the back of the closet.

No matter what the gimmicky sales (from TV which we don't watch) or commercialized reviews (supposed independent testers) say, I am always looking at reviews of what the consumers, product owners, or personal opinions are of products. This is why I bought the Dyson and also why I bought my Toyota RAV4 V6. The ownership reviews were so unanimous that I couldn't loose.
 
#33 ·
Absolutely agree. And your review of Dyson is valid as you have actually owned and used it for a number of years. Nothing worse than people posting reviews of products they just bought a week ago, which is the issue I'm having trying to find a good 60" LED tv. Not that I'm trying to sway the thread into a new topic..... he said knowingly. Wink wink. Nudge nudge. Say no more.
 
#34 ·
Transmission Whine follow-up

Once I found the TSB for the whine, I showed it to my dealer, and they addressed it with a new transmission - about $4600 in service, NOT charged to Toyota, to the best of my knowledge, but to my certified warranty insurer. Frankly, I don't know how that works out, but how much do I care?

So I have a new transmission that doesn't whine, but it doesn't feel like originally installed parts. It seems to have sapped some of the oomph from the engine, the only part of the car that I truly enjoy. So it goes. I'm adopting a bit of Rolltide's fatalism about all this. (I also had my intermediate steering shaft replaced under warranty although my year was not covered under the TSB. In this case, again, Toyota continued to install the same defective part in newer models. And believe me, I had to FIGHT to make my case. Two dealer service depts refused to admit to feeling the very obvious crunch-a-crunch-crunch in my steering wheel.)

Good news is I'm happy with my vacuum cleaner. Guess that's just lucky.
 
#35 ·
Suggestion for anyone considering purchasing a Rav4 V6 & particularly so if it has the whine, get the extended warranty.

I had bought a used Ford Freestyle and thank God I did the extended warranty! 8mos. after I bought it the tranny let go, then 6mos. later the remanufactured one that was put in let go. Let's just say after a lot of headache, I traded it in for my Rav4.


The Hoover I've had for the last 12yrs is doing O.K. , I think the cats wish we should trade it in for something that won't scare the stuffing out of them ;)
 
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