Hey guys and girls.
So I have my 08 TL. like it overall but have a couple questions.

One is i know of the grade logic and it will down shift if I brake on a hill. The problem I run into is lets say I am on a hill in rush hour. I am braking to slow down and right as the transmission goes to down shift traffic moves and I hit the gas and you can feel it basically slam into a gear. Do any of you feel this ever or do you think something is wrong? OR is it just bad timing when I hit the gas since it seems to be mid shift when this happens?

My second question is if I am in 1st or 2nd gear if I rev the engine up a bit and the let off the gas I can feel the engine rumble I guess you can call it as the RPMs drop. seems to be only in lower gears. RPMs look stable but you can feel a strange stumble/rumble not sure how to describe it lol. I am wondering if that feeling is just the torque converter locking up to save gas?

Thanks for any info!

 

In reference to the first point about the car downshifting into a lower gear and then being on the gas almost simultaneously......I have this happen to me from time to time as well!
It is a pretty harsh feeling and definitely feels like your going to break something lol......but my car runs just fine still......so fingers crossed I guess?
I am pretty used to my cars shifting and the grade logic, which often helps avoiding braking as you know the car will downshift and slow down itself....however from time to time you get it right at the same time as the downshift and it feels like shit.
So I guess what im saying is its normal.
hopefully other members can chime in on this too.

Cant mention anything on the 2nd point.

 

Yeah it seems to shift smooth otherwise, down shifts are a bit rough every now and then but nothing I am too worried about. But glad to hear someone else has the same downshift/ hitting gas hard shift, once you get one of these cars and hear about past TL trans issues you get all touchy with every thing it does lol. The second issue isnt a crazy harsh feeling by any means either I guess you could say it feels like a really minor bogging. I am at about 87,000 on it, original timing belt I just wonder if that has anything to do with it.

 

87000 miles? or km?
and yeah the previous tranny issues do make some owners uncomfortable......but if you stay on top of maintenance and don't abuse these cars they are actually built like tanks!
what year is your car?

 

Lol my bad its 87,000 miles and a 2008. It definitely feels like a solid car. Came off a 2003 avalon so its a nice step up and ive always wanted a TL!

 

The rumble feeling - You mention that you notice it when you let off the accelerator. This makes me believe you can rule out a bad axle, since a bad axle would typically feel that rumble/vibration DURING acceleration. Since it occurs when you let off, it could potentially be a bad engine or transmission mount, but that's just a guess. Wouldn't be surprised if it's a mount because the mounts are getting older and since they are rubber and subject to many heat cycles, they eventually break. Essentially, all of my engine and tranny mounts have been replaced at 107k. I still need to do my rear. Do you have any excessive vibration during idle or when stopped while in Drive or Reverse?

I have ran into some weirdness with the Grade Logic in my car as well. It's definitely nice for some things, but it can be super annoying at other times.