Mmt Jumps Into Neutral Gear

[scotyaris]

i'm new here and was hoping other yaris owners would know...

my 53 reg (red) mmt yaris has been the best car i've owned until now. (i can only drive automatics)

suddenly while driving along in 2nd (or 3rd?) the car has put itself into neutral leaving me coasting with no control. This has only happened twice but once is too much.

My problem is when i phone the service centers they say they have never heard of such a problem. but i know the corolla verso was well known for it. I would feel more confident if they just said it could be one of the following things...

Does anyone know what can cause this and will i have to remortgage my house?

thanks

[monyaris]

I have a 03 Yaris MMT with the exact same problem. Initial problem was when car was 1 year old and it stuck in gear while accelerating. I brought it back to garage and they assured me they could find no problem. Then in February this year, as I was overtaking, the gear went in to neutral as you describe, lost power and had to coast the car off to the other side of the road! Waited few minutes and each time the engine was turned on, "n" sign flashed and warning light came on. I contacted the garage, and on the way in it happened again. The trouble code they got from the computer showed a problem with the clutch actuator and the computer control, around £1500 to repair. They suggested I contact customer relations, who offered the parts at a reduced rate.

I am having the problem repaired next week, but I'm not happy,as it seems I'm not the only one with this problem. This is a really dangerous fault and the car is completely unreliable, there is no warning when or where it might happen. I have contacted BBC Watchdog about this, as I know one of the posts on the Corolla Verso threads already have, I have also written to UK customer relations. Maybe if they get enough complaints, they'll realise this is not an isolated complaint and do something about it.

[Red Yaris 54]

I owned a 1.0 litre Yaris T3 MMT for 2 years (26000+ miles from new) and never once had any problems with it.

The MMT system was totally reliable and smooth in operation, never encountering the problems that you have mentioned...................maybe you have just been unlucky as I understand that the MMT Yaris has not got a reputation for unreliability.

The Verso however appears to be a different story.

[Mistressh]

Unfortunately you are not just unlucky. I have had my new Yaris MMT for four months and having done 700 miles it is in for repairs for the second time. Initially the transmission warning light came on and it was unable to select a gear. This happened while I was stationary and didn't worry me too much but I took him (sorry, my car is a boy) along to my dealership and they found an error code and booked it in for repair two days later, and what an exciting two days that was! It randomly jumped from 3rd to 4th gear at traffic lights and lost all power, and then got stuck in first on a fast road.

A new sensor was intalled and after three days of calm he began the whole rigmorole again, leaving me stranded in the right hand lane with my hazards on and praying! During his 'glitches' the tranmission warning light comes on and the gear selection is either erratic, stubbornly stuck to one gear or non-existent. At times the oil warning light has come on.....and when the engine is warm the problems seem to be less extreme.

So this time my dealership tells me that they don't know what is wrong and will have to consult some higher power tomorrow. I wish this problem was confined to the Corolla (although they have all my sympathy), and after having two previous Yaris (old-style MMT) and never having a problem I can understand why someone would think they are a reliable car.

Incidently my Husband has a new Auris, bought at the same time as mine and with the same 1.4 Diesel engine, and his is as smooth as silk.

[Lucas555]

Hello Everyone with MMT gearbox in Yaris.

I've been driving MMT for 4,5 years, problems started 4 months ago, blinking "N" in very unexpected situations, and very long, time consuming gears change. It was getting worse. Finally Toyota Service told me to change the clutch disc which is simply worn out. The problem disappeared, MMT is working smoothly now and quite fast. ANyway is does not start driving after brake pedal release. It it normal? It starts driving but very very softly after brake pedl release...

ANyway, TOytoa told me that there is new computer sotware for ECU od MMT gearbox which makes the clutch more reliable for a longer period of time, but it's !Removed! expensive...

My warranty is over.

Lucas

[gar]

Hello Everyone with MMT gearbox in Yaris.

I've been driving MMT for 4,5 years, problems started 4 months ago, blinking "N" in very unexpected situations, and very long, time consuming gears change. It was getting worse. Finally Toyota Service told me to change the clutch disc which is simply worn out. The problem disappeared, MMT is working smoothly now and quite fast. ANyway is does not start driving after brake pedal release. It it normal? It starts driving but very very softly after brake pedl release...

ANyway, TOytoa told me that there is new computer sotware for ECU od MMT gearbox which makes the clutch more reliable for a longer period of time, but it's !Removed! expensive...

My warranty is over.

Lucas

Hi Lucas, surely if Toyota say there is new software available to fix a problem, they MUST therefor acknowledge a fault! If this is the case, surely they should rectify the fault, regardless of warranty expiration!

I would make a VERY LOUD CONPLAINT infront of as many customers in the showroom as possible! That is the sort of thing they absolutely hate! Putting off potential sales.

[Lucas555]

Hello Everyone with MMT gearbox in Yaris.

I've been driving MMT for 4,5 years, problems started 4 months ago, blinking "N" in very unexpected situations, and very long, time consuming gears change. It was getting worse. Finally Toyota Service told me to change the clutch disc which is simply worn out. The problem disappeared, MMT is working smoothly now and quite fast. ANyway is does not start driving after brake pedal release. It it normal? It starts driving but very very softly after brake pedl release...

ANyway, TOytoa told me that there is new computer sotware for ECU od MMT gearbox which makes the clutch more reliable for a longer period of time, but it's !Removed! expensive...

My warranty is over.

Lucas

Hi Lucas, surely if Toyota say there is new software available to fix a problem, they MUST therefor acknowledge a fault! If this is the case, surely they should rectify the fault, regardless of warranty expiration!

I would make a VERY LOUD CONPLAINT infront of as many customers in the showroom as possible! That is the sort of thing they absolutely hate! Putting off potential sales.

My dealer will send special question to Toyota Belgium (there is some central office) regarding this ECU software upadate.

We'll see the response. Anyway something has to be done. Even one case with blinking "n" simply cannot be forgiven!

Furthermore, I think that the only gearbox truly reliable is classic hydrokinetic gearbox or DSG plus of course manual one.

[Parts-King]

"Surely if Toyota say there is new software available to fix a problem, they MUST therefor acknowledge a fault! If this is the case, surely they should rectify the fault, regardless of warranty expiration!"

Acknowledging a fault and paying for it are two seperate issues. I know of no other motor manufacturer who have a better warranty system than Toyota. You have a three year warranty period against mechanical failure, where would you suggest they draw the line after this time period? I can think of many situations where they have been generous with their extended warranty period, Avensis engines for one, but to continue paying for faults everytime a fix is found, is quite frankly, poppycock!. None of us like to pay for things, and I believe that MMT has not been an easy ride for Toyota, but I'm sure that they will act quickly to resolve any issues with cars in warranty, if it is outside period, the dealer network can ask for an out of warranty request to ease the pain of having to pay for repairs, but there has to come a time when the warranty period expires

Kingo

[parbrook]

I have an 06 1.3 MMT.

After what seemed like ages crawling along (stop/start) following a herd of cows, I heard a beeping noise.

Mentioned this to the dealer when the car had its first service a few days later and was told that it was a clutch overheating warning.

When to collect the car that evening and the dealer had just received the technical bulletin from Toyota GB of the updated ECU, which they then ordered as a warranty replacement.

It took a couple of weeks to arrive and about one hour to fit.

Apparently, it's a replacement ECU and not a software update.

This was in July.

No problems since, although I've not met the herd of cows again yet.

[Lucas555]

I have an 06 1.3 MMT.

After what seemed like ages crawling along (stop/start) following a herd of cows, I heard a beeping noise.

Mentioned this to the dealer when the car had its first service a few days later and was told that it was a clutch overheating warning.

When to collect the car that evening and the dealer had just received the technical bulletin from Toyota GB of the updated ECU, which they then ordered as a warranty replacement.

It took a couple of weeks to arrive and about one hour to fit.

Apparently, it's a replacement ECU and not a software update.

This was in July.

No problems since, although I've not met the herd of cows again yet.

Toyota knows that it's ECU fault, it's a pity they didn't replace it during my warranty period...

Thanks for info anyway:)

[Fishface]

Anyone else having this problem like me, please report to VOSA. Hopefully if enough of us complain then something will get done.

[a random dude]

this is obviously a widespread problem, i have the same and a friend who has the same care also has the neutral flash randomly whilst driving, most mechanics simply say "new gearbox" if they where any smarter they would say "new car", its hard to find a dumb mechanic who is willing to investigate the problem hence we see no answers online anywhere. anyway fed up of this i just left the car parked up for 3 weeks and used another, when i came back to the toyota auris mmt, which used to jump into bed with neutral 10 Plus times an hour, it didn't happen any more, so by parking up for 3 weeks solved some sort of problem, anyway 2 months and 2k plus miles of error free driving later its back to square one all of a sudden.... with this new knowledge in mind can anyone guess what it might be.