Hi and Help please.

[Pixie_au]

I have an 18 NX and it doesn't have same symptoms. Yours seem very severe.

It does have mild vibration in 4H at a very small rev range around 2100rpm but not above or below that.

I have my own suspicion on what it might be caused by but it will be a while before I can confirm it.

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[m_and_m]

I'm pretty sure there's no limit to the speed you can do in 4H.

I'd be guessing diff ratios may be the difference?
Certainly in my NW I only get a hint of what is being described here and that is when the lockup-mate is locked and I'm lugging along 'too slow' for the given gear.

This generally only happens for a few seconds at most and then the TC lockup dis-engages.

Hi Keithyv,
Don’t forget you can adjust the unlock point for lockup-mate to unlock sooner or later depending upon your own vehicle
Gen4’s are very sensitive to driveline shudder (1500-2100 RPM) which can vary a little between cars.

But if you up shift a gear at too low an RPM it will shudder for a moment (< 0.5s) until it recognises the situation. The solution is to learn to shift gears at the right time - just like with a manual gearbox

[m_and_m]

So to me there is these main thoughts for me to follow up:
If nothing changes with that I'll try an oil change with The proper MMAL oil and re-evaluate for any change at all to see if we're heading in the right direction.
I'll keep chipping away at MMAL though.

Replacing the oil with genuine MM is not a cheap exercise. I’d demand the MMAL do this.
Doesn’t sound like a common problem. It was in the early NTs from memory which a TCU sw upgrade solved.

Consider taking it to another dealer for their opinion (if you can). It’s a dealer network and you can take it anywhere for the warranty issue.

It’s also worth people who respond specifying if they have a NX MY17+ or pre MY16, as the final drive ratio got taller in the MY17 onwards.

[Tenacity]

Hi Jeff, I had the exact same issue with my previous vehicle, a Honda CRV with around 140k kms on the clock. It would start to shudder in top gear with the TC locked, could make it go away by either accelerating or decelerating as this would disengage the TC lock. Took it to a transmission place and was told that the clutch/s which work the TC lock needed to be replaced, around $2k for the job but alternatively I could spend around $500 to have the transmission flushed and some anti-shudder additive put in. I tried this and it worked for about 7 months, then the shudder came back as predicted. Couldn't justify spending $2k on a 13 year old vehicle even though it was pristine so put another lot of the anti-shudder in and traded up to my current 2020 model NX in October last year.

All that said, I have also noticed a very slight shudder in the NX at around 100kmh but I've put that down to a front wheel/s balance issue as I can actually feel it in the steering wheel.

May be worth a try to stick some anti-shudder after you get the AT flushed and see if that makes a difference, if so it will be expensive to fix but at least you'll have identified the problem.

Hi there. I'd like to introduce myself and participate in your forum and hopefully be able to give a little knowledge back.

My name is Jeff and last June I bought a MY 18 NX Pajero GLS for the purpose of towing a bigger caravan. Our current van is a tandem axle 20 ft poptop which has been towed by a Holden Adventra for the last 8 years. We'd like to upgrade to a semi - offroad full 'van hence a beefier tug was needed.

All seems to be going swimmingly except for this vibration that's driving me crazy. I've done a lot of googling and reading through the wealth of knowledge in a lot of similar threads on this forum but no-one seems to have exactly the same syptoms. I'd be very grateful if any of the learned members with a late model NX here could chime in with any input please.

It is an ex MMAL fleet car from MM dealer in Sydney. I bought it with 6600 km's on it and now has 13100 km's. 1st registered in January 2019.

Symptoms are;
1800 - 2100 rpm in 4th of 5th with the lockup clutch in the Torque convertor engaged. The harder you squeeze the throttle the worse it gets untils the LUC is released and all ticketty boo.
You can feel it in the steering wheel and a little in the accelerator pedal.
At freeway speeds (100-110kms/hr) it gets that bad that it distorts the view in the rear view mirror.
It doesn't feel like Damper clutch "judder" as in the old magnas or diff shudder in the NH/NG pajeros when new.
It won't do it in neutral or reverse.
It's not vehicle speed related.
Lift your foot a tad and it goes away until its time to accelerate again.

I've had it back to the local MM dealer a few times and keep getting told it's the nature of the beast. Even the area technical officer stated it was normal but he hadn't actually driven my car. To my knowledge it's not even been put up on a hoist for a look see at mounts etc. I fail to believe that a model can be around this long and still have a significant inherrent problem like this.

My background is in fact a mechanic/foreman/service advisor with 20 years in MM service departments but I left that behind 20 years ago to pursue a decent payrate elsewhere. I was in fact one of the 1st MM master technicians in OZ so maybe you can understand my frustration at not thinking this is "normal" for the beast.

Apologies for the long winded intro but maybe some learned members here have had a similar problem on a late NX.
Thanks for reading, cheers Jeff

[dave0l]

h issues like this the MM mechanics , or any other need to see/feel/hear it, take them for a drive and reproduce the vibration for them.

The a750 transmission is a very common unit, used in many similar sized Toyota’s and has a reputation for being reliable if the fluid is not overheated, you will see plenty of evidence of this on this and other Toyota forums.

There has been shudder/vibration issues, with loads of information in the link below, which is made more likely if the transmission was previously pushed hard towing in hot conditions etc

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transmission-5-speed-automatic-write-up-with-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/

I found that changing the fluid at 60,000 KM using non MM fluid (but with the correct spec) transformed the transmission entirely, with the car being very noticeably quieter, smoother and more responsive.

The first step in that link is almost always changing the fluid

[jpd]

Thanks @dave01 . That Tacoma world write up is very extensive and the poster seems to be quite knowledgeable in Autos.
It would seem this is another vote for changing and flushing the ATX oil.
Ironically last week I did in fact go to our local Transmission repairers who I've been dealing with for years and trust and chatted with them about my symptoms. Up on the hoist it went and a small tube of Dr. Tranny was inserted in the fill port. I took it for an extended drive and it actually felt like it had made a minimal change but over the last 5 days its progressively come back.
That to me says we are heading in the right direction with the oil.
It's possible that in the 6500 km's MMAL had the car in their fleet it was used as a press tow vehicle??. It did send an email to MMAL requesting its usage history but was just sent to our local dealer for advice.
I've also had a chat with the tech's that fitted up my Red-arc electric brake kit and his wifes Pajero had a similar problem so he changed the oil with genuine MMAL spec. and the problem went away.

I think I'll try and get the oil changed by MMAL or if worse case scenario I'll pay to have it done. At this stage this is looking like more the 1st step before removing dampers and mounts etc.

Thanks to all who have helped steer me in a direction. Stay tuned and we'll see what transpires.