Yaris seems to get stuck in 3rd gear when going uphill

[47_MasoN_47]

I don't know what the deal is, but I often find myself wishing the automatics had a 4th gear on the shifter so I could force mine out of 3rd. Often when I'm going uphill, for whatever reason the Yaris will get to 3rd gear and then just quit. Yesterday when going up the long gradual hill from work back to my house I was going about 45 in 3rd and it was running 3000 RPMs. I was cringing because I'm sure that undid a lot of the low RPM driving I did trying to get better gas mileage, but I couldn't slow down lest I get ran over. I tried letting off the gas, shifting back and forth from 3 to D with the shifter, and nothing would work. It didn't shift into D until I got to the crest of the hill and began going back down the other side. What's going on here? It seems like it does this on every hill I come to.

BTW 2009 Sedan AT

[Yaris Hilton]

That's just the way the ECU is programmed. It won't let you go to very high load at low RPM. And the gap between gears is wider with 4 speeds than with 5. You can wish it was different, but other than buying one with a manual, you can't do a thing about it. Except slow down, of course.

[47_MasoN_47]

Well isn't that a plate full of lose with a side of fail? I knew I should have just bought one with a manual and just taught my fiance how to use it :( It's hilly as all get out around here, that's probably why I have so much trouble getting more than 31MPG with all these blasted 2500+ RPM hill climbs.

[Yaris Hilton]

I'm old, lazy, occasionally use a cell phone, and one of these days when the new's so worn off I no longer care about stinking it up, I just might smoke my pipe in the car. So I got an automatic and shrug it off. Plus, I nearly tore my right arm off 9 1/2 years ago and learned that there are big advantages to owning a car you can drive with one hand!

[supmet]

Do you want to replace your tranny at 100k miles or save 5 cents in gas a month?

45 uphill is a nasty spot. They could drop it to OD, but the second you give it gas(because you don't have torque in OD) it would drop back to 3. I've driven(mostly american) cars that play this jumping game and was never surprised when that vehicle later died.

Lock it in 3 and every time you're worried about losing gas, just think about all the money your saving not grinding gears up and down.

[eTiMaGo]

The transmission thinks for you. It's for your own good. Toyota engineers generally know what they're doing :wink:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/691356/cars/gradelogic.gif

[Altitude]

While a manual certainly gives you choice I still need to use third to get up some hills around here - and that's going 30mph in a 40mph zone. If I use 4th, I'd need WOT and the car still will not make it.

Regardless of transmission the lovable little Yaris just ain't that peppy if it has to fight gravity.

[tomato]

Regardless of transmission the lovable little Yaris just ain't that peppy if it has to fight gravity.

+1

I have the manual transmission. The Yaris gets up hill just fine, just not very fast. There is no way around it, that's just the way it is, I think.

If you have a lot of hills, you probably did the right thing getting an auto. The manual is a bit tricky on a Yaris, possibly not the greatest car to learn on. At times, in San Francisco, I wish I had an auto.

[talnlnky]

it is really hard to maintain decent fuel efficiency going up a hill... even a moderate slope can be hard. The trick is to gain momentum in advance so you don't have to shift down as early... but shift before the rpm's start to drop, otherwise you'll be fighting the whole way up the hill. Once you crest then you get gain back the mpg's.... DFCO coasting is where it's at. I gained 10% mpg(4 mpg) when I started using DFCO. Instantly jumped from 36 to 40mpg.

[Kioshi]

At times, in San Francisco, I wish I had an auto.

YES! Especially when taxi drivers are bumper to bumper w/ your car and your car rolls back and almost hits their front:eek:

I avoid the city, and if i have to i stay in 2nd gear mostly and rarely 3rd....

Auto is best for constant up and down hills...downtown wise~

[markitect]

When your in 3rd you have a lot more torque available, I think you would find in 4th it would take a lot more throttle, and may even require more fuel in some cases.

[R2D2]

I agree with supmet and Etimago-Toyota did us a favor and I think this is the best AT I've ever owned. I used to hate driving any American car with overdrive because they shifted themselves to death and seemed like they were always between gears.

R2

[Yaris Hilton]

My '98 Mercury Villager "clunker" (on which I just spent a fair sum for air conditioning control repair and in which we will go to the beach) shifts busily in and out of overdrive on big hills with a heavy load on board unless a little button in the end of the shift lever is pressed to lock it out. At the time it was made there just weren't as "smart" ECUs as our Yarises have.

[IllusionX]

the AT is very well though of.

If you really wanted it to stick on 4th (OD) while going up hill, you'd probably have to gain your momentum, like talnlnky says, and give it a good acceleration on your down hill or flat before going up the hill. 45mph is real nasty for an uphill speed, i drive manual and prob would not have made it on an 8% incline in 5th or 4th.

at 45mph, my MT runs about 1800rpm at 5th, and 2300rpm in 4th. so yeah, the 3rd is unavoidable if you don't give it a good acceleration before going up the hill. on an 8% up hill, i'd go at least at 60mph, and try to keep it up to just before it shifts, and let it drop back to your speed.

I actually came back from a road trip on the Laurentides hills in Quebec.

this hill i did it at 80mph.. at the top i was closer to 55mph without gear change.
http://illusionx.dyndns.org/ix2009/DSC_0574.jpg

[advocate]

I always try to get up to 75 or 80 mph in 5th in a MT before climbing a hill because I know climbing a hill in 5th in a yaris is about as productive as shooting yourself in the foot so I try to get as far up the hill as possible before I have to downshift.

[47_MasoN_47]

Wow thanks, I just learned a crapton of stuff in there I didn't know about. Since this area is so hilly, maybe I did make the right decision to get an auto. I think I'll do what you guys have stated and try to pick up as much speed as I can before hitting the hills (within reason of course). Most of the roads around here are 2 lane (1 lane for each direction of traffic) so if I start going slow lots of angry people accumulate behind me. The main thing that I miss about my Ranger was all the extra power it had. Going uphill wasn't the slightest bit of trouble for it, but I guess if I have to trade the 12-15mpg I got on my Ranger for the 31-43 I've been getting on my Yaris...I'll keep the Yaris and the hill climbing difficulties. I think I'll get on Google maps and see if I can map out some different ways to get to my normal routes that aren't quite as hilly.

[talnlnky]

Wow thanks, I just learned a crapton of stuff in there I didn't know about. Since this area is so hilly, maybe I did make the right decision to get an auto. I think I'll do what you guys have stated and try to pick up as much speed as I can before hitting the hills (within reason of course). Most of the roads around here are 2 lane (1 lane for each direction of traffic) so if I start going slow lots of angry people accumulate behind me. The main thing that I miss about my Ranger was all the extra power it had. Going uphill wasn't the slightest bit of trouble for it, but I guess if I have to trade the 12-15mpg I got on my Ranger for the 31-43 I've been getting on my Yaris...I'll keep the Yaris and the hill climbing difficulties. I think I'll get on Google maps and see if I can map out some different ways to get to my normal routes that aren't quite as hilly.

hills aren't always bad for mileage... some of my best tanks involved rolling hills, or even long steep hills.... sure you use more gas going up it... but if you can DFCO all the way down you make up for it. Google is a good tool tho.. try to find the most direct route that will keep your speed at 40mph with as few stops as possible. I recently changed up my route to work.. shaved off 2.2miles, and gained 4-10mpg on the trip (depends on traffic). Overall, my most recent tanks of gas have jumped by 3-4mpg on average due to my route to work changing. (doesn't help me over the weekends).