Prius Gearbox Slipping and Unresponsive

I'm having automatic gearbox issues with my 2001 Toyota Prius hybrid. It's got 86306 km on the clock. The paddle shifters are unresponsive, and the gearbox is slipping, resulting in unclean shifts. Sometimes there are grinding noises when shifting, and the paddle shifters themselves respond incredibly slowly when they work at all. The gearbox has even gone into emergency mode a couple of times. I checked the error memory, and it looks like the transmission control unit is defective. Has anyone else experienced this, and what was the fix? I'm trying to figure out if the control module is really the culprit before I drop a lot of money.

4 comment(s)

Wow, sounds familiar. I had something like that happen with my Prius too. Not sure about the specific year, but it was giving me fits. Is it throwing any specific error codes? In my case, it turned out to be related to the car computer's communication with the transmission. By 'emergency mode', do you mean it's stuck in one gear?

Yes, by emergency mode I mean it gets stuck in a gear, and doesn't shift anymore. I am getting codes related to the transmission control unit (TCU). Was your issue also related to the TCU itself, or was the problem somewhere else in the car computer?

Okay, that sounds very similar. The error codes I was getting also pointed to the TCU. I tried a few things myself, but honestly, it got too complex. I ended up taking it to a workshop that specializes in hybrids. They confirmed it was a faulty control unit. If you're seeing TCU-specific codes and the symptoms match, it's probably the same issue. Best to get it checked properly, especially with the emergency mode kicking in.

Thanks for confirming. I was hoping it was something simpler, but it looks like I'll be heading to the workshop. They quoted me around 1000€ for the repair, which seems reasonable considering the likely cause. Appreciate the help!

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