I have a 2007 that downshifts hard into first when decelerating. It will sometimes shift hard into first after being completely stopped. It only occurs decelerating or stopped and will not do anything throughout the rest of the gears. I talked to the dealer and they told me it needed flushed. I talked to my independent service shop and they told me to avoid flushing, because there is no filter and the screen will get stopped up causing trouble down the road. I have also been told it may be a computer issue. Can anyone offer any advice. It has about 98000 miles.

you might have the driveline clunk issue, which can be prevalent when coming to a stop and already being at a stop.. i would look into that first, before assuming it's the transmission.

How do you diagnose that? What's the fix? Thanks for the quick response.

Nevermind, a little research on here and I answered my own question.

You'd likely feel a noticeable clunk, but it's pretty easy to fix. There are 6 grease zirks on the driveshafts and they should be periodically greased.

My title here sounds like Bruce Jenner...lol

I have an 07 V8 4runner that does perfect 99% of the time but once in a while if I roll through a stop sign, just not completely stopping or slow way down behind a car turning in front of me and then exellerate back up it dont seem to downshift and go? City driving under 35-40mph (fine highway).
Like it cant locate the gear it needs to be in to speed back up again? If I nail it harder 3/4th peddle it kicks down and takes off like it should. But the way these run hold on...lol
Changed fluid same thing. No changes!

Never noticed it when its cold, only after engines warmed up a while.
Is it the nature of the beast?
Maybe the way Im driving (not excellerating hard enough) or TPS , speed sensor, trans need reprogramed whats that cost if so?
Alot to ask Im sorry, and could be any or none above but wonder if anyones 4Runner ever done this after having any above issues mentioned so I state most causes I know of in case it is not normal?

I know odd shifting issues are just normal on some electronic shift cars today but on 4th gen 4Runners I cant find anything? Only on 3rds shifting weird.
Anyone else experience this issue, any links?
btw:
Thanks everyone for solving so many issues for me already. You guys are great!






*

I have no constructive advice for you, but that's really, really funny.

Good luck with your problem.

Mine did the same. Do some drain and fills in the tranny and it helps a lot. It's stops hanging in 2nd gear when it should downshift to first or just stay cleanly on 2nd.

I have a 2003 v8 4x4 and mine does the same thing when coming to a stop or yield. Also every now and then the rpms will be between 2000 and 2500 before shifting into overdrive when the transmission is at operating temp. I have done 2 drain and refills so far and problem still exists and I plan on dropping the pan soon to check the filter and I think there are two sensors that have to do with when the transmission shifts that can go bad.

I too only done 2 drain/refills using Valvoline Max Life and it did seem to help some but it didnt completely go away. Why I thought it may be its nature and dirty fluid had made it worse? Its only been a week now so it may take a bit longer to clean up deposits?
I guess I'll do more drain/fills like Greydog says and drive it more to see if it clears up like his done. But' he answered my question for the most part anyway and that is "Its not normal on the 4Runners".

He also gave me some hope it may quit doing it.
Thanks again guys...I'll let you know if/when it starts shifting right again and update you for future repairs.
Im leaning to deposits in the valve body too. The truck had 99k with no change on record and it was the nastiest trans fluid I ever seen. If I wasnt so sure of correct pan/plug I'd had thought I pulled its oil plug by mistake...ALL BLACK! Sealed Trans & 100K intervals my ass Toyota...
Dont wait guys/gals...Change it much sooner!
Will change out more asap...Thanks again all !!

Ya, if it was black, your gonna need a few more drain and fills.

My 08 4runner is having the same issue not shifting to 1st when coming to a stop. It shifts to 1st when I accelerate from a stop. I did a transmission flush per the flushing instruction on the forums and it didn't resolve the issue. Did anyone find the resolution to this issue?

I flushed & filled it one more time then I just let it go as most mechanics (not Toys) told me it is very common for electronic trannies to have sporadic shifting and since the wife's Infiniti does it sometimes too I assumed they were correct and just live with it. It's "The nature of the beast" as they say...
My close friend & best trans man in our area for many years died of cancer a couple years back before this started so I'm lost here now.

What mine's doing as I mentioned before is like others here, it only does it at rolling stops or slowing down to about 25mph without stopping and it was not really bad, I just thought it was.
But' over winter it was very rare that it even done it at all? It was barely noticeable, rarely hard but sometimes was.

Now here we are at 80+ degrees again and it's now worse than ever. I'm going to flush it out again a few more times and then drop the pan to see if the screen has much in it. It may be partly blocked slowing fluid circulation down since it's fluid that does the cooling for it. Acts like it's not doing it's job here.

Imo, I still think it acts like a solenoid sticking but since it upshifts perfectly fine every time that makes me believe it's not that? Never once has it ever hesitated, hard shifted or slipped during upshifting. Smooth as silk in that respect all the way through everytime . I've never had the trans light come on so it's not overheating but more heat sure makes the hesitating while downshifting worse, no doubt about it.

So' now it's even more like Bruce Jenner.
It's a hesitating tranny in heat. Yep!

*

Mine did that on me today. Felt like it was stuck in 2nd. Freaked me out.

To see if it's just a programming issue you could try changing your driving style. The transmission programming adapts to your driving. If you accelerate aggressively it will start to shift sooner and more firmly. If you always drive like a granny it will try to shift smoothly, delay shifts, and it might hesitate more. I don't know how long its memory is, but it seems to reset every time I start the car. My Honda's transmission had a long memory, and it would learn my driving style over time.

I've noticed every once in a while 1st doesn't engage right away if I shift from park or reverse. If I try to accelerate too quickly the engine spins up a bit then there is a hard shift into 1st.