2004 4runner Sport V8-- Sluggish Transmission Downshift in to Severe Accelerator Jolt

Lumberg

New member
Hello all,

I've read the various posts on here about similar problems, and while I do notice the clunk sometimes when braking, this is my second 2004 4runner and from what I can gather they all do that, and I'm used to it. I just bought this truck 3 weeks ago and never noticed it during the buying process, only now after having driven it for a while-- and it especially happens to my wife alot.

It's got something funky with the transmission methinks. If you are going along pretty good (30-40 MPH) and then put the breaks on down to a stop or a rolling stop, let go of the breaks and immediately re-apply the accelerator (pedal), a lot of times the acceleration won't respond for 1-2 seconds and then you get this huge JOLT, like a majorly delayed reaction, and pretty dangerous in to oncoming traffic at times-- it's like the car just got a kick in the pants trying to 'catch up.' I had a mechanic look at it the other day during an oil change because I thought maybe it was the brake calipers sticking, but he drove it and said it seemed like it's not downshifting in to 1st properly, or if so, very very slowly.

A lot of the things on the forum say to reset the ECU, though I haven't seen any definitive posts saying whether or not that worked. I've also found that sometimes, once this happens with the jolt, the vehicle is permanently shifted about 1 gear too low and gets the real high rev/RPM noise when you accelerated without shifting up like it should. It's... well, weird. And pretty annoying.

Does this sound like an ECU thing to you guys? Or some other transmission problem? It's got 137k miles on it and when I'm on the freeway it's just fine. This only seems to happen when there's a fast change in speed, mostly coming to a stop or rolling stop. You notice it the most in stop and go traffic.

Any suggestions if you've had this problem? I've seen people suggest looking at the cables and the [throttle?] solenoid. I'm not sure if this is a transmission fluid problem or not.

It is also pretty sluggish shifting in to R and back to drive.

Thanks everybody. I have it going in on Monday morning for an emissions test and the tech said he'd look at the ECU codes if there were any and check out the tranny, but y'all are a reliable bunch.

Much thanks.
 
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so people say you should reset the ecu. That would be the first thing I would try.

1. because it takes less than a minute and easy to do.

2. because it is not going to damage anything.

I know my acura tl adapts to the driver. the more aggressive you drive the harder it shifts. This happens every time I reset the ecu.
 
Bump - sorry I know this thread is a little old

Any luck with this? I drive in bumper to bumper traffic everyday, constantly changing speeds from 10-50mph. I noticed the SAME behavior when slowing down from 4th gear (not stopping) to around 10-15mph, rolling, then accelerating it seems to "spin" on that gear for a second then "jolt/jump" into the next gear quite abruptly. I only started driving this truck for the past 6 months but have really noticed it in the last 4 months. We had a tranny flush (mistakenly) at 155k miles and I suspect its been a problem since then (166k miles now). Thoughts?

Doesn't help that I have driven a standard for the past 16 years and the only other auto we have is a Dual-Clutch (DSG) so I really don't know how this truck is supposed to shift. I might try disconnecting the neg bat terminal to reset the ECU although the dealership said my software was good and up-to-date.

Similar post - http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/163573-transmission-slip.html
 
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It's just the tranny trying to find the right gear. If you ease into the throttle, there is no jolt. Mine does at lower speeds, too.
 

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