2016 Cold Downshift Clunk! 550 on odo

Ah that makes sense about it engaging into gear while the idle was still high from being cold and didn't match drive train speed like normal idle. I guess the other gears didn't do it because they are a lot taller than 1st. I was just worried it was one of the solenoids or clutch packs that handle the smooth transition between gears not acting right and for being brand new I wanted to nip it in the bud and/or notify the dealer because regardless of what everyone on here has said so far, I know it did not occur because of my "incorrect and misapplied" driving style ha. Thanks for the constructive feedback man.
 
Blitzkrieg said:
Well, I get why you said just kidding because its actually a radiator failure that causes the transmission failure and yes, that does happen sometimes on the 3rd gens. If the 3rd gen has an Achilles heel, its the radiator.

To the 3rd gen's credit though, my pristine 2002 Sport - the factory Toyota battery lasted 12 years, the exhaust was original. Timing belt, water pump, idler pulleys, etc.. replaced by me at 89K miles. To be honest the damn thing was bulletproof. I just made the mistake of looking at the new 4Runners when I was picking up some parts and got that new car smell in my nostrils and well, the rest as they say was history.

I'm not ragging on somebody for using the selective gear selection, I just personally have never felt the need. But I would recommend you abstain from doing it while everything is cold in the drive train.

Like the front wheels bucking when in 4WD on dry pavement doing turns, the truck is saying "You love me don't you? Then please don't do that because I don't like it".

Listen to your 4Runner. It is talking to you. :-)
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I have a 3rd gen as well, picked it up and later discovered frame damage :( got it repaired and spent the last year refurbishing the whole damn thing inside and out. fluid film, eastwood internal frame coating the whole deal. Put an external trans cooler on asap as well to avoid the pink milkshake. A few weeks later I came home from work and my wife borrowed this 16 trail from the dealer to surprise me and we bought it. I'm gonna hold onto the 3rd gen for awhile though because of the amount of time I put into the frame ha. It will be my beater cause like you said, it's a pretty much bullet proof machine besides that.
 
BlackRustBucket said:
To have more control over the vehicle picking what gear I'm in, especially approaching a steep hill to leave I like to pick manually to prevent hunting. I didn't know I was apparently using it at expense to the vehicle. I thought that's why the option is there
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Sequential mode in the 4Runner is not a manual gear select. It only limits the up-shifting. So, if you have it selected to 4, it won't allow the tranny to upshift to 5, but it WILL use gears 1-4 if needed. I use this when pulling a trailer through the mountains in 2WD by selecting 4 in those hills. I also use this in 4WD Low to limit the transmission to 1st or 2nd gear on a steep decline.
 
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I see, makes sense. Thanks for the info. With all the info of basically using it incorrectly I think I'll probably just not waste my time at the dealer then
 
I just bought a trail myself and only used S-mode on the test drive just to make sure it worked, so can't say whether or not mine would do this. By all means, definitely drive your truck the way you'll enjoy it the most. But I would say give 'D' mode a fair shake. I'm the kind of person that have always enjoyed manual transmissions and hate gear hunting autos. I've kept mine in 'D' every mile so far and love the way the transmission behaves. It seems to do exactly what I would want it to do and responds more aggressively with its shift points as a I put more throttle in it or brake harder with smooth downshifts and no hunting. The transmission just seems really well matched to the engine with good programming. So you might give 'D' a fair shot to make sure you don't like it.

But there is no doubt that Toyota programs their transmissions to only downshift at low rpm if you're decelerating to save fuel mileage (same way in our Highlander). The 'S' mode is supposed to add some engine braking, but it will still downshift automatically when it thinks it's supposed to without you doing anything. I think Toyota meant for the 'S' mode to really be used to control upshifts and limit how many gears it'll use for towing/mountains/etc., but does not really want you to downshift yourself. I've never experienced what I would call a smooth downshift in 'S' mode in our Highlander unless I try to mimic what the auto would do any way.

Anyways, if there is a problem, hope the dealer can get you squared away.
 
BlackRustBucket said:
I see, makes sense. Thanks for the info. With all the info of basically using it incorrectly I think I'll probably just not waste my time at the dealer then
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Good idea. Plus, you stand a 50/50 chance of getting it back with a door ding or scratch all for (IMO) nothing.

I have free oil changes for 2 years like all of us do. Guess what I did yesterday?

Yep, changed my oil myself. There is no free lunch and I don't want some 20 year old wrench jockey (which is who does the oil changes at these places) touching my vehicle.

That is not a knock on 20 year old kids BTW. But lets face it, most of them that are working at Toyota OR Jiffy-Lube could really give a rats ass about your vehicle.

As I've said before: NOBODY loves your car as much as YOU do. ;-)
 
renau001 said:
I just bought a trail myself and only used S-mode on the test drive just to make sure it worked, so can't say whether or not mine would do this. By all means, definitely drive your truck the way you'll enjoy it the most. But I would say give 'D' mode a fair shake. I'm the kind of person that have always enjoyed manual transmissions and hate gear hunting autos. I've kept mine in 'D' every mile so far and love the way the transmission behaves. It seems to do exactly what I would want it to do and responds more aggressively with its shift points as a I put more throttle in it or brake harder with smooth downshifts and no hunting. The transmission just seems really well matched to the engine with good programming. So you might give 'D' a fair shot to make sure you don't like it.

But there is no doubt that Toyota programs their transmissions to only downshift at low rpm if you're decelerating to save fuel mileage (same way in our Highlander). The 'S' mode is supposed to add some engine braking, but it will still downshift automatically when it thinks it's supposed to without you doing anything. I think Toyota meant for the 'S' mode to really be used to control upshifts and limit how many gears it'll use for towing/mountains/etc., but does not really want you to downshift yourself. I've never experienced what I would call a smooth downshift in 'S' mode in our Highlander unless I try to mimic what the auto would do any way.

Anyways, if there is a problem, hope the dealer can get you squared away.
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Exactly, every car I've had up until last year when I got a cheap 3rd gen have been manual. But your right...it doesn't hunt much. I just like to change it up every once in a while especially in hilly areas and I thought that was OK to use like a manual. But anyways congrats on getting a new truck also and thanks for the kind words man.
 
Blitzkrieg said:
Good idea. Plus, you stand a 50/50 chance of getting it back with a door ding or scratch all for (IMO) nothing.

I have free oil changes for 2 years like all of us do. Guess what I did yesterday?

Yep, changed my oil myself. There is no free lunch and I don't want some 20 year old wrench jockey (which is who does the oil changes at these places) touching my vehicle.

That is not a knock on 20 year old kids BTW. But lets face it, most of them that are working at Toyota OR Jiffy-Lube could really give a rats ass about your vehicle.

As I've said before: NOBODY loves your car as much as YOU do. ;-)
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Haha haven't thought about that :wow: that would suck. My wife had a brand new RAV last year and some clown pushed in the rear quarter above the bumper at her work parking lot (a school in the ghetto) to the point it creased and went down to metal. Along with a few other dings and dents that showed up from parking there :frusty: luckily insurance was great and were partnered with the dealer body shop
 
Here's a vid I took when it happened in case I needed to show the dealer. As you can see I wasn't exactly beating the snot out of it. Hard to tell how hard it clunked without being in the car but you can see the camera jerk. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3H9oskGWPwQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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BlackRustBucket said:
Here's a vid I took when it happened in case I needed to show the dealer. As you can see I wasn't exactly beating the snot out of it. Hard to tell how hard it clunked without being in the car but you can see the camera jerk. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3H9oskGWPwQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Hmm, doesn't seem normal exactly. I certainly wouldn't feel bad about asking about it myself. If nothing else to get it documented. The obvious immediate check would be correct fluid level.
 
renau001 said:
Wish it was easy, here's a link just in case you haven't seen this:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-drain-refill-automatic-transmission.63851/

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/155572-transmission-fluid-change.html
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Ha well that sucks. Maybe I won't check it tomorrow lol. Thanks for the info and saving me the time looking for a dip stick. I appreciate it...if that becomes suspect enough I'll probably have that dealer mess with it. I'm more than capable but that's beyond the scope of my troubleshooting. Don't want to give them an excuse to not warranty it either. Thank you again!
 
When you consider the gear ratios in the transmission (listed below) the abrupt shift into first gear makes more sense. First to second gear is the biggest difference in the ratios, hence the more violent downshift. Also, if you think it feels bad now, shift into low range and try it again [emoji6]

A750F Gear Ratios

- 1st Gear 3.520:1

- 2nd Gear 2.042:1

- 3rd Gear 1.400:1

- 4th Gear 1.000:1

- 5th Gear 0.716:1

- Reverse Gear 3.244:1
 
From the video it appears you were doing close to 15 mph and the temp needle was on the bottom. Those 2 things and forcing it into 1st gear, I would expect nothing less.
If you were having transmission issues under more normal situations then I would be suspect of a real transmission issue.

Let us know what the dealer tells you. It should be interesting.

:snacker:
 
Does it do the clunk when not in sport shift mode?
Also sport mode is designed normally to be more abrupt shifts but still seems like a lot of strain on a tranny to save 30 dollar brake pads.
 
20074runnerlimited said:
Does it do the clunk when not in sport shift mode?
Also sport mode is designed normally to be more abrupt shifts but still seems like a lot of strain on a tranny to save 30 dollar brake pads.
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No, doesn't do it in D. Even if I come to a complete stop so I dunno. And yeah I agree probably not worth the extra strain on trans to engine break that much
 
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