does your T4R hold gears too long?

mtbnole

mtbnole

New member
mine seems to...it doesn't want to shift into a higher gear at low speeds, even if i'm light on the throttle. My city MPGs are maybe 13-14, with stock size tires.

does anyone else notice the 4runner won't change gears with any sort of haste? i've tried putting it in manual mode, but when you shift gears, it does what the hell it wants when you upshift. I'm missing the transmission from the Xterra to be honest.

i'm coming up on 10K miles, so a dealership visit is in store for the oil change/tire rotation. I'll be bringing this up......

any thoughts?
 
Register to hide this ad
Quite the opposite for me. This thing is always in a hurry to get in a higher gear. Maybe I need to disconnect the battery for a few hours so the transmission can re-learn my driving patterns.


mtbnole said:
mine seems to...it doesn't want to shift into a higher gear at low speeds, even if i'm light on the throttle. My city MPGs are maybe 13-14, with stock size tires.

does anyone else notice the 4runner won't change gears with any sort of haste? i've tried putting it in manual mode, but when you shift gears, it does what the hell it wants when you upshift. I'm missing the transmission from the Xterra to be honest.

i'm coming up on 10K miles, so a dealership visit is in store for the oil change/tire rotation. I'll be bringing this up......

any thoughts?
Click to expand...
 
mtbnole said:
My city MPGs are maybe 13-14, with stock size tires.

does anyone else notice the 4runner won't change gears with any sort of haste?
Click to expand...

I'm 17mpg and I drive my hard (and in S mode a lot)

My 4R (in D) does not hold it for long before shifting, normally. However, if you drive it hard for a few minutes it will hold for a little longer than normal for a bit, then tend to settle down. I noticed a couple times if I had it in 3rd in S mode and knocked it over to D it stayed there and really did not want to change to 4 or 5. I would kick back, and put it in 5, then back to D. In general though, it does not hang.
 
i have a feeling I might be alone on this subject. It's been driving me crazy, to the point of wondering if another SUV can do the job and get at least a few MPGs more.

do other at least think the "sport" mode is a big joke?
In my TSX, when you upshift, it upshifts, so you can get into a higher gear at a lower speed.
 
I really enjoyed my Acura Transmission, smooth and responsive, right up until it failed at 97,000 miles. I do think the 5G tranny has a mind of its own it's too high when I climb and too low on constant flats.
 
mtbnole said:
do other at least think the "sport" mode is a big joke?
Click to expand...

Nope, I love it, and I know others here use it a lot. I do not drive it in all the time but it makes it so easy for merging and passing without the need to pound the gas to get it to shift. Also fun to drop to 2nd with a tailgater, no brake lights, just the priceless expression of 'ohh $#!^' in the rear view as he suddenly realizes what is happening and slams his brakes on. They tends to sit far back after that, I think they question if my brake lights work at all :)
 
@ OP. I'm thinking you've got a problem. I've heard nothing on this forum but how quickly it wants to shift up. Ditto that for me.

As to S mode, mine shifts immediately when I shift it.

When you take it in, test drive another one.
 
Manual mode is extremely useful! Particularly on hill ascents and descents. It's not a "sport" mode as much as it is a "useful driving" mode for the times you need it.

If your driving casually / less than 1/4 throttle the auto will upshift at low rpms no problem - to conserve fuel. Perhaps the OP has a bigger problem.
 
I should have stated in my first reply, I do get about 19.5 mpg. I won't call mine city miles, I'll call them rural miles. Yeah OP something's up. Bring it up, keep bringing it up, and don't let them blow you off.
 
Sometimes it holds a little at certain speeds when it's cold. About 20-30mph. Also tends to hold on tight, hilly terrain when you are hard on the throttle and brakes. You can try the battery disconnect or ask the dealer to reset or check for firmware updates. I like Sport mode for hills but I wish it didn't downshift to 4 from 5 when you select. Sport mode is a must for 4L. IMO.
 
The re****ed thing about S mode, it wont stay in the gear you select.
Floor it in 4th... no, i'll downshift to 2nd for you.
You can leave it in s-mode all day in 5th gear and drive like normal.
 
jhawk said:
The re****ed thing about S mode, it wont stay in the gear you select.
Floor it in 4th... no, i'll downshift to 2nd for you.
You can leave it in s-mode all day in 5th gear and drive like normal.
Click to expand...

If you were to floor it in a manual, you'd downshift - it's where the power is. If your chugging along in 4th at 1200 rpm and want to go full throttle - why wouldn't you want to downshift? You can stay in 4th but it will just take longer to accelerate and you'll waste a bunch of gas. Normally I would have downshifted just before I floored it anyway. If our truck made 400 foot pounds of torque you'd have some pickup and go in high gears at low rpms but it doesn't so you need to work with the gear ratios and powerband that's there. That means downshifting when you want to "floor it" for the best acceleration.
 
There seem to be some confusion over what the purpose of the S mode is. It's not intended to be a paddle shifter. It's intended to be a top gear limiter so you can force the transmission in to a lower gear than it may other wise want to run in. For example, if you're driving up a long incline and the transmission is wanting to hunt between 4th and 5th you can put it in S4 and keep it from hunting. It can also be useful to force it to down shift preparatory to hard acceleration. The S mode in no way influences what gear the transmission will actually drive in other than limiting the top gear. Just because you shift from S3 to S4 doesn't mean the transmission will shift in to S4 unless it would other wise want to.
 
Beakerbox said:
If you were to floor it in a manual, you'd downshift - it's where the power is. If your chugging along in 4th at 1200 rpm and want to go full throttle - why wouldn't you want to downshift? You can stay in 4th but it will just take longer to accelerate and you'll waste a bunch of gas. Normally I would have downshifted just before I floored it anyway. If our truck made 400 foot pounds of torque you'd have some pickup and go in high gears at low rpms but it doesn't so you need to work with the gear ratios and powerband that's there. That means downshifting when you want to "floor it" for the best acceleration.
Click to expand...
I'm not flooring it, just an example.
I guess I was expecting more of a sport shift that i've been used to.

If going up a slight incline, I like the car to not hunt between 5/4 like it does. Instead of downshifting to 4th, i'd like it to be in 5th. I really don't like the overactive cruise control - I was hoping the sport mode would fix it for me...
The transmission does stay in 2nd if I need it to, for towing or the like. But this transmission does seem to hunt for gears a lot, unnecessarily.
 
I see the point of being able to downshift, but it should stay in the selected gear unless you shift it.

I'll be at Toyota early tomorrow. We will see how it goes. The mpg is not what I expected at 10k miles.
 
Narkhelek said:
There seem to be some confusion over what the purpose of the S mode is. It's not intended to be a paddle shifter. It's intended to be a top gear limiter so you can force the transmission in to a lower gear than it may other wise want to run in. For example, if you're driving up a long incline and the transmission is wanting to hunt between 4th and 5th you can put it in S4 and keep it from hunting. It can also be useful to force it to down shift preparatory to hard acceleration. The S mode in no way influences what gear the transmission will actually drive in other than limiting the top gear. Just because you shift from S3 to S4 doesn't mean the transmission will shift in to S4 unless it would other wise want to.
Click to expand...

Excellent explanation. If one understands how it's supposed to work, you won't be disappointed in how it does work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 270 (members: 1, guests: 269)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,311
Messages
3,554,082
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top