Hesitation shifting into 2nd gear

[WallyWest]

This happens warm or cold. I'm hoping it's either normal or not a big deal. *fingers crossed*

It doesn't seem to have trouble hitting 2nd, it's just that the momentary loss of power you get when an auto shifts is a lot more noticeable. This depends on throttle input though. If I accelerate very slowly, like barely more than coasting if I was headed downhill when I started off, it doesn't do it and the shift feels normal. If I accelerate moderately, like a normal person, there's a noticeable lag after the shift before power comes back. It's never failed to hit 2nd gear, or felt like it was slipping. If I accelerate briskly the extra bit of lag is still there but not as noticeable. There's a sweet spot, in terms of throttle input, where it's the most exaggerated.

The rest of the gear shifts are fine, and I haven't noticed any clunking or anything when coming to a stop as the transmission shifts back to 1st. I know the 2002 is a drive by wire system for the throttle, it almost seems as if the ECU is simply taking a bit too long getting back on the gas after the shift.

It's kinda subtle, I didn't notice it at first when I bought it last year. So anyway, nothing to worry about or should I be worried?

 

[RunnerandGunner]

First thing I would do would be to check the trans fluid level and then color. Easy to eliminate low fluid or dirty fluid.

 

[pauldub]

Could be a lazy valve body solenoid. I had one die in my Cherokee which uses a similar tranny to the 4Runner. You can check the resistance and see if there is anything suspicious.

 

[RTB Runner]

I had the same issue about a year ago. It got to the point to where my Runner hesitate to go into drive from being parked a couple of times. Thought my torque converter was done and it was gonna cost some chedda. Then my battery died. I replaced the battery and the problem went away. A year later it's starting to hesitate on the shift to second. Gonna do a tranny service next weekend, fluid is pretty dirty so I'm sure the filter is just as bad. She's got 206k on it and I've had it for about 1/4 of its life. Hope this fixes my problem 100% and I don't have to worry about solenoids

 

[WallyWest]

Interesting. I haven't looked at the date code on the battery, but the contacts were pretty corroded when I got the truck.

Checked fluid level and it looks fine, doesn't smell burnt. It's fairly new fluid, when I bought the 4Runner about a year ago the dealer told me the transmission pan was leaking. So they replaced it and filled it back up with fluid. I've kept an eye on it and it's not leaking.

 

[808islerunner]

How does it shift into 2nd gear if you manually shift it from 1st gear. Try placing the shifter in 1st gear and manually up shift thru all the gears, paying attention from the 1st to 2nd gear. Also do it on the downshift from 4 to 1. Going thru the gears manually eliminates the shift solenoids and would more determine if it's just the clutch themselves,

 

[WallyWest]

Good idea, I'll try that tomorrow.

 

[WallyWest]

How does it shift into 2nd gear if you manually shift it from 1st gear. Try placing the shifter in 1st gear and manually up shift thru all the gears, paying attention from the 1st to 2nd gear. Also do it on the downshift from 4 to 1. Going thru the gears manually eliminates the shift solenoids and would more determine if it's just the clutch themselves,

Ok, I tried this coming home today. When shifting manually the hesitation is gone. Maybe.

Hehe. I can say the way it feels during the shift is totally different. The only thing I noticed is it takes a second after moving the shifter to 2nd for it to actually shift. That could be normal, I haven't shifted this way in the 4Runner before. What I mean is it's still accelerating in 1st for a second after I move the lever to 2nd. When it does shift to 2nd it feels very smooth, no hesitation getting power back after the shift.

So I assume this means a "lazy" solenoid? How expensive is this going to be?

 

[BrightNights]

Did you figure out the issue?

Did you ever find the issue with this?
*mines doing EXACTLY The same thing. .

(08 urban runner 4wd)

 

[thegipper]

This is the 3rd gen section (96-02), you may want to post in the 4th gen section but I'll see if I can help.

Do the same tests that were previously suggested. Check your tranny fluid first (make sure you do it properly). Is the fluid burnt, brown, low, high etc?

If the fluid looks good and is at the proper level, try manually shifting between gears next. Put the shifter to the L position and manually shift to 2. If it shifts good then it is either something boogered up in the valve body or the shift solenoids. They can be removed (after dropping the pan) and bench tested (search for the FSM procedure for testing the shift solenoids).

OP never said if he fixed it or not but I would assume it was the shift solenoids but again, this applies to 3rd gens. Don't know much about the 4th gens...