Normal transmission downshift behavior?

Sporin

Sporin

New member
2005 V6 Sport, 150k miles. I bought it in April from a dealer, no mention of trans issues or fluid change in the fairly extensive records.

So I just want to know if this is normal behavior...

Car seems to shift smoothly and I never see any warning lights or anything. What I do notice is the transmission seems to make a noticeable downshift when slowing that sometimes feels funky/odd to me. I can't describe it much better, it just comes through the seat feeling a bit different then other shifts. Generally when slowing down from 50-25... somewhere in the middle there. It acts a bit like it doesn't know what gear it wants to be in.

Normal? Worrisome? I'm hoping to change the fluid soon but I want to get an idea if I'm feeling anything that I should be concerned about.
 
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It should downshift but it should be smooth. The trans fluid is billed as "lifetime fluid" but Toyota isn't picking up the tab if your trans goes out so I'd knock out at least a drain and refill. There are several how-to threads floating around. It seems complicated at first but it's simple. The level check is the hardest part but again, once you do it, it makes sense. Once you get some fresh fluid in there, take it for a drive and see how it feels. The good news is that transmission failures are few and far between for 4th gen 4Runners. A little maintenance should take care of it.
 
I've driven GM cars my whole life up until I purchased my 07' 4Runner back in December. First thing I noticed was the distinct feel of transmission when automatically downshifting. It's definitely not silky smooth but a little abrupt.

Since the vehicle only has 50,000 miles on it, I chalked it up as being "normal" and for the past year, I have had zero issues.
 
Sporin said:
2005 V6 Sport, 150k miles. I bought it in April from a dealer, no mention of trans issues or fluid change in the fairly extensive records.

So I just want to know if this is normal behavior...

Car seems to shift smoothly and I never see any warning lights or anything. What I do notice is the transmission seems to make a noticeable downshift when slowing that sometimes feels funky/odd to me. I can't describe it much better, it just comes through the seat feeling a bit different then other shifts. Generally when slowing down from 50-25... somewhere in the middle there. It acts a bit like it doesn't know what gear it wants to be in.

Normal? Worrisome? I'm hoping to change the fluid soon but I want to get an idea if I'm feeling anything that I should be concerned about.
Click to expand...

Both of my '06 Sport 4WD and my girlfriend's 05 Sport 2WD have the same downshifting behavior when slowing down to ~30-35 mph. My gf's currently has ~222k on the odometer with original transmission. There was an old thread where a few folks did mention about this and from their sayings, seemed like it's just a feature of the 4runner transmission. Funny is that my other GX470 does not have this "feature" even though i believe the GX transmission should be similar (if not identical).

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/82063-downshift-deceleration-32-23-mph.html
 
I think for one of the shifts it has to momentarily be in neutral between the gears. I haven't paid enough attention to confirm, but sometimes it feels like it goes into neutral (engine braking decreases) than goes into the next gear (engine braking increases). For most of the gears it seems to just go from one to the other without going into neutral in between.

The downshifts on this transmission seem incredibly smooth compared to my Honda (8th gen Civic, 5 speed auto). The 4runner almost feels like it's rev-matching or really gradually engaging the next gear. The Honda was much more abrupt. In my V8 4runner I can barely feel the transition if I downshift on a downhill, except 2 -> 1 which seems to be more of a jump. In the Honda everyone in the car would know when I downshifted. It was like there was more engine braking for a second until the engine got up to the new speed, then it settled down to the normal amount of engine braking for that gear.
 
I have the same behavior on my 2006 with 129k.

In reading here I saw a few posts that also mentioned adding grease to all the drivetrain fittings in addition to the fluid swap. I'm planning to do both at 130k.
 
Thank you everyone. So it sounds like this is normal behavior, which gives me a little peace of mind. I'm still planning to do a fluid change as I know that will help longevity.
 
I can tell you exactly what it is - injector shut off. After getting the Torque app working on my truck, I did a bunch of monitoring - you know, a new toy and you have to use it a lot. One of the PID's you can monitor is A/F ratio. Every single time when slowing down as you describe, right when the "downshift" feeling occurs, the A/F ratio goes from 14.x to between 18 and 20. This is injector shut off while coasting to a stop, which is fairly common in later model cars. It is supposed to be a fuel saving/emissions feature. For some reason it is a little more pronounced on our trucks.

After noticing this effect, I talked to a buddy (Toyota tech) and he confirmed my suspicion. Nothing to worry about.
 
fullboogie said:
I can tell you exactly what it is - injector shut off. After getting the Torque app working on my truck, I did a bunch of monitoring - you know, a new toy and you have to use it a lot. One of the PID's you can monitor is A/F ratio. Every single time when slowing down as you describe, right when the "downshift" feeling occurs, the A/F ratio goes from 14.x to between 18 and 20. This is injector shut off while coasting to a stop, which is fairly common in later model cars. It is supposed to be a fuel saving/emissions feature. For some reason it is a little more pronounced on our trucks.

After noticing this effect, I talked to a buddy (Toyota tech) and he confirmed my suspicion. Nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...

That is great information, thank you!
 
fullboogie said:
I can tell you exactly what it is - injector shut off. After getting the Torque app working on my truck, I did a bunch of monitoring - you know, a new toy and you have to use it a lot. One of the PID's you can monitor is A/F ratio. Every single time when slowing down as you describe, right when the "downshift" feeling occurs, the A/F ratio goes from 14.x to between 18 and 20. This is injector shut off while coasting to a stop, which is fairly common in later model cars. It is supposed to be a fuel saving/emissions feature. For some reason it is a little more pronounced on our trucks.

After noticing this effect, I talked to a buddy (Toyota tech) and he confirmed my suspicion. Nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...

Really interesting.

This might be the first info I've seen in 8 years that could cast some light on the phenomenon described in this old thread.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/problems-warranty-issues/17181-odd-downhill-engine-behavior.html
 
that is interesting as I've never heard of the ECM leaning out the A/F mixture on deceleration. Learn something new every day :) I'll be damned!

Thanks for info. Much appreciated!
 
fullboogie said:
I can tell you exactly what it is - injector shut off. After getting the Torque app working on my truck, I did a bunch of monitoring - you know, a new toy and you have to use it a lot. One of the PID's you can monitor is A/F ratio. Every single time when slowing down as you describe, right when the "downshift" feeling occurs, the A/F ratio goes from 14.x to between 18 and 20. This is injector shut off while coasting to a stop, which is fairly common in later model cars. It is supposed to be a fuel saving/emissions feature. For some reason it is a little more pronounced on our trucks.

After noticing this effect, I talked to a buddy (Toyota tech) and he confirmed my suspicion. Nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...


What are you using to send ODB data to the app?
 
I assume you know already that these trucks are designed to engine brake under certain conditions? It won't do it every time you slow down but if you are on a hill with just the right amount of downgrade, and you apply the brake just right it will downshift and use the engine to slow you down, this is a design feature and not a funky transmission…it has always felt very smooth to me as far as feeling the transmission but it is abrupt in the drivetrain when it kicks in
 
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