TRANSMISSION into Drive Issue?

Mine is not doing that. 30k miles. D is always smooth after R.

 

I had them specify everything they didn’t find and that they gave it a clean bill of health and was normal on the sheet. And I kept a copy. Appreciate the info, I extended the warranty it came with for 100k so it should be all good. I’m going it’s something in the driveline binding. The reason why I say that is because this EXACT symptom was super common in the 4th gen 4Runners and Lexus 470’s and it was due to driveshaft (propeller shaft) binding for some reason. My girlfriend has owned 2 runners with the same symptom and when they changed the shaft it went away so I’m hoping maybe it’s that. Time will tell, either way it should definitely get worse within 100k miles lol

 

My 20 seems to do this when shifting into drive. Kind of a slow 1-2 second engagement followed by another more “solid” engagement. I’ve wondered if something is causing this (fluid level?) or if all do it. I haven’t had any slippage or sloppy shifting so I chalked it up to normal. Curious as to what others experience.

 

Yea it’s super weird. In my case I requested they drop the pan and just have a look, bill me for the fluid. They said the level was normal and everything looked great, which I would hope so with only 26k on it. But you never know. I think it’s the driveline binding. Like I said in previous reply it’s the exact symptoms of the 4Runner and Lexus propeller shaft issue.

 

Never really felt it in the Tundra, but I have in the 4runner. I also remember it happening on some of the the older musclecars I grew up driving. Each and every time it was due to the drivetrain needing some grease. Grease the zerks in the driveshafts and it was fixed until they needed grease again, 5-10k miles. Your later model truck may not have grease fittings however.

 

Yea I hit all 3 zerks and no change unfortunately. Meh. New prop shaft assembly on both my girls 4Runners fixed the issue in that case. It was super common

 

My 2016 has done this since new and took some getting used to. I notice it mostly stopping to get mail from the mailbox. Pull over, put in park, jump out and get the mail, get back in, shift back to drive and have to wait for that second engagement. Otherwise, if I get on the gas too soon, it's almost like pressing the gas pedal with it in neutral and slipping it into drive. FWIW, I don't notice it as much when backing out of the driveway and shifting back to drive.

I chalk up the weird transmission behavior to some safety thing they've implemented because somebody got killed doing something stupid.

One thing I've noticed is with my other vehicles, I can shift from Reverse to Drive while it's still *barely* rolling backwards and nothing bad happens. The Tundra definitely does NOT like that. haha

 

After thinking about this, mine doesn’t do it now. I was in a 4x2 tundra when I had that going on. It doesn’t do it now and the truck I have is a 4x4. That’s weird for sure! Only experienced that in my 2WD Tundra, not experienced any of that in my 4WD(in 2 or 4wd).

 

2WD uses a different transfer case, maybe?

 

I really don’t know

 

I notice my 2021 is harder to shift out of park and its a little more noticable of a shift when I do it compared to other vehicles or trucks i have had. I think the parking lock lever in the tranny, or whatever the technical part name is, is new and bigger than most vehicles so it produces a bigger jolt when disengaged, assuming as it wears over time it will be softer.

 

2WD doesn't have a transfer case. The driveshaft is connected directly to the tail shaft on the transmission.

IMO, this behavior is related to the transmission, programming of it, or as some else said line pressure. I'm wondering if I don't notice this when backing out of the driveway because the engine idle is higher after a cold start so the line pressure is higher and offers quicker engagement. When I stop to check the mail, it's coming back home and engine idle is lower so pressures are lower.

 

My 2019 Tundra does this going from R to D. I don't buy that it is normal behavior. I've driven too many cars that don't do that. I have an a time scheduled with the dealer

 

I dont buy it 100% either. just haven't wanted to deal with the aggravation. Im looking for another dealer nearby and im going to take a video. If I look at the output shaft from the trans while someone goes from Reverse to Drive, the shaft twists like it should, but then there is a second twist. I almost wonder if its low line pressure at idle in the trans but apparently you need the special tool to find out. I cant find that data in techstream at all. Please keep us updated on how your battle works out and ill do the same. Last time they checked they supposedly dropped the pan and looked around but i havent gone under to see if there was fresh gasket on the pan or not.

 

Double engagement is certainly a valve body problem. Shouldn't be happening on a new vehicle, since there's no wear in valve body yet. It usually happens because of overheated valve body that warps and start leaking fluid between passages, as well as linear solenoids gummed up. For that reason alone I did a partial drain&fill at 20k and 30k miles, and going to keep it refreshed every year. Doesn't hurt, and Toyota WS is cheap anyways.

Also in 4 of my other Aisin Warner transmissions forcing them into adaptation mode was a great help in weeding out small shift imperfections. Getting rid of N-R or N-D bangs is the hardest, may require a few long sessions. Once the transmission control module indicates it learned how to shift into R, all you have left with is worn splines in driveshaft and axles.

Here Sonnax mention "adaptation reset": https://www.sonnax.com/tech_resources/354-clearing-toyota-shift-adapts Which is not the same like "adaptation mode", which allows the transmission to learn shifting properly much quicker.

I also want to note that firm engagement - not slamming into a gear, but when you certainly feel it - is better for transmission than soft shifts. What you may think of of a butter smooth shifting transmission could be in fact a transmission eating up its friction plates.

 

The upshifts feel normal to me, not buttery smooth, but not jarring either. I'm wonder if those with this neutral to drive two step engagement behavior have noticed they can feel the down shifts when coming to a stop. I can in mine. The downshifts aren't jarring but definitely felt more than any other vehicle I've own. I have just over 38K miles on my Tundra.

 

Try a partial ATF change (drain&fill). Need about 6 quarts. I did 2 already at 37k miles, no problems with the transmission.

 

I haven't noticed issues with mine during normal driving. There is a slight hesitation when hitting gas hard for acceleration. Many cars these days seem to do that. I figure that's some sort of fuel saving bs programmed in.
Mine has an issue when going fron R to D say when turning around in a parking lot. The vehicle jumps a couple of times. Similar to when someone is learning to drive a stick.
I have it scheduled with dealer Friday. We will see what they say.

 

I'm curious how your dealer visit went. I have a little less than a year left on the extended warranty and am planning to have mine looked at in a couple weeks. Here lately, if I take off faster than normal to jump out into traffic and get up to around 35mph then hold that speed for a few seconds, it'll clunk when shifting into 5th gear.

 

Mine never had that problem. The problem was always at slow speed usually when turning around. Back up and then shift to drive the vehicle would jump..similar to how a stick shift might jump when someone is learning to drive it. The dealer could not replicate it..of course.

 

Mine has done it, reverse to drive “jump” since day one. Cold or warm, it doesn’t matter.

Simply slowing down the move from reverse to neutral to drive just a second or so, stops the “jump” in my case