Truck won’t shift above 4th gear.

New to the tundra coming from a Tacoma. Just bought a 2020 trd off road extended cab SR5 with 47,000 miles on it from the Toyota dealer. Looks like it’s lifted all the way around about 1.5” with Bilstien 5100s, and a 1.5” block in the back.

Well today while driving to work it all of a sudden started hunting for gears for a couple seconds and then choose 4th and will not shift above that gear even when I put it in S mode and force it it will not shift to 5th or 6th. Same thing in tow haul mode.

Of course this happed as I was driving to work so turned around left it at home and took the Tacoma. I didn’t have time to put the code reader on it but the truck never threw a check engine light or any other indicator. It just will not shift above 4th gear all shifts are smooth and there were never any clunks or bangs.

Any thoughts? I won’t be home to check it with a reader for the next 5 days. I will take it to the dealer as it should be covered under some sort of warranty. Just curious what could cause this and I hope it’s an easy fix.

 

Probably a bad shift solenoid inside the transmission. Requires dropping the transmission pan to replace the solenoid. Should be covered under warranty.

 

Thanks!
Would this not cause the check engine light to come on? Because I have zero indication other than it being around 3,000rpm doing 55-60mph

 

Not really. My transmission won't shift out of 1st gear when in 4Lo and I don't have any CELs.

Your issue should be easy to diagnose. Dealership just needs to disconnect the wire harness to the transmission and then check the resistances of the solenoids through the connector.

 

(5) Toyota Tundra Transmission Issues - What a Piece of Shift !!! - YouTube

 

Excellent thanks for the information. I’ll get it into the dealership when I get back. Should be covered under the 60,000 mile power train. Plus the dealership includes a 5 year 150,000 mile power train.

 

So I was able to have someone check the codes for me there were no active codes but the 3 following were listed as pending.

P0766
P0776
P02714

 

Solenoid or valve body issue.

 

It’s getting towed to the dealership tomorrow to get fixed. I’ll report back with what it was. The techs said they rarely see these transmissions in. I wonder if the fluid deteriorated faster with there no longer being a transmission cooler. Truck only has 47,000 miles on it.

 

I had this same issue with an '02 Ram; same thing above (shift solenoid, due to a badly designed valve body top plate that got bent and obstructed some stuff).

 

Most likely the Pressure control solenoid if it is an internal issue. It could also be mouse damage.

 

Well dealer called said it’s one of the sensors or solenoids. And they are replacing the entire transmission under warranty. Said Toyota doesn’t have them tear them apart anymore they just put in a whole new one (well I’m sure a Toyota remanufactured one). Totally fine by me. Nation wide back order of course so who knows how long the wait but they said they would get me a tundra.

 

Wow!

 

that is crazy

 

My 2000 won’t shift above fourth gear either

 

First gen problems.

 

I’m half curious if they want it to inspect the entire thing since they removed the transmission coolers on the newer trucks. Maybe they are seeing a higher number of failures since the change?

 

Do transmission coolers prevent sensors or solenoids from going bad?

 

If they are, we sure aren’t hearing about them here…….

 

I wouldn’t think directly. Mostly I’d think people towing heavy and a lot might burn up the fluid which would wreck stuff. Just guessing tho, most likely probably a random failure.

 

That made me laugh since I had a 2000 until I got all these extra gears very recently.

 

Or maybe the failure rate is so much lower after removing the cooler, that this is the first transmission with a problem. They might want to study it to see why it it's acting like a transmission with a cooler... you know? Just saying..

 

Update: no clue on when they will get a new transmission in stock. But the dealer is giving me a 2023 tundra to drive until it’s fixed. Going to pick it up today.

 

Further update: Dealership called and said Toyotas ETA on a transmission is mid May! Seems crazy to me that it would take so long. I have no doubt that is indeed the case but why? Are they really failing that much or do they just stock so few in conjunction with supply chain issues. I really hate to see my truck sit that long. But I’m racking up the miles on their 2023 tundra and not my personal vehicle. That being said. I’m not a giant fan of the 3rd gen tundra. The interior is really nice but otherwise it’s kinda an over automated pain in the ass. Driving in a snow storm I had 5 orange lights blaring in my face with all the safety sense garbage that wasn’t working. Drivers really are getting dumber with all this automation. Lol

 

I don't see any transmission failure threads outside of this one and the one where the guy drained his trans on accident during an oil change.

 

Makes sense. They probably just don’t stock many and it being the previous generation probably even fewer.

 

As an aside. I’m glade I’m getting to put all these miles on a 2023 tundra. Other than the truck having a really nice interior I hate everything else about the truck. It is the nanny state of trucks! It won’t even let you back up with the door open or tuck it into a tight parking spot without it slamming on the brakes itself! Plus the engine sounds horrible and the oil pressure is all over the place, the start stop that u have to disable every time and it has a jerky overly responsive gas pedal. Sure it’s super fast and all techy but I hate it. Sadly this is the future of vehicles, technology compensating for the idiot drivers. I can wait to get my real truck back.

 

Finally got my truck back. I was so happy to get outa the 2023 tundra! Got it home looked underneath and the idiots completely forgot to tighten one bolt connecting the transmission to transfer case. Anyone know the torque spec for this? Who knows what else they screwed up. How difficult is it to torque down a damn bolt. Seems like no one gives a damn anymore about anything other than their stupid cell phone. Plus they scratched the heck outa the drain pan which will now promptly rust. Going to call and waste my time raising hell with them tomorrow ask to have somebody else inspect the whole thing and check the fluid level since who knows if they even got that right. Todays world is absolutely maddening!

 

Is the bolt supposed to come from that side? Why does it look like there’s a crack on the drivers side of the bell housing above the trans mount?

 

I was thinking that too about the bolt. I can’t find a good schematic to see. And no it’s not a crack I thought it was in the photo and went back and looked its a scratch.