Have been reading in the forum but I have not found if this is normal for these cars. It's cold where I live (10*F) and when I drive the car when it's cold and the car is cold the transmission shifts harder. It does not clunk, bang or slip. It feels like the car has a shift kit in it or the computer is increasing the pressure in the lines.

It takes about a mile or 2 and then the car shifts smooth as glass. Does not happen if the car is warm as I let it sit for 20 min in the cold and got back in without any hard shifting. This has never happened in any of my other cars.

I do not know if the car has had the ecu updated for the flare issues although I have not noticed any flaring.

I will check the fluid level tomorrow but is there anything else i should check or is this normal?

Sorry if this is a newbie question. Only owned the car a few weeks and I love it but this is making me paranoid
thanks

 

2008 es350 53k miles. Transmission fluid changed twice by previous owner. Confirmed maintenance in carfax. If any of that helps

 

Anyone?........

 

It is just the cold making the fluid thicker so it flows more slowly and makes your shifts rougher. As you pointed out, once warm all is good. There is no fix unless they used the wrong fluid. You said the prior owner did great maintenance by changing the fluid twice.

The only issue could be if the folks that changed the ATF used the wrong fluid and this is what is causing your cold weather issue. Toyota WS ATF is a low viscosity fluid, meaning it is designed to be thin and flow well when cold.

Who did the prior fluid changes? Was it a Toyota or Lexus dealer? Did they do a fluid exchange (which changes almost all the fluid)? Or a drain and fill which only does about 2 quarts at a time?

You may want to spend the couple hundred bucks to have a Lexus or Toyota dealer do a fluid exchange with Toyota WS ATF fluid.
You will need to call around as some dealers will perform this service, while others will say you should never change the fluid. Good luck.

PS - There is no dipstick, you cannot just easily check the fluid level. It is a complicated method best done by the dealer as it involves reading the ATF temperature as it flows out of an overflow tube from the drain hole. Don't do this at home.

 

Thanks for the reply. I decided to take the car into the dealer. Told me the issue was the computer update so I paid to get that done. I'll admit it has improved about 50% or maybe even more but the shifting but it's still harder when cold. Driven it over the 500 recommended miles to let the computer relearn per their recommendation.

The lexus dealer did the flush according to my carfax. I'll call to see what fluid they put in and investigate further. Carfax doesn't give enough details

 

If you want to feel a "harsh" transmission, try driving your car after it's been sitting outdoors all night at -30F. It will "shift solidly" (once it decides the trans fluid is warmed up enough to actually shift at all!)

 

is that normal for these cars? Only had mine a month

 

I really can't say...our family has had several cars (mostly Toyotas..Xtra Cab pickup, Corollas, a couple of Camrys, and now a RAV4) over the last 30 years or so but including a Mercury Colony Park wagon, a Bonneville, and a couple of GM travel vans and they all exhibited this behaviour. The Lexus hasn't gone through a winter with me yet and does get "pampered" in an unheated garage. So far, so good but we've only got down to about 5F at night outdoors and 27 or so in the garage.

 

I've never had this happen with any of my cars. At least not anywhere near as noticeable. Thanks for more info

 

So the real question is does everyone's es 350 shift hard when it's cold? If that's true that it may mean I'm just being too picky

 

Mine is the same. Cold or hot.

 

I lived in and drove in the Chicago area for over forty years. In that time I owned many different makes and styles of vehicles. All that were kept outside shifted hard when it was severely cold. This applies to manual and automatic transmissions. Try letting the car warm up for a short time before driving. It will minimize the shifting problem and your engine will thank you also.