for those of you with IS300s with automatic trannies:

if you're in "manual" mode (i don't know the lexus moniker for this), and you're say, in 4th gear, and you hit a red light and come to a stop...the car doesn't go back into 2nd right? it stays at 4th?

also, manual mode only goes between 2nd and 5th gear?

 

yes i believe it stays at 4th (although the car will down shift back to 1/2). it just means that the car won't get pass 4th gear

and yes, it only has control from 2to 5

 

ohhh thats interesting. so the gear you've set it in is NOT the gear the vehicle is actually in, its just the MAX gear that the car will go into.

So what I think you're saying is that when i'm stopped at a red light and it says "4" i'm actually in 1st or 2nd.

 

i beleive so. i have 5 speed is3, but my gs400 has the same e shift. i read the manual and that's what they said (from memory), so i expect it works the same way on the is3

 

When you are in the E-Shift manual mode, the gear number you select, it will only shift to that max gear indicated (i.e. 5 = will shift through all gears from 1 to 5, 2 = shift from 1 and 2...etc).

Manual mode technically all starts in first gear...but ends at the max gear you select. I wish e-shift worked by each gear you select, not by max gear option.

 

yup that's true. i think when you are in snow mode, the car starts in 2nd?

 

If you use the steering wheel shift button and leave it in "4", the IS300 E-Shift will start normally from 1-4 from a dead stop. It simply will not go into overdrive 5th. Same for the "3". position....start from a dead stop , 1-2-3, then stay in 3rd.
Now i got a question for all you guys with the E-Shift....do you find in sedate driving that the transmission will sometimes....at complete random with no pattern.....slip a little on the 2-3 upshift, (ONLY the 2-3 upshift), and other times will be perfectly seamless? Usually it will do it once or twice when lukewarm, and then sporadically when warm.....maybe one out of every 20-30 shifts. Weird. I had the Lexus factory update done on the transmission control computer programming, but it persists. Otherwise the car is perfect.

 

mmarshall i don't know if what i experience is like you or not but mine just shifts really hard between 2nd and 3rd from time to time. it doens't really feel like it slips it just feels like its upshifting REALLY hard. but i am with you, it doesn't do it all the time it is just every once in a while.

 

Yeah..the 2-3 upshift is not as smooth as the rest on my 04. It's pretty much the same with the 01, 02 and 03's i've driven in the past.

 

Not if you use the shift ****, instead of the e-shift buttons. the shift **** goes to first.

 

Judging from many of your comments here, the E-shift cars do seem to have several different problems with the 2-3 shift at varying times, ranging from slips with no bang to slip-bang and just plain bang; and harsh shifting in all the gears when cold. My car is a 2001......Lexus came out with a factory update for the transmission shift computer controller, but that didn't seem to make a significant difference. Another unrelated problem with some IS300 E-Shift cars is the tendency for the tranny to go into Traction Control mode unnecessarily when accelerating from very low speeds, where the RPM jumps up and the car bogs down and goes nowhere for a few seconds. The factory update was supposed to cure THIS also but did not.
The IS300 seems to be the only Lexus product with these shift problems, though i have read of a few cases of it on the GS300, which has a similiar engine and tranny. These are not really major problems, but perhaps Lexus is not aware of their extent, and the inadequacy of the factory computer PROM update. All you guys/gals with E-Shift cars that are not satisfied with how the tranny shifts....let the people at Lexus know.

 

Mine doesn't shift hard..but its not as smooth as the other gear shifts. It's kind of like the 1-2 shift in the Camry ECT-i 4spd auto tranny used in the Avalon/Camry/Solara and etc...it's not as smooth as the others. I dont really notice it when i drive normally around town. I guess i'll have to find out as time goes on. So far so good my 04 is running fine.

 

I used to get the hard shifting too. I was reading a thread on another IS site and found that a grounding kit purposively really helps. I decided to try it with much skepticism as no one had a good explanation on why it would make automatics shift better. Guess what? the hard shifting is gone! Seriously, you'll be amazed. If you want the car to shift smoother, definitely give it a try.

 

Hmmm.

Sounds like a good 1st mod for me to try in the engine compartment.

I'll let everyone know what I think once it's in.

 

Definitely update us. That's possibly gonna be my next mod hehe. Oh yeah, don't forget about the PLP radiator panel!