Hesitant, slower and loss of responsiveness lately on ISF
03-09-18, 12:31 PM
#31
Driver School Candidate
Bringing this post back, was there any resolution to the transmission issue? I bought a 2011 ISF with 50k miles in December and have been massively disappointed in how slowly the transmission responds in auto mode with sport mode on. My 350 was telepathic, I knew exactly how much to depress the accelerator to get a downshift or full kick down. It would already be downshifting while my foot was still racing to the floor. With the ISF I floor it and there's a solid 1-2 count where nothing happens (revs slowly rising in 8th gear of course) before it kicks down to 4-5th gear, then kicks down again to the lowest possible gear. It's honestly ridiculous and it leaves me just sitting there with time frozen as I wait for the stupid transmission to downshift. In F-mode it is also very slow to downshift from 8th to the lowest possible gear. I have to start downshifting a full second or two before I actually start making a move. I'd love to know if it's the transmission level issue that could cause this. I love the sound, the power (when I can get it), the look, the slicktop, but the transmission is something that constantly affects my driving experience. It's never in the right gear. Please help
03-09-18, 07:11 PM
#32
OP, did you ever resolve your issue?
I experienced something similar a few months ago. My car felt like it was in "limp" mode when WOT. It also had a weird hesitation when taking off from a stop.
I pulled off the crankcase vent hose and noticed a small amount of oil being redirected into the intake. Checked the engine oil level and found the problem, engine oil was overfilled at the dealer a few days earlier. Thankfully I have a vacuum oil extractor for boats so I was able to pull out over 0.5qt to get the oil level within range. After that, it started running back to normal.
I experienced something similar a few months ago. My car felt like it was in "limp" mode when WOT. It also had a weird hesitation when taking off from a stop.
I pulled off the crankcase vent hose and noticed a small amount of oil being redirected into the intake. Checked the engine oil level and found the problem, engine oil was overfilled at the dealer a few days earlier. Thankfully I have a vacuum oil extractor for boats so I was able to pull out over 0.5qt to get the oil level within range. After that, it started running back to normal.
Last edited by fearnight; 03-09-18 at 07:39 PM.
05-19-18, 08:22 PM
#33
Bringing this post back, was there any resolution to the transmission issue? I bought a 2011 ISF with 50k miles in December and have been massively disappointed in how slowly the transmission responds in auto mode with sport mode on. My 350 was telepathic, I knew exactly how much to depress the accelerator to get a downshift or full kick down. It would already be downshifting while my foot was still racing to the floor. With the ISF I floor it and there's a solid 1-2 count where nothing happens (revs slowly rising in 8th gear of course) before it kicks down to 4-5th gear, then kicks down again to the lowest possible gear. It's honestly ridiculous and it leaves me just sitting there with time frozen as I wait for the stupid transmission to downshift. In F-mode it is also very slow to downshift from 8th to the lowest possible gear. I have to start downshifting a full second or two before I actually start making a move. I'd love to know if it's the transmission level issue that could cause this. I love the sound, the power (when I can get it), the look, the slicktop, but the transmission is something that constantly affects my driving experience. It's never in the right gear. Please help
OP, did you ever resolve your issue?
I experienced something similar a few months ago. My car felt like it was in "limp" mode when WOT. It also had a weird hesitation when taking off from a stop.
I pulled off the crankcase vent hose and noticed a small amount of oil being redirected into the intake. Checked the engine oil level and found the problem, engine oil was overfilled at the dealer a few days earlier. Thankfully I have a vacuum oil extractor for boats so I was able to pull out over 0.5qt to get the oil level within range. After that, it started running back to normal.
I experienced something similar a few months ago. My car felt like it was in "limp" mode when WOT. It also had a weird hesitation when taking off from a stop.
I pulled off the crankcase vent hose and noticed a small amount of oil being redirected into the intake. Checked the engine oil level and found the problem, engine oil was overfilled at the dealer a few days earlier. Thankfully I have a vacuum oil extractor for boats so I was able to pull out over 0.5qt to get the oil level within range. After that, it started running back to normal.
06-01-18, 07:38 AM
#34
Driver School Candidate
Not really. I took the car to Lexus and demonstrated the issue and the master tech basically told me it's just a symptom of having too many gears. Transmission has to row through all the gears to get to the lowest one. He cleared the learned memory and sent me on my way. It seemed a little better but still pretty sluggish and disappointing. I have experienced exactly what OP described: mash gas, transmission stays in 8th for a few hundred rpm, then kicks down to 5th and jumps to 4000 rpm, continue accelerating in 4th for a few hundred rpm, then kickdown to lowest gear (usually 3rd) and full acceleration. This whole process probably takes 1-2 seconds but feels like an eternity trapped in purgatory. Usually by the time the damn thing is in gear my passing opportunity has passed or considerably narrowed.
06-01-18, 10:55 AM
#35
Dont know if this is what you're experiencing (after Im in 8th). When I was new to the car, I also noticed it did not quite shifted the same way as my 08 IS350 did when in Drive, but still felt normal and responsive. Just maybe not instantaneous. This to me is Grandma mode. Then I learned the car doesnt really come alive until Sport/M mode
I also downshift often in D using the left paddle as opposed to meshing on the gas. Seems to be faster that way
Last edited by BlckGhst; 06-01-18 at 10:58 AM.
06-01-18, 11:59 AM
#36
If I'm in auto and need to try to accelerate quickly I grab left pedal to drop it a couple gears prior to going WOT and it adjusting gears from there if needed. Seems much better than having the computer try to anticipate what I'm wanting.
06-02-18, 06:15 AM
#37
Pole Position
Not really. I took the car to Lexus and demonstrated the issue and the master tech basically told me it's just a symptom of having too many gears. Transmission has to row through all the gears to get to the lowest one. He cleared the learned memory and sent me on my way. It seemed a little better but still pretty sluggish and disappointing. I have experienced exactly what OP described: mash gas, transmission stays in 8th for a few hundred rpm, then kicks down to 5th and jumps to 4000 rpm, continue accelerating in 4th for a few hundred rpm, then kickdown to lowest gear (usually 3rd) and full acceleration. This whole process probably takes 1-2 seconds but feels like an eternity trapped in purgatory. Usually by the time the damn thing is in gear my passing opportunity has passed or considerably narrowed.
Like liquidtek said... if someone is pacing you (in mexico or on the track of course) you can use the Left paddle to drop a few gears, for example down from 8 to 5 or 4, and because the stick is still in auto mode, not manual, when you do mash the gas (after 3 honks of course) the trans will choose the best gear, and will be way faster to drop in to it.
06-03-18, 07:44 PM
#38
Driver School Candidate
Have you checked the condition of the little black switch that is under the throttle pedal? Someone posted about this a few years ago, their switch was really hard to depress. I don't remember there being a conclusion to the actual function of this switch though, but it is there.. so there may be a chance you are going WOT, but not depressing the switch, which is causing the confusing transmission shifts.
Like liquidtek said... if someone is pacing you (in mexico or on the track of course) you can use the Left paddle to drop a few gears, for example down from 8 to 5 or 4, and because the stick is still in auto mode, not manual, when you do mash the gas (after 3 honks of course) the trans will choose the best gear, and will be way faster to drop in to it.
Like liquidtek said... if someone is pacing you (in mexico or on the track of course) you can use the Left paddle to drop a few gears, for example down from 8 to 5 or 4, and because the stick is still in auto mode, not manual, when you do mash the gas (after 3 honks of course) the trans will choose the best gear, and will be way faster to drop in to it.
06-06-18, 05:54 PM
#40
Has anyone cleared their transmission adaptations with techstream? I'm curious if it made any difference. Mine is not very intuitive either but it works fine. Some of the newer cars are much more responsive to throttle inputs in auto mode.
06-06-18, 09:29 PM
#41
Tech Info Resource
iTrader: (2)
Resetting the TCU with Techstream brings on a host of painful tests and adjustments. You'd better be really convinced you will not complain about the outcome of this adventure as it might easily make you more angry instead of happier.
06-07-18, 01:32 PM
#42
Agree with this comment 100% when it comes down to electrical or software I would very highly recommend not messing with it 9-10 you will make it worse and set yourself up for a F'ed up day
06-07-18, 08:33 PM
#43
can you be a bit more specific? Have either of you done this on your cars? There was a guy on youtube that went through the excercise and it looked fairly self explanatory. I've done this on bmw smg and dct transmissions with good results and those are much more complicated than this basic automatic trans. I'm curious what your experience was as it sounds like you've been through the process.
06-07-18, 10:54 PM
#44
Tech Info Resource
iTrader: (2)
The procedure in TIS says you'll need to use the QR code on the gearbox, load that into the system, then follow a very specific driving pattern to get the gearbox to an initial state. Looked pretty ugly to me, so I decided it would be a very last resort approach to solving a gearbox issue.
06-15-18, 05:34 PM
#45
Driver School Candidate
You are just talking about clearing the learned behavior right? The Lexus dealership did that when I took my car in and it helped quite a bit. The transmission was much quicker to downshift in auto mode.