Hey guys I live in NY and it starting to get cold here. I notice that when I leave in the morning and the car is cold (outiside temp 30-45 Degrees) and when I finally get to fifth gear it will stay there until 3 or 4 miles down the road or until temp of vehicle gets to normal and then it will go into sixth gear. This never happened during the summer.
INFO: 06 IS250 AWD 6 Speed AUTO and mileage is at 69,xxx. I was wondering about getting a transmission service at Lexus Dealer but I wanted opinions from you guys. Does any know any price for transmision service for this car?

So I think its 2 things.....That normal or I need a transmssion service.

 

I have the same thing here in Cali in the mornings. Jump on the freeway and the car stays in 5th for about a mile till the engine temp gauge reaches a certain temp then it upshifts to 6th.

 

Same thing happens to me. When its cold outside (like it has been) during a cold start, the car will stay in 5th till its warmed up enough, then it will finally go into 6th gear. I'm guessing its just designed to do this. I don't really see a problem with it. I'm never hard on the car till it reaches normal operating temp anyways.

As far as the transmission service, ISx50's use a lifetime fluid, and the transmission is a sealed unit, there is no need to change the transmission fluid and that's why its not included in the factory service manual either. Some members have had their transmission fluid changed, but the overall consensus is that its not needed. There was a member that 250,000 miles on his 06 with no issues either, so i don't see any reason to change it.

 

I'm assuming it does that to keep the rpms higher to warm up the engine quicker. Mine does it too.

 

Sounds normal to me

 

Mine does the same thing and its new, It ****s up when the engine get warmer.

 

same here, its normal does it every year once its starts getting cold. I think the idea is to keep the rpm's higher to allow the engine to warm up quicker.

 

Yup...completely normal.

 

Same here. I've noticed it also holds it in gear longer at lower speeds as well until it's warmed up. Seems normal.

 

It does this for all cars - completely normal. Did this for my 99 Solara Camry, which was 4 gear auto transmission, the car would not engage 4th unless there was enough heat.

Let it warm up for a few minutes to heat up then drive - then the time to wait and drive for it to enable 6th to enable when driving would be shorter.

 

My car down shift to 5th gear from 6th on highway going down hill once I hit brake pedal and then hold in 5th for long time (sometime as long as a few miles even I am back to flat). Is it normal too? when that happened, engine was warm at normal temp (half in temp gauge). can anybody confirm this?

 

usually when im driving down a hill and im gaining on a car in front of me i will apply my brakes and it will shift to 5th and stay there till i level out, if i hit the brakes hard enough it will even go to 4th and stay till the hill ends.

 

Mine still hold at 5th for a few minute or a few miles even I am at level. So i hit "Snow" button and it shifts to 6th. I tried it several times and it is pia to wait to shift back to 6th. I hate it when it happened and it happened most of the time so i tried not to hit brake on downhill.

 

Just noticed this the other day on my 2011 as well. First day it got into the 30s and 40s. It also idles at about 1,200 or higher for a while. When it first did it and I let off the brake, the car took off because it jumped up to about 1,700 rpm...scared the crap out of me lol.

 

This is by design. The ATF has to be at least 140F to shift into high gear. Here's what the FSM says:

6th Gear Up-shift Prohibition Control
Engine coolant temperature is 60°C (140°F) or less and vehicle speed is at 55 km/h (34 mph) or less.

5th Gear Up-shift Prohibition Control
Engine coolant temperature is 55°C (131°F) or less and vehicle speed is at 51 km/h (32 mph) or less.

4th Gear Up-shift Prohibition Control
Engine coolant temperature is 40°C (104°F) or less and vehicle speed is at 45 km/h (28 mph) or less.