transmission advice help
 

hi
i have a 1993 ls400 that has sat for a few years.car was running and driving great for the first couple of months but now the transmission sticks in first gear after it sits for about 2 hrs.
car has 196k..to get it to shift i have to let off the gas then it does a hard shift into 2nd gear.it does it for about a mile or 2.after the trans gets warm it shifts just fine with no problems...i have no check engine light on and have done 2 drain and fills with t4 fluid..what else can it be?filter maybe?
i dont know the full service history on this car..fluid didnt look or smell bad it was just somewhat orange.

any help would be great..thank you

Do the full trans service. Replace the filter and see if that helps. If not it may be an electrical issue. But first do the full trans service.

thats what i was going to do next...the odd thing is it goes away after its been driven a bit....

Could be the filter screen as when it warms up it becomes less viscous and flows better.

fluid always needs to be warm to work better. before dropping the pan, try to replace the fluid in there first and see if things improve. of course a drain/fill only gets the 2 or so quarts in the pan (the rest being inside the converter and other parts of the trans). a few drain/fill may be necessary. use only Toyota type-IV ATF in there and nothing else, to the proper level!

Timmy, let him try this first, worked for me, back in 2010.. (it is probably going to be one of the solenoids in the tranny).. but first do this fluid thing.. I would suggest buying a gallon of Toyota type-IV ATF (at parts house) and getting an empty gallon jug.. then disconnect the ATF cooler line at the radiator, put a flexable hose on it and insert it into the jug.. start car and let it run until the jug is almost full..(turn it off) then, reattach the line and put a funnel into the dipstick tube (start it) and refill the tranny with the new gallon while it is running.. when finished, go dirve it shifting it thru the gears manually a few times to mix all the fluid. check for leaks and let it cool over night and let us know how it operates tomorrow.. 1 gal is enough.. I done mine at 160k, and it is just like new. at 214k now.. good luck.

Another way to drain-fill ATF level?
 

Can this be a substitute for the disconnecting of the cooler hose (I hate cleaning up messes)?
I have an oil pump from NH that I use for oil changes or other pumping. Note: I clean the hoses in and out after each pumping. I am wondering if putting the suction hose into the fill tube and pumping out the gallon while not running (but warm) will work, then fill up with clean ATF until level rises, start and let level lower as it is pumped down, then complete the fill as running?

I have never done any transmission service – I bought my 97 LS400 in 2005 with 75k miles; it is now at 195k miles.

if you know what you are doing, sounds like it should work... try it on yours and report back..

always at a minimum put back the same amount of fluid that you remove. if you take out a gallon of ATF, put back the same and of course you will need to run the car THEN check the fluid levels (using the "warm" side of the stick). remember the levels are only seen at the pan, where the majority of the fluid needs to be moved around to the rest of the trans.