Leaving home lastnight heading downtown for dinner, i experienced(for the first time owning the car) a no upshift condition while driving. It started at about 3mins after starting the car and driving off. Entered a freeway and got to atleast 45-50pmh and still no upshift. It was like the car was stuck in 1st or 2nd gear. I tried to shift in manual mode then back to auto but to no avail. Exiting the freeway after 2min to come to a stop light, the car started to shift normally for the rest of the trip. It did not duplicate the condition after dinner when coming home nor did it do it today when driving to work which is futher than the restaurant. The incident freaked me out because the only thing i could think of at the time was the tranny going out and the price of a new one. Dont know if it was a electrical gremlin that wouldnt allow it to up shift or if it would be fluid condition. Will talk to my mech soon about it but wanted to share with you guys and see what you think. The car is An 05 with 91k. Suggestions and comment???

 

I would guess an electronic software glitch. Were the shifts smooth afterwards? Could you upshift in manual mode when the problem was occurring? Talk to your dealer when you have a chance and complain to them that it is a safety hazard, maybe they'll help in good will

 

my 05 ls430UL with 72k presently has done this 3 times in the 2 years i have owned it and here is the craziest part,, all 3 occurrences were in the same location months apart... there is a really big long downhill swooping entry ramp from my work to the highway and often times i hit this about 120 seconds after starting my car if i make the light (the car is usually not warmed up at all when i hit this ramp unless its in the summer or i miss the light like usual). so on 3 separate occasions while giving it a good amount of acceleration, not flooring it but not ***** footing it either i have found at like 45 mph when i'm expecting another shift it will hang till about 60 or so and i actually let off the accelerator in weird amazement and wonder as to why it hasn't shifted yet and then bammm (not literally bammm, just like emeril says) it will shift into the proper gear and be all smooth and normal for another few months.

my guess to my car is that the conditions were perfect for this to occur,, the car was cold, my driving was slightly on the aggressive side for acceleration of a big ls430, the downhill made the car work less than it should normally work for getting to this speed so quickly, oh and it has to be a quarter moon and a wednesday

i would not worry about it unless it happen again in another location less than 6 months from now.

 

Yes the shifts went back to normal afterwards like nothing happened. But no i coudnt up or down shift in manual mode while the problem was occurring. Strange!

 

i never actually tried shift manually as my problem only lasted about 10-15 seconds each time and each time my reaction was a little slow to realize what was going on till i let my foot off the gas and started to wonder why i was stuck in like 3rd, then it would shift before i had a chance to start troubleshooting.

 

Actually when leaving my complex, it is all downhill for maybe a min until i come to light at the bottom. I also used to noticed a slight lag when coming off the downslope but nothing of this magnitude until lastnight. I'm just hoping that its just a small gremlin and not the trans starting to go because this will break my heart. .

 

isn't there a TSB that addresses this? TC006-04 / shift pattern update

 

as far as i know the tsb is for the 01-03...

btw this is my first ever post from my new sony internet tv

 

TC006-04 is for 2004 model year vehicles only (2001-2003 had a 5 speed transmission). However, I don't believe it would do anything for a complete lack of shifting for that long.

Paul Thurrott (weekly guest on Leo Laporte's webcast) says that Sony Internet TV takes like 45 minutes to boot up (exaggeration) lol.

 

yaeh your absolutely right, i was thinking about that on the drive into work this morning.. my bad.

 

Well so far it hasn't happened again. I'm definatly gonna keep an eye out for any little change in shift behavior from now on. I am going to get the fluid changed pretty soon by the dealer so if anything is wrong, they will be able to tell me and if things go haywire after that, then they will be the only ones that ever touched the trans since its birth so...go figure! Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

My LS would to it in a particular location every night after work. Speed limit is 45 on this road, so I kept it around 45-50 while driving down a minor incline, then started uphill, and it would hang until the road leveled out.

I believe it is normal. The LS430 is supposed to automatically downshift when the car is facing downhill to help on braking.

 

Im familiar with the normal patterns of our LS cars but in this particular situation, the car came of the downslope then to a light. Light turns green, i go, but the car wouldnt upshift for about 2.5 miles. Haven't happened since!!!

 

Not sure if you have yet but i would have your tranny fluid flushed at the dealor.

I had some problems with the car feeling like it was under load or on the brakes even when rolling down a hill at 60K miles. I did a 4 quart flush at the dealor and now im at 83K with no return on any tranny problems.

i am actually considering doing a flush every 30k with this car, i think it will add to the life of the car quite significantly

 

Had the car a year and judging from its previous service records, it had no trans fluid change so far. The car has 91k+. Most likely im goin to take it to the dealer to have them do a flush and fill just to be on the safe side.