Have you ever done ATF fluid change?

 

I don't think you have anything to be concerned about. Seems perfectly normal to me.

 

No. Thankfully the color of the fluid is fairly red. I would consider a drain and refill during my next oil change.

 

Oh yeah, just noticed you have a 2001 so you have a dipstick. Lucky you.

 

Why would you ever be at 4k rpms? Are you drag racing? Are you used to driving sticks? If so, then I think your expectation of the way this automatic shifts is to high. Maybe you should disconnect the negative cable for 30 minutes and let the tranny relearn to see if it exhibits the same behaviour.

 

I have tried shifting in manual mode and it still does does it but only in 5th and 6th gear fortunately.

 

Well that's good to hear! Thank you for taking the time to help me figure this out man!

 

Really should do 4 with about 50 miles between each one.....

 

I usually drop down into 5th gear to pass people on the highway, which is around 3-3.5k rpms, 10% to 35% throttle. I am in no way drag racing. Like I said, this only happens in 5th and 6th gear. The only reason why I'm worried about this behavior is because it didn't behave this way on my trip down to Florida in September. I drove a manual for 15 years and only in the past few years started to drive automatics. My first auto was a 2003 es300, I traded that bad boy in for my current ls430. I guess I kind of expected the 6speed auto to be far superior in every way. I've reset the ecu a few times and it hasn't improved.

 

Honestly, I've been thinking about doing a drain and fill, 2 qts to see if it has any impact on what I'm experiencing. But after what 100cars stated, maybe this isn't that big of an issue.

 

It's not a sport tuned car period, it will resist a downshift as much as it can and avoid harsh transitions

 

How many quarts am I actually changing when I do just a drain and refill on an 01 LS with the 5 speed trans? Does the pan have to be dropped or is there a drain plug? What about any filter?

 

I realize this but I wasn't talking about the car not downshifting or there lack of. The issue or non issue was with the TC locking or unlocking while engaged in 5th or 6th gear. 10%-35% throttle cruising. Up or down hill or on a level surface. Usually when I would back off the throttle and re apply throttle position to any where between 10-35%.

 

About 3, sometimes a little less sometimes more based on how it's jacked up. Just set it back to full after you fill with about 2 of them to start with

 

If you want to do more than 2-3 quarts at a time you can do this:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ge-w-pics.html
This same procedure will work for the 04-06 6 speeds with a slight modification. To add fluid back to the transmission you must pump it through the cooler line that goes back to transmission. Just keep your measurements accurate and the level will end up the same. And make sure you use WS fluid instead of the T-IV.