I just wanted to note this for others who see this issue.

I have an early VIN 2005 that was subject to the same TSB TC006-04 as all the 2004s. Mine did NOT ever have the TSB applied before today. The general issue was shift quality at low speeds, and specifically many people note that they have a jerky downshift when coming to a stop.

I actually did not have any issues downshifting, but I did have an issue when I would accelerate slowly away from a stop. When pressing the gas pedal, I would have a short moment where nothing would happen, then the trans would have a slight jerk into motion. It seemed to me like the gas pedal itself was not linear, and no matter how hard I tried to modulate it I could not get it to start off smooth. I had the TSB TC006-04 applied at the dealer today (Toyota dealer said only Lexus dealer could do it), and the trans now shifts normally.

 

Had the same issues w/ my 2004. TSB solved. Also changed the tranny fluid 3x. Last time at the dealer. Car now shifts perfectly even under full acceleration. The slight "clunk" when putting car into
gear still there and always be I think. My indie (Lexus certified) was able to do the TSB. Just need the software. Nothing in the automotive universe shifts as well as the 01-03 5 speed. Completely invisible.
It's a hard act to follow.

 

Makes me glad I have never owned one, don't know what I am missing!

 

I also have an early '05, manufacture August 2004 I believe. My only issue is the car mis-behaves in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic. Never had the TSB done but I have had 4 drain and fills done by dealer. My town has 6,000 people and no rush hour traffic to deal with. Had a miserable time in San Antonio and Dallas traffic, but no worries here near Lubbock.

 

Put it into 1st, it doesn't want to remain in 1st for any length of time and in crawling speed situations there is not much pressure in the VB so the 1-2 is a little jerky. If you leave it in 1st it will not try to hunt up anymore

 

Four drain and fills? Hope your dealer charges less than the 250 I paid. Had indie do the first. Overfilled which is easy to do unless you match the exact amount removed. Dealer did the second and third drain/refills. My indie charged $100 to do the TSB. Based on my experience and other comments, I'd suggest doing TSB.

 

How much did the dealer charge? My 05 does the same thing. Gets annoying having to press the gas harder after the 1-2 shift when I want to go easy.

 

1st drain and fill was Jan. 2015 and charge $168.40 mileage 95,000
2nd d & f on Feb. 2015 and same charge mileage 96,500
3rd was in June of 2017 and mileage was 126,000 but charge was $311.21
4th was Jan. 2020 and mileage was 157,000 and charge was $235.14
all included 4 qts. of WS fluid except for some reason the 3rd had 6 qts. invoiced.
I have never Sport shifted the transmission. I put it in Drive and go.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear. Did they charge you for the tsb procedure? I noticed on the details it said only covered up to 96k miles. Thanks!

 

Most likely your transmission is underfilled. The procedure is very specific and must be followed to a T. It is easy to do if they don't heat up the transmission properly and run through the gears when refiling. In other words, when done improperly it appears to be full but it's actually not.

 

no the tsb has not been done, dont need it. I would not even consider letting them do it even if it was free (and its not). I have put 88,000 miles on my car. I started at 72,000 in March 2013. I hope to get her well past 100,000 miles on my watch. The dealer is a love hate relationship for sure. I compare it to going to the dentist. hate to go but glad I went. Just some things I would not let anyone else do and timing belt and transmission service top the list. I would bet my bottom dollar that my transmission is filled correctly.
if you ask the dealer they will tell you it is not necessary, the tsb might help, but you may see no difference and certainly no benefit but you do what is best for your car.

 

I had my transmission act similar after a drain and refill because it was underfilled. Hard downshifting. I suggest they double check. It's better to be a little over vs under. Good luck.

 

I'm astounded they can mess it up to be honest. It's literally idiot proof

 

Seriously though they let the car get to the right temp then hook it up to a machine that does all the guess work, literally 0 reason it should be messed. Only reason it would be messed up is if someone was being stupid.

 

I had this happen to my '06 base model in 2019 summer. It got worse and worse by the day, I thought something was gonna break leaving a stop because it was hitting so hard. I thought it was low fluid, but it turned out to be the shift module. Found a thread on this forum about an electronics company in Chicago that does service on the modules. Sent mine in, had it back before the week was out. Cost a $135. Plugged it back in...... shifting was as smooth as butter. I drove my Nissan 300zx in the mean time.