I am having a problem with my 98' gs 400. It has 120,000 miles. I have owned it for about one year. The car had 90,000 when I purchased it. When I accellerate down a hill from a light the transmission will hesitate shifting into final gear(overdrive)?. For the last couple of days I have to tach it up fairly high and then let off of the accellerator to coax it to shift. 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 are all very normal feeling shifts. This winter I have also noticed that first thing in the morning the 2 to 3 shift is somewhat to very harsh and late. This only occurs one time. After it goes through the gears one time the harsh 2 to 3 shift is gone. The only time I experience this is the first time through the gears in the morning. Any thoughts would be greatle greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Sounds like the same problem I had when I had low transmission fluid. Check your tranny fluid level on your dipstick.

 

I checked the fluid and found that it was actually about one quart to much. I drained out small amounts at a time. I am positive that the level is now correct. I was foolish for not paying closer attention to the fluid level when I purchased the car. I was more interested in how the fluid smelled, it had no burnt smell at all. So I have apparently been driving around for a year with to much trans. fluid.

 

One question for you did you buy your car from a private owner or a dealer?

 

I purchased the car from a toyota dealer

 

Shouldn't they have check that before they sold you the car? Something like an inspection or do they even do that on a used car with that kind of mileage?

 

[probably time for a fluid/filterchange, maybe the last fluid change was not the correct lexus /toyota expensive fluid, also i can recomend zmax as an additive it keeps the fluid viscous in the chicago cold, i would also have the e shift checked, if it thinks its in manual mode,then the shifts can be late and jerky