Transmission shifting issues on freeway

Anyone else have this issue with there 5th gen 4runner? It drives and shifts fine in the city but once I get on the highway it will shift through all 4gears just fine but doesn’t want to shift to the final gear, it literally takes like 5minutes before it does, I’m lost on trying to diagnose this problem, transmission has fresh oil in it and it’s at proper level.

 

Can you describe the terrain when this occurs? Uphill, downhil, flat ground, all of the above? Throttle position?

Even a slight uphill gradient with a throttle position attempting to maintain say 70 mph can keep a 4Runner in 4th gear.

 

It happens no matter what the terrain is, so pretty much all the above that you mentioned this happens lol , I’m just lost trying to diagnose this problem, there’s no check engine lights or anything

 

Weather conditions? Just when cold or under range of temperatures? Just when engine is warming up or all the time?

 

It’s pretty much all the time cold or hot, it jus has a hard time switching to the last gear on the freeway, it shifts fine in town but once I hit the freeway the last gear always gives me issues

 

How many miles on your 4Runner?

When you say "transmission has fresh oil and it is at a proper level", did you recently have your automatic transmission fluid changed or flushed? How do you know it is at a proper level?

 

Being a backyard mechanic I know my way around Toyotas and been working on them for years, I also know the process of changing these tranny oils , and my 4Runner has 85k on it

 

I’d disconnect the battery so the ECU relearns your driving habits.

 

I’ve tried that , still the same issue

 

Just spitballing here, but I had a similar issue on mine and it was something really simple.

How does your shifter feel, is it normal?

About a month and a half ago, I got on the highway, realized it would not shift into fifth gear.

Didn't happen next time I used it, so I thought it was kind of an isolated incident. Then I realize my shifter was a little sticky, It seemed to take a little more effort than usual to shift through the gears. I then realized that it was not going into gear properly, when in D the vehicle acted as if it was a neutral, and D was not lit up on the dash. When I shifted over into S mode it worked fine.

I lubricated the shift linkage on the driver side of the transmission, and that freed up the action of the shifter. Once I did that, I noticed that all the gear positions were lighting up correctly, and I have not had that issue with it not shifting it to 5th gear since.

Apparently if the gear selector is a bit stiff, it won't let the gear selector go exactly into the spot you need it. So while you're in drive, it may be acting as if you're an S mode.

Takes a whopping 5 minutes to do, so. It would be worth a shot. I used PB Blaster to free up the linkage, then I used white lithium spray to lubricate it. I'm going to make this part of my oil change routine.

 

Never thought of that! I’ll look into it tomorrow I appreciate the feedback! It’s something I’ll look at

 

that's an excellent tidbit Trail Runnah.

I will be lubricating that linkage proactively next time I'm under there.

 

There is nothing wrong. Runners are just gutless. Your fine.

 

How does the transmission act when manual shifting through the S mode on the highway, same problem or shifts from 4th to 5th quickly without problem. How does the transmission act when driving on highway in 4WD ? When truck finally shifts into automatic 5th on highway does it stay in 5th or does it downshift frequently? Are you running stock tire size, is the truck lifted, are carrying items on a roof rack ? How does engine power feel other than this problem, do you use a fuel injector cleaner such Techron or Red Line SI-1, have plugs been changed, has MAF sensor been cleaned ?

 

It’s a limited so it’s in 4wd all the time, but as far as being in sport mode it still does it, I’ve changed map sensor, plugs, I put fuel injector cleaner in every time I change my oil, engine power feels good, it’s just on the freeway it has a hard time switching to 5th gear

 

Sounds like a faulty sensor problem, have you talked to a dealership or transmission shop about it ?

 

I thought the same thing to as well, but wouldn’t it throw the check engine light? I haven’t gone to the dealership nor have I gone to a transmission shop

 

Do you have a scan tool to check if ecu has any codes which may not show on dash ? When you do find the problem, likely a sensor or solenoid please post results, sounds like an infrequent problem that could happen to anyone.

 

Yeah I have two obd2 scanners, one you plug in and the other is a Bluetooth, scanned and nothing showed up

 

Please educate me how should I know what gear it shifting and when ? Thank you.

 

Usually around 50 to 55 mph

 

I have a 2021 ORP with about 27k miles on it and I have the exact same issue. Just experienced this again yesterday. It shifts just fine all the time until 65/70 range. It just hangs at 4th high reving on flat straight ground while using cruise control <<< this scenario only for me. I give gas pedal a slight press and it immediately shifts into 5th.
Annoying AF!

 

Your issue sounds more like a cruise control issue and not a transmission issue.

Out archaic cruise controls are not the most intuitive.

 

That’s the same exact problem that mines is doing around the same mph! Just hangs there in 4th gear @Chucklehead and it does it in cruise mode and regular driving as well

 

I had a similar experience on my last road-trip, but that was trying to do 80 mph into a 25 mph headwind. If I keep the speed at 70 or below, the transmission performs flawlessly.

 

What would happen if you are stuck in 4th at 65mph, if you gassed it and accelerated to 75mph, then completely lift off the throttle? Would it just decelerate in 4th all the way down to 65? If it still stays in 4th, I’d really check and lube the linkage like @Trail Runnah mentioned mentioned before. The transmission linkage might be stuck in “nowhere land”, maybe thinking its in S mode (which defaults top gear to 4 every time it goes into S mode). Or maybe the neutral switch is acting up…although Im not sure if that would cause your symptoms.

On the other hand, if it does shift into 5th reliably after quickly lifting throttle, then maybe it a matter of ECU learning. I’ve heard of others complain about shift hangs like this that appeared to improve after a disconnect. How long does it take for the computer to forget after disconnecting the battery? Maybe it needed more time disconnected when you tried this? Just taking wild guessed at this point. Hopefully you can sort this out cheaply.

 

As soon as I touch the gas pedal it’ll shift and be just fine.
It’s intermittent and I’m not going 70osh that often. My typical drive is max 60mph.
The headwind factor is something I’ll pay attention to more closely.
Beyond this annoyance I just love this rig

 

Bringing up a bit of an old thread here, but wow, this issue is incredibly bad! Just picked up a new TRD Pro Friday. Got 600 all highway miles on it. This thing refuses to shift to 5th gear even on flat ground above 70mph. If I barely bump the gas pedal, it will shift up. Then almost immediately shift back to 4th and stay there indefinitely. Just feels like there is no power at all.
Just for reference, I also have an older Tacoma with the 4.0, so I know I wasn’t expecting a bunch of power. But that old Tacoma would run circles around this 4Runner! It has no issues at all on the highway. Shifts like normal. It honestly feels like it has twice the power of this new Pro.

 

One of the biggest drawbacks, IMO, is the beancounters proclaiming that the E-controlled trannys should decide when any vehicle is shifted. Fire them all and bring back the manual transmissions. Wouldn't that be a great gift.

Happy Holidays All!!!

 

Does your truck have a lot of additional weight?