That is correct, and it's not a fault. It is absolutely normal.

What happens is that on hard acceleration, if the vehicle's traction control kicks in, even if you don't notice it kicking in... the transmission will hold gear until the system is convinced that normal easy traction control is regained.

Yes, that can be a pain cause it holds gear for a very very long time, but it will eventually shift.

This is a safety feature because the last thing you need on a torqeuy V8 is to lose traction in upshifts on slippery surfaces.

This becomes even more evident and obvious when traction control is switched off. It's a blessing!

 

Yep, I notice this as well. It's the shift from 2nd to 3rd is where there is a "play", and a jerk when 3rd finally engages. I notice this when cold, and when the RPM is 2500 or higher. So, the work around is I keep it under 2k until the car is warm. When it's warm, it shifts perfectly.

 

One thing I noticed mine does when it's cold is that it holds on to 1st and/or 2nd gear when slowing down to nearly a stop, then accelerating again. For example, every morning I give my car 1-2 min to warm up, then about another 2-3 min down the road, I go down a pretty steep hill with a stop sigh at the base, where I turn right at. I do a bit of a California stop, then give it some gas, which is when I notice the RPMs skyrocket to around 3,500-4,000. Never get any hard shifts, even when coming down from the RPM spike. Sort of like KevGS460ML, it's only when the car's cold. Once up to temp, it doesn't really do this. All cars do funny things when they're cold.

 

This is a good whitepaper on the AA80E 8-speed written by Toyota and Aisin.

http://documents.epfl.ch/users/f/fr/...oyotaAA80E.pdf

 

Got my car back from the dealer. Wiring harness inside the tranny replaced. My car ran like beast......for less than a day. $1200 later and now my car is back at the dealer with the issue not resolved.

 

I have the same problem 😞
Wating for you to solve it in your car.

 

Man this is scary, first the 3k repair for the abs actuator that I got lucky on( 2 month warranty took care of) now I gotta worry about this issue? Is this a common issue on the 460?

 

We both used to have a 95 SC400.
My SC always did this thing ... on cold morning, it held the 1st and/or 2nd gear. Did your SC do the same as well? Btw, my 98 GS400 also did the same. I never got bothered anymore since both vehicles ran just fine. Both also shift smoothly after they were warmed up.

 

Actually it is, sorry to say. Dealer tried to tell me that it is common on the LS460's and not very common on the GS460's. I looked him dead in the face and said....."That's because there a ***** TON of LS 460's and only about 1500 GS 460's out there"!!!! His response was, "Oh Yeah"

 

OK... Dealer called me last night to inform that "Lexus" has opened a claim on my car and will handle the issue from this point forward. So now that I have paid them to fix my car and the problem is still not fixed, I have them by the ***** now.


Lets see what Lexus come up with...

 

Oh buddy, don't even get me started on hesitation issues with the SC! haha. That thing was the king of hesitation. Tried many, many things to fix the problem, but never really got it 100%. I think over time, I just became numb to it and ignored it completely, haha. The TPS was a bit wacky, so when I had that corrected, it ran fine for a while, then came back. It would be more of a bogged-down feeling vs. hesitation, however. My GS460 hangs on to 1st and 2nd when it's cold, but then it's perfectly fine... This is just a cold car being a cold car though

 

Just a quick update.....


The dealer hooked up the laptop to my car and "attempted" a test drive last week. They didn't even make it out of the parking lot. They got 2 "Screen Shots" of the engine data and 1 "Screen Shot" of the transmission data. Lexus has sent some recommendations to the dealer for possible fixes. I should be getting a call today to hear what those are.

 

Another update.......




Lexus has informed the dealer that my VALVE GUIDES need to be replaced. Which is totaling about $9k dollars. Service Drive Manager is talking to Lexus about footing the bill for it since I only have 69k miles on it. If Lexus does not pick up the tab I am screwed.


I am not spending $9k on this car.

 

Thats what I posted on the second page of this thread, and that's the big one.

Supposedly Lexus does know about this issue, but most places either don't want to go there because they don't feel like that is the issue, or it is the issue and it's a rare occurrence (and obviously expensive and a risky leap of faith).

The valve rattles in the guide - if the guide is worn beyond specs - and activates the knock sensors...which retards the engine timing and causes the hesitation.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lexus helped you out on this but still...you'll probably still be on the hook for half of it. I'd trade the car in. No way would I want my heads replaced unless it was for free, or close to it.

 

It's crazy how it would cost nearly half of the cars value to do this job. So according to your first post it's a unicorn problem? My car has 97k miles. I hope this is an isolated incident.