marsmango

I'm having trouble with a 2001 LS430 with the A650E five speed transmission. Recently I noticed that the transmission is slow to engage in drive, but only when cold (first start). I'm in a warm climate, so it doesn't get very cold here in the first place. After putting the shifter into drive, it takes around 10 seconds for the transmission to engage into drive. The car won't move forward on its own, and if the accelerator is applied nothing happens (I think you can hear the torque converter spinning). Sometimes there's a pushing feeling that can be felt initially a few times. This problem does not occur when the car is warm and shifts are smooth when driving normally.

I have done several drain and fills in the past, the fluid is now a normal red color. I'm suspecting the fluid level could be low before it warms up, or low line pressure. I have not really noticed this problem if I put the car in reverse when I first start the car. Is this normal or is there anything else I could try? Maybe something is clogged? I usually add around 2qt after doing a drain and fill, but the dipstick is difficult to read especially when hot. I replaced the transmission pan gasket and filter a couple of years ago. I'm planning on doing another drain and fill to see if that helps.

TominPT

Check the fill level on the dipstick with the engine cold. When you do drain and fills, it is best to do it with the temperature of the fluid coming out the same temperature as the fluid going in, as the transmission fluid expands significantly when warm. If you drain hot fluid, then wait until the transmission has fully cooled down before checking the fluid level and then adding up to the full mark.

marsmango

I made sure to do the drain and fill when it was cold, as I was expecting the fluid to expand if warm. Last time I only filled a quart at first to see where the dipstick would be and it was clearly low. After adding about an additional 0.8 quarts, it appeared to be higher up at the cold fill level. I was having some trouble reading the dipstick since the fluid isn't very dark. I found this on another site on how to read the dipstick. Mine appears to be in the "OK if cool" level, so I'm not sure what else to do

TominPT

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...lipping-2.html
see these and other posts along the lines of transmission "slipping when cold." If your car is very low mileage I would consider a full transmission flush as it apparently helped others reporting similar symptoms.

marsmango

Update: I still have this issue, but now have a CEL with DTC P0500 Vehicle Speed Sensor Malfunction. I believe this could be causing the issue, after searching through other threads on the forum. If anyone has any tips to replace this, any advice would be appreciated

marvin5881

On my 98 LS400 (same transmission) that I sold, I had this issue and the friend who bought it from me is still experiencing it. It's been ongoing for 3 years but the car is still driveable. After doing full fluid flushes with Toyota Type IV fluid and aftermarket synthetic fluids, nothing solved the issue. I had a code for one of the shift solenoids that I ended up replacing but that didn't fix the issue either. Eventually, I came across posts on this website stating that they believed the issue is caused by the clutch packs losing material so that the car would only shift out of park when the pressure increased from the fluid heating up.

I bought a fluid additive called 'Trans-x' that actually ended up fixing the issue but only for a couple of months at a time before you have to drain and refill the car with more of the additive. My friend is still draining and refilling the car and daily driving it. The vehicle already had the issue when it was sent to an auction where my dad bought it, I received the car at 251,000 miles and it's now at 285,000. He was quoting as needing a new transmission or a rebuild. Also, nowadays without additives, my friend tells me that it takes 2 minutes for the transmission to engage after putting it into drive when it's cold.

marsmango

Thanks for sharing marvin5881. This is very odd, the P0500 code went away on it's own a week later and it's in the DTC memory storage. VSC turned off as well. Replacing the Vehicle Speed Sensor did nothing to resolve the issue. Not sure what to try next, any ideas? Otherwise the car shifts fine when it's warmed up

Sherl

​​​​​​DId you fix this?

marsmango

No, there has been no resolution for this. Car still has this issue but shifts fine after warming up. I also had a shift solenoid code like marvin5881 for torque converter lockup solenoid, but this only shows if you try to drive above 50mph when transmission is cold. I'm trying to avoid additives, but had better cold shifting after using Lubegard red. I guess the only way to solve this would be a used transmission, but I'm not going to until it completely dies

marvin5881

A service shop told my friend with the vehicle that he needs a new rear main seal as it is leaking quite badly. The shop suggested that the seal could be the source of the transmission shifting issues on startup.

marsmango

I had all transmission seals replaced, including rear main seal. Not sure what else could be causing this

teaa

this has happened to my LS infrequently and I can't figure out why. it'll happen for a week at a time then drive normal again for months. It came back last week and did it for a few days until I filled my tank up and it hasn't happened again since. Just learned to live with it for now

marsmango

Update: Finally used the "Trans-x" additive and that fixed my problem the next day. No more delayed engagement when cold going into drive and reverse. Thanks marvin5881 for the recommendation

efuye

is the TransX fix the problem? I have the same issue, in the morning the first drive transmission hard shift problem until the fluid warm enough

marsmango

Yes, it's working great for a few months now. Car shifts like brand new and no hesitation during cold starts.
Try doing a few drain and fill transmission fluid first before trying the additive. And if you have an 04-06 be sure the ECU isn't causing issues