Transmission will not shift into high gear when warm

HIGHLANDERROBERT

MEMBER
2003 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER
3.0L
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
220,000 MILES

My vehicle will not shift into high gear after driving for about 20 minutes. It works fine until warmed up, then, if I slow down and drop into a lower gear, then speed up, it will not go into a higher gear (probably fourth gear, maybe even third), which causes the RPM's to be high (>4,000) at higher speeds (>40). Turning off the car doesn’t help unless I let it cool down an hour or so. I had the transmission flushed and filters replace, which did not fix the problem. I'm thinking it's the shift solenoid, but not sure.

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,407 POSTS

Hi,

I have a feeling this has something to do with the transmission temp sensor. However, I don't want to start replacing parts until we are sure.

What I need you to do is have the computer scanned for diagnostic trouble codes. Here is a quick video that shows how it's done:

https://youtu.be/YV3TRZwer8k

I realize that most people don't own a scanner; however, most parts stores will do it for free. This really should be done first to identify where the problem is coming from. There are many other thing in addition to what I mentioned, and the only way to be sure at least where the problem is coming from is to have it scanned.

Have this done and let me know the diagnostic trouble code you find.

Take care,
Joe.