Rough Gear Shift With Ac On...

[ezekielj007]

Regardless of how warm the car is if I have on the AC the car shifts more rough than it does when it's off. I almost started to think my tranny was going out. Can someone tell me what could be causing this and how to correct? It's a 96 LS and I just got it a week ago. I'm thinking I need to do a drain and fill also but not sure if that would help this situation.

[SKperformance]

Possible dirty throttle body as a good start from a sticking iacv a/c idle up valve.

Sea foam

[ezekielj007]

Thanks I'll go pick up a bottle tomorrow. I did my first drain N fill today and overall the car seems to shift better. The fluid was pretty brown. How long should I wait before doing it again? I want to cycle as much of the old out as possible. Is a week long enough for the new and old to mix?

[99lsguy]

Thanks I'll go pick up a bottle tomorrow. I did my first drain N fill today and overall the car seems to shift better. The fluid was pretty brown. How long should I wait before doing it again? I want to cycle as much of the old out as possible. Is a week long enough for the new and old to mix?

E -

When I first got my LS.....I did a tranny pan drain (2 qrt) once every week or two for about 3-4 times......that cleared up the fluid to a nice clean pink and now I do this every OTHER oil change (about 10k interval)....

Easy does it on the tranny drain bolt - 15 ft lbs......

[nc211]

There is also a throttle cable adjustment you can make. If you take the engine cover off, you will see the throttle cables on the passenger side, towards the firewall. A slight loosening of the throttle anchor bolt to let a tiny bit of slack out, then tighten it back down, might help as well. Sometimes these cables get very snug in their linkage, which makes the transmission think your throttle is more open than it really is, causing it to shift faster into the next gear.

This was the case with mine when I bought it from the dealership...smooth shifts w/o a/c on. A bit rough with it on, especially into 2nd and 3rd gear. They loosened the cable a little, and it smoothed it out. But, doing the drain and fill with toyota fluid will help a ton as well!! If your fluid is brown, you're very much ready for some new fluid.

I purchased a case from the toyota dealer for like $30 bucks a few months ago. Every oil change, i do the drain and fill as well. The fluid is super clean now, and it shifts perfectly. Took maybe all of 3 drain and fills, over a 9,000 mile span to get it clean red again. Now I just do it becuase I can, and I'm super anal about my car.

good advice on the bolt...take it easy on it, you don't want to strip the pan threads...