[MadLadDon_23]

I am a new member on the site and I'm here cause my 2006 camry has this peculiar issue with the 3 to 4 shift where it will hang on the RPMs and then suddenly grab the gear. This issue seems to be specific to the 3 to 4 shift and happens just about every time the car is accelerating from a stop or very slow speeds. The fluid hadent been changed in a long time or maybe even ever before I got the car. The car has 210,000 miles on it so we thought that the problem was the fluid, but now that the fluid is back to being cherry red and a new filter, the issue hassent gotten much better, although the other gears and shifting has gotten smoother and more positive as a result of the new fluid and filter. We have been doing research to try and narrow down the issue and what could be causing it, but all the things we have checked have been in qorking order as it is supposed to be, the last option is to have the computers in the car reset and updated. The transmission code from the door sticker is U151E.
Below is a picture of the writing on the transmission itself.

If anyone has an idea as to what the issue is that would be really helpful, even if the solution you have is one I might have already looked into, any possibly new ideas could show through.

 

[no_common_sense]

my 2006 camry has this peculiar issue with the 3 to 4 shift where it will hang on the RPMs and then suddenly grab the gear.

Before I shoot my mouth off at the keyboard, I want to make sure I'm not misinterpreting your statement. When you say it hangs on the RPMs, does that mean that the RPM revs up freely like it's been suddenly dropped into neutral for a moment before it finally engages 4th? How does it feel once it finally does engage 4th? Does it feel normal, firm, soft, harsh, slipping, or some other kind of odd?

If my own interpretation of what you said is any good, it sounds like you're dealing with a flare shift. I did some research on Google calling it a flare shift and got this back from the search results:

3rd-4th gear shift flare DON'T GIVE UP

I have been dealing with this issue for well over 16 months. Have been to 3 different dealers and numerous phone calls and case #’s with Toyota. Each time I would get the same answer “ Trans shifting normally at this time” or “cannot duplicate customers concern”. At some point you want to give...

www.toyotanation.com

The thing that got my attention in that post was a reference to TSB (TC007-07). I suspect that TSB is to get the TCM reflashed to ramp up fluid pressure for the 3-4 shift. There were other possible causes in the search results, but I'll leave them for you to discover. Here's my search results from Google:

2006 Camry 3-4 flare shift - Google Search

I skimmed another one that made a reference to another TSB for valve body issues. My own very limited experience with various transmission repairs have led to things like worn bushings, bad lip seals, and stuck/worn valves in the valve body causing similar flare shift problems. If you have a friend with a really good scan tool, you can find out what the calibration number is in the TCM and see if the programming is up to date based on the TSB. Short of that, I'd want to tap in a pressure gauge if there's an available test port on the transmission itself. That's all I can really offer from this end of the internet for now. Good luck.

**Edit: The pic you posted is of the VIN tag. If you're bored, you can compare it to the VIN tag in the corner of the windshield. If they match, it's the original transmission to the car.

 

[MadLadDon_23]

Before I shoot my mouth off at the keyboard, I want to make sure I'm not misinterpreting your statement. When you say it hangs on the RPMs, does that mean that the RPM revs up freely like it's been suddenly dropped into neutral for a moment before it finally engages 4th? How does it feel once it finally does engage 4th? Does it feel normal, firm, soft, harsh, slipping, or some other kind of odd?

If my own interpretation of what you said is any good, it sounds like you're dealing with a flare shift. I did some research on Google calling it a flare shift and got this back from the search results:

3rd-4th gear shift flare DON'T GIVE UP

I have been dealing with this issue for well over 16 months. Have been to 3 different dealers and numerous phone calls and case #’s with Toyota. Each time I would get the same answer “ Trans shifting normally at this time” or “cannot duplicate customers concern”. At some point you want to give...

www.toyotanation.com

The thing that got my attention in that post was a reference to TSB (TC007-07). I suspect that TSB is to get the TCM reflashed to ramp up fluid pressure for the 3-4 shift. There were other possible causes in the search results, but I'll leave them for you to discover. Here's my search results from Google:

2006 Camry 3-4 flare shift - Google Search

I skimmed another one that made a reference to another TSB for valve body issues. My own very limited experience with various transmission repairs have led to things like worn bushings, bad lip seals, and stuck/worn valves in the valve body causing similar flare shift problems. If you have a friend with a really good scan tool, you can find out what the calibration number is in the TCM and see if the programming is up to date based on the TSB. Short of that, I'd want to tap in a pressure gauge if there's an available test port on the transmission itself. That's all I can really offer from this end of the internet for now. Good luck.

**Edit: The pic you posted is of the VIN tag. If you're bored, you can compare it to the VIN tag in the corner of the windshield. If they match, it's the original transmission to the car.

Thank you for the response, and to answer your questions, when the issue happens it feels as if the car get to the desired rpm for the shift and just stays there for a second before shifting, and when it does grab the next gear, the shift feels good and not weak or overly harsh. It seems to be hunting for the gear and then eventually finding the gear and shifting. I do know someone with a good scan tool that can possibly tell me what version the TCM has. I will also say that we did take the valve body off and clean the solenoids one by one and they were pretty dirty, but after fluid added and a drive session, the issue didn't seem to change or get any better, the next step is as mentioned, updating the TCM as I couldent find any sticker under the hood saying that the TCM has been updated. I will update when that happens as it will be Monday when I have the chance to check the TCM.

Here is a post about the service bulletin, 2004 SEV6 shifting problems...

 

[nsticka2022]

I had same problem and it seems to be common occurrence. I tried driving with o/d off and it seemed to help but I just got used to it.

as long as there isnt any grinding noises and it shifts normal from park to reverse to drive and no CEL's, it should be ok.

 

[MadLadDon_23]

Ok so it has been a while since I cam back to respond but that was intentional, we fixed the issue and with an almost way to simple solution to boot. We found that the trans temps were up to 210 at idle and we instantly devised a plan to fix it, after a trip to the junkyard and getting g 2 trans coolers of of some 99 ford explorers, all that was left was some handy work and hose. Here is a pic of the result and it looks clean and almost factory.

 

[cyclops]

Glad that you were able to fix it!

I have a 2003 camry and mine is the opposite, the shift from 3 to 4 is not bad. But the downshift from 4 to 3 is very jerky. Sometimes when it downshifts on highspeed when going uphill, I really cringe on the jerk and hope it does not breaks anything. The transmission fluid is good, got it verified at the shop.