Odd Transmission Behavior in Cold Weather

talkindog · Jan 4, 2015

Lately the weather has been become quite cold. By cold, I mean colder than -25 C (or -13 F)!

Just wondering if anyone else has been experiencing the transmission acting strange in colder weather. It seems like it stays stuck in first gear and revs higher than normal (more than 2,200 rpm) just to reach 20 km/h (or 12 mph).

This only happens in extremely cold conditions and the problem goes away once it has warmed up after about 8 minutes. I do not have a remote starter, so my usual warm up time is 2-3 minutes in extreme cold.

I have driven other vehicles in these conditions and none of them behaved this way.

This is a 2014 RAV4 built in Canada, AWD, 6-speed auto that has about 12,000 km (or 7,500 miles) on it.

Edit: Added video

JuneBug · Jan 4, 2015

It sounds to me the car is trying to warm up the engine faster because of the cold ambient temperature. The computer revs the engine higher so it creates more heat. Probably normal.

WJBertrand · Jan 4, 2015

This behavior is normal. As stated above, it's programmed to speed warming so as to reduce the amount of time a rich (cold) fuel mixture is needed.

talkindog · Jan 10, 2015

I'm adding a video to this post so it's more clear what I'm talking about. This was recorded while on a pretty flat parking lot. Does it seem like there is slipping? And that's supposed to be normal?

northwoodshyun · Jan 10, 2015

talkindog said:
I'm adding a video to this post so it's more clear what I'm talking about. This was recorded while on a pretty flat parking lot. Does it seem like there is slipping? And that's supposed to be normal?

first gear in cold - YouTube

Have your Toyota dealer check the transmission fluid level. Just make sure the level is normal at the operating temperature.

c7aea · Jan 10, 2015

It was -14F here the other morning and I didn't notice any higher revs to change gears. However, I do let the engine warm up till that bar moves at least one spot before driving. Yours is still all the way to the left. And I always drive in sport mode which normally keeps the car in a lower gear for longer anyway, so I might not have noticed.

Like others have said it does seem normal that the car is trying to warm itself up.

Does it go away once the car warms up?

agray56 · Jan 11, 2015

Haven't experienced this yet in the RAV, but our prior Venza did the same thing, back to normal once warmed up.

wth · Jan 12, 2015

Same here. Our 2010 Venza 4cyl will let the rpm go higher before it up shifts when the engine is cold. Don't really notice it in the RAV4.

ragman · Jan 12, 2015

at -25 my body doesn't work properly either, oh well !

two days ago i left the house @ -5 F, other than normal cold engine noises and taking 7 miles to reach normal temps

probably the engine/ trans management comp just doing it's thing

my kia sorento had the delayed trans shift syndrome in - F temps only

miamisam · Jan 12, 2015

My 2013 AWD also does the first-gear-hold thing when below zero.
But...
Last week I had to gun it once due to traffic, and to my surprise it started shifting normally after that. Even though it was still not warmed up...

Which makes me think it's something viscous clogging in the transmission, and not a shift design feature.
The burst of energy freed up whatever was clogged.

vanib · Jan 13, 2015

Maybe it was warmed up enough anyway.
How cold was it and how many minutes did you drive before gunning it?

floater · Jan 13, 2015

I suggest if you drive in subzero weather to consider changing your ATF & gear oil to synthetic which doesn't need to warm up to flow such as Redline. I'll probably put in my Rav at 30k miles. I used it in my subaru and it really made the transmission shift smoothly.

vanib · Jan 13, 2015

WS fluid works well even in -35F. I am talking from experience.
On the other hand, any ATF change (OEM or non-OEM), even at 30K miles, will surely make your transmission shift better. That does not necessarily mean that non-OEM is better than OEM.

Redline, AMSoil, ... all make great fluids. I don't know if they are better than WS.

Mainia · Feb 15, 2018

WS is a semi-synthetic Redline and Amsoil are full synthetic and are far far better oil's then WS. WS is horrible in my eyes. Semi-synthetic oil in a Rav4 that has no real trans oil cooler has NO place.

floater · Jan 13, 2015

It flows well at -35? My experience is regular ATF and gear oil aren't particulary good at extremely cold temperatures versus synthetic.

Lowbanks · Feb 17, 2015

It's was -25 Celsius yesterday and had the same thing happen, really weird.

I also have a Yaris so I'm use to feeling a cold tranny shifting slowly and holding onto the lower gears a bit longer, but this thing with the RAV4 tranny feels like a gear that's even lower than first. It definitely wasn't a case of it staying in 1st gear too long.

Over 2000 rpm and only 5-10 km/hr. I pull over, let it warm up another couple minutes, slowly pull away again, revs up, a little better this time, then about 30 seconds later it seems to find the real first gear, then slowly shift to second. Then it starts behaving normal.

Waited again until today, it's -15 Celsius, does the same thing.

Honestly though, this has been our first winter with this new RAV and these past few days have been the coldest so far, scary cold in fact.

Mfdbob · Mar 8, 2015

Same thing happened to my Rav4. 8000kms, minus 25 celsius,
Would not leave first gear. Waited 5 minutes then it was ok. took it to Toyota. They found nothing.

MP3_E46 · Feb 11, 2018

Is there a TSB on this?

Disconnecting mine's battery overnight cured it for several days, but slowly it gotten back to how it was.

DL175 · Feb 15, 2018

I am using Valcoline Maxlife (synthetic) on mine here in Ontario and my transmission is shifting fine even on the coldest days. Performance wise synthetic can achieve better results in either freezing or hot weather. I use synthetic gear oil (Mobile 1) on my transfer case and rear differential also.

MP3_E46 · Feb 16, 2018

100% Redline D6 in my 2015 2WD RAV4 since 24,229 miles here (~36K miles now) and it revs high often when cold.

Almost certainly it's staying in fluid coupling mode (delaying AT lock-up). As other have said this is to warm the fluid faster and protect gearboxes.

Why some cars do it more than other I've no idea. Also the computer does not know what I fluid I have in there, so that's almost certainly a red herring.

Odd Transmission Behavior in Cold Weather

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities