Is it normal that the 6AT shifts horribly when cold?

The truck just has less than 800 miles, but I noticed that during the first 3-5 minutes, when ambient temp is lower than 40F, the truck shifts horribly, 1-2, and 2-3 shifts like someone kicked me from behind and there's also audible noise

after 5 minutes, all good and shifts are silky smooth

Is this normal?
Shouldn't the factory-filled Toyota WS ATF have some kind of cold flow property that ensures smooth shifts during cold start?

 

My 2017 does it… at first stop sign about 3 miles away there’s a ‘thunk’ as it shifts into 1st if the temp is below about 40. 104k on the truck and no issues have developed from it though. Now I put it in S3 before that stop and it doesn’t do it.

Haven’t tried redline … may give that a try as @Tacotoast mentioned.

but yes - it is common….

 

My 2021 sometimes flairs up a bit from the 2-3 shift on light load.

 

Never an issue with my 2020 auto shifting weird when cold. Its always the same whether 0 degrees or 90. When the truck is not up to temp yet, the transmixer won't go into 6th gear until fully warm.

 

normal, cars like to be warmed up, dont listen to anyone who tells you otherwise

 

Never had any issue with my 2016 AT down to -15F or thereabouts. Everything gets a bit stiff when it gets cold, but there’s nothing much you can do about it other than parking it in a heated garage. I would not expect to notice anything at a temperate 40F.

 

150k mi original owner on my 2017 taco and it has did that since day one . Used to it , no problems.

 

Might be the op's transmission is still going through the learning process. My auto hunted like no tomorrow until i had over 1500 miles on it. You have to resist using the S or ECT modes during this time. Just leave it in D till you get a couple thousand miles on the truck. A buddy always commented how smooth my transmission shifted compared to his year older trd at the time.

 

That's not happening!
These are the best transmissions on the planet!
End of story

Actually they all do it.....probably my biggest gripe in my decision was buying my 1st AT vehicle in 20 years. I kinda thought Toyota had worked out their issues from 16/17 so I took a chance.

But i can drive with both snowboard boots on and that was the ultimate reason

 

The KDMax Tune Pro helped the cold shifting on my 2018. Like 10 deg F cold. Northern tier USA. Not southern 42 deg cold.

 

Agreed. After the KD Max tune no more hard shifting for me either. Completely stopped

 

Normal for my 4 cyl engine and almost any other automatic i’ve driven in my life to be a bit slow responding on a cold start in cold weather. Only takes a minute or two driving to warm up and all is fine. I just go easy on the pedal when it’s cold outside starting out. This is really not an issue lol.

 

Normal. Nothing wrong with the tranny. there are different optimal torque shifting tables for col&warm operations. That's why you see a different behavior when warm. You could shift to S mode - it has only one table.

 

If you got a transmission like a buddies of mine had...it shifted wonky. I guess all i read about them here, its normal. Some just perform that way. I'm just glad i got one that doesn't.

 

Mine does it a little. Feels like a rough shift would in a manual. I monitored it with torque, and as soon as the trans fluid got to about 40f, it smoothed out. No problems at 47k km here, and I’m not worried about it.

 

Give it time, the computer learns and adjust based on your driving habits, including the AT.

 

I have had mine 3 years now and every time I read this statement I think "am I that neurotic? this can't be my driving habits doing this" ....that said I have no idea. It's always been spastic but I try to drive the truck like a race car half the time so I know a lot of it is self induced.

That said, it sucks more in the cold. Also at 0F I get some amazing howl from the power steering which was almost concerning until I remembered that it's just obscenely cold and I shouldn't live here. I think the most concerning feeling is that hard clunk from the rear end as you decelerate (moderately quickly) into a stop and it downshifts into first like something just kicked you from behind.

 

My 2019 does this when the temps are less than 40 roughly. It's only the 2-3 shift though that feels like a clutch was held out too long and then dropped (yes, it's an AT). My truck has the proper trans fluid level too fwiw.

 

Thats exactly how my buddies 2019 trd auto worked. Imo, that bs no transmission should be given to work like that. I really can't blame him for trading in the truck. No one wants a 40k turd.

 

thanks all, I'm going to do 3-4 drain and refill at about 20k miles to try some fancy ATF fluid that meets Toyota WS standard such as redline and amsoil to see if it improves cold temp shifting. If there's any incorrect ATF fluid level from factory, I rather catch it earlier on rather than waiting for 60k miles to find out