2015 Toyota Tacoma AT thumping noise when shifting when very cold

Hello everybody...
This is my first thread since joining. So here goes:
In June 2019 I purchased a 2015 V6 4.0 Toyota Tacoma Limited Edition 4x4 with AT. Overall its a great lil truck and I am highly enjoying it and its many features being a limited edition. However, I have had Toyota trucks in the past and they have always been manual transmission. So having and AT is new to me. Well, the AT had been shifting great, with no noises EXCEPT NOW THAT IT IS COLD. This morning it was 8 degrees and on the way to work there was a fairly loud thump noise when the gears were shifting. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is this a cold weather thing it just does because the AT fluid is cold? It did go away after driving it for a while. Pretty concerned it only had 58,000 miles on it, and I bought it from a dealer in PA(I live in upstate NY) and the service records do show that it has had regularly scheduled tranny service. Anyone?

Last edited: Yesterday at 10:46 AM

 

Sometimes if it's really cold out, mine will shift into 5th gear a little firmer....but only under light throttle (don't feel it under harder throttle) and only until the tranny warms up. In warm conditions and/or once the tranny is warm I don't notice it.

However, it's not a harsh shift and there's no thumping at all.

 

Thanks for the feed back. It happened again this morning, only once when coasting down a slight grade. THUMP! About a mile from my house and it wasn't that cold out. Garage says can’t see anything wrong. Would take it back to dealer but its 3 hours away! I did take an extended warranty out on it so if the tranny is taking a dump it will be replaced, but hoping not have to go that route. Hmmm.

 

id recommend getting aquainted with the trans fluid level check and or fluid replacement procedure. at 58k miles i doubt the dealer has EVER touched trans fluid and they have been known to come a quart or two low from the factory.

Personally id recommend doing a full 12 quart proper change of trans fluid, but at a minimum grab 2 quarts of toyota WS fluid, throw one full quart in and do the fluid level check. (much easier to be a lil overfull and only have to go through bringing up to temp and level check once)

 

Mine does the same. But it’s an 06. Has always done this when cold going into OD. I’d say it’s “normal” for our trucks

 

Trying running it in 4th gear for a few minutes till things get up to temp

 

Mine does it as well.
The colder it is the more noticeable.
Most noticeable is 4th to 5th (OD).
I will sometimes run it in 4th until the Temp Gauge starts to rise.

And Yes, mine will also “thump” on downshifts. But it doesn’t happen very often.
This too seems to happen only when Cold and only while coasting applying to pressure on the gas or break pedal.

Mines been this way 10 years now. (Since I purchased it)
I had Toyota inspect it shortly after purchasing it.
They stated all was good and it was normal.

I’ve also had the Transmission Fluid Drained and Refilled.
Didn’t seem to make much of a difference on shifting.

I feel comfortable saying it is “Normal”.

 

Well. Hmmm. Lotsa great feedback here. Thanks! Making me feel less angst about it. After hearing about other peoples truck making the same noise, w/o any other issues, I think I finally came up with a name for my Tacoma. ‘Thumper’....