First off, this is my 1st post and I'm a new member to the group. I'm not a mechanic in anyway but I am competent of learning lol So I appreciate all of you in advance!

Ok so this may be hard to explain in words but i'll give it a shot.. If I come to a sudden stop from a higher speed, the transmission will sometimes want to stay in-between gears. After a few seconds and rpm increase, it will figure out where it's supposed to be. For example, I'm cruising at 45mph and theres a stop light ahead turning yellow. I'm not going to make it so I hit the brakes. While sitting there, I'll let off the brakes to see what the vehicle does. If it doesnt move, it'll I know it isn't in gear and I'll just tap the gas pedal a touch and it'll kick in. The 1st time this happened I took off at the light like I would in a new car. It didint do anything and the rpm's went up and I chirped the tires when it kicked in. This doesnt happen all of the time though. And if I pay attention, I can prevent it from happening. As of normal shift points, they're fine.

I recently purchased this vehicle so I'm figuring out the flaws it has. Which surprisingly isn't many. It's a 2000 4WD SR5 with 250,000 miles. I am getting ready to do a fresh fluid/filter change but what else (besides replacing the trans) could I check? Shift sensor potentially? What's this "kickdown cable" all about? If I understand it correctly, it has to do with the shift points under heavy acceleration. I feel my issue is the opposite..

Any advice is appreciated,

 

Welcome.
Did you check the fluid level when the trans was warm, engine running?

When you come to a stop try putting it in L and shifting up manually and see if that solves the problem.
If so it might be the shift solenoids.

The "kickdown cable" actually controls pressure and not shift points like some other vehicles.

 

could be the shift solenoids..