2016 6-cylinder 6-speed automatic erratic shifting and drivability problems?

Any idea how much ECT effects fuel economy?

 

Yes it goes down, more power-more gas less economy. Basically with ECT off, the ECU and transmission are focused on economy. with it on, they are focused on performance.

 

So it appears that Toyota has designed and engine transmission combination that doesn't have enough power to pull its self down the highway without having to downshift. I believe that over time the transmission will go out because of the constant shifting. I have owned a lot of trucks and cars over the years and have only experienced this with a small 2 litter cars. I understand when you are in the mountains you will experience this in any car but not on a major highway with very slight inclines

 

Engine has plenty of power, the manual transmission owners are pretty happy with the power. With a manual transmission the driver selects the gear appropriate for the situation. Most manual owners report rarely using 6th gear except on the open highway on flat roads. The AT's models always tries to go to 6th, why, for EPA ratings. This is why AT's today can get comparable mileage to a manual.

The AT selects the gear based on the ECU mapping, AT mapping and engine load. When the EPA standards changed for trucks a few years ago, this required trucks to get much better mileage. The ECU will tell the AT to downshift when it determines the engine is under a load to high. What too high is is designed in the software.

Trucks were purchased for years for being a truck, mileage was not one of the reasons, with the newer laws and people using trucks as the main commuter. People wanted better mileage. So this is what we are getting, more gears, the more shifting.


I have 6K on my truck now and it doesn't shift into 6th as much anymore (leaned my driving habits)and shifts way less. The transmission will no go out because of constant shifting, it was designed to shift.

 

Just did a trip today from miami to Orlando and the constant shifting in Cruise control drives me crazy. Actually when I put the ECT on the truck behaved a lot better but in cruise control still hunting between 5th and 6th. I have never seen anything like that in other Vehicles with 6 gears let alone in toyotas. I don't think this is normal behavior in my opinion

 

I take it you were in Drive? Have you tried putting the truck into S mode and put it into S5? It is basically a gear limiter, so it will prevent the hunting between 5th and 6th. It seems like 6th gear is pretty much useless on the new tacoma.

 

No I Haven't but I'm assuming if I do that it will consume more gas since the engine is revving more and that is not what I want

 

Putting it in S mode won't make it rev more...it's just a gear limiter. S4 is top gear (good for around town), meaning it won't go into 5th or 6th. If anything it will sip less fuel from not having to constantly shift. Cruise control will actually probably be the worst since every incline you drive on it will downshift causing revs to sky rocket.

 

My TRD OR DC has 1500 miles and I literally can't wait to unload this thing. Clearly the double overdrive was designed for best case totally flat cruising at sea level. The tranny issue is real and those on here trying to offer ECT or sport mode or BS learning software are apologist Toyota loyalists in denial. This is a solid truck but Toyota harvested their reputation as a reliable manufacturer. I hate to be negative but I've owned many many cars and none had anything like this issue. It's not even debatable.

 

Okay...hope you find what you want in another brand.

 

OK, I am at 5,000 miles. The tranny still hasn't "learned" anything, and shifts weird. I still can't get anywhere near the gas mileage they rate it at no matter how I drive. I often throw it into neutral on downhills to keep it from shifting down one, sometimes two gears on it's own. I don't use the cruise control unless I am on a long flat road because it shifts far more erratically than it does with it off. How much longer before I become qualified to consider these to be "shitty" attributes?

It is clear from my discussions with Toyota that they aren't overly concerned about my disappointments in this truck. This is all "normal".

It would be nice if I were affluent enough to "get a vehicle or motorcycle and learn how it performs or what it is capable of and decide whether I want to keep it or if something out there is better". I did seriously look at selling this truck. Despite its good resale value, I would still take a substantial financial hit (a lot of the costs associated with buying a new vehicle aren't really recoverable in divesting yourself from it). And in reality, the problems aren't such that I can't live with them. I'll just be a grumpy owner. Looks like you guys are stuck with me for a while.

Would I buy this truck if I had it to do over again?.... No way.

 

Same here. I have two others cars with substantially more power that crush this thing on fuel economy. One is an X5 Tt V8 that makes more than 400 hp and it gets 17.5mpg. My Tacoma is getting 15.7mpg. Here's the kicker: on the highway my mpg goes down because of the constant downshifting it requires to maintain speed. I could live with the fuel economy if the power were good but this is the slowest car I've owned since my first Toyota. An 83 celica GTS.

BTW trade in value of the Tacoma is roughly 7k less than I paid with (at the time) 1000 miles on it.

 

Why'd you buy the auto? And someone said earlier manual owners rarely use 6th? I'm in 6th by 35 and it has plenty of torque to pull hills once up to speed. I can get 24 mpg pretty easy if I'm not laying on it as well. No city of course

 

I got the auto because of the off road goodies that come with it. Much of terrain mode stuff I believe isn't available on the manual. Also resale value is better. Bottom line the truck should work in whatever configuration you buy it. Had I seen these threads before I bought it, no way I would have picked a Tacoma.

 

I have only got over 18 mpg once...it was a warm week. Seems like this new truck is allergic to cold weather...normal choke operation I would suspect. When weather warms up this spring, I will see if gas averages come up.

 

those are awesome numbers. Do you live in warmer climates than me? I'm in Missouri...cold weather winters. I'm thinking this could be the reason why my gas mileage is not where it's supposed to be (18 - 23).

 

I bought an auto so my wife and daughter can drive the truck, when needed, in inclement weather. We live down a 2 mile long, hilly private road and we get quite a bit of snow, we need a vehicle that, with a less than experienced driver (don't tell them I said that), can get down that road on the days it is nasty out. The Tacoma works very well in that regard. If you fill the back of the bed with snow, put it in 4WL, it can seemingly go anywhere, even without chains and the fancy off-road aids it has.

But I drive the vehicle 95% of the time, and am sure sad that I bought the automatic from my driving perspective. If I had a manual tranny, I am sure I would like the truck 100% better for my own use.

Note: I also have a '96 Dodge dually diesel w/ automatic. I love driving it. That tranny is noted for being supposedly weak, but it still purrs down the road at over 200k miles with no problems (while getting better fuel mileage than the Tacoma, by the way). These days the Dodge has a snow plow mounted on it all winter long which is another reason I bought the Tacoma. The Dodge being so nice to drive was a factor in me settling for an auto in the Tacoma. Was I in for a surprise!

 

No car has enough power to pull itself down the highway without shifting, if you are in the wrong gear. We have this similar type transmission in our Venza. It too would shift constantly in D and at 45. As suggested, if you don't like it, shift to S and it will choose 4 as the top gear. If you think it is then over revving too much, try 5.

 

This is interesting... Didn't anyone test drive the thing before they bought it? Did you not feel it constantly shifting during the test drive?