2016 OVTune Tacoma 3.5L Manual Transmission / Engine ECU Reflash

I'm waiting to receive my tune file. The final step before getting the tune file was to send the read of the ECU. Maybe because he's on vacation? Who ever was responding to my emails were very fast then silence after I emailed the .bin file two days ago.
I there's a set of exceptions for how long it takes or the process, I don't know them.

 

I don't think there is a set amount of time, but from what I've heard, it's pretty quick once you send the read of the ECU. The delay is almost certainly because they're closed until the 2nd. I think all work has stopped because of that.

I guess it would be nice if they posted something on the website indicating when they're on vacation and set that expectation without people having to wonder what's going on in the forums. Yes, I know they have responded to peoples comments here saying they're out until the 2nd, but you can easily miss those posts.

Either way, I would expect everything to pick up again on the 2nd.

 

It's posted in a red banner on the top of the web page that they won't be back until the 2nd.

 

Well I guess it is. Don't I feel stupid....

 

What threw me off is OVT also said they're available/responding electronically. Don't know if that means they're only responding to posts only. Not clear to me.

Either way I want answers because I'm a man child and want to play with my toys.

Eh.. I've had the truck 11 months.. what's a few more days..

 

I can't believe I actually saw it after 20min on the website.

 

UPDATE: Please read my follow up to this post here Post #1300

The truck performs as described when using the unlabeled 91 tune. I still want to figure out why the 87 tune is doing this but at least the 91 tune performs as it should.

Im not going to delete this post but OVTune stated that using BitEdit is not a safe means of editing the ECU which is fair, that being said I will recommend you dont purchase it and attempt to edit your maps .

After spending $800 for my 2017 OR, loading the tune and driving I can say 100% its not worth 800 bucks for the MT. I cannot speak for the AT. I'd like to bring up several points:

Why are the Auto and Manual tunes the same price? There isnt a TCM to adjust, therefore it should be a cheaper tune for the MT.

All of the software needed to tune this truck are purchasable without OVTune. PCMFlash is here $24 + $218 for the module: http://ecutools.eu/chip-tuning/pcmflash/. BitEdit $36 + $237: http://ecutools.eu/chip-tuning/bitedit/. Thats $515 and any good tuner can do a custom tune for not much more then 800 bucks. Where I live probably around 500-600 for a custom street tune.

Why are we paying near custom tune pricing for a canned tune everyone is receiving? PCMFlash is $242, and thats assuming OVtune is not getting any bulk discount. So we are paying $558 for a generic canned tune?

The tune itself is better in some areas and worse in others. Being able to use the gas pedal at cruising speed in any gear is nice, but thats pretty much the end of the good for me.

The drive-ability from 500-2500 is hilariously bad, its worse then the stock tune. Rolling 2nd gear from a stop sign with light throttle this becomes very apparent, it hesitates several times until it gets past 2500. Using a heavier foot makes these issues go away but that isnt a fix. Getting back on the gas after the injectors were cut is also noticeably harsher with the tune vs stock. Taking off from 1st gear is more sensitive then it was on the stock tune, its much more difficult to be consistent with no other benefit. There is a massive inconsistency in throttle response between downshifting (rev matching). For those of you that sit on the highway 90% of the time, you probably will like most of the adjustments. Those of you like myself that are mostly driving in the city will probably find the above issues very apparent.

When looking at products like accessport for ~650 bucks come with dozens of canned tunes AND provide tuning software to make a custom map as well as datalogging/diag or something like Hondatas flashpro for ~700 that comes with a bunch of canned tunes AND the software to make a custom tune as well as datalogging/diag. The $800 starts to hurt a bit more when comparing what you get to some of the other platforms solutions.

I get that there is technically no other option so the high price is set, but when its clearly not a finished product and dozens if not hundreds of users are basically beta testing a tune a $800 dollar price tag just doesnt sit right. The hoops and jumps a user needs to go through to get PCMflash licensed is also insane and simply will not scale, it takes 3 or 4 emails over several hours to get setup. Then you have to wait on manually sent emails to get your updated tune, if people keep buying this that overhead will shoot up to the point that its not maintainable.

As you can probably tell im not super pleased with the results right now. Ill be going back to stock and waiting for more development, if that doesnt happen ill probably purchase the required software and some dyno hours to do some adjustments myself once spring rolls around and its not 20 degrees out.

 

Your experience is much different than mine and others. Drivability and response is much improved on my truck in the <3500 RPM range which is what I was looking for. I’d recommend getting in contact with OVT directly if you are having issues with the tune and are unhappy.

I have no issues with the pricing and understand there’s always room for improvement which will come over time.

 

Well, this is one of the only negative reviews I've seen on here thus far. I was hesitant to buy this because of my tuning experiences on past vehicles, but I decided to go for it based on all of the positive feedback and the fact that the stock Tacoma tune is so much worse than any vehicle I've driven before.

It sounds to me that there is likely a lot of truth in this post and I'm glad someone was willing to post their honest negative thoughts without trying to heap praise to justify and $800 expenditure. I'll be happy to report an honest opinion when I get mine. I'm very much hoping that I can fall on the positive side of the fence.

 

I have had a very different experience with my MT Tune. It is excellent. I do however, continue to run a Pedal Commander set on sport with the attenuation turned down. Last weekend we had a cool morning and I did not need AC. I happened to get caught in a clog of idiot drivers, and when I could finally break free of them, I punched it in second resulting in wheelspin followed by very impressive acceleration and a two-wheel chirp going into third. Although I rarely rev the engine over 4k, once up there it rocks!

Actually,it sounds to me like there may be CPS issues with the engine disappointing the customer above. It does not sound like the tune.

 

i certainly accept your POV and criticisms, but it looks like you have an unfinished tune version or something (04B10?)

i'm seriously trying to figure out how you're struggling so much. the hesitation for example... wut? something is wrong with your setup, man... this is not how the tune behaves for those of us w/o issues. i agree though that more issues should be addressed before chalking up full price..

 

None of this is like the experience I have for sure. I could not barely tow a trailer with my truck and running 285's. It's way better now.

 

@luminous - I think you should swap out your CPS, or have the dealer do it.

 

I have a 2017, its 04B12. I agree its not right, OVTune is out of the office till after the new year so I posted here in the meantime.

I looked at the CPS when I bought the truck, it has the updated part from what I could tell but that doesnt mean anything. It could be for sure, ill be swapping back to the stock tune tomorrow afternoon and will find out if this goes away or not.

Maybe I wasnt 100% clear in my descriptions but the engine responds much better, if you give it some gas it does actually haul ass now. Smoothness and constancy is where its killing me, rolling 2nd from 750 rpm, with consistent throttle to 2500 rpm presents deadspots/hesitations.

 

Unfortunately for me I have the 1% of owners 04B10 ECU. At first I was under the impression that this tune would be customized for customers. So far it is a canned general tune. Hell my ECU version tune doesn't even have ignition changes because apparently It can't be figured out. I'm just glad I came in as one of the first to run the tune as a Tester so I got a deal. Like I've said though it is better then stock......

Just for reference this tune reminds me of a Hypertech can tuner I ran for my Mazdaspeed . It was $200. It did have preloaded maps and my Speed ran quicker then stock. But the data logs showed I ran lean, had boost creep, and wonky ignition advance. Switched to the $600 fully customizable Cobb Accesport with the free Access tuner race program. I am able to tune every parameter, data log and tune on the go. Just my personnal experiences.

 

Another TW member had a CPS failure on a 2017 recently, I think the build date on her truck was actually NOV, IRRC. Was hoping it was confined to the early ones, but apparently not.

 

With the issue you are describing it sounds like the CPS has issues or there is something else going on with the truck. With some trucks it seems the tune has brought out some issues people didn’t know their truck was encountering because the stock tune is so dead. There’s been a few people that had the updated part number and upon replacing it, the issue went away.

I can start in 2nd and pull all the way to the top either fast or slow and have no issues. The other day I forgot to downshift and accelerated from around 10 mph out of a corner and didn’t realize until I went to shift I was already in 3rd gear. Mine is much smoother than the factory tune ever dreamed of being.

 

also my thoughts, but needs more investigation from the dealer.

 

I have been on a TW sabbatical. Are you saying there is still no 04b10 specific tune? I thought Matt was finding a way around this old ecu.

 

Negative, still running a "test tune". There was talk from OVTune about buying a ECU, opening a the 04B10 ECU, changing it to a 04B11/12, not leaving anyone behind so on and so fourth. But hey just have to be patient