2018 trd sport

The issue of going through the gears and it shudderring like it starving for fuel or something with drivetrain not sure but it is driving me crazy. It drives good as long as etc button is on but once I turn it off or pull something with the truck it goes to driving like a tin can. Took it back to Toyota they rest the adaptive learning in the tranny and run diagnostics they said Toyota said it was normal but the two techs that rode with me both said they felt something. So my question is wth to do?

 

Welcome to Gen 3 Tacoma ownership. The transmission might settle down a little as the miles add up, but this is how these trucks are designed. I don't know why they were made this way.

 

Does tuning help and will it void my warranty?

 

Check out that OVTune thread, the folks who have done it seem to really like it. Unsure about the warranty. I learned to live with the truck as it is.

 

The thing that has me is I test drive the piss out of it with no isssue I put 500 miles on it and it like it wanted to just start.

 

Test driving isn't really all that effective, in my opinion. Over time you learn how a vehicle truly feels, and you're not going to get that over the course of a few minutes or perhaps an hour in a test drive.

 

Tuning does really help the feel of the transmission. It Will void your warranty, however if you buy the full package from OVTune, they send you the programmer so you can always put it back to the OEM tune, the dealership would never be able to tell.

 

I agree, the people who tell you "Did you test drive it?" are typically fanboys or someone who is defending the truck on behalf of the brand. No change will come from that.

Yes, I test drove mine, but I never was able to attempt all scenarios and all temperatures and all climates, and this thing was a little bit different in all those situations.

If you leave the truck bone stock you warranty is fine. Modifying the computer with a tune is a risk you have to decide you need to take vs. dealing with the awful stock setup.

I learned to deal with it for 2 years of ownership, and while it was a fine truck, and looked awesome, I moved on. If I didn't need additional space due to kids, I'd have 4.88'ed it and OVTuned it, and I am willing to bet I would have been pleased. But there's not a tune for a larger cab.

*edit* Offroad, in 4L the computer maps fuel and everything perfectly. Offroad, this thing is incredible. Sadly, most of our time is spent on road.

 

From reading other threads I’m gonna say this is probably something to I’m going to have to be a pain at the dealership about to try and resolve some issue. I love the truck got the platinum warranty package but what good is the warranty if Toyota doesn’t recognize the issues as an issue. I switched from a 15 Silverado with adaptive learning and the tranny sucked so I had it programmed with a bullet dog and had it Dino tested I was cranking out about 50ibs more torque and 75 hp. But started having an issue with steering wheel locking up in left position. So I switched to Toyota thinking a better truck . But seems like a have another truck with power train problems. In my opinion I do not believe anyone is ready for these transmissions I just want something more about mechanical than technology.

 

OP, I went from a 2011 Tacoma to Silverado to a Tacoma to a F150. AFM and Torque Management in the Silverado were awful, torque converter died at 65k miles. Went to Tacoma, much better quality truck. Transmission only sucks because of poor gearing spacing and computer throttling stuff for CAFE regs. Truck with gears and a tune is a much improved vehicle. Going to an F150 3.5EB there's more to go wrong, but the powertrain is solid so I'm not too worried.

Long story short:

2nd Gen Tacoma - Good engine / transmission. All around happy.
Silverado - Good engine w/ bad transmission and computer management of throttle and torque.
Tacoma - Less power, dumb computer programming, Auto trans gearing is a little too ambitious.
F150 - TONS of power, about the same MPG, more to go wrong when something breaks.

Tacoma is still the most reliable choice. You can't have power, roomiest, and best MPG or there would be only 1 truck sold in the US.

Tune the Tacoma if you don't need the extra towing or cabin space, it's still one of the best choices.

 

First when i got the truck i have noticed a bit ruff shifting, but after driving about a month it went away.
No issues now.

 

And i have same 2018 TRD Sport.

 

Sqr74 did yours feel like it wasn’t getting fuel or studdering through the gears

 

Around the 2500 RPM mark at decent but not WOT i felt like it was surging. Is that what you're experiencing? If so. Tune is your answer. It's the fuel mappings.

 

I could never own a current F150 because of the start stop. I never want to own a vehicle with that. Ever. I thought AFM was bad but GM is going to do both AFM and start stop. No thank you!

 

Once again, you can tune that out, or even easier, it's disable-able in the settings now.

No one is making a truck just for you, you're going to have to make it your own. There's few trucks in existence as easy to make your own as a Tacoma. We aren't here to debate different trucks, we are here to help the OP figure out how to make his how he wants it.

 

You have to disable it every time you drive the truck.

As to the OP, have you checked the transmission fluid? If you aren't sure how or where to look we can easily help you. I did just that before I signed anything and my salesman asked me what I was doing.

 

Yeah it feels like surrging like I’m not getting fuel. I took it back to Toyota they said they checked for updates check the fluid and they reset the learning system

 

After I took it back to Toyota it cleared up some. Then I hooked up to my trailer turned on ect and the problem came right back

 

How do I check the trans fluid