2016 OVTune Tacoma 3.5L Manual Transmission / Engine ECU Reflash

Yeah man, I get it. When I first encountered pinging on the tune I told Mat about it right away, and he basically answered right away with the info in my earlier post. To be clear I was a bit alarmed at first, even though the events were brief (usually the pinging had stopped before I got my foot out of it). The truck does take some time to learn (mine anyway), and on earlier file versions it cleared up completely.
I still hear a slight ping under some conditions (heavy throttle) on 1.04, but expect that will go away too.

My concern was that some ppl don't read and/or understand an entire post and the context, and will start flapping their arms wildly.

 

How many mile do you have on 104 91?

 

Somewhere between 400-500KM.

I suppose the truck would learn faster if I hammered it more often. TBH, with 1.04A 91 I don't have to like I did on the stock tune.

I also don't tow currently, so there's that.

 

Very good. I'm actually torn between 87 and 91 with 104. I like the keyed up, peppyness of 91, but REALLY like the smooth, very comfortableness of 87.

I started out with 91, went to 87, and am back to 91 with 130 miles so far.

I am leaning toward 87 as my favorite overall but I need to give 91 at least 500 miles I fell then give 87 the same to really k ow for sure.

 

I experienced minor pinging under WOT 2nd gear 87oc, but I can only here it when running along a hwy barrier or wall were the sound
deflects back in open window.
Difficult to reproduce as this is in stop and go traffic.
But then again as MOC221 stated possibly still Learning as I only had 2 or 3 tanks through it.

Will be keeping an ear on it.

 

My issue was with the fuel I was getting from my local Shell station. I actually sent a sample that I pulled from my tank off to Caterpillar’s testing laboratory. The ethanol content was 13% and the octane was 88.3 from the labeled 93 octane pump. This was why I changed the station I was using and started adding the Lucas fuel additive. I took the print out from Caterpillar to the franchise owner of my local station and they refunded me for the 3 tanks fuel I bought from the delivery date of that load of fuel and stated they would question the distributor. Regardless Of this I will no longer purchase fuel from that station.

I understand that there is indeed a learning period for the ecm but I am relatively certain my issue was the fuel and not the tune. I am only stating this to clarify my prior post. Any others having issues may also be having the same fuel issue I had. I am now running Exxon fuel in my truck with 5% by volume ethanol verified by contacting the fuel distributor and sending off another sample to Caterpillar.

I also want to add the Lucas fuel additive I am using with each fill up has also made the high pressure fuel pump chirp go away as well as increasing the octane level in the fuel. If I don’t put the Lucas in at a fill up the chirp will return after 30-40 miles after fill up.

@OVTune your tune 1.04 is doing great in my truck commuting and towing. I continue to be pleased with your product. I just have to be picky about the fuel stations I use in my area. It appears we have a local fuel distributor here that is not entirely honest.

 

good info, thanks for all that.

 

So not to side-track any more than usual, but aside from taking a sample and sending it out for testing, how do we (generally) assure we have "good" gas? It's pretty obvious we can't necessarily trust pump labels and/or our state regulators (weights and measures). Obviously they are supposed to meed or exceed what they advertise for octane ratings, but who actually checks?

Realistically, i'm not going to send a sample of every tank I pump out for testing, and I (like most) buy from the same few stations on a regular basis.

 

who said anything about sending samples for every tank? if you ever want to test fuel options here's how. simple.

 

Well, yeah, that tells you that someone screwed up on one delivery and tried to get away with it. How does joe-schmo consumer know that a gas station consistently gets good gas and maintains their tanks to prevent dispensing water? Who checks the tanks on a regular basis to see if the independent gas station isn't filling both their 91 and 93 tanks with 91 to save some $? From the sounds of it, this may not necessarily be a problem at the gas station itself, but with the supplier. Maybe the station thinks they are actually getting 91/93 as it seems in this case, and the supplier is pinching pennies by delivering cheaper gas.

My point is, for the person that isn't testing their gas every fill up (pretty much everyone), how do you know you are getting what you pay for? I'm running the 87 tune so it's a moot point and a pedantic, but I'm curious.

 

The pumps at your local station should be subject to annual inspection by your state if In the US. If you think you have an issue call your states governing agency and request a new inspection to be done at the station you use.

In my case we have a local distributor that is a known crook. So I took it upon my self to remedy the issue I had after I had solid evidence. I now use a fuel station that uses a more reputable regional distributor. The multiple franchise owner of the station in question is taking action against the unreliable distributor here.

 

I will follow up in depth about the knock once I have some free time.

As far as gas station and fuel, quality and consistency of fuel is important. Similar issues here in california exist. We have tested a few pumps about ethanol content and minimum octane rating, they tested lower than advertised.

We have also heard from someone who works in the oil industry that all sorts of things get added, additives, sometimes more ethanol added to 87 octane to "create" 91 octane, and even water.

 

No surprises big oil would rip off the consumer. Sad. I usually buy bass at Costco and wonder how their gas compared now.

 

That would be me. Been running 87 - 104A since it was released. Not sure how many miles I have so far, lets just go with a lot. I’ll report back in a couple days, I’ll have put the truck thoroughly through its paces and about every possible scenario.

 

stock tune truck here: My truck makes all sorts of bad sounds when I run it through higher RPMS. the thing growls, pings, vibrates above 5k RPMs.

Toyota's coding designed it this way for whatever reason....

 

Nice sleuthing man, sucks you had to go through all that, and rarely is bad gas ever really pinpointed as a problem, but you put forth the effort to find out.. thanks for putting that up

 

Bad gas is generally recognized as a common risk I think. At least around here in El Paso. I got told about a local guy who sent off some fuel for testing and then sued a company with the results. Word on the street is they gave him a fat check in exchange for a signed NDA and he did confirm that afterwards, he sent off fuel for testing again and that it came back good, so they at least cleaned up their act temporarily