Praise T-SB-0062-18

Just picked up my truck from the dealer. In short, the TSB works. I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about this being a cure-all for the transmission issues that I've (we've) been having, but now I'm convinced. The best way that I can describe it is ECT mode lite. There is no hunting, hesitation, or guessing. If you hit the throttle, it selects the appropriate gear and goes, period. It holds gear longer than it used to, but it's not speed/RPM dependent to shift like ECT mode is. The apparently missing power on the bottom end, especially in first gear or a low RPM situation in any gear, is completely gone. No more upshifts from second to fourth or third to fifth. No downshifts from fifth to forth to third, then hesitation, then lag, then going like it should. Granted this is just my initial experience. It'll be interesting to see what the new flash will 'learn' over the next 1000 miles.

And for reference, I have the TRD CAI, Borla cat back, 265/75R16 A/Ts, and run 93 octane fuel.

 

quoting my self.

Just got back from Toyota. Stated I had felt the transmission wasn't working efficiently when I went up to Mt. Hood, and googled possible issues and had found the T-SB. The guys over at Toyota didn't even bat an eye, 20 minutes later they were done. Drive back home was short so didn't feel too much change, felt like it didn't jump around gears when I accelerated up hills which is a nice change. we will see though

 

What dealer did you go to? I’m taking mine in to Beaverton Toyota tomorrow for the TSB. Shop manager said over phone that it shouldn’t be a problem, but we shall see.

 

Can you post updates if they will do this? I asked one dealership and they made a huge fuss about it.

 

Toyota Corp is paying for this one, the Dealerships and their respective Regions CAN NOT refuse to do this T-SB and no confirmation of said condition is required by them. Stand your ground "politely", but if they still refuse...take it upstairs "politely".

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
P.O. Box 259001
Plano, TX 75025-9001

Phone: 800-331-4331

 

That's what I've seen.

 

Gladstone

 

Thank you!!

 

Yup, I will make sure to update this thread. Are you located in Oregon as well? I’m prepared to hear the “Your vehicle is already up to date” speech ha who knows though.

 

I've gotten enough miles on my Tacoma since the update to verify that it is indeed holding gears at 1,500 & 2,000 PRM consistently (before it appeared the transmission would upshift at a Grand all the time) stomping down on the peddle sees the transmission down shift much faster and holds your gear...inclines and keeping consistent speed have improved with very little peddle modulation now to maintain speeds. THERE IS NO REASON a Toyota dealership should refuse the update, software updates have been the norm for the past 10 + years and if your vehicle VIN is listed as not having received it, enough said.

 

Is there a way to see if your truck has this already, like through the dash control panel or a code scanner? I took my 18 in for it's 5,000 service on July 28th and noticed that it was shifting slightly differently. Would this be something that they would have just flashed without complaints from me?

I didn't see the threads about the TSB until today, otherwise I would have had them do it while I was there.......

 

Been at the dealer almost an hour. Still waiting. It took about 15 min to explain what i needed done to the service rep..I hope they are just way behind, but come on this isn’t rocket appliances.

Edit: 1hr 45min. Still waiting.

 

Just called my dealer to see if I could get it in tomorrow or another Saturday and was told that ECM updates take hours and they're unable to do that on Saturdays...... So I got a little more firm and threw out techstream.
"But it's a software update in techstream, other people had it done in 15-30 minutes".
"Oh no sir that takes a long time and we can't use techstream and that requires a special mechanic to do those and he only works mon-fri."
"But in the bulletin it specifically says techstream 2.0"
"Oh you have the bulletin? Let me transfer you"
Then I was disconnected.

 

I was there for 2hr and 30 min for mine. Plus oil change.

 

Holy moly, what a difference. I knew about this issue when i bought my truck as my 5 fellow coworkers own 3rd Gen Tacomas. I was content on learning to just deal with this trans. Took it in, explained that I had experienced this stumble at Higher elevations and have not been able able to replicate it at lower elevations. Mentioned i was planning another trip to the local mountains and was hoping they could take care of this. 1 hour later, i'm home and the drive home felt like i was driving a completely different truck...man so happy.

I did print out the TSB and share it with the service writer. In and out in about an hour.

Thanks TW!

 

Which dealership?

 

I got there at 12:20 and left at 3:10. Just for the TSB...lol nothing else.

Quoting myself to update. Okay, so my dealer gave me zero pushback. None at all. The reason it took so long was due to them being behind and the tech checking for updates for other issues (rear diff howl, 2 to 1 clunk, etc). Guess this tech has worked on my truck the past 3 or 4 times and is really trying to help me out.

Separate story: I sat down with shop manager and shop foreman to talk about the rear diff howl. I mentioned I did the howl TSB myself when the manager brought it up (he knows me and my issues very well now ha). As soon as I said that the manger perked up and asked me to come back to the shop. He wanted me to let the shop foreman and tech know what I did and what the results were. They said they wanted to know so they could tell their field tech that the howl TSB also helps non TRD Tacoma’s. I thought that was cool. More people bitching to Toyota about that the better.

Now on to 0062-18: My drive home was 3.5miles of some flat and some pretty steep but not too long of hills. Not a long test drive unfortunately. However, the first thing I noticed as soon as I left the dealer lot was how smooth my truck shifted. Holy crap you almost can’t even feel it shift at times now. Before it would jerk you into each and every upshift. Now I only feel the upshift under harder throttle. It’s a big difference for me. Noticed it practically from the first time it shifted 2-3.

Next thing I noticed was when I was going up one of the hills. Now, the hill was probably only a few hundred feet tall but it’s fairly steep. What caught me off guard was my rpms. They were at 2k. Normally I hit this hill at 1100rpms, make it quarter way up, lug like crazy, push foot deeper into pedal, truck then decides to down shift 2 gears, and then you take off like an idiot that doesn’t know how to drive. Not this time. It must have down shifted as soon as I hit the hill and held it all the way until I almost crested. Then it shifted once on top. I know i was doing 45mph at around 1100rpms up until I hit the hill. I didn’t even notice or feel my truck shift. It’s that smooth now. It also shifted right when it needed to. At the beginning of the hill and not a quarter way into the hill with the pedal halfway to the floor lol

You can still feel the downshift. Maybe more so now. It also held 2k rpms going down the back side of the steep hill. Maybe the made the engine braking more aggressive? Not exactly sure on that yet.

Sorry for the long reply. That’s what I learned from my short drive home.

 

I need this update bad. Unfortunately, my dealership is not cooperative and I pissed off the other one when buying my truck just under a month ago.

 

Those with the tsb performed, I'm not a fan of driving with ETC on. While I definitely feel more power, it's jerky and I don't like how you can feel the higher rev's pulling the speed back. Is this tsb similar to driving with the ETC button on?

 

No, it's nothing like driving with ECT IMO. The shift points are lower and smoother. To me, it drives like it should have from day one. If you need more power, apply a little more pedal and its a smooth downshift and you go. No more having to mash the pedal have ways to the floor and have it downshift twice etc.