Upset... advice?

So, I was just driving my Tacoma, cruise control set at 75, and I accelerated to 80 in order to get around someone and get off at an exit, and as I was slowing back down and on the exit ramp, I shifted (please note my truck is a manual) from 6th to neutral, and as the truck was decelerating from 80 (still above 75) there was no load on the transmission, and I did not depress the clutch when I shifted (a bad habit, yes).

I forgot cruise control was still on and set. Next thing I know, the truck was banging off the redline, I promptly hit the brakes and clutch, which disabled the cruise control setting of 75.

It was redlining for only a second at most, but it the damage was done. Now, when I punch the gas, before the engine gains any revs, there is a slight clunk from the engine, this is more noticeable when in neutral, but also present when in gear.

All the other manual vehicles I have driven with cruise control had a function/sensor that disabled previous cruise control setting when the transmission is taken out of gear, even if the clutch was not depressed.
I foolishly assumed the Tacoma would be the same, especially with all the "acceleration" rumors. There must be a TSB for this? How do I find out? I am upset, my truck seems to have gained some sort of damage, and I don't believe this should have happened.

The dealer I purchased it from said all the TSB's are performed before they put it on the lot for sale.. I'm starting to think that was bullshit.

Please help, she barely has 6,000 miles on her, and I have never brought the RPM's anywhere close to the redline, and never planned on it.

Another thing to note, I am 2,000+ miles away from the dealer I purchased it at. (Bought in NY, now I'm in UT)


Does anyone else hear a slight clunk from the engine (not the transmission, I might add) when the throttle is blipped?

Thank you very much for your help!

-Jan

 

There is a new and worrying noise that was never present until this happened. Did you read the whole post?

 

Hitting the rev limiter *should* not break anything...that's what it's there for. You can take it to any dealer for warranty service, and it should be covered.

But I wouldn't mention you shifted it without using the clutch

 

Well one quick check...does your rear have the 3-leaf or 4-leaf pack? Yea I call bs on the dealer as well. Sorry to hear about your incident though.

 

Take it to the dealer near you. It's under warranty, you don't have to go back to the same dealer you bought it at, your warranty covers you at any toyota dealer.

 

Jan I have a question and a comment ...... and I am not being a smartass about the question.

Why would you put it in neutral exiting the highway? Do you normally do this?

As far as the service. You can take it to any dealership for any other repair or service. It does not need to be the dealership you purchased the truck from.

Best of luck.

 

If I had a new worrisome noise at 6000 miles, I'd take it to the local dealer (no worries about finding the out-of-state dealer I bought from) and describe the symptoms.

No need to get into details about how it happened/what led up to it.

You: "truck has worrisome clunking noise when blipping the throttle from idle."
Service writer: "How long has it been happening?"
You: "about a week."
Service writer: "I'll have a mechanic check it out."

 

In my experience cruise control is cut off in one of 3 circumstances, the clutch pedal is depressed, the brake pedal is depressed or the cruise control is turned off manually. Granted, I've not driven every model car out there, but I've never seen one that has a function like you describe.

I do it as a hypermilling technique to help with gas mileage. Take the truck out of gear and let it coast to a stop, or even slow down to a lower speed limit. Saves on brake wear and helps with mileage.

 

So cutting thru all the fat here, whats the new & worrysome noise you hear

 

I usually shift into neutral whenever I am slowing down over a longer distance, I drive as efficiently as possible, and this helps a lot.

3 leaf pack, yep, bullshit.

I most certainly did not hear this clunk before, and I monitor this truck as if I am monitoring my own life. Believe me, the noise was NOT there before.

Good advice; I wasn't planning on telling them the 'story' regardless.




Where can I find info about TSB's? I want to find out whether there is a TSB that should have addressed the issue of the cruise control not being partially disabled when the truck is brought out of gear.

Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it.

 

Wouldn't just backing off the gas pedal and letting the engine break do about the same? With my AT I ease off the gas while coming up to a stop sign or red light but I am still in gear and have control over my vehicle.

Anyways ... we are getting off topic here .... cheers.

 

I know the first gen manuals have a clutch switch cutoff. Mine works. I can't imagine that sencond gens don't. It should state it in the owner's manual.

If this is the case, yours would be faulty.

 

My previous Subaru did this, as well as my parents Saab. I know that not all vehicles have this safety feature built in, but I assumed on newer cars (even a truck), it would be a standard safety feature.

Exactly.

When I blip the throttle, an extremely short amount of time before the RPM's increase, there is a clunk. This happens whether I am in gear, or in neutral. I already posted this info.

I am going to drive the truck to class now, I will report back afterwards, and see if there are any changes... However it happened on the way to my previous class, and was still there on the drive home.

 

Toyotaowners.com go there register & see what pops up, pretty accurate, I registered my 2000 & they even shot me back a recall about my trailer harness, asked me when I was gonna bring it in, not to mention all tsb's associated with my truck records & service records really surprised me...

Actually I think its www.toyotaownersonline.com

 

The clutch cutoff switch is functional.. My bad habits ARE to blame, as I made an assumption based on the previous manual transmission vehicles I have driven, as I shifted from 6th to neutral when there was not load on the drivetrain, and forgot cruise control was on, all the while subconsciously assuming that shifting without depressing the clutch would disable the cruise control, as it did in previous vehicles... again, I have already stated all this info in previous posts.

 

Here is a link to some hypermiling FAQ's: click. I've dabbled with hypermiling for awhile, but when I got my taco and found that around town mileage was ~16mpg (where I do most of my driving), I started to get serious about it. I've increased my mileage to ~19mpg, it is a takes a lot of situational awareness and can be a PITA to get good at, but I think it's worth it.

News to me. IMO, stuff like that just encourages bad driving technique.

 

I see no reason why you would shit yourself when exiting the interstate. That is definitely a bad habit.

 

Okay .... I am going to play the role of the Devil's Advocate ..... bear with me Larry .

Below are parts of a few posts with their writer regarding this thread:

- "But I wouldn't mention you shifted it without using the clutch." - (8th sin)

- "No need to get into details about how it happened/what led up to it." (bjmoose)

- "Good advice; I wasn't planning on telling them the 'story' regardless." (OP)

Now, what is the #1 concern with consumers, particularly auto buyers? My guess ..... auto dealerships.

Most complaints range from overchaging of services to performing unnecessary repairs. From faulty testing to having to bring vehicle in time and again to fix problems.

With these comments and suggestions y'all are posting kind of puts the shoe on the other foot. Doesn't it?

 

My bad, your post had a lot of words, I missed a couple.