vF Tuner for the 3.5L Tacoma-AGM tuning

Please, this thread is only intended for discussing using vF tune to tune the alternator to properly charge AGM batteries or such related discussions. Always feel free to reach out to me if you have specific questions or want ideas on shifting things.

 

Here are my latest numbers for tuning the ECU to charge AGM batteries with the vF tune 04B14 2.0 SFOB Premium tune.
This gives a cold start voltage of ~14.56 in the ECU which translates to ~14.66v at the battery terminals. It will then drop the voltage to around 14.2v-14.4 v once the engine is fully hot. Still waiting on some clarification from Matt and Raphael about what the different phase duty numbers actually correlate to. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
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Good deal! Thank you!

 

Sub’d for future reference. Thanks for sharing

 

Just loaded a tune with these settings. My truck was still warm from my 35 mile commute home, but when I started it and took it around the neighborhood it was between 14.2-14.3 V. I’ll keep an eye on it and report back. Temps will drop into the 30’s here in the next few days, so I’ll get to see how it behaves when cold.

 

Running @Shellshock AGM values for the last however many months had me at 14.3 cold start, idk about warmed up float, I honestly never checked. Flashed the values that @banjoist13 had shared here this evening since I was flashing a new map edit anyhow and my cold start voltage was identical. Will try to remember to observe the warmed up voltage tomorrow

 

Try upping the first three base phase duty numbers by 1%. I am seeing that every truck seems to pretty much work a bit differently which makes sense given manufacturing tolerances and such. Feel free to send me your readings as you shift things. Like all of us, I am still trying to figure out what many of them do exactly. The Base Phase Duty chart seems to be the most influential given the available info. I still haven't figured out what numbers deal with the float charge.

 

Will try this tomorrow

 

That is what I am hitting with a warm engine which is pretty close to optimal.

 

The other variable is not everyone is setting the duty cycles the same.

base phase duty controls the voltage output but you need the additional duty cycle to get the consistent voltage.

At this point, we still don’t know exact what the columns of base phase duty correspond to and when the various duty cycles are actually used.

that’s why I bumped my duty cycle all up by the same amount for consistency. I guess you could do the same thing for base phase duty

FWIW, I’ve been running with my setting since vF was released with the alternator settings. My truck hasn’t started on fire so I’m not super worried about it.

 

Does anyone have alternator values for AGM with 04A61 (2018)?
Maybe you can copy and paste the info below and add the new values.
Please replace the Asterisks with the new values if you choose this route.
If there is more than one way to skin this cat, let me see the other options. TIA

Base Phase Duty - Current Values=

*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*____
Base Phase Initial Additive - Current Value= 0 ~ New Value= *
Disable Control - Current Value= 3.578 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty 1 - Current Value= 14.031 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty 2 - Current Value= 60.796 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty 2 Base Voltage 13.6v - Current Value= 67.203 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty 3 - Current Value= 62.062 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty 4 - Current Value= 64 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty 5 - Current Value= 64 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty 9 - Current Value= 64 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty Base Voltage 13.6v - Current Value= 97.921 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty For Maximum Voltage 14.7v - Current Value= 102.398 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty Minimum - Current Value= 67.843 ~ New Value= *
Phase Duty Maximum For 14.7 - Current Value= 102.398 ~ New Value= *

 

Using your values on my 2017 6MT, I logged using the vF logger just now and my results are as follows:

Cold start, about 80deg ambient temp
Max: 14.492
Current: 14.45-14.6x
Min: 14.3x

Halfway warmed up engine:
Max: unchanged (as expected)
Current: 14.37-14.39x
Min: 13.5x

Fully warmed up engine:
Current: 14.23-14.27
Min: 13.085

 

Base Phase Duty - Current Values=

*91.843 *91.843 *91.523 *94 *94 *94 *94 *94 *94

Base Phase Initial Additive - Current Value= 0 ~ New Value= *unchanged
Disable Control - Current Value= 3.578 ~ New Value= *unchanged
Phase Duty 1 - Current Value= 14.031 ~ New Value= *unchanged
Phase Duty 2 - Current Value= 60.796 ~ New Value= *80.796 (+20 = 20%)
Phase Duty 2 Base Voltage 13.6v - Current Value= 67.203 ~ New Value= *87.203 (this is the main value that varies from the 2016-17 MY's and so I took Shellshock's advice and just raised by 20, figured that was safer than jumping all the way to 102.xxx)
Phase Duty 3 - Current Value= 62.062 ~ New Value= *82.062
Phase Duty 4 - Current Value= 64 ~ New Value= *84
Phase Duty 5 - Current Value= 64 ~ New Value= *84
Phase Duty 9 - Current Value= 64 ~ New Value= *84
Phase Duty Base Voltage 13.6v - Current Value= 97.921 ~ New Value= *102.296
Phase Duty For Maximum Voltage 14.7v - Current Value= 102.398 ~ New Value= *unchanged
Phase Duty Minimum - Current Value= 67.843 ~ New Value= *73.703 (copied from @banjoist13 values)
Phase Duty Maximum For 14.7 - Current Value= 102.398 ~ New Value= *unchanged

The above values are what I put into a map for my 2018 friend and when he'd flashed them on an already warmed up engine, he got 14.4v

The previous map, I'd had him try settings that matched the settings from @banjoist13 except that PD1 was left alone and for PD2 Base Voltage, I increased by 20, and he hit 14.2 on cold start which isn't enough.

 

Thank you, at minimum I have a starting point now. I am not sure when I will get to this. I will follow up on this though.

 

Day 1 driving ~70 miles on @banjoist13 AGM tune. My previous AGM tune was a little closer to what @Shellshock and @mZiggy have shared. Just going by what I’m seeing on my simple cig lighter USB adapter with voltage reading, which I previously verified was close enough to my multimeter at the battery if I round up to nearest whole number after decimal point. Cold start up at ~45 F today had it at 14.6 for most of my initial ~5 mile city drive. Dropped off kiddo and upon restart (warm?) was at 14.5 for most of the rest of my 30 mile drive at 75 mph. I also saw it dropping to 14.1 or less when coming to a stop on city drive. After work, started my truck at 75 F (warm?) and it was at 14.3 and 14.2 for most all my drive home, ~30 miles at 75-80 mph. Engine definitely got fully to temp.

Previous settings it really didn’t change much regardless of drive and temps, it was always around 14.4 and 14.5. Don’t know if any of this new stuff is better, but it does appear the @banjoist13 settings have more fluctuation, which I’m assuming is good as it changes charging voltage based on temps and other conditions, but I’m no battery-ologist guy...

 

Have you had a chance to try mZiggys settings ? Have you adjusted them? I just got my Tune pack and I'm ready to give this a try.

 

I think it's appropriate to ask, especially before everything gets buried behind 10's of pages. Will these settings (once finalized) be universal to all AGM batteries?

 

Not sure if it can be universal but may be good enough. If each manufacturer has different charging requirements for their AGM battery, a universal setting may not work.

 

Most are pretty similar though

 

I was experiencing some issues with my optima yellow tops this summer when I raised the voltages to 14.7. It was strange as when I would be driving it was fine but as soon as I stopped the volts dropped to 13 and I got a warning "check charging system". Then it would go away after I started moving again. So I turned down the Volts to 14.4 and it hasn't happened since. It hadn't happened until the summer and I have had the AGM adjustment in for many months leading up to it with no issue. I was reading the those optima agm's don't like heat and the Odyssey ones have high heat AGM's. Up to 80C.

I was going to suggest that if people post their tweaks that we include the battery that it is being used on?