3rd Gen Tacoma 2.7L ECU Tuning

Alright, what I gotta do to get it so that my '20 2.7 will lock the converter in 2nd and 3rd?

 

The map for 3rd gear is the same.

You'll need to experiment with those values. 256 is the max. Drop those down until the TC Locks at that throttle levels that you want. 0 would Lock at 0 torque and would likely be bad bananas, so don't go that low. Likely compare to the 4th gear map as a starting point.



@ktbell444 , @Mooseditty17 , or @Kevinpd325 could be of help here?

 

The y axis looks like speed, so what is the x axis exactly?

How do I even access this to change it?

 

Close. The X (horizontal) is speed in KPH. See the label at the top of the map.

The Y is a torque scale that doesn't correlate to a physical number. Just a factor to work with. 256 is unlimited / max torque. 0 is no torque.

So, if you bump the 256s down, it will allow locking at some point. As noted, the 4th gear map is a starting point if you don't want to blatantly guess.



To get there, just open the Stock Tune in vF navigate to this part of the Map List and start checking things out:


Note that you will want to back up files, not overwrite them, so that you can go back to a last known tune if things don't work out.

 

I thought the 33 and 81 were suspicious because 33 is the lowest speed the torque converter locks in 4th, and 81 is the highest speed it locks in 4th (under a decent load, at least, I think it will lock as early as 24 or 25 MPH in 4th if there is a very small load), but those figures are in MPH, not KPH.

If what you're saying is correct, the region above the line should be "lock" zone, and the region below the line should be the "unlock" zone?

Thanks for the like, I assume that means "yes". I guess that's what it says in the subtext...

 

There could be a correlation there? I am no expert with the AT maps. Just drop some nuggets that I know.


Correct. See the Notes at the bottom of the Map.

 

Let's say I wanted the torque converter to be locked in 2nd gear starting at 30 kph, and unlocked before then. Could I set everything before 30 kph to 256 (which should prevent locking) and everything after 30 kph set to 0 (which should guarantee locking?)

 

Sort of, but I'd use 30 or so instead of zero as the TC needs to Unlock to shift. I think it won't feel good if you use 0.

 

Very good point.

 

But it does inject more fuel (right?).

Yes, I can tell there's some fuzzy logic happening with it. This is my first personal automatic in 25 years of driving, though I am used to more linear throttle response and "tighter" torque converters in the other automatics I have driven. Like, backing out of the garage in an older truck, if you goose the gas a little, it will chirp the tires. This truck will kind of lunge out a little if I quickly stab it to the floor, but doesn't feel the same. And when driving around town, I would like to be able to give it a lot of gas without ALWAYS getting a kickdown which is loud and annoying. Like, merging onto the highway, if wait for it to upshift to 2nd, then floor it after hitting like 35 MPH (too fast to kick back down to 1st), it feels strong and actually torquey instead of just downshifting and revving to 5000 RPM. This is not a revvy engine, let me use some of that low-end torque.

I know a lot of modern engines don't operate the throttle plate in the traditional manner (almost throttleless like a diesel) but the gallons per hour/amount of fuel injected definitely fluctuates depending on pedal position (right)?. I have a ScanGauge and watch the LOD and GPH numbers on the highway. LOD so I know when it is about to kick down if I press the accelerator any further, and GPH so I can adjust my speed on the fly for the best MPG. I also watch the GPH around town so I can monitor when it stops firing the injectors when coasting.

Our old 4-speed automatic Hyundai had a true manumatic where you could lock it in a gear (it would bounce off the rev limiter accelerating but would downshift automatically when coming to a stop). Normally doing like 65 MPH up a long, steep hill in 3rd (shifter in "D"), it would kick down to 2nd if I floored it. (It could also start from a stop in 2nd and hold 2nd gear until 85 MPH which was amusing). But with it locked in 3rd it would just inject extra fuel and power up the hill with torque. I would love to be able to use cruise, put it in 5th and not have it shifting between 4-5-6 all day. It feels like the cruise is programmed to maintain the exact set speed no matter what, so it will "floor it" when going up a brief highway overpass or something, where I would just hold my foot in the same spot.

All that said, I am essentially totally ignorant about ECU tuning but have an analytical brain and only know what I know from watching the numbers on the ScanGauge, so I could be completely wrong on some base level, haha.

 

wait so youre telling me my 2018 SR5 AT can now be tuned?!

 

Yessir!

 

Is there a way to see if theres anyone who can flash my ECU in my area? I went to the forum and the locator link doesnt work

 

This 2.7l stuff is pretty new. Where are you at?

 

Hey, Folks.

The 1st Post has been updated with the current info post here lately.

If anyone has anything to add please let me know.

 

i found this table in the ECU update thread uploaded by @dilbert :


https://ibb.co/k9SxSnB

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ecu-tsb-update.562550/

edit: nevermind...this is for 3.5L engines.

 

So is 2019 04B60 supported? I'm seeing conflicting info between your updated 1st post and other post.

 

Yeah. @dilbert set up that file and I have updated it since. That's for 3.5ls only. I could mix in the 2.7ls, but I thought that I would keep it clean and tidy in this thread.

All of the info about TS in that 1st Post is applicable to all Tacos though.

 

My apologies. I put the "Supported" in the wrong row.

Thanks for pointing that out.


1st Post corrected.

 

The 1st Post has been updated to add the CUW file that works with TechStream to update 04A20 to 04A21. Thanks, @Saeros .

If I get more CUWs, I will add them, esp to get to 04A22 or 04A23.