Engine brake, can it be disabled?

You need a tune with gear lock

 

Is the factory tune that bad or is there just a faction here who believe that a tune is the answer for every Tacoma ailment?

My windshield wipers are worn out. You need a tune.

My tires are cupping. You need a tune.

I hit a patch of ice and slid into a telephone pole. You need a tune.

 

I assume you have an automatic trans, otherwise you wouldn't be asking.
Your perception is correct - many feel a tune solves all issues. As I mentioned previously, this is how Toyota has it programmed.
I don't know much about modifying factory tunes and whether or not it will change the truck's behavior.
Once I understood how the stock tranny behaved I adapted. It's not difficult.

 

99% of the trucks issues are transmission-based, and the tune remaps that. If you go to larger tires, the awfulness is exponentially worse.

I didn't want to drive the way the truck wanted me to, I wanted the truck to drive the way I wanted it to. You'll understand after you tune it.

 

After you get a tune, you will know why everyone says to get a tune.

and they will all say to use the Toyota inserts from the dealer for wipers

 

@Stone56, if the downshifting annoys you then I'd recommend you shift into 'S' mode and manually upshift a gear or two.

 

I agree an OTT tune will make your drive in hills much better. I’ve been tuned now for 20k, and my drives in around the hills in the Rapid City South Dakota area are now much better than before tune. Toyota’s factory program might have satisfied those wanting efficiency and to meet standards, but it was a big miss for those wanting great response and drivability. I’m getting same mileage and a better drive every trip. Everybody has a choice, evidently some will discount my choice, so be it.

 

thanks for the new sig

 

It might help to understand why this is happening. Toyota pulled a bunch of tricks to try to improve fuel economy so our trucks act very differently than people expect. One of those tricks was to keep the engine in gear and the torque converter latched while coasting so they dont have to waste fuel idling a disconnected engine. This will slow you down a little more with your foot off the gas than some vehicles would. The easy solution is to give it just enough gas to maintain the speed you desire. Honestly the solution to all Tacoma engine complaints is to give it more gas. These engines really respond when given quick and firm throttle input but can feel slugish without it because they are trying to save gas.

 

This is hilarious.. because every person that gets a tune immediately reports better mpg. Toyota failed hard with this one.

 

Care to point me to some proof of that statement? I have mostly seen people say they lost atleast a couple mpg. I do think I have a tune in my future so I am definitely not against them just wanted to point out to the OP there are other solutions.

 

This is the first time I've EVER seen anyone post they lost MPG with a tune. Mine increased by multiple.

 

For me with the tune, my MPG stayed about the same all around for town and back driving, but on a flat road at 70-75 mph driving across the state on a few trips I did go up about 1.5 mile per gallon or better when looking at gas buddy app manual calculations. I’ve been using this app to check my gas mileage since I bought the truck so I have lots of history to look at. I also am a light-foot and try to watch my mileage, especially on the interstate to see if I can beat a tank average. It’s more of a hobby than a necessity, I do this on all my vehicles. And I certainly did not buy a Tacoma, slightly raised, with larger tires, with the expectation that I would save anything on mileage. For me, it’s fun to own it and drive it. Take care.

 

So unrelated, my F-150 would engine break on I70 the grade must have been so gradual I didn't notice I was going down hill. That was really the only time I noticed it. Apparently I don't do much highway driving and usually on flat ground. The tune might work on the Tacoma, but you could still experience engine braking when you don't expect it.

 

What speeds and gears do you see the downshift happen at?
The downshift while coasting down with 0 accelerator happens at predefined speeds. Those speeds are usually lower for 6, 5, etc.
Unless you you reach that speed, it won't downshift. This is actually the root cause of 3rd gen tranny behavior that everyone talking about.

In my experience with local hills and passes, it does not go to engine brake unless you tap brake pedal.
Also, the torque converter goes to a partial lock with the foot off the gas, so it does not cause the braking.
The engine braking is the part of toyota AI-SHIFT logic that includes VSC (ecu +skid control modules). Active in D mode.

 

That wont cause it to upshift, it only allows it to upshift when the ECU tells it to.

 

Unsure what truck you're driving. In my factory tuned 2018 I can indeed shift to S mode and tap it up or down a gear. I drive in S mode 80% of the time.

 

S mode just changes the highest gear it will still down shift to lower gears and back as needed. I wish we could do actual fully manual gear selection on an auto, or atleast have the dash tell us what gear it is really in.

 

S mode isn’t a gear select. It’s an upper limit
RTFM

 

<checks heading to make sure I'm in the 3rd gen section>

Lol. I have 120k miles enjoyable miles on the truck. You go RTFM.