2015 V6 Engine Question

Recently my 2011 PreRunner was totaled thanks to a suicidal deer. The past couple weeks have been an ongoing search for her successor. I am looking at a 2015, and noticed something "extra" in the engine bay. Searched around for a bit, but could not find any answers. Does anyone know what the component in the attached photo is? Bonus question; has anyone gone from a 2011-ish V6 Tacoma to a 2015-ish? Anything to be aware of?

 

Air injection pump, it's part of the emissions system. They were introduced to V6 around 2012 during refresh.

 

2012+ v6 trucks saw the intoduction of the SAI system (which has been on the i4 2nd gens since day one). Its a Secondary air injection system that pumps fresh air into the exhaust to aid in catalytic converter function during a cold startup (emissions related). The thing you circled is the air pump for the SAI system.

2012 trucks do not have a shutdown purge programmed into their ecu which can lead to moisture buildup in the SAI valves on the exhaust manifolds which leads to system failure.

2013 + trucks have the shudown purge which will help prevent the above situation occuring.

all trucks with the SAI systems have a potential issue with the foam filter inside the pump breaking up and clogging the pump and valves leading to failure of the system. Easy fix is a 1in uni crank case breather on the inlet of the pump and removal of the foam.

 

Photo of uni filter on my truck for reference,

 

I would wonder how the ECUs differ between 2011 and 2015 given this emissions addition

 

Excellent. Thanks a ton for the info guys, figured it was something to do with emissions.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...you-own-a-tacoma-you-should-read-this.449563/

 

The secondary air system on the 2012 is covered by a 10 year unlimited mileage warranty, I don't believe the 2013-2015 are but could be wrong.

I have a 2012 and it runs a 5 second purge if I shut it down before it comes up to temp. At this point my plan is to leave the system alone until its out of warranty. Once I'm out of warranty I'll probably code it out and/or bypass the system.