ECT Button

This is my first tacoma or truck in general. I notice when I have the ECT button on, my truck picks up quicker and has more power. Is it bad to have this on all the time?

 

Nope supposedly just uses more gas, but around town driving in stop and go I actually get better mileage.

 

Thanks!

 

I wish it was default on instead of default off. Much better driving experience with it on...

 

I leave mine on whenever I'm in the truck.

 

What is your highway MPG with it on?

 

Haven't payed attention to it but will start to

 

This x10. I think we need to start a thread where people track their ect mpg vs. regular. I notice I get much. Better gas mileage with ect on and according to what I've read that shouldn't be the case.

 

I have bigger tires so it's not accurate. It shows I average about 18-19 combined. I'm not too concerned with the mpg though. I just wanted it to have more low end power

 

I think it depends on your driving style. If you're smashing the gas with the ect off I could see how driving it normal would give you better mileage. It's against logic but I could see it happening.

 

I don't smash Betty's gas pedal because I don't want to hurt her. 1700 rpm's at 60 mph sweet! I don't use the ECT and I get right at 26 mpg.

 

You must be driving downhill both ways to work and back with a tailwind

 

I leave ECT on 99.5% of the time

 

I think it has to do with the fact that in order to get this turd of a trans moving, you really have to get on the gas peddle to get it to give you the gear you want. And you have to do it multiple times during a commute (especially if there is traffic ).

With ect on, my guess is that I'm already in the rpm /power range I need to be in so I don't have to romp the peddle to get her moving. It's more gradual and smooth.

That's just my guess. At this point it might just be confirmation bias--where I am only remembering the awesome mpgs and dismissing the poor mpgs when I have ect on.

I need to do a couple of tests runs with my commute..and possibly on a couple tanks. The problem with doing a tank on ect and a tank without is that it's hard to remember to push the button every time you start it.

 

He has the 4cylinder 4x2 access cab. That's about right for him.

If he was saying 26mpg trd off-road, it would be pretty unbelievable.

 

What's your tank mpg usually?

 

I drive 95% city with 15 traffic lights in 2 miles. So it'd be pointless to compare mileage

 

TL;DR: My recommendation is to turn ECT PWR on for better throttle response with a slight reduction in MPG (city driving, traffic, on the highway when you need it) and turn it off on long stretches of highway (when you're on cruise control) for fuel economy.

I've compared both: When I drive with ECT PWR on I get around 19.5 mpg, throttle response is a lot faster (because it holds the gears until a higher RPM before it changes), and it doesn't hunt for gears as much. With ECT off I can get slightly better gas mileage (around 20.5), but the handling suffers and I end up stomping on the pedal longer and more often to get the same response. But, I have noticed that on long stretches of highway with the ECT PWR off I get significantly better gas mileage than when I had ECT PWR on (2 hour drive, 60 mph w/cruise control on most of the time). That being said, is it worth the hassle to turn it off and on? I'm going to try it out for the next little bit and see, but I'm leaning towards keeping the ECT PWR on for most of the time because I like the way it drives. The only concern I have is that I'm not sure if this is good for the engine, what Toyota recommends, etc. Anyone know?

 

I also wonder about full time etc and engine wear. I doubt it would be anything substantial but I do I remember someone asking the question of does it turn off Atkinson cycle and or change the injection mode. I've seen some issues with direct injection only engines having gunk buildup on the valves where the port injection negates this and keeps them clean.

I doubt a simple push of the etc button would change that though. So my bet is that it's completely fine to use full time.

I turn it on getting on the highway and navigating traffic. Then turn it off on straightaways so the rpms drop back down. If it's hilly though I'll keep it on so it doesn't hunt every few seconds.

 

I personally feel like Toyota meant to have the ect turned on at all times. The truck drives as you would hope it would if there was no ect button when you have it turned on. My speculation is that Toyota needed to dumb it down in order to meet the more stringent epa and fuel mpg standards. Not sure if this is true but it makes sense.