3rd Gen clunks and stalls on freeway. gets towed

Hey guys. 10000 miles on my 2106 TRD OR DCSB, Auto transmission. Today, went to work. Noticed a major clunk (felt like it was coming from the transmission) when I was accelerating and the vehicle shifted from 3rd to 4th (i think). It felt like someone gently rear-ended me. Happened again about 2 miles later but otherwise seemed to run fine. Then on the way home from work, I was cruising on the freeway when I started to get the clunking much more frequently. Felt like I was on a bumper car race and getting bumped repeatedly. That's when I noticed a significant amount of bouncing around on the tachometer needle. I busted out my phone to take a video. Thinking it was the auto transmission, I though putting it in S mode might help. So i tried that, but it made it 20 times worse. Then, the car started to lose power, TRAC OFF and CHECK ENGINE came on; and I was forced to pull over. Had to have it towed to the dealership.

Any idea what the heck happened here? I've never had a transmission fail on me, but I'd imaging that's what it would feel like. I only have 10,000 miles on this tacoma, and I've already had the rear diff replaced. Now this. I'll see what the dealer says, but wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience.

I posted a video of some of it.

UPDATE 5/9/17: And the problem was: FAILED Crank Position Sensor -- as many of you so astutely said. See my other post later in this thread for details

 

I'm not I'm not a mechanic but there's a history of crankshaft positition sensor failures on these trucks and that's what it appears to be. Pretty simple fix by the dealer.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/taco-down.488686/

 

OP I wouldn't pay much attention to what people think the problem might be as they are usually wrong.

 

My guess would be TC clutch.

 

Do you have a pic of it being towed, for our collection?

 

Sounds like CPS to me.

 

Most likely crankshaft position sensor. It was losing spark causing tach to jump and loss of power. Seems 2016 guys carry a spare. Would suck to fail on the trail.

 

If your taco is pre 4/16 build date, it's most likely the CPS sensor. Its about a 2-3hr engine cool down, and 10 minutes to replace if part is available, nothing to it but a PITA for all that have to suffer thru it OP.

Good luck
Cheers!

 

Doesn't really matter what we think, it only matters that the dealer corrects it and you tell us what it was.

For the 'good of the order' and all that.

And even though it doesn't matter what I guess either, I'm with the CPS crowd.

 

Just be careful the dealership doesn't do an engine teardown when only the CPS is at fault. This TW member got a new Tacoma replaced over a dealership CPS screwup:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/engine-issues-on-my-3rd-gen.441399

 

Ouch!
I'd rather pay to get a CPS sensor installed, than to get a "free tear-down" like that!

 

Most of the people on here

 

Nice patch... need to get "ChadsPride likes this" added to the btm... I bet there's interest here on TW.

My vote is for CPS sensor... should add a poll to this thread.

 

Sounds about like the way my Turd gen drives everyday

 

Wow, let us know what they say. Makes me happy I didn't trade in my 2013 6 speed. I can live with rattle I get on high acceleration.

 

Wow, you've already had your rear diff replaced?

Good thing is, once they get this sorted out for you at the dealer, these things are bullet proof. Most people here don't have any issues other than things fixed by multiple TSBs or recalls.

 

Take a vid and post it...

 

So...is the cut off date for potential CPS failures holding firm? Have we had a confirmed CPS failure on a 2017 to date?

 

Sucks for you. I'd get a punch card with the tow truck company. Every 10th tow is free.
P.S: we get it already.. you don't like your truck. But enough already-everything spewing out of your keyboard is negativity. What's the saying; 1 bad apple ruins the bunch?

OP: some ACTUAL useful help: I would check CPS sensor as mentioned previously. It is a known issue on 16's.

 

smitty99 should be able to diagnose your problem through his keyboard.