2016 V6 ext cab, 2 wheel drive misfires when taking off

Howdy, new subscriber here. I bought a new Tacoma 5 years ago. I’ve always sensed my truck misfire/engine skipping when accelerating, at times when taking off from a dead stop and get to about 20-40 mph. The dealer said it was the new electronic controlled transmission ha. They couldn’t find anything wrong with the ignition/engine. The misfire is not noticeable when at highway speeds- just when accelerating and at lower speeds. I have great mileage- low to mid 20’s and even 28-29 mpg at times. I just turned over 50K miles. Love my truck. Just trying to get to the bottom of this. I’m thinking about changing the plugs to start with. Any thoughts from you experts? Anybody else experienced this quirk? Appreciate your group.
Steve

 

How're you verifying the missfire? Any data or techstream etc?

 

I can feel the engine “skipping” when accelerating. I’d love to be able to get some hard data to confirm. What would be the best method? You can tell I’m not a mechanic- just a Tacoma lover.

 

I think you can get missfire counters from either one.

 

I'm not even close to a mechanic, but I had this same behavior in a little Focus ST. Under load, off the line or accelerating hard into the freeway, it'd feel like a hesitation or flickering of the power. Really odd. Ended up throwing in new plugs at the recommendation of someone who knew better, and fixed it immediately. Might be worth looking into.

 

while plugs are out keep in order labelled

do a cold compression test all cylinders

write down the psi's

 

I noticed on my 2021 TRD Sport that when I am sitting idling and rev it up it seems to hesitate a bit not like any other engine that I have owned. Is this normal.

 

This was my biggest complaint with my 2016 Sport that I owned 5.5 years. It hesitated so bad, from a dead stop, that I nearly caused an accident more than once. After I paid it off in 2018 I added a K&N cold air intake and a Gibson 2.5" catback exhaust that drastically improved the throttle response in nearly all conditions. This eliminated the hesitation 90% of the time. There were still times when I went to pass someone that is bogged for a second before taking off. I never had a misfire. I sold it with 25.6k miles. I just never felt that the factory design provided enough power. I considered a tune but just didn't want to throw another $700 at it. People with the tunes seem very happy. Mostly, on the automatic tranny version, it changes the shift rpm's of the transmission which provided better low end power. I loved my truck. With the mods I did it was the nicest truck I ever owned. I never had the gear hunting as some experienced. I sold it and bought a 2012 SR5 and a 2008 Off Road. I no longer have any of those power/acceleration/shifting issues. My 2008, with 83k miles, is the best running Tacoma that I ever owned and it is bone stock. I will never buy another Tacoma with the Atkinson cycle 3.5 again. Pretty sad that the 3.5 they put in sportier Toyota and Lexus cars have awesome power and torque because they do not use the Atkinson cycle. They only have around 25 more hp but they are just tuned and programmed better. The Atkinson cycle design leaves the intake valves slightly open during 1/3 of the compression cycle reducing full combustion of the fuel. Some fuel goes back into the intake and then is burned on the next stroke. This is why the Tacoma V6 gets great mpg. It is done at the cost of horsepower.