Help Needed. My 2020 engine misses

Question, did your life and driving habits change during the pandemic?
The thing is that these tacomas can be put in the mode to create a tc shudder pretty easy if your daily driving meets conditions.
Get obd2 monitoring app and you can narrow down parameters -gear, rmps, torque converter status , accelerator position, speed , etc.

 

Right now, I'd be fumin' pissed if I had put 93 octane in my truck to make it run right. Aside from maybe Costco, even Arco AM/PM is over $5/gal.

OP, since you've narrowed down somewhat of a fix, it would seem a good mechanic worth his weight and knowledgeable on these motors should be able to narrow a cause for the issue and come up with a diagnosis and fix.

Ping that Car Care Nut guy on Youtube if you can't find one locally.

 

I completely agree and understand your point. I got off on a tangent is all. There are some Tacoma “quirks” that bug me. Like they just shouldn’t exist this persistently on a $40k truck that is nearing the end of its generational life.

 

Are you experiencing the bucking/lugging that happens under 2k RPM and high load? I believe the work around on this required some tuning. In this load vs RPM range the exhaust VVT is tuned to severely retard (for reasons I dont know). But I believe the fix was to tune out the VVT retard. I have not personally 100% confirmed this is the case, just what I've seen talked about around the rumor mill.

 

I’ve been aware of them doing this since the first came out. Rumour has it tuning fixes it as it has to do with fuel economy and stuff. Our truck do run better on 91 so I prefer to run not cheap gas and it pays itself

 

My 2020 has been great. Bought it sight unseen by phone just over a year ago. No test drive. Mainly due to my experience with my first Toyota truck.

However, in my estimation, every so often the computer controlling the show seems to have a hiccup. I don’t know how to describe it. Just unconventional odd behaviour. Apparently the ECU has built in AI software (trying to anticipate your next input) and the truck every so often seems like it doesn’t know what to do. A slight bucking, slight shudder, or surge giving pause for concern momentarily.

My brand new 1992 Toyota 4X4 5spd V6 drove awesome. No driving quirks. Drove that for 14 enjoyable years. My next vehicle was a 3 year old lease return 2003 Nissan Pathfinder. That thing had an amazing 3.5 V6 auto combo. Rock solid at idle. The engine ran so smooth that a few times I forgot it was running and tried to start it again. Drove it a happy 15 years!

I was expecting the same smoothness with this brand new 50k cdn Tacoma 3.5 V6. Soon realized that was not possible with both port and direct injection. The RPM’s are almost alway fluctuating at idle. Then goes into cleaning mode and it gets noisy and idles a little rough. Combine that with the computer controlling the engine & transmission geared to get maximum MPG’s and lower EPA numbers it was a little disappointing. Truck or rather computer is always trying to keep the RPMs to 1000-1200 while driving.

Despite those small issues. My wife and I both love the damn truck. It looks like a truck, drives like a truck, sounds like a truck. It meets our needs and we expect it to be very reliable just like our other prior vehicles. It also seems to be at its best in 4 wheel drive, driving down abandoned logging roads exploring.

I dunno OP, but I don’t think we have encountered what you are describing. Maybe just the odd driving quirks here and there but overall the “Tacoma Truck” is an excellent package.

Having said that, this truck is not for everyone tho. I really enjoyed YT’er Car Care Nut’s excellent series on the Tacoma. Some very good information and insights on how these complex computer controlled trucks work. I recommend you check it out.

Hope your miss-fire issue somehow gets resolved.

https://youtu.be/b6tRAQ_r0Ms

 

A interesting short video on the burnt valve issue causing a miss-fire, subsequent head/valve replacement on a low milage Taco. That would suck with such low mileage having to have your engine torn apart like that. Don’t know if others have had the same issue and are just getting miss-diagnosed or brick-walled from dealerships?

OP have you asked for or suggested a compression test yet despite no trouble codes?

https://youtu.be/fpHLe7bt7mY

 

Yes sir, this is a trending issue now and expect to see more popping up. There are a few threads on here now and my dealership service manager and mechanic stated it is a known issue with Toyota.

Seems to effect Tacoma and Highlanders at around 40,000 miles. Some as high as 98,000.

Year range between 2016-2018 but not enough data to state newer models unaffected.

I traded in after repair to start warranty and mileage over. New truck still has telltale signs of same issue.

 

Like most folks on here my 2019 has a stutter at low speed, low RPM. I thought all of these 3rd gens had it. I’ve gotten used to it, but still don’t like it, makes me still miss the solid 4.0 engine I had in my 2nd gen…

 

Your truck sort of sounds like my 2020 did when i first drove it off the dealers lot. It seem to get better and better as i put more miles on it. Today zero complaints. I too had bought it over the phone ...had to put an order in for it and rely that it came with no glitch's. Only special request i had to the dealer that the truck be manufactured in this country.