2016 6-cylinder 6-speed automatic erratic shifting and drivability problems?

There will never be any other quite like ol' Clint.

 

Possibly. I am also able to produce the stutter feel at highway speeds too. Same basic circumstance, low rpm, slightly increasing speed and slightly increased load on the truck. The best i could possibly describe it is that the stutter feels as if you drove over a crack in the road. If I would use such soft throttle application, and slowly accelerate while holding the high gear, it'll do that stutter about 4-5 times. If I apply more throttle, itll downshift and I believe that there's still a bit of a bumpy acceleration at times, but that hasn't bothered me at all, especially in comparison. Now im through 5 tanks of good fuel and its only done it once or twice. Definitely does it more often on economy grade fuel. I sure believe that the phenomenon has to do with being in Atkinson cycle. Listening to Mike Swears, he admits the low torque of Atkinson engines and says theyve dealt with it with gearing. Well if it doesn't downshift quickly it'll stutter.... There's also a lot of talk about our engine's injector cleaning mode admitting that the direct injectors dirty easily. Could also have something to do with it I think. I hope a solid fix is on the way.

 

Has anybody had a problem with surging when cold and in reverse?

 

Here are the videos of MS talking about the Atkinson engine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbtaXEf3T8s&index=3&list=PLYphn2iG_JvYe7ddLryWZVTMOB-Ot24bB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd4Xj5nhjpQ&index=4&list=PLYphn2iG_JvYe7ddLryWZVTMOB-Ot24bB

 

Never heard of economy grade fuel before?

 

there is a reason for this...one of the best sellers of this truck is the fuel economy....Toyota was so excited to say that this truck gets 18/23 that they Didn't think about this problem. The 5th and 6th gears are considered overdrives. They are meant to help fuel economy at high speeds, but the truck tries to shift to those gears asap. s mode does not include the overdrive gears. that is why when you put it into s mode, it automatically goes into 4th and then you manually have to shift up to 5th and 6th. if people are so damn picky about it occasionally lugging, throw it into s mode and ect power on and watch your mpgs drop to 12-14 lol.

i find that if I'm on the freeway and it keeps switching from 4th-6th, i just switch it to s mode and shift up to 5th. gas mileage doesn't suffer that much and you get that little bit more power to get through whatever. But don't forget your in s mode lol. when getting off the freeway. other than that, don't be afraid to put the pedal to the floor if you want more power.

also as said in previous threads....the truck takes around 1500 miles to get used to your driving. gas mileage and driving goes up after you put those miles on the truck. i noticed this tremendously with my truck. might give it a bit and see if it improves on its own. just mho. good luck...

 

This is exactly what is driving me nuts about this truck. I could care less about the gas mileage. I drive it in S mode Ect on and compensate for the crap shifting. It's the constant surge when I have it at my designated speed and it's surging the whole time. I didn't notice it in my initial test drive of course. It reared it's ugly head when I had about 700 miles on it and took a few hundred mile road trip. Most miserable driving experience ever. Took it in to have the dealership look at it and of course got the "it's normal" "can't really tell its there " and lastly "this your first tacoma? " I love everything about the truck and want it to be the last truck I ever buy but the surging is driving me up the wall.

 

Mine has the cold surge , it also has the surge when the a/c cycles when it's hot.
It's annoying trying to back into the garage with less than an inch between the passenger side mirror and the small garage wall and dealing with a truck that tries to surge and ram the wall

 

@Steve Patch: I noticed that same problem this morning. Seems the RPMs are fluctuating. I used to think it was just touchy brakes but seemed like it might be engine related with the RPM changes.

 

It's worse with the a/c on . Mine will do it hot or cold with a/c
And cold regardless. Kinda dangerous if you aren't expecting it

 

I have a 16 Tacoma but my shifting problems are the opposite I have down shifting problems like crazy I have a second appointment this week the first appointment they told me was normal downshifting to 5 grand is definitely not normal
It's downshifting on a downgrade, very intermittently

 

I am experiencing what I've been told in the forums is called "delayed-engagement" of my transmission, when shifting from reverse into drive. My truck will rev up to about 1200 RPM and then the truck will jarringly slam into gear. The dealership won't even look at it because it only happens randomly and after the truck is cold and been sitting for some time. I wrote on article on my blog hoping to get the attention of Toyota engineering.

http://www.thegeekpub.com/4922/toyota-transmissions-delayed-engagement/

The thing that hacks me off the most is that the dealership said Toyota corporate is unaware of this problem and refused to report it to them for me. How the heck is corporate supposed to learn about issues they've not heard of yet if they don't report them???

I've been a happy Toyota customer since 2005. This response (or complete lack of) really makes me question.

 

Mike -- this gets at what concerns me. I read a lot of the posts on these forums about the transmission issues on the 3rd gen and I'll tell you there are a LOT of mixed signals out there being reported by forum posters. Some will say the dealership tells them Toyota is aware and is working on a solution. Other times you get the response you recieved from your dealer where Toyota Corporate has no clue. Some dealers will admit they've seen problems with low fluid in transmissions from factory whereas I've been to three dealers in the Phoenix area and none of them seem to be aware --or-- they flat out won't admit it and are lying or covering up information. It really ticks me off.

 

I also don't care about a few MPG either way, but I DO get annoyed as shit when the tranny logic has the vehicle downshifting/upshifting back and forth several times going up a long hill, or always wanting to be operating at just above idle speed.

Yes, S Mode and ETC mode help but it's a PITA to live with how the vehicle was set up from the factory... Looking back - I would have bought the manual.

Also, I have already NOT recommended this vehicle to several people who have asked about it.

 

Dude didn't you used to be one of the forum members here giving me a hard time about my critical comments on the truck's performance????

 

Not that I recall, my commute did change recently so the driving conditions I deal with have changed... but hey, if you have the time, feel free to troll through all of my prior posts to satisfy your own curiosity...

 

Nah I'll just troll you right here.

 

Much obliged, kind sir!

 

I just got mine back from the service deptarment tonight .
They tried once again to tell me that the transmission issues are normal and to learn to live with it. Also that since they can't duplicate the trans temp warning light that I just need to drive it nicer and the light will stay off .
Well I guarantee the next time the light goes on I will drive it until it blows up or I make it to a dealership with the light on!
Maybe I'll get lucky and the entire P.o.S. Tacoma will catch on fire .

 

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My transmission seems to be smoothing out ... I still get an occasional "driveshaft clunk" when I stop ... but not too often.

I am enjoying this truck more ... day by day ... especially with the UnderCover SE (my first 1 piece hardcover ever) and I love it.

It's like having a large, secure (good locking mechanism), waterproof, 6' trunk behind the cab that does not leak a single drop ... and does not get too hot in the direct, southern, summer sun either.
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