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

There's nothing they can do about it. It's characteristic of the combination. Doesn't make enough power down low for the transmission to let it keep a gear so it's shift happy and it wants to keep rpm low to hit fuel consumption requirements.

 

I've had all the Firmware upgrades and got the last one this morning at the dealer. I won't argue with those who say "it's normal" since having a transmission that is really a 4 speed with two widely spaced overdrive gears and wants to always be in a higher gear or frantically shift two gears down and won't shift back up if in cruise control..... may be "normal" if that's what you were intending to design. I have been patiently discussing the poor performance of my 2016 Taco with Toyota since last February. I bought one of the first ones in town, special ordered it November 2016 and got it in late December and immediately thought someone at the new Tijuana assembly plant left out a connection, it was that un-driveable. So I drove it back to the dealer.

Dealer told me to drive it until it was "broken in a little". I had my Tacoma lock down into 3rd gear at 75mph on a hill on I-10 here in Arizona while the tachometer hit 5,000 rpm and was still climbing before I disengaged the cruise control. "That's normal?" I took it back again to the dealer who inspected it and found "no problems". What that meant was they plugged it in and there were no "fault codes". Got it? That's all the dealer can do. Any "fixes" have to come from Toyota engineering. I called Toyota NA and they sent a regional guy down from Colorado and they instrumented my Tacoma and drove it all around. The mechanic told me they were able to duplicate everything I complained about and the Toyota tech told me it was a "firmware issue" and that they were working on a "fix" or upgrade. Since then I have had four firmware upgrades and it still isn't quite there. There may be several reasons for this including vendor changes.

If you have a Tacoma that runs great....good on ya! Lucky you. If you have one that is not performing and are naive enough to not believe your own brain telling you that it doesn't feel right and are willing to accept a dealer or some troll on this site telling you "that's the way it's supposed to drive", then good luck, enjoy the ride.

Toyota is very much aware of the problems with the Tacoma power train. I know because I've talked to them at Toyota NA about it five times. I'm one of the bigger pain in the ass people who spent $40,000 on the Limited and won't go away. For the record...the tech on the other end of the line told me that they know there's a problem. So for your one of the sheep who would drive a Toyota Ox Cart if they made one a swear it was powerful and perfect....enjoy it. For the rest of us who saved and waited for the "new Atkinson Cycle engine and 6 speed tranny and purchased one....guess we'll have to keep poking them until they come up with a real fix instead of a band-aid. Bottom line was they hadn't worked out the problems with controlling 24 valves and variable cam lifts with two fuel injection systems (port and DGI) and a new 6 speed transmission.

 

Thank you AzDriver , I appreciate your for putting into great detail the issues the 16/17 Tacomas is plagued with. I understand those that have experiences no issues and those that have been corrected however in no way does their good fortune diminish the ills plaguing our Tacomas. Thanks once again, keep on battling big T, wow! , really shouldn't be this way. Loyal Tacoma owners are the very reason Toyota sells so many time and time again to repeat owners. Issues not corrected will eventually stop up the pipeline. Toyota time to step up and respect and protect the sales position the faithful has awarded you. Fifth and most likely last Tacoma, would be interesting how many 16/17 Tacomas are purchased by the loyal repeat customer. Mikey4X4 out.

 

Welcome to the club AZdriver. I spoke with the service manager of my dealership tonight. We actually ran into each other at the local barber shop here and he was telling me how they've had a ton of problems coming in on the 2017s. I asked him if they were new issues or the same as the 2016s -- he said the problems are the exact same. Toyota Corporate supposedly has acknowledged there are issues and Toyota employees have acknowledged it too. So when are they going to FIX the problems?

 

No time soon. The shady dealer tactics don't help. You probably saw my service thread....none of the issues were addressed or fixed. Just a complete waste of time.

 

Lol

 

Sadly,,,..,,when it becomes cheaper to fix than hiding, marketing around, or band aiding issues.

 

I agree with everything that you said. Toyota did replace the transmission in my 2017 Limited at 1500 miles due to it "hanging in 4th gear". I have also had the latest TSB applied and the "regional service guy" spent some quality time with my truck. Cruise control on these trucks is pretty much useless, as any incline or slight head wind causes gear hunting. I have called Toyota Corp 4 or 5 times myself. I love everything about my truck except the powertrain. I hear people constantly talking about using "S Mode" and that is a great option, but one should be able to put their new vehicle in "D" and have a "reasonable" driving experience. BTW, not 30 minutes ago, I got the email survey from Toyota about my new vehicle purchase, maybe they will call me back with follow-up questions.

 

I probably should apologize for my directness on this matter. I'm an aerospace engineer with 40 years of experience with electro-mechanical systems. I could tell you nightmare stories about satellites getting prepared to get sent to the launch pad and get a call that the sister satellite on orbit just experienced a solar array rotational failure on one arm and can't track the Sun....find out what went wrong with it. So to be clear I'm not the guy in a glass house throwing stones. But what we always had to do was make it right because failure was not an option. So perhaps I'm being a bit too critical.

But like many of you, I'm just an engineer and my money comes the hard way. I buy a new truck every 10 years and drive it 200,000 miles and then get another one. My last one (brand not important) never had one part break in 200,000 trouble free miles. So why did I buy the Tacoma? I've always admired the Tacoma and had friends who I've ridden with and they had nothing but great things to say about the Tacoma. I've owned Toyotas over the years but not their trucks. So this was a big expenditure for me; Limited Edition, why not? I've worked hard my whole career. This was going to be my special truck.

The upgrade I got this morning seems to give the Tacoma a bit more "juice" in urban traffic around town. The cruise control still does the two gear (in rapid succession) downshift. This truck really loves 4th gear which tells me that it's not getting the fuel to deliver the torque to pull. That's really annoying to me...a truck should have low end torque and this one seems to need to spin. Not my preference. If you live in Los Angeles at sea level and most of your driving is flat or freeways you may not notice these problems. When I drove the Taco to Canyonlands up near Moab , Utah at 6-7,000' in elevation and the truck was a nightmare. At the slightest grade it downshifted and 4,000-5,000 rpm was the norm on hills. I'll drive to Tucson on Thursday and will be able to know more on the trip back up into the mountains on the grade.

Will Toyota eventually get this drive train figured out? I'm sure they will. Sooner or later someone from management will come down to engineering and threaten to spill some blood (a metaphor) and then we might see it. I'm not giving up on Toyota yet. I know some sharp software engineer or team will get this sorted out. In the meantime...hope springs eternal.

 

I really liked my 06 Tacoma with the 4.0. I test drove 2016's and 2017's Tacoma's. I noticed some of the issues that posters have listed on various threads. I also test drove the GMC twins and the Frontier. I ended up purchasing a 2016 Frontier Pro 4x.

The old tech five speed and 4.0l engine seems to be a good combination. I am getting 15-17 in town and 21-22mpg highway. Their is no "gear hunting". The cruise works well even pulling grades without the drastic downshift and high rpm. The Frontier is not as quite inside as the Tacoma. The sound system compensates for any road noise. Being a bit smaller, the Frontier drives , rides and performs much like my old 06 Tacoma.

This forum, my own test drives and discussing pricing drove me to a competitor. I was hoping the 3G Tacoma was going to be better than my 06. I could not justify the price Toyota wants for what they are offering. Glad for those who have Tacoma's that are acceptable to them. I understand those whos Tacoma is not performing the way it should are frustrated. Maybe down the road Toyota will convince me to return. But I don't see it happening any time soon.

 

I had an 06 4.0L Tacoma and replaced it with a Frontier Pro-4x too. I went with the 6spd and love it, solid truck two years on.

 

You are not alone

 

I went to Toyota last week for my 10,000 mile scheduled service. The mechanic said they had recently came out with a new update to reprogram the transmission, and they did it for me. I do not see much of a change, but apparently some people see a big change. So I would recommend making a trip toT for the update

 

Hope they manage to solve the problem at some point.

 

I just got an update firmware on my 16 sport. It starting having delays when initially taking off. I will say WOW what a difference. It's no longer hunting for gears which wasn't really a problem for me. It launches immediately now.

 

When did you get the update? I went in for mine on Feb 1st, and didn't notice much of a difference driving. Wondering if something came out in the last two days? Wishful thinking ..

 

I went today 2/03/2017. Had a rattle in my Cat which they are replacing and the tranny delay.

 

Do you happen to know which version the computer was up dated with ?? TC1601?

 

Sorry for the late response, been on the road non stop. The update was TC1601.

 

TC1601 doesn't indicate the version. Probably an internal work code for the update. Was documented the same with the Rev 0 update.