2016 OVTune Tacoma 3.5L Manual Transmission / Engine ECU Reflash

I just sent him a message using the contact form on his website telling him I was interested and down to help test. I'm sure it won't be a priority so I wouldn't expect anything to move quickly on it.

 

I am in (obveisly)
I would think it will have to wait till MAT gets back.

 

Most probably. I flashed 1.04 87 but have put zero miles on it yet. I'm going to drive it a few days this week though.

 

Your doing it to!!

 

Like other have stated...I'm liking 1.04A. The best compliment I can give is that for the first time since I bought the truck I drove to work and didn't once think about tune, no-tune, octane, shifting, stutters, throttle, etc. I just enjoyed my Tacoma. That's it. 6MTFTMFW

 

perfect report... that's the idea. just drive and it works transparently.

 

This is my same experience I am having now after the truck has learned in. Truck just feels right now. Stock and all other tune files I have had a second gear bog. Had this 2 times after flashing but I have not had this problem after I put about 100 miles on 1.04 Ian at close to 600 miles on it now and it is great.

 

So I flash back to the 103A from the 104A and the jerky jerky in first and second is gone. So what's the difference beween the 103A and 104? Those that have also had the jerk jerk in first and second could you flash to the 103A and see if cures your issue.

 

*continues to not have issues; sips tea*

 

This is the exact opposite of what I would like people to do. Flashing again and again resets everything, and the truck has to again go through the learning process over and over. Depending upon ambient temps of where the truck is the idle learning can take a long time and several cycles. Flashing resets everything. Logging + customized files is what is going to get everyone's truck running exactly how they want it.

if you specifically have an issue it needs to be worked out and solved with me.
I've been saying this all from the beginning sometimes it's not a good idea to flash so many times over and over.

 

BUT EVERYONE ELSE KNOWS BETTER! How dare you inform people with educated advice and instruction?

 

So your saying you can harm the ecu by flashing? What's the safe number to flash? I was initially running the 103a without issue. It was only after I went to the 104 the problem was evident and after putting about 300 miles on it it was still there. I flashed to the 103a and it's gone and only drove the truck for a 10 mile test run.

You say it's best to contact you to fix any issues but you can be a very hard person to get into contact with. I'm not blaming you, your a busy person.

So what exactly do you want from me to do to solve the 104 stutter?

 

That was.not his point at all. His point was just that the truck takes a seriously long time to adapt after flashing and constantly reflashing does not help find and troubleshoot real issues at all. It's like doing research and randomly changing 5 variables at a time. Yeah you get results but there is no useful information.

At this point I think I can safely say that running a tune that has quirks or things someone doesn't quite like is not going to cause an issue with engine damage, safety or other. There is benefit to just driving it for a thousand miles and doing some logging. People in general need to get over their obsession with instant gratification. I'm not trying to single you out here

 

No I am not saying it will harm the ecu, what I am saying is it isn't necessary for everyone to be flashing file after file to test to try to find things. Every time you do, everything resets. Lets say for example someone's truck finishes all learning, then they flash to test for you, everything resets and now takes longer to relearn due to changes in temperature, now they think their truck has a problem as a result. I've seen this happen on the alpha thread where people reflash a bunch of times and all of a sudden it "doesn't feel the same". If you are having a legitimate issue with 1.04 I understand that and will do what I can to fix this, but I dont want people to just be flashing all over the place to try to "find" problems or test things when it is not necessary. You have some issue with a jerk, it does not need community testing feedback to be confirmed.

If 1.03 works well for you right now than I would recommend you use this until I can get everything settled and sorted to start doing the custom tuning that some trucks need. During the time that my site is down is when I will be working on a streamlined process for this. It has been difficult getting back to everyone, that is why I am working on a way that is better than just emailing. With 500+ trucks now the "email me" isn't even a reliable option to get back to people in a timely manner, so I am working on an entire new way to tackle this. All I ask is that people have some patience and allow me to finish creating a well working system that minimizes any delays. I am putting a much more efficient system in place.

I'm going to be here for a long, long time, development isn't over and service doesn't end at 1.04, I've actually grown to love my test truck and won't quit until I have the worlds best running 3.5L tacomas. In time I will do like I have with mazdas, tear the engine apart and start developing cams, ported heads, etc. So if 1.03 works well for you please use that, no rush to force 1.04 to work if it doesn't for you, and as soon as my system is done you can submit to have some customization done.

is it a jerk or is it now a stutter?

 

A flash here, a flash there. What's the harm in a few flashes. Before you know it, it doesn't feel as good as the first flash.

 

I feel like there's a drug abuse joke here somewhere...

 

In my mind a jerk and a stutter are pretty much the same thing. I described the issue pretty clearly. After running the 104 for around 300 mile (road trip) I had to pull my boat down to the lake and the jerky jerky was even more noticeable when under load in first and second. The boat weight around 4,000 lbs. You have to understand a person's disappointment when there was so much hype about that the 104 tune would be the best tune yet. You start to think that there maybe an issue with the truck so you start to ask others if they're having issues. When you find some are having an issue and realize you never had a problem before well it must be tune related. Confirmation when going back to the 103A and the problem is gone even before it has gone through the relearn.

 

Now that I've got a few days and some miles on 1.04 I'll add my .02¢. I've been lucky so far that my truck had been one of the less finicky ones and seems to respond well to most of the tunes and 1.04 is no exception.

This one feels overall the smoothest to me so far. The power delivery for me has been quite smooth all the way through the rpm range, so far I haven't had any surging or jerking.

Idle seems stable, initially on 1.03B I didn't have any idle issues but after getting more time and miles on it I started to notice it jump around a little at idle, almost like someone was lightly, rythmically tapping the throttle, especially when cold. It was never bad enough to cause any real drivability problems but it was enough to notice that it was a little goofy. So far on 1.04 I haven't noticed any of this and hopefully it will stay that way.

Rev hang is still there, I haven't really noticed much difference in this area on any of the tunes unfortunately.

Now the big one for me: throttle response. This has been and continues to be my biggest gripe with this truck. So far 1.03B has been my favorite, I personally prefer the throttle to be as quick as possible to respond and I think 1.03B was the closest we've gotten. That said, 1.04 is pretty close to it. It seems to begin to respond pretty much when you push the pedal which is fine. Unfortunately even though it begins to respond in a fairly timely manner this engine is still the laziest, slowest revving thing I've ever experienced and it really makes it difficult to match rpm's during gear changes. What should be a quick throttle blip downshift in any other vehicle still takes an unreasonably long time due to having to keep your foot planted to the floor for what seems like an eternity while the engine lazily revs up. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I know its never going to rev like a superbike due to it's physical limitations (mechanical fan, probably heavy flywheel, etc, etc) but I still absolutely can't be convinced that it is not being severely held back electronically. I drive trucks for a living and even those big heavy diesel engines (that weigh as much as a Tacoma by themselves) rev more freely than this thing does. I've literally never come across an engine that just refuses to rev up when you put your foot to the floor like this one does.

To sum up my long winded rant, I'm very happy with what Mat has done with the tune overall, the smoothness through the power band is great as far as I'm concerned, and I think the total power available is acceptable from a relatively small N/A v6, it's all a lot better than the atrocity that rolled off the assembly line and much easier to live with. The only thing I am personally still left craving is just better free revving/throttle response and getting rid of rev hang. If there is any way to do this I would be eternally grateful.

Also, I would still definitely be interested in trying out a full Otto tune if there's enough others interested to make it worthwhile for Mat. I still wonder if that might help it rev more quickly if the valve timing is already advanced and ready to go vs having to wait for it to adjust 80* before things start to really happen?

 

Good review. I agree with the slow revving engine. I drove a 2.7 Tacoma the other day and that little motor responds quicker to accelerator pedal changes.