2023 MT and the clutch accumulator

That iMT function on the 4G is selectable BTW, just so everyone knows. It wasn't implemented on the new truck because there's no accumulator, its there as a convenience.
Also, the accumulator was axed because they wanted to improve clutch feel and consistency. The chief engineer has stated both more than once.

 

This is exactly why I did the ADM. Others are obviously ok with it in stock form.

 

Right, I also read somewhere that 3G's accumulator is intended for reducing shock and wear. So with accumulator, the driver doesn't need to do a relatively good rev matching when shifting, just simply slowly releasing clutch (without blipping the throttle or waiting for the rev hang to drop to appropriate range) and let the clutch do all the rev matching.

When they remove accumulator in the 4G, the shifting will be not smooth if one doesn't know how to rev match well, so iMT is a necessity for them, and a convenience for those who do know how to.
Maybe Toyota put the accumulator in 3G because:

• they assume a sizable portion of people use their truck as work/commercial vehicle and they don't take care to rev match and minimize clutch wear.
• they have signed a long term supply contract with suppliers who make accumulators, and knowing how Toyota likes to be shareholder of their parts suppliers, it makes financial sense to keep on equipping accumulators.

But, I think Toyota finally wised up and realized that people who buy manual Tacomas are seasoned manual enthusiasts and don't need that accumulator. That's why iMT is by default OFF and need to be turned ON each time.

 

I dunno. I am a very long time user of MTs - sports cars, trucks, whatever. Typically I get a lot of miles out of a clutch, certainly over 150k for whatever I have owned. It does take a couple weeks to learn a new vehicle and when my '23 MT Tacoma was new I have made some sloppy shifts. That said, my clutch feels very consistent and my shifts can be quick and smooth and I have not deleted the accumulator in my truck. When I do make a sloppy shift, it feels the way one would expect.

 

For me the crunch comes into going into third. I'm in the same boat and have the disc and the URD short shifter just have to rally up and install it.

 

I have noticed the occasional crunchy shifts too. Why does the accumulator cause that?

 

I didn't see what all the fuss was about either; felt no need to mess with anything.

 

Is the accumulator physically located on the driver’s side, near the center, and behind the center part of a cat shield, if you have a shield installed? I recently installed a shield, and thought it might need to come off, just as i was finishing attaching it.

Maybe Toyota included the accumulator to accumulate more accumulator sales, since a lot of people buy a second accumulator before modifying/deleting/effectively bypassing the original accumulator config.

What would 2 or 3 or more accumulators in series feel and drive like? Someone should do an accumulation of accumulators mod with 4+ accumulators for the Lord’s work or science or giggles or youtube followers or something.

 

I found you couldn't feather the clutch properly. I could never find a consistent bite point, it was always like the bite point would come on and off in waves. Drove me crazy, so I took an hour and used the Dremel method to make a groove between the holes in the accumulator. Pretty simple free mod, if it doesn't bother you then keep it. If it bothers you fix it. But I will say it definitely shifts and drives better now. None of my other manual vehicles acted like this one. Everything is personal preference.

 

The accumulator only dampens the hydraulic line, thus you get a vague and inconsistent clutch engagement feel. The crunchy shifts from what I've read can be remedied by better fluid.

Mine, once warmed up tends to be fine but I will still try a different fluid.

 

What fluid do you plan to try?
Did you glean any type of insight from other past threads or enthusiast's or article writer's test results on what the best choice of fluid might be especially for winter/cold?

 

I suspect this subject is primarily affected by personal driving style, past experiences, and just generally subjective, but I suspect most of the “crunchy” shifts are caused by driver error.

 

I had some crunch shifts early on before I put in the URD shifter. That helped a good bit. I think it was just a timing issue because the throw was so long. I have the S2000 stainless clutch line to install in the next couple weeks. At first I thought it was fine with the accumulator but I have started to notice it's inconsistency now that I have 2400 miles on the truck and I have gotten used to the shifting and the engine. I notice it most on higher RPM shifts during harder acceleration. The clutch it just really slow to engage, that is why I decided to delete the accumulator.

 

When I got my ‘22 6MT a year ago, I hadn’t driven a manual in close to a decade. It immediately felt familiar to me, and after a day or three of sloppy shifts, I was right back at it. I did notice the slow release in cold weather last winter, but that only seemed to happen in extreme cold (<20°F), and even then started operating normally after cycling the clutch a few times.
No issues with the clutch in my truck at all, just as it came from the factory.

 

Well, in my experience the only slightly "crunchy" shift was 2-3, and only when the truck was new. Same thing with both 3rd gens I've owned. After break in, smooth as silk. Not driver error.

 

Exactly my experience.

 

Every manual and clutch system is different from the last one you drove. I got used to my 2022 Tacoma.



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That's great, glad you enjoy the factory clutch setup. I'm not being a dick with that statement BTW.

I didn't enjoy it (along with the lazy throttle), so I did something about both.
I've also owned/driven a pretty broad spectrum of M/T vehicles in my time, and the 3rd gen Taco was the only one that I couldn't get used to. Sure, I COULD be smooth with it, but it never became natural.

 

Believe it or not the smoothest gearbox I've ever owned was in my 2013 ferd focus hatchback. It was so nice I even tried to convince my wife to learn how to drive a manual in it before I sold it, but being a genius she refused.

I have read on here some folks really like a certain ford manual transmission fluid, so I figure give that a run when I change my fluid in 22 thousand more miles.


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Lol, I believe it..
Looking back, I think the smoothest I've ever owned was my 01 Accord. It just seemed to age very well. Buttery smooth from day 1.
I'm just waiting on a gallon jug of Redline M/T 90 (75W90 GL-4) to get my gearbox fluid changed, then I'm all done with driveline fluid changes.