2023 MT and the clutch accumulator

2023 mt owner here. doing accumulator delete and switching to dot 5.1 fluid made a large difference. highly recommend if your in a cold climate. pairing it with a tune after made shifting much better. i plan to do either the b&m or core short shifter next.

 

Right on.
If you end up going with the core shifter, I'd advise getting the rubber isolator kit at time of purchase. If you don't find the increased noise bothersome, well you only paid a coupla extra bucks.

 

After your comment I think I am going to upgrade to 5.1 when I do my accumulator. What fluid did you use and how much did it take?

 

I have a 2014 and it is so SO smooth (not sure if yours was the 6 spd ST or 5 spd SE/Titanium...mine is the latter). A lot of it has to do with the dual mass flywheel. It gets rid of A LOT of movement and slop. Paired with decent throttle response as well as a fairly smart ECU (it stops the revs dropping RIGHT when you should come off the clutch) and it's absolutely the easiest manual transmission vehicle I've ever driven.

 

Mine was a basic SE with a 5 speed, and the manual made that car so fun to drive I miss it. Turned a boring 4 banger grocery getter into a zippy little roadster. The guy I sold it to loves it!


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I have like many driven a multitude of standard trans with janky mechanical clutch linkages to hydraulics. They all had a bit of a curve to find a sweet spot. I currently have a 06 Wrangler Unlimited (for like 12 years) and a 22 Taco (1 year) both 6MT. While there are differences transitioning between the two ( I don't drive the jeep alot), I do so within a few shifts from my driveway. The Jeep is much more responsive as far as the clutch, I can drive the Taco in the same manner just a slightly different approach. Admittedly, the Taco does have some inconstancies at times. I might ditch the accumulator someday, but I am not in a hurry. Honestly, my biggest issue is where reverse is.... direct opposite, even then I have gotten to not even thinking about it.

 

I've owned nothing but manuals (well, besides one auto LS400 for a summer) and honestly if I never read these forums I probably wouldn't have known that the accumulator was a thing. My previous vehicles were all 1999 and older though, most with well over 100k miles by the time I got them, so I initially attributed some of the different "feel" of the clutch and shifting experience to 21 years newer technology. It also didn't take too long to get used to how the truck wanted to be driven, and so far it's my favorite shifting vehicle I've owned. The clutch can stick a little in cold weather, but in my experience, like with my other manuals, that seems to be an issue more in the <0°F range of temperatures, and is usually remedied after everything warms up in the first minute or two of driving. All bets are off at <-20°F though, but nothing is cooperative at those temps, so thankfully we only have a few of those days every year. I've put Redline MT90 in my last few vehicles and it has improved shifting feel in every one, so that could also be helping my use case in the cold. My 2nd to 3rd shift is still a little crunchy at 36k miles, that didn't change as far as I can tell with the Redline, but overall everything feels slightly smoother.

So far, I'm happy with the accumulator. I've done a few wheeling trips out in Moab where clutch modulation was critical when low speed rock crawling. The lack of low end torque and huge front hood blocking my view gave me more issues than the accumulator ever did in those situations. The clutch certainly doesn't seem to have a clearly defined "crisp" engagement point, more of a small window of engagement that seems predictable, but that's not something I'm sure I'd even want in my daily driver truck. For my fun car where shifts happen a lot faster and more violently? Absolutely. I'm also by no means a perfect manual driver, so if the accumulator saves some wear and tear when I miss a rev match, I'm ok with that.

My only minor complaint that I suspect may be the accumulator is highway shifting between 4-5-6. Every once in a while, it feels like I'm slightly too quick off the clutch for the shift, especially 5th to 6th since there's barely any RPM difference, and I'll get a slightly delayed, small "thud" a split second after the clutch is released. Could also very easily be user error.

That said, I have the accumulator delete disk sitting on my desk, waiting for the day that I get curious enough to try it out. If it's a significant improvement for me personally, I'll have a few posts to update my thoughts on.

 

The thud is the accumulator delaying the clutch disengaging. In my Experience. That went away after I did the delete. Also the accumulator doesn't save wear and tear, at least not in the clutch itself. It causes the clutch to slip more because It delays engagement, but this has all been covered already by smarter people then me. Like I've said before, it's personal. Do it if you want to, if your happy as is then thats great. I just couldn't stand not having a defined bite point when feathering the clutch thats why I did it. But hey I'm just some random dude on the internet lol, And the Dremel method was free. I like free.

 

Hey folks, lots of accumulator threads so I thought I would post to this recent one. Can’t wait to get the accumulator disk in mine, but this is one I won’t be DIY. Can someone point to where the install thread /pics are? What type of hydraulic fluid do I need to source and replace? Do the skids need to come off? I can do that in advance.

beem driving MT since 1987. Still hard to perfect the Tacoma.

 

Not sure where the install pics are for a disc. I did the stainless line bypass and just removed it. It’s just amazing. Shifts normal now!!

Just need a synthetic dot 3 fluid to fill and bleed it with. One bottle would be fine. I ungraded to dot 5.1 when I did mine.

I did not have to remove the trd pro skids to do this install. Very easy to do.

 

I've got experience with a bunch of MTs and have only ever hated one as much as the stock Tacoma 3rd Gen; it was a 2017 Subaru Forester, and for the same reason. I speculate, although I can't be sure, that the accumulator will affect you differently based on your driving style. The way the accumulator works, it will change the response of rapid clutch movements more than slow, deliberate ones. I definitely am quick with my left foot, and usually rely on timing the shift perfectly, rather than using finesse, to achieve quick engagement with minimal clutch slippage. If the accumulator slows down the movement of the hydraulic fluid by 0.1 or 0.2 seconds, the rpms aren't matched when the clutch grabs and I get a small jolt, which normally shouldn't happen. When I slowed down, and shifted more like most people do, allowing some clutch slippage with each shift, it seemed to work ok. That's just how I like to drive, and it really irks me that some school-trained engineer who's probably never driven a standard decided HOW I should operate it (I say this as someone who has an engineering degree btw). I bought a MT so I could decide exactly how I want to drive SMH.

 

So I completed the install and fluid swap. I used the S2000 braided stainless line and removed the accumulator. I also replaced the fluid with the Motul 5.1 pictured a few post above (only used one bottle). It wasn't a bad install a little tight spaces but nothing too bad.

The change was significant! I love it. The shifts feel just like other manuals in the past. The biggest change I have noticed is higher RPM shifts when pulling into traffic it doesn't have a delayed engagement and slip anymore. The clutch engagement at normal shifts is spot on every time. I would say that the stiffness of the pedal in cold weather maybe got a little better nothing major. 100% recommend it has to make the clutch last longer since it doesn't slip as much on shifts.

 

This right here....Been driving a manual for 35 years and I notice while trying to accelerate and shift quickly from first to second smoothly is very unpredictable. The clutch engages slowly and spins into place. It does it to my wife as well. It drives us both bananas. It is hard to describe and good on anybody that does not experience it. I am going to do accumulator mod when my warranty runs out next year.

 

After driving my '13 Jeep JK 6sp for the last 10 years, my '23 Tacoma 6MT seems to shift much better and smoother than my JK ever did. The Toyota MT is much quieter too. I'm in a warm climate though, so maybe that's why.

 

It’s quite hard to get them to warranty clutch components unless there is some obvious OEM part failure.

You can also do the dremel mod and it will
Not be noticeable unless the accumulator is taken off.

I did the hard line after about 6 months of owning a truck and it’s still fantastic. I don’t know much about much but IMHO the accumulator reduces the clutch disk life due to slower clutch engagement.

I felt my truck “shudder” when starting up hills in 1st. After I removed the accumulator, the “shudder” is gone. That leads me to believe that the accumulator does more harm than good.

 

3rd Gen MT is one of the smoothest transmissions I’ve driven. I’ve owned MT cars and trucks.

 

Exactly. ADM makes it feel like a “normal” clutch.

 

It is very smooth. The gears slide right in even with the URD short shifter. Very very rarely do I have any issues getting it into gear.

For sure. Feels normal now and consistent. I enjoy driving it much more now.

 

Your right... Why wait. I will do when it warms up around here. Not familiar with the dremel mod so I will look that up!