Died and Limped Home - 2023 TRD OR 4x4 w 15k ODO

It kinda is my only vehicle. My only practical vehicle. The wife drives a Supra that has a trunk barely big enough for two carry on suitcases. Unfortunately she's recovering from Ankle Surgery and hasn't progressed as far as we had hoped. Right now she's about 50/50 in a wheel chair or knee scooter. The trunk isn't big enough for either one of those so she's either "along for the ride" or not leaving the house. We both work from home so the Supra is the going to get food and picking up stuff car. Honestly, I'm not minding that part. It's a fun car to drive.

I've got an RV gate on the side of the house and no RV, so that's long term parking for the truck. When I fired it up to back it in the other day (after the incident) the exhaust sounded really loud and rumbley. I wondered if someone had cut a cat or two off of it and I just didn't notice when I had the issue. So I climbed under it and it all looked good there too. All cats present and accounted for. Will have to see what this is all about in January.

I'm going to call in there today and see if I can get a rental that will accommodate her wheelchair.

 

I was just going 78 mph between Phx and Tucson. I got 23mph.

super bummed I got a speeding ticket in Lordsburg.

I hope this gets sorted. this roadtrip solidified the fact that I should sell my 2006 Toyota.

 

This Camelback Toyota really checked if there "aren't any codes?" Seems all BS. Don't want to deal with your Tacoma.

 

Got a call in to Bell Road today. They are squeezing me in at 2:30 P.
Was also able to get the error code off the Infotainment screen.

"Check Engine: A malfunction in the electronic control of the engine, throttle, or automatic transmission has been detected. Contact your Toyota dealer in order to have your vehicle inspected."

Sure would be nice if they could put a code with that. But hey. At least I have that much.

 

And searching turns up this....
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/solved-2022-trd-sport-transmission-issue.812901/#post-29155621

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ilure-low-mileage.815152/page-3#post-29797773

 

Dropped it off at Bell Road.
The only person grumpier and more unhappy with their job than the guy who cleans the Colonoscopy Machine has got to be the Toyota Service Representative. Geeez.

I won't go into how many times he said he'd get to me and didn't. The shocker was when I told him what happened and what the error message was that he goes "So what do you want? Basic Maintenance? Oil Change? What?" Had to tell him, "I want and think it is reasonable to expect that you trouble shoot why it is dying in traffic and giving me an error message."

Side note - I gassed up and all the way to the shop (12ish miles?) I got an astounding 26MPG. Great but sounds too good to be true. Exhaust is making a funny smell like glue. Little bit like Super Glue (Cyano-Acrilyte) and Contact Cement. Maybe it always has and I'm just now noticing. But that attitude and 26MPG shouldn't be normal.

On the way home I was thinking, "I can't wait for the warranty to expire so I can go to a REAL mechanic" and then it occurred to me that I can expire that warranty any time I like. So I might just do that if they can't fix this. But then what does that say for "Legendary Toyota Reliability." Might aw well buy a Jeep or Dodge.

 

As far as the service representative I would report him to the manager and then find another dealer. When I first fill up while the computer is resetting I usually get 25 to 28 mpg then it drops down to around 22 mpg average.

 

noooooooo

shitty situation, worse customer service. Hope they get you sorted, and if they dont I would call toyota and pound some drums about the shit service writers.

I live in the in coastal CA, 17 mile commute with 3 miles of it up a mountain drit road. I have never seen over 16mpg, usually 14.5-15.5mpg, 2020 OR DCLB stock. Right after a fill up its worse at 9-10 then ups a little after highway speeds for a few days. My tundra used to get 8-10 max. Just put 2" fox 4 corners, ICON packs, and 17inch pro wheels on. waiting for the mpg to drop even further.

 

Back to the begining. Nobody used OBD2 scanner on your Tacoma to pull codes? Only use some BS way getting into Info Screen? All auto dealers, not only Toyota, suppose to have ODB2 to check codes.

 

Well, from my armchair of useless opinions…this screams like bad gas. Especially with that fresh fill-up. Perhaps something in the tank or clogging the filters/lines. Wiring is also an endless pit of troubleshooting.

You realize you can also contact Toyota with your experience. These dealers get dinged real hard on this. Good luck and I hope it’s sorted soon.

 

I will. But I'm waiting for it to be done before letting Toyota know. I want any review I give to be holistic. I'm not just going to give them the bad, but I want to give the good too.

 

I have also had pretty good MGP on that drive with CC set @ 80Mph

 

Anything's possible, but bad gas doesn't happen as much as one might think that frequents TW.

In 35 years of driving, some of it full time, I've never gotten "bad gas"
I don't know anyone who's gotten it, and to the best of my knowledge, I don't know anyone that knows anyone that's gotten bum gas.
Also from my armchair, I'm putting my .02 in that it turns out to be anything but, bad gas..

 

I have used the fuelly app for every fill up since new. I average 18.4 and never had anything above 20. Doesn’t matter how I drive or where I drive. 2023 TRD Pro with 6-Speed Manual, completely stock.

 

You're doing good, my friend. First couple thousand miles I got 12-13
Thank God, after a little break in I've squeezed out 15-16 since. '18 AT, also stock. (Well, Nitto Ridge Grapplers, stock size and psi)

 

Yeah that's not right.

My ACLB with 33s has averaged 17mpg over 140k km of offroad use, trailer towing, load hauling, etc. Empty I get 19mpg.

 

I got bad gas back in the 90's. It was when the government mandated gas stations change out a bunch of underground gas tanks. The new tanks were shipped with a sandy silty mix in them to help them keep shape and not get dented. Crews were in such high demand to install new tanks they weren't pumping out all of the silt. That's where you got the urban myth that if you gas up when the station gas tank is low you will get all of the sediment in the tank. It was true 35 years ago - not so much now. Any way. I had an 84 Ranger that would run great for 45 minutes, then slowly die. Let it sit for 10 minutes and it would run great again. Turns out I had a tank full of silt. Had to have the tank washed out and two fuel filters replaced. First filter was to catch everything left in the lines and then replaced it with the filter I was going to keep in that truck for the rest of it's life.

I'm not ruling out bad gas but if that is the case, I've been getting gas at maybe 10 different stations (Shell, Circle-K, Chevron, Costco, Fry's, Maverick, ARCO, Flying-J, Lowes) and they have been selling bad gas for a year so I'm going with the possible but not a probable diagnosis.

Today is Wednesday.
Hoping for some form of information today.
Dropped it off Monday afternoon. Heard nothing on Tuesday. Even if they say they are still working on it, I'm happy. I just don't want it to be sitting there with no progress.

 

I got silted gas into my 1984 CJ-7. it was tough to figure out.

bad gas? in a generator, but ...no. my stepdad gave me a 1975 Porsche Targa that sat for years and years. It had bad gas. the shipping company ignored my request to "NOT START THE CAR" and did. it was the last time is started, until I pulled the fuel distributor apart to clean it. the gas was like varnish. hahah..

but I agree, bad gas is a thing of the past. I don't even hear of it much from those that drive in Mexico.

 

Heard back from toyota.

They couldn't figure out how to see the message under System Alerts on the Infotainment screen.
Pulled codes and found misfire in 2 cylinders and rough idle codes.

So they reset the codes, drove it 10 miles, no new codes - truck must be fine. Come and get it.

That's fine - it's either fixed or it isn't and it will either stay out of the shop or be right back there.

 

Wow talk about out there, bud. It happens more frequently than you’d think. Mostly from flooding and water getting into the tanks. Every few months it happens somewhere. It’s like they invented something to search for this…..oh wait that’s right this is TW. Can’t do that.

https://nj1015.com/gas-station-issues-camden/

http://www.centralvalleytv.net/news/bad-gas-leaves-motorists-stranded/amp/

https://www.lehighvalleynews.com/be...r-in-fuel-delivery-may-have-disabled-vehicles