Drastic fuel economy increase at 20000km/12500 mi

Hey everyone!

So I was talking to one of my mechanic friends, who recently left toyota, and he informed me of something that peaked my interest. He said the computer was programmed to run the engine very rich for the first 20000 km/12500mi causing poor fuel economy and after which, like a switch, I would see a drastic increase. Has anyone experienced this or have heard anything about it to corroborate this claim? My truck has only 1500 km / 1000 mi on it and even with a light foot is nowhere near what the sticker states in regards to fuel economy.

I would appreciate to hear what anyone has to say!
Thanks

 

I remember my mpg increasing around there, but then I got bigger tires and a small lift. So much for that lol.

 

I'm currently at 19xxx kilometers. I don't really believe in this but I'll surely notice a change since I track my mileage at each fill-ups.

 

I lifted and put on 33s at 8xxx mi, then added about 300lbs of armor at 11xxx mi.

So...maybe?

 

You know how on cop shows when they're trying to find the killer they always look for motive? What would be the benefit for Toyota in terms of sales, reviews and CAFE standards to program the truck to have crap-ass fuel economy for 20,000 kms?

Sometimes fuel economy can improve somewhat as the engine breaks in. Mostly though the stated fuel economy claims are in a laboratory environment and are usually pretty optimistic.

You could always find a 13 year old kid with a laptop to hack into your ECU and roll your odometer forward to 20,000.

 

lol, yea..totally

 

Bought mine used, so no personal experience with the Tacomas.

Company I worked for had Isuzu box trucks with the 4cyl diesels in them. I remember driving one of them that was brand new and having a hell of a time keeping 70 on the highway. One of the guys that had been there for awhile and was usually given the new trucks to break them in swore they were programmed to run at less than full power the first 10K miles. They were all slow, but that brand new one seemed to be the slowest out of the ones I drove.

 

I just went past 21k and if anything my mileage is worse. Hopefully it's the winter fuel blend and it will get back to 18 in town and 20 on the highway When summer gets here. Right now I'm getting 16 in town. $72 to fill up yesterday, yikes!!

 

i dont know about any of that programming or what benefit that would have but i can tell you that my 06 and 08 both seemed to loosened up and get little better mileage around 12500 to 15k miles. my 10 hit 11111 miles this mornin so i guess i'll know soon enough.

 

ive never gotten 16 mpg in town before. filled it up today, yep thats what it was. i have 3400 miles on it

 

Well for one, US fuel and Canadian fuel have different BTU values, and also they measure fuel economy in different ways.

On the other hand, I would say my taco has lousy economy for a compact truck, but great economy for a truck with a 6,500lb tow rating.

Howard

 

Thank you everyone for your thoughts, insights and comments. I appreciate every single one of you who responded and offered something up. While some is mere speculation, a lot of what was written was very well thought out. I think as part of this inquiry, I will contact Toyota to see what they have to say. If they respond, I will post it up on here for you guys.

 

A friend of mine is a mechanic at a local shop, and I mentioned that I was keeping tack of my mileage and fill-ups. He said not to get too excited, as he has found it takes around 17 fill-ups to notice a change to what you should be getting according to the manufacturer. 17 would be about a years worth if you run to empty, and that should be around 20 something KM... so maybe it's not silly yo consider.

Frank

 

Well, jusy hit 20k kilometer and the truck is still thirsty as hell

 

Toyota would never admit to a practice like this no matter how legitimate the engineering need for it may be.

It would take a good hacker to extract and review the code. I'd expect to see fuel curve shift down somewhere in the 20K range then.

 

I just broke 12500 and my truck seems to run slightly better n leaner. On my next fillup Ill be able to to tell if there is any better mileage