Intermittent Cold Weather Hesitation/Stumble on Acceleration

Hello, first time poster, long time lurker.

Since the weather started getting colder I've noticed that my truck will intermittently hesitate/stumble while accelerating, it lasts for a split second and then drives normal again. It does not have to be from a stop.

I have a manual transmission and I usually shift from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd around 2k rpms, which will drop the rpms down to ~1.5k after shifting; right around and only around ~1.5k rpms does the hesitation happen (I have not noticed it happening any other time), but not all the time and only at random.

It doesn't happen every time the needle crosses 1.5k rpms, I've only noticed it with the colder weather, I don't get any codes/CELs, I've tried different octanes (86, 91) from different gas stations (costco, conoco), I've made sure there are no air leaks in the intake system, I do not have any engine mods, it doesn't matter if the truck is cold or fully warmed up, it doesn't matter if I'm on a hill or flat ground, the truck has never stalled from this, and this is happening on a normal paved road that is not slick or iced.

I have tried resetting the ecu, but that didn't change anything. My truck does fall within the requirements for the cps recall, but I did not receive a notice and when I look my VIN up on Toyota, it says that my truck does not have any pending recalls.

Are there any others that have experienced what I'm talking about, what have you done about it?

 

Pretty common 3rd gen issue as far as I can tell from seeing all of the complaints about it here. Of course you’ll have the usual suspects come out and tell you how theirs is perfect and they never had such an issue. They will tell you to trade it or sell it and stop complaining here about it. Others will suggest purchasing after market electronics gizmos to try and improve the performance characteristics.

 

From what I can tell, the transmission issues are mostly with the automatic crowd, and before the weather got cold, I would have been one of the ones saying that mine was perfect and that I never had such an issue.

I'm not complaining, I just want to figure out if this is something that I can get fixed.

 

My truck has that random low RPM stumble/miss too, can happen when its hot or cold outside.

 

Not complaining but you aren’t happy about it either? Amiright

 

Mine has under 500 miles on it, MT. It happens on the same turn every morning leaving my neighborbood. Slow rolling right turn, coast to an almost stop, put it in second and go, and it goes da da da da da then accelerates normally. Seems to only happen in the cold for the first mile or so.

 

I have a '17 Sport manual transmission. It's been through 2 winters now and I get the same thing. It's like a hesitation/jumpiness when accelerating when the truck is cold.

This is just normal behavior for the truck. It's part of the way the engine works in combination with the crappy factory tune. It actually does the same thing in the summer as well, but it's just much more pronounced when cold.

I've gotten used to it at this point, but I'm considering doing the manual trans specific OVTune. You should check out the thread on that. It's supposed to improve the drivability of the truck and many people report that it smooths out the engine and shifting and solves these issues.

 

I did not say I was happy or unhappy, there's a problem with the truck that has not been discussed in this detail before (and if you're going to try to find previous threads to prove me wrong, make sure to find the ones that mention cold weather, low rpms, and nothing to do with the cps, turning, stalling, or octane).

I didn't get on you about being unhappy or complaining in your 'Little disappointed will the 2019 have more power?' thread, but please, if you have something of value to add, carry on.

 

First, welcome OP!! Personally, I have not had this happen and this is my 2nd winter here in NH for DCSB Sport MT. Some say I have a unicorn, but the truck has been a blast. Now, going up a long hill under load I feel the engine "misfire / hesitate," a bit, usually I just down shift to the engine into higher RPM's. I havn't given it much thought, just a characteristic for these attikinson/otto engine. Overall, interested to see what you find out.

 

Going up long hills is the time most likely for mine to have that low RPM stumble.

 

Ya, I mostly notice it happening while going straight on flat ground, it'll happen when turning as well, I just haven't noticed it happening more often or more repeatably while turning. It also can happen after I've been driving for an hour, besides the weather in conjunction with the 1.5k rpm, I haven't noticed any other repeatable conditions to cause it to happen.

 

Believe me I’m not complaining about your complaining

 

Yes, had it happen a couple of times when it gets cold. It was in the 20s here and experienced the hesitation in 2nd and 3rd gear on straight flat roads. I have some hills to climb as I get close to my house, I stay in 2nd or 3rd most of the way up, but didn't experience it on the climb. Just another Tacoma-ism...still love my manual.