Intermittent misfire

Ok. I wish it would just throw a damn code. Lol.

 

Like Dodges of old you may have to carry a spare

 

I'm ok with that. Just so I know what the issue is. I hate when it's something I can't figure out.

 

At first I thought it was just going in to Atkins cycle but it's got worse. It was doing it at 3,000rpm today coming up the hill coming home.

 

Hopefully someone will chime that can confirm crank (or cam) sensor. Good luck!

 

Thanks. Hopefully I'll find out something by Monday.

 

I thought these issues were resolved. Guess not

 

Quality control for every part is done at the individual parts manufacture. Toyota does not check these parts as they come in to the assembly plants, they completely rely on the vendor to check their own workmanship.

 

Understood; just like the 2nd Gen frame issue is due to the vendor screwing Toyota

 

My guess is faulty spark plug in the offending cylinder.

 

Good morning and welcome to the forum.

Your symptoms sound similar to what I experienced when I first purchased my '16 V6 OR manual trans. Light/moderate load up a long consistent grade and it felt like a misfire. Quick hesitations, kind of like a small fish biting your line. The difference was I was only getting it at RPMs lower than 2000 in that situation. 91 E0 gas seemed to help somewhat, but never got rid of the "stutters". FWIW, my truck never threw a code either and I've already replaced my crank position sensor (CKP).

Not all trucks do this (obviously), but you're also not the first on TW to mention it. You definitely could have a legit hardware issue that the dealer can resolve, but be ready for the "functions as designed" line as well. Now, on to the part of this post that will undoubtedly illicit a negative response by some members who have already weighed in.

I run OVtune on my truck, and would like to share my experience with that as it relates to the stutters. As I said, the truck would do it on the stock ECM calibration and early versions of the tune. Practically no change in symptoms. Then version 1.03 B/C 91 Octane (M/T) was released, which included major changes to ignition, fuelling, VVT etc - and all of a sudden my stutter symptoms changed. The RPM range jumped to ~2300-2800 rpm, and they were more severe under light/moderate load. I engaged the vendor with my concerns, and forwarded a techstream log file at his request. His response was this: your engine is going in and out of Atkinson "mode" under those conditions. Well, he came back with a test file within an hour and guess what - the symptoms disappeared. He had "smoothed out VVT and extended Atkinson function".

The rub here is that it was only my truck and a few others, but that small group spanned multiple model years and ECU versions. Could environmental conditions be a contributing factor? Absolutely. I have no data to support/disprove that however.

Take all of this however you wish, I'm not trying to sell you something or claim I know more about this platform than anyone else on here. Just relating my experience.


Edit: I'll also add that while I was logging for OVtune, the truck was not actually misfiring while stuttering. I had my son watch that PID like a hawk on the laptop while I drove, and the count remained zero under "all cylinders misfire count". Your truck may be doing something different.

Good luck

 

I'd be very interested to know what the outcome is here. My '18 V6 TRD Sport 6A has started doing the same thing over the last month or so, and it appears to be getting worse. At first I wasn't certain, but now there's no doubting the misfire below 2,000rpm under light to moderate load. Additionally, I've been struggling to get to grips with the erratic shifting and general strange driving characteristics that some others have also complained about. I'm generally not one to be so disgruntled with a vehicle, but unfortunately I have little good to say about my 3rd gen experience, especially as it's the most expensive vehicle I've ever owned.
I have it booked in at the dealership next tuesday, but if they're not able to offer some kind of solution or at least a reasonable explanation, I'm more or less set to pull the trigger and trade it in against a different vehicle. Sadly, that would mean taking a huge hit, but it really has become that frustrating.

 

That's a normal characteristic of the new Tacoma.

 

You guys have really weak misfire experiences. When my truck misfired, that thing wouldn't move with the pedal floored and felt like the engine was going to stall and the check engine light came on.

This is not a misfire.

 

What was the cause of your misfire?

 

Bad Plug

 

Ok. So I've had it to the dealer. They couldn't find anything. They had me drive around with the tech with his Techstream system hooked up. Both of us felt the issue but nothing showed up in the live data. No misfire codes. I was told that my transmission is learning and just to drive it for a while. It has got a lot better over the last week. Almost not even doing it at all. I just invested in Techstream software and VCI cable. Just gotta find time to install and play with. I'm gonna monitor and will post updates.

 

I have a feeling that's more or less what's going to happen with mine next week. I'll report back if they're able to offer anything different though.

 

Good deal. Something I noticed, I went on a 300 Mile road trip 2 weeks ago. It ran like always till I got about 200 miles from home. Then it cleared right up and was fine the whole time we were on vacation. As soon as we got back towards home 4 days later it started doing it again. Kinda odd right.