Intermittent misfire

Interesting you should say that, it reminds me that mine also hesitates pretty bad around 3,500 (I'm rarely up that high as I baby it everywhere!). It almost feels like a power band of sorts, but with a really crappy transition. I'd say that's almost certainly just poor tuning, I feel like the guys who developed the map for this truck were amateurs, it's not consistent with what you'd expect from a manufacturer like Toyota.

 

I believe that's vvt characteristics and pretty normal. Think VTEC on a Honda.

 

I've owned and driven countless Toyotas and Hondas, including various Type Rs, and I appreciate what I'm describing sounds a lot like V-Tec characteristics, but this is very rough and unrefined by comparison, plus it hesitates before it surges. I'm pretty sure no one would intentionally design a vehicle to behave like that. Coupled with the stutter below 1,500rpm and erratic shifting tendencies, it seems to me the management on my truck is just not up to the job. The fact there are others making the same complaints suggests to me that Toyota have dropped the ball here somewhere, as it's not an isolated problem. The simple fact that Toyota has offered another poster on this thread a lifetime powertrain warranty on his Tacoma in light of this problem, tells me it's an issue they're well aware of.

 

Well I got my Techstream system installed today on my laptop and attempted to do some live data streaming and data logging. But for some reason Microsoft keeps closing it for some reason. Back to the drawing board to get all the bugs worked out.

 

Just because it's rough and unrefined doesn't mean it's not vvt. It's definitely crap tunes, no question about it. It's pretty much agreed upon all across this forum. But 3500 Seems to be the spot everyone refers to.

 

Took the truck to my local dealership yesterday, and had the standard "Could not duplicate concern on road test, no codes stored, no updates available" response that I was expecting. This amazes me, as I told them exactly at which RPM and throttle position it would appear, and it does it every time I drive the truck. My next step is to take a technician out with me to demonstrate the issue, but that will have to wait until it's convenient for me to take the time off work. I don't think it's going to change much either way, as their response will still be "no codes stored, no updates available". Utterly frustrated.

 

If it were a characteristic of VVT then it would be present on all Toyota's vehicles with VVT engines, yet it seems to be just this generation of Tacoma, which tells me it's purely down to the tune. What I don't understand is why they haven't offered a fix after 3 years of production and customer complaints.

 

Ya I agree. Mine has got a lot better. There is a tsb that just came out today. I'm gonna read through it tonight and see what it pertains to.

 

Did you find anything useful? I searched for it, but couldn't find anything.

 

Ok so after doing some live data scanning I can't find anything. Everything looks normal. There is a tsb about the transmission converter coming in and out of lockup in 4th and 5th gear real quick. Maybe that's the issue were feeling? I'm told they have a update that's supposed to solve this issue.

 

Interesting, my truck definitely has the converter symptoms like that.

 

Update. I got into my Techstream system and reset the learning computers for both engine and transmission. So far the issue seems to be gone. Truck is running great. Shifts better and doesn't appear to have the misfire feeling anymore. I've only put about 25 miles on it. Will update if there is a change.

 

Interesting. That would make sense, as mine never used to do this until the last few weeks, which suggests to me it's most likely something it has "learned". I'd be curious to see if it comes back on your truck with time. What mileage was yours at when you first noticed the "misfire"? Mine would have been approaching 10k miles probably.

 

Just past 500 miles when it started. I'm hoping it don't come back.

 

I guess you should know fairly soon in that case.
Do you know the TSB number for the converter lockup issue? That could be a possibility too...
At this point, not knowing what is causing the issue is bothering me more than the actual issue itself!

 

Tsb 0058-18

 

Techstream isn't saying that it includes the 2018's though

 

If every single current member who posts more than once a week here had that same exact complaint, it would be less than 5% of one month's sales of the Tacoma. What is a problem here is not a problem in the real world.

 

my 2.7 does the same thing when cold sometimes. can't figure it out. figured it an issue with the ECU/fuel trim learning process. won't throw any codes either.