Marked improvement in transmission shift pattern after dealer oil change.

I went in for my free 20,000 mile oil change/service at the Toyota dealer. Driving home I noticed a big change in the shift pattern. My Tacoma now shifts close to like a normal transmission now. When I got home I checked my receipt and nothing was mentioned about a reflash, update or anything about the transmission. Back when I first got my Tacoma back in 2018 I had the transmission programming update done at this dealership. It did not make that big of an improvement especially on the highway. Now after this oil change/service there is very much an improvement. Without question something changed for the better.

I read in some 2020 Tacoma literature where it mentions improved shifting. I wonder if there is a new 2020 shift program update and if it got installed on my truck. My other thought is I wonder if they added transmission fluid and if so if this is the reason for the improved shifting pattern. Regardless, something happened that improved the shift pattern to make it close to a normal shifting transmission.

 

Did they so anything else to your truck that may have required them to disconnect the battery? That would reset some sort of memory and will cause the trans to relearn your driving habits again. After I disconnect the battery, my truck drives differently for awhile, then relearns my driving habits and goes back to how it was.

 

That was another thing I was considering. However my radio presets are all the same. Also after I got my transmission programming update awhile back it never did make much of an improvement. This is a big improvement.

 

Just FYI, disconnecting my battery doesn't erase my radio (Entune premium) presets.

 

Honestly, I noticed this myself after the K0B recall was applied. I know that recall required a software update for the PCS system, but I wondered if they just updated the ECU while they were in there. This service was completed well after their vehicle surge and stumble TSB's came out.

It's plausible. If they've already got TechStream hooked up, and they're on the software calibrations page already - why not? I'm pretty sure that page shows when updates are available for all the separate modules.

In my opinion, that should be standard procedure during services - if there's better software available, update it to keep everything current with Toyota's standards.