Supercharged Tacoma Performance Issues

I've got a few random things going on with my supercharged 2015 Tacoma, but first some background:

The Truck:

• 2015 TRD Pro Toyota Tacoma (4.0 v6, 4x4, Automatic) w/74k miles on it
• Supercharged at 35k w/Magnuson Supercharger
• AFE Magnum FORCE Stage-2 Si Pro 5R Cold Air Intake System
• Custom Y-Pipe, Flowmaster Super 10 muffler, dumped exhaust
• UnderCover Classic Tonneau Cover
  
• Pedal Commander
• (2) JL Audio 10" subs
• Rear differential breather extension
• Stock TRD PRO 16 inch rims
• 285/75/16 Kumho A/T tires (Typically running 45 PSI)
• 2 Inch progressive add-a-leaf in the rear
• The truck is in New England (NH to be exact)

Maintenance:

• Oil changed ever 10k miles
  • Amsoil Signature Series 5W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil (25k mile change interval)
  • Amsoil EA15K51-EA filter (15-25k mile change interval)
• Gas
  • Premium 93 Unleaded Gas (Since 1 week before installing the supercharger)
• Air Filter
  • Usually cleaned around every oil change (I haven't changed it this last oil change to see it was what was causing performance issues.)
• Undercoated w/oil every year

The Issues (Historically)

• Wind whistle noise - Took it in a few times to Toyota. The truck made an annoying whistle noise at high speeds or during wind gusts. Finally got the weatherstripping replaced, and it helped a lot. Still there, but not very noticeable anymore. (Issue resolved)
• Wiring issue - The wiring harness that was installed with he supercharger was placed in an area that rubbed up against metal. The wiring harness eventually shorted out. This causes issues with the truck starting, and eventually was replaced. (Issue resolved)
• Transmission issues - I went to shift into reverse, and the truck would not engage. I played around with turning it off, starting it, shifting into different gears, finally got it in gear, and drove it home. I was able to eventually get it into the shop, and it was found that my transmission was a quart low... (apparently a typical issue w/Tacoma) (Issue resolved)
• Performance lag
  • First instance - I had just changed my oil. After changing it I noticed a lag in performance. It wasn't very noticeable around town, or at lower speeds. When I was moving close to highway speeds (50-60 mph) I could depress the accelerator completely, it would start to accelerate then hit around 4k RPM and the vehicle would stop accelerating. The RPM would continue to climb, but the vehicle would accelerate like it should. It was almost like it hit a rev limiter, but it was obviously not doing that. Took it to one Toyota dealer, they were unable to find any issues. They were not familiar with supercharged tacomas and recommended to take it to the shop that installed it (another Toyota dealer.) I took it there, and they had it for a couple days. They said they could not find anything wrong with it, but when I got it back it was back to normal... (NOT RESOLVED)
  • Second instance - I changed my oil again... I didn't notice it right away, but very soon after I noticed some lag again. This time it seemed during initial acceleration. It seems a little sluggish, sometimes almost like it's going to stall. I also notice some lag under full acceleration, but it doesn't seem as noticeable as before. One other thing to note is that I also ran the truck gas tank well past empty around the same time. Could have been bad gas, but it has been a couple tanks of gas since. (NOT RESOLVED)
  • Vehicle making sounds - I noticed just recently that the truck is also making some odd sounds. It sounds almost like a ticking noise, and is rather loud. It doesn't happen all the time though, and I have never heard it before. I just now noticed this noise, it could have been happening before but I happened to notice it when it was 95 degrees and humid today. (I live in NH, so it's typically not this hot and humid.)(NOT RESOLVED)
    • Example video of the sound:

For the remaining issues, I have had the exhaust checked for leaks. I thought my exhaust sounded different, but no leaks were found. There is also no check engine light on.

Any ideas what could be going on with my performance issues, or my strange noises? I wonder if it's possible I have some sort of valve gasket leak and my spark plugs are getting some oil on them? I also wonder if I am having transmission issues? Possible catalytic converter issues?

Thanks in advance!
Brandon

 

Fuel pump or fuel filter ?
Dirty mass airflow sensor?

 

I was thinking it might be something like that. I am leaning towards a fuel pump or fuel filter, but it's odd because the last time this happened it seemed to completely go away after a couple weeks. It's only been a week since it started happening again, maybe a little less. So I'm not sure if it's going to continue or not, but it's odd it comes and goes around the time of an oil change. Would either of those cause the sound that I am hearing in the video?

 

I’ll take it off your hands if you want.

 

I’ll trade my intake manifold for your supercharger. Hook up a fuel pressure gauge and stick it through the vents and peg it under a windshield wiper and go for a drive and see if you are losing fuel pressure under a load. I’ve done this on chevy trucks before

 

Just checking, but you mean "wouldn't" accelerate like it should?
If so, would it accelerate similar to stock, or just hardly accelerating?

 

You're correct. I meant to say wouldn't. It starts out like supercharged acceleration, but then turns into almost being limited. Hard to tell if it's like stock or not.

 

First of all, What tune are you running? You mention that it's a Magnusen blower. Are you using their tune or have you had the TRD flash done?

 

Was gonna ask just this. Many people, myself included, had horrible experiences with the magnuson tune. @loginfailed ended up replacing his ecu just to get rid of that tune.

 

OP if you have the tune magnuson sent, you are stuck with it. It mascarades itself as the trd tune, so if you take it to toyota to flash it, they will say it already has the flash.

 

TRD reflash

 

@OVTune would be the easiest way to fix that issue.

 

Well, If your fuel pump is suspect, I'd also suggest upgrading that as well. You "should" do that anyway.

I'd also suggest removing that pedal commander until your issue is fixed.

 

Yeah I've removed the pedal commander for now. I actually have it at the shop now. They are replacing the serpentine and the blower belt. I didn't notice they were worn, but haven't looked in a while. I'm at 75k now, with 41k on the charger. Wouldn't hurt to do now anyways. They're also changing all the fluids in the supercharger.. They mentioned they took the belt off the supercharger and the noise stopped. I'm not hopefully that changing the fluids will fix the issue, but we'll see what they come up with.

 

Be sure to post an update once you get your Tacoma back and drive around.

One thing I think the TRD supercharger kit should have come with is a larger fuel pump. As your fuel demands increase, so should the supply. Might want to look at upgrading to a Deatschwerks, AEM, or Walboro 255lph fuel pump. Larger if you ever plan on going balls to the wall with performance upgrades.

Keep a spare supercharger belt with you or at least in your garage. The Toyota ones have been known to suffer loss of integrity at as low as 25k mi.

 

Check this thread for all things supercharger / forced induction related.

 

Yeah, I've been doing a lot of reading, and noticed that a lot of people say the belt doesn't last anywhere near as long as they should. I wonder if a belt going bad could cause a tick noise like I have at idle. I've been thinking about putting in a better fuel pump, as I might want to do some more performance related mods soon.

 

The tick sounds like the lifters. They're just loud as hell. But do your due diligence and check for exhaust and other leaks from end to end.

 

Gates, Continental, and Goodyear Gatorback belts are preferred. Definitely read through that thread though.

 

Just a quick update:

Toyota replaced my supercharger belt, the surpentine belt, the flywheel (flexplate), and the torque converter... Truck still makes noise. They are thinking it's one specific Piston... They have the parts to replace, but a Toyota Engineer will be looking at it tomorrow. I think Toyota is hesitant on them spending more money on fixing it until they know 100% what the cause is.