Tips and Tricks on the 3rd Gen Tacoma

Stupid question time:

This is my first real truck, it's getting towards rainy season here in Florida and there were some big puddles today I was going through at about 30mph, how worried do I need to be of sucking in water into the intake? These puddles aren't huge but on occasion some hit the windscreen.

I know I know, noobish question but in my mind I'm in a truck and can go crazy without having to worry about hydrolocking my engine unless I'm going through a river.

 

Unless you are driving through water deep enough for a snorkel you shouldn't have a problem. "Puddles" in Florida and pretty much anywhere along the gulf coast can be deep enough to get to the differential breather. You might want to consider an extension to keep water out of it. These extensions are mentioned on other threads.

 

It was more a worry about water splashing over the grill and into the intake, I'd not even consider water deep enough to cover axles. May look into the mod just as a preventative though

 

confirmed. holy shit, i didn't think it would be that easy.

mine took two full turns before tightening up enough to not bug me anymore.

 

I read it here on the forum and just tested again during a road trip from Lexington, SC to Charoltte, NC. If iPhone is plugged via usb and connected with Bluetooth the Entune system will continually reset. If I charge phone via car charger And enable Bluetooth Entune performs as designed.

 

thanks im gonna have to try that other wise ill have to let it be.. im a bit on the OCD side so it will bother me for a bit.

 

thank you very much for that. I will attempt this later on tonight.

 

Found this out the other day and don't remember seeing it here but it could just be buried.

If you have keyless start, if you have just the ACC on and not the engine running and go to shift it out of park the engine will automatically start.

 

Did you have your foot on the brake when you did this?

 

Yes I did, tapped it once just to turn the truck on, then got distracted organizing some papers or my seat, then forgot the truck wasn't turned on and went to shift it into reverse and the engine started me.

 

Ok, thanks. Just wondering on the safety side of things. Still, find it odd that Toyota would program it that way.

I honestly can't think of a reason why, but I guess there may be a reason.

 

Well your shifter is interlocked with your brake pedal anyway so you're committing to moving once you start moving the shifter. Probably programmed like that for the exact reason of people not starting it then trying to shift.

 

Mine does not do that but it does shutdown the audio on the phone while using Google Maps and also does not send the map guidance through the entune system.

 

Any way to disable the LED (DRL) from dimming when headlights are on?

 

I didn't feel anything wrong with my truck and it was 1.2 Qt low

 

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This was a problem with my past Gen 2s.

That was my main gripe on past Tacomas ... no way to check ATF levels without a bunch of "hocus pocus".

How did you know that is was 1.2 quarts low without a dipstick ? Just curious

Just got a 2016 SR5 V6 w/ Auto today and still can't check all fluid levels at delivery.

I usually don't get a first model year, but I will try this year ... with hopefully not too many problems.
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Hey guys, just wanted to ask if its normal to be driving Highway speeds and then shifting into s mode and it only only going up to the 4th gear? I can shift up to 5th or 6th but it never automatically goes to those gears.Only have about 2000 miles on my dclb sport. But dont see it ever go above 4th... Normal? Not normal?
I do notice that even at low speeds like 10-15 it shows 4th when I move to sport mode.
I was an owner who had low atf and had this remedied at about 400 miles thanks to this forum.
Had all the other fluids checked by toyota.
It does seem to hunt for gears a bit less than it did brand new driving through the rockies here in colorado.
I have not disconnected the battery to reset the learning part.
Just wanted to know if it should be shifting to 5 or 6 at high speeds.
Thanks so much!

 

Nah it always goes into 4th regardless of being in 6th or 5th. Since it's like a version of sport mode it'll go to the power gear. But should change gear when shifting.

There's a video of your issue here: http://youtu.be/gv5t92hfZnw

 

You'll be fine. Your intake is well protected inside the engine bay. It takes more than even a large puddle splash to hydrolock an engine with the ground clearance a truck has; I've seen plenty of guys without snorkels haul through pools of water on trails and they get out just fine.

If you're trying to cross a river then, well, that's a different story.