Transmission 2017 TRD sport not shifting in 5 or 6 gear pulling a trailler

Hi I towed a 1000lb covered double snowmobile trailer empty for the first time my 2017 Toyota TRD at highway speed's 60 mph the transmission would shift 1 to 4 gear seldom go on fift maybe going downhill and revert to 4gear and 3 rd my transmission had a refashion problem persist
Ps 2010 Tacoma four cylinder pulled better than this

 

Mine won't even shift into 6th when I'm driving on flat ground at 65mph half the time... forget pulling a trailer, you'll be in 4th all day!

 

Did you put the transmission into sport mode? If you did that, it limits the top gear to 4th by default. That may be why you aren't getting into fifth. If you put it into sport mode, and click up it will limit top gear to 5th. I would enable the ECT as well.

 

I use Sport 5 + ECT to tow light stuff (1500 lbs and less), and it will certainly use 5th if needed.

I'd use Sport 4 + ECT to tow anything else personally. I used to think if I let it ride in 5th gear maybe my MPG would improve, but I learned years ago on multiple vehicles it's really about the load and not RPMs. You'll often get better MPG and less strain on drivetrain staying in the 1:1 gear, which is 4th on an Auto 3rd Gen Tacoma.

ECT keeps the engine from shifting too soon, keeping the RPMs around 2500 ish, which...after doing some interesting reading, seems to be a common powerband for Atkinson Cycle VVT-i engines.

The reason people say the 3rd Gens feel weak on lowers RPMs, where as the 4.0L didn't is because of that Atkinson cycle. Toyota's Hybrid vehicles which use variants of this engine can mask the low RPM torque by using electric motors to assist until RPMs get into the gas engine's powerband. I never knew that, but it makes sense. Since we don't have such an aid, that's why we all say you gotta let the 3.5L rev a bit to get it's power, and it's happier around 2500 - 4000 RPM. If you do that, and don't worry about the higher RPMs, you'll get plenty of towing power and decent fuel economy under load.

As far as how durable is an engine configuration like this? Honestly most of Toyota's Atkinson cycle engines easily push into the 250k miles range, and fleet service departments rate them as good as any other Toyota, so I wouldn't sweat it too much.

 

Thank you all for the help
I will play with it some more when towing and get back with an update

 

i have a trd sport 4x4 and as stated above it barely even goes into 6th with no trailer and no weight in it. it can barely keep up and maintain 60 mph let alone go into a higher gear with a trailer.
iv towed trailers ranging from 1500 lbs to 4500 lbs and the tallest gear its used is 5th. and honestly it would be hard on the engine and drivetrain if you were trying to pull alot of weight with it chugging in 6th gear.

i know toyota tried hard for decent MPG ratings and thats probably why it hunts for gears but it is soo painful to drive at highway speeds sometimes.
iv been down the same road with toyota and trying to see if they have a fix but they tell me nothing yet. and i dont mean a fix for towing but just better drivability.

good luck. if they find a fix please let us know

 

Honestly @Adamtaco Toyota did what they did for MPG. There won't be a fix because that's the physical part that's in the truck. The article I referenced earlier was from 2013, they have been planning doing NA Atkinson engines without superchargers or turbos for a while.

There is, however, groundwork laid, and I've been pleased with results so far from other's reports. Installing 4.88 gears seems to have really brought back that punchey torque we all like, and in addition, allowed 6th to cruise at 1900 - 2000 RPMs vs 1400 - 1500 RPMs, making it a much more practical configuration, especially if you have heavier and larger tires and need the gears to turn them easily.

 

Oh ya I agree with you. That's why I said above that they did it for mpg. I know there's no real fix for the power band. I meant more just shift point fixes if possible but really I know it's always going to have the hunting for gears.

I wish I got the manual lol.

 

I've seen Crawl and MTS personally get me out of 2 binds so far, Crawl once in sand last weekend and MTS at an OHV park where I followed a lifted Jeep with 35's where I shouldn't have, so I'm really happy with the systems on the auto. I don't know if the manual has those.

I know it's pricey but I feel like 4.88's are going to be a perfect gear for this truck when I can afford it.

 

Hi again
I've been testing towing my double snowmobile covered trailer
the updated download seams to help from Toyota
I put the ECT on tried sports position 5 max and tried drive with ECT went through the gears fine but at highway speeds 4 or 5 gears max 14 .5 liter per 100 k much better than before 25 liter for 100 kilometre

 

Good to hear. Glad it's helping you. The TSB made a big difference with my truck too.

 

Put it in ECT mode and put it in S4. These trucks weren't meant to pull trailers in 5th or 6th which are over drive gears.

 

Thanks for the info

 

What does the owner manual say about towing? Let it get to 6th gear?

 

I Will check the owner manul overlooked that.
Checked it and don't have anything about thatin detail

 

Any of you guys just wish they'd have put a different engine in? Tweeked the 4.0 a bit.... I love my 2nd gen and the impression I get from the 3rd, not an engine I'd want.

 

Power is the same just at a higher rpm, with better gas mileage.

 

No the 2 gen was very hard on fuel i believe that the new download is helping a lot, runnig light there are no issues very good on gas i will have to pay a little when i tow my snowmobiles around a few times a year,.

 

From what I've seen on the mpg, it seems the 3rd only gets ~1mpg better than the 2nd.