Two commonly reported issues, one short video (howling/4th gear on highway)

I managed to capture a couple of common complaints on video a few days ago on my way home.

1. Howling noise out the drivers side window
2. High RPM on the highway in 4th/5th gear

Will either of these be solved later down the line by Toyota? Who knows. But at least I've got proof that they do in fact exist on a brand new, completely stock 2016 Tacoma going down a flat highway. Yes there is some wind, but nothing that would keep my old truck from staying in 6th the whole time ('09 5.7L Tundra). Apparently the Tacoma just doesn't have the guts or something.

Maybe not a particularly constructive thread, but if anyone wants to reference it, be my guest. I'm really hoping this will get solved somewhere along the 3rd gens lifetime and not be a persistent issue for the next decade since I'd like to keep this truck for a while.

Also, if you've seen a solution for either, do let me know. I'm fairly active on here, but I can't see everything, y'all are an active bunch!

 

howling noise has been identified, holes in the lower control arms.
higher rev's, thats how the engine is designed.

 

The transmission has major programming problems. Try this: set the cruise at 70 like you had it. It's stuck in fourth. Gently give it a little more gas.... Left off and it will shift to fifth. Do the same thing again and it goes to sixth. It can't hold that speed enough to up shift, but if you give it a little gas to go 70.5mph, it will up shift. I'm going to take the dealer for a drive. This must get fixed. If I let this truck do what it wants it would get 14mpg highway. I want to talk to the epa dude that claims 23mph highway. Not in my truck. Not with that programming. From what I can tell, the truck only uses 6th when your coasting downhill going 55.

Yes I know the engine likes to rev high. But this is not right.

 

mine gets beween 18-24 city/hwy, as for fixed, toyota will say it's performing as designed. How many miles you got on the truck, everything tends to settle down after about 1k.

 

Around 3000. I think it has a problem and they will come up with a fix. There is no way this can be right. Unless highway mileage means never going over 55. My truck can't handle speeds above 55 in 5th or 6th gear.

 

The transmission tends to want to keep low rpm's, to meet epa requirements. Could it need an improvement in transmission mapping, I agree.

 

My Taco does the same thing. I have 9000 miles on mine about 95% highway, and I average 15/16 mpg calculated manually and electronically.

I have been a member since last September, and from all my data and everyone's in TacoWorld have found that the v6 3.5L does not have enough torque to maintain highway speeds in excess of 70mph. I am in Texas where some areas are posted at 80mph.

The transmission continually hunts between 4,5,6,5,6,5,4,5,6,6,5,4 consistently on straight highway above 70mph. Many on this forum are consistently seeing 20+ mpg, some are 4x2 and many drive at 60mph. I can get 18mpg at 60mph.

I have found the BIGGEST culprit is the CRUISE! I can now get 17mpg if I DO NOT use the cruise. On small inclines without the cruise, the truck will slow down and stay in 6th, then gradually pick up speed when the incline minimizes.

Conclusion: The Taco does not have the proper torque power at higher highway speeds to prevent constant shifting. Just as a side note, I am a journeyman auto tech/instructor with over 30 years experience. I am NOT a Toyota tech, but I have worked for other dealerships.

The 3.5L has a TON of power when you need it; just NOT at the torque band above 70 mph highway speeds with the cruise on. Above 70 mph it stays in 4th and gets around 15mpg.

 

The manual has plenty of torque in 6th at 70mph. Cruise works great and it holds the speed just fine on good size hills. I live in east TN so I have plenty of hills.

 

Thanks for sharing, I think the manual is the way to go.

Hopefully Toyota will have an update for the auto programming.

 

My assessment as well.

 

Looks like it's time to tape them up. If anyone has a link to some plugs that fit properly and have been used do let me know. But I'll at least tape them for now. Dang ocarina control arms...

I've noticed that, and on a short drive I'll just keep cruise off. But if you're on the highway for over half an hour it's so much easier to set it and forget it like I'm used to doing. Plus it keeps me from speeding. This will definitely be a complaint at my 10K since that's probably the next time I'll be in for my first oil change. That and a list of other things.

Yup. Stinks because I could cruise on the turnpike at 80 MPH in 6th all day long in my old truck, I calculated a 300 something mile trip to Branson MO from KS and got a grand total of 16.2 MPG in that thing. It's sad that it doesn't do any better than this with a much smaller truck. At least it fits in my garage now . It is a lot better in the city though or anything under 65 MPH. I can get up into the low 20's going 40-55 in the country without stoplights no problem. Mixed is around 18 MPG, so that's still better than my combined average of 14 that I used to get. No 35 MPG car, but it's not supposed to be.

At least it still gets up and goes when you really get after it. I played around a bit with the TCS/VSC off in ECT mode with it in standard mode and was able to break loose without issue. And I can still merge on the highway pretty quickly when I need to. So it's not all bad