Complaint 1604108

Complaint Summary

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

Owner Narrative

ECU PROBLEM. SINCE JUNE 2018, I HAVE STARTED TO SEE DECREASED MPG (AVG 9 MPG, 50/50) AND VEHICLE EXHIBITING HIGH ALC. DENSITY % WHEN FUELED WITH E0/E10 GAS. NO DTC CODES, BUT EXTENDED CRANK EXHIBITED, POOR PERFORMANCE AND SHIFTING OBSERVED. THIS IS A FLEX VEHICLE. FUEL TRIMS WERE WAY INTO NEGATIVE AND I HAVE CALLED TOYOTA AND FILED A CASE WHEN THIS HAPPENED, BUT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY BY 2 MONTHS.(CALLED AUG 2018) VEHICLE HAD 55K MILES. THEY SAID ITS UP TO THE DEALERSHIP TO REMEDY THE ISSUE. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY RE CALIBRATED THE ECU PER TOYOTA TSB 0058-13 (SO THEY KNOW OF THE PROBLEM , BUT NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT) TO ME IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE HIDING SOMETHING, (DIESELGATE) FOR A YEAR, VEHICLE WAS FINE AND DID NOT SHOW ANY ISSUES WITH ALC. DENSITY % , MPG WAS NORMAL AND PERFORMANCE/DRIVEABILITY IMPROVED, UNTIL SEP 2019. SAME THING. ALC. DENSITY % TOO HIGH CAUSING POOR MPG. I HAVE TO PAY THE DEALER TOO JUST RESET THE VALUES, EVEN THOUGH THIS ISSUE FALLS UNDER FEDERAL EMISSION STANDARDS AND IT HAS WARRANTY OF 84 MONTHS OR 80K. SO EVEN AFTER THE FIX ECU CHANGES THE VALUES AFTER A YEAR. CLEARLY ECU ISSUE THAT TOYOTA DOES NOT WANT TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR. THIS GOES AGAINST GAS EMISSIONS (GHG) AND FUEL ECONOMY STANDARDS FOR LIGHT-DUTY VEHICLES. THERE ARE KNOWN ISSUES ABOUT THIS OUT THERE ON FLEX FUEL TUNDRAS, BUT TOYOTA IS TRYING TO HIDE THIS.

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.