Early 2013 models have bad tune?

[Lorne]

Someone on reddit is claiming that the early 2013 models are problematic due to a problem with the tune (It had to do with hard on/off throttle at WOT), the injector seals would get rekt and eventually the engine would lean out and go boom boom if driven hard.

I'm just wondering if there's any truth to this as my car sees track days and is driven hard once in awhile... It only has 17000KM and if this is a real issue, is there any way to fix it? also, when would the problem start to become evident

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Lorne

Someone on reddit is claiming that the early 2013 models are problematic due to a problem with the tune (It had to do with hard on/off throttle at WOT), the injector seals would get rekt and eventually the engine would lean out and go boom boom if driven hard.

I'm just wondering if there's any truth to this as my car sees track days and is driven hard once in awhile... It only has 17000KM and if this is a real issue, is there any way to fix it? also, when would the problem start to become evident

Some light reading for you:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38397
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36129
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36008
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2335327

[Tcoat]

Please note the last line of the TSB before everybody panics!!!!!

[Lorne]

Just went through the threads and I'm not liking what I'm seeing. I shift at similar numbers on the track every so often. I really don't want to have to replace those seals as it looks like the biggest pain in the ass job ever. I'm unsure if an ecutek tune would fix the issue? I see a lot of info here but everyone saying mostly the same thing.

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by Lorne

Just went through the threads and I'm not liking what I'm seeing. I shift at similar numbers on the track every so often. I really don't want to have to replace those seals as it looks like the biggest pain in the ass job ever. I'm unsure if an ecutek tune would fix the issue? I see a lot of info here but everyone saying mostly the same thing.

either OFT or ECUTeck tunes includes fix on this.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Lorne

Just went through the threads and I'm not liking what I'm seeing. I shift at similar numbers on the track every so often. I really don't want to have to replace those seals as it looks like the biggest pain in the ass job ever. I'm unsure if an ecutek tune would fix the issue? I see a lot of info here but everyone saying mostly the same thing.

Keep in mind those are older posts. The later ECU flashes are said to take care of the problem. Yours may even already be flashed to a newer level.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Keep in mind those are older posts. The later ECU flashes are said to take care of the problem. Yours may even already be flashed to a newer level.

Is this something that would have been done if the car was taken to the dealership for routine maintenance? Wonder if I should schedule my next oil change there and see if I was reflashed or not.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Is this something that would have been done if the car was taken to the dealership for routine maintenance? Wonder if I should schedule my next oil change there and see if I was reflashed or not.

Depends on your dealer would be my guess. Mine checks such things but from what I understand they are the exception not the rule when it comes to service departments.

[DAEMANO]

@Lorne

As posted above and in countless threads, it's a known issue and a TSB was issued to fix it. Since it's a TSB, go to any dealership (take the TSB # if you want) and they will reflash your ECU. It doesn't have to be a special dealer, any will do it.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Lorne

Just went through the threads and I'm not liking what I'm seeing. I shift at similar numbers on the track every so often. I really don't want to have to replace those seals as it looks like the biggest pain in the ass job ever. I'm unsure if an ecutek tune would fix the issue? I see a lot of info here but everyone saying mostly the same thing.

3 years later it really didn't impact that many people, sky was falling on the forums for a few months but most cars have and will survive even with the original early tune. Yup, ECUtek and OFT incorporate the fix but won't help if the seals are already damaged.

Ultimately it's diagnosible and fixable before catastrophic failure occurs.

Originally Posted by DAEMANO

@Lorne

As posted above and in countless threads, it's a known issue and a TSB was issued to fix it. Since it's a TSB, go to any dealership (take the TSB # if you want) and they will reflash your ECU. It doesn't have to be a special dealer, any will do it.

Every dealership I called would not commit to flashing the car, they said they would reflash ONLY if the tech observed idle hunting on a test drive. I decided not to waste my time. It's not always guaranteed.

[DAEMANO]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Every dealership I called would not commit to flashing the car, they said they would reflash ONLY if the tech observed idle hunting on a test drive. I decided not to waste my time. It's not always guaranteed.

@Lorne

I wouldn't let Strat's experience keep you from contacting your local dealer and specifically requesting the re-flash. Especially because the issue is well known and documented.

[D18]

To share my experience from driving at the track, I used to notice a hard stutter as the fuel was cut in and out at redline. But with newer OFT tunes it's much smoother. As I hit redline the fuel isn't fully cut and the RPM's just hold there.

On another note, I generally do try to shift around 7k to 7.2k. Don't like hitting redline, but sometimes your focus is elsewhere!

[Lorne]

I just got back from the dealership and while they did reflash the car, I'm unsure if the issue was resolved... On the paperwork it said "idle control and emissions". I plan on getting the ecutek or OFT in the near future anyway so until then, I will just have to take it easy on the car (gonna be hard). Thanks everyone!

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Lorne

I just got back from the dealership and while they did reflash the car, I'm unsure if the issue was resolved... On the paperwork it said "idle control and emissions". I plan on getting the ecutek or OFT in the near future anyway so until then, I will just have to take it easy on the car (gonna be hard). Thanks everyone!

That sounds correct, the TSB (I believe it is linked above) made no mention of the change with respect to the DI seals and tables it altered and was described as being a change to the idle and emissions settings.

Probably a move pushed out of fear of it being used as a legitimization of track and autocross usage for the car by Toyota USA.