2022 Turbo waste gate actuator issue or Engine Sound Enhancement?

Hey all,

New to the forum but anxious for feedback. My 2022 Tundra is my 7th Toyota (77 Celica, 80 Celica, 98 Sienna, 98 4Runner, 2004 4Runner (375k miles), 2018 4Runner and now my Tundra 1794, as I needed the heavy towing capacity). I just picked up the truck after 16 weeks and was pretty happy that Iwas finally getting to drive the truck. The turbo boost is (was) substantial and relatively quiet. About 70 miles into the journey home something changed. The acceleration got very throaty in sound and the kick seemed to be limited. Steady speed and idle are fine but any acceleration sounds like I have headers on the truck. I've read about the waste gate actuator issue and the cab-off-frame nightmarish repair scenario but I'm not quite sure this is the same issue. Any feedback from the community beforeI call a dealership tomorrow?

 

Did this happen on the drive home, as in you just purchased the truck and it was brand new? Any warning lights on the dash?

 

Sounds like your truck probably has the engine sound enhancement option. The engine note is sampled and played back through the speakers after certain frequencies are amplified. The Avalon uses the same system. https://support.toyota.com/s/article/What-is-Engine-Sound-10292?language=en_US

 

Hi, short answer is yes, brand new. It had 30 miles on it when I drove it out of the lot and the throatiness was not evident for the first 70 miles or so, but kicked in just after that. There are no warning indicators whatsoever.

In terms of the sound enhancement, I did see some posts about this. I tried to listen with the stereo off and volume down and I still hear it. For shits and giggles, I went to another dealership today and took a new Tundra out for a test drive and it was beautifully quiet even under severe acceleration. This was how my truck was for the first 70 miles.

 

Can I rule out the Waste Gate Actuator if no check engine light is on?

 

What did the dealer say when you test drove the other truck?

 

Yes, you would have multiple messages plus a check engine light if you had a wastegate issue. If you have the 12 speaker JBL audio then you also have the engine sound enhancement feature and I’m pretty sure that’s standard on 1794.

 

Dealer did not mention any issues....kind of acting sly or could really have been uniformed. In either case, the truck was smooth and noise free. To Xc_TC's point, I drove the lowest trim level which did not have the 12-speaker JBL. My 1794 has this the JBL setup. Any ideas if that noise "enhancement" feature can be user-disabled? I hope that this is the issue, but it sounds pretty rough for an "enhancement".

I will keep the forum posted on the results.

 

If you have Toyota’s Techstream software you can disable it or you can ask your dealer. Here’s a whole thread but this post shows the exact menus: https://www.tundras.com/threads/fake-v8-sound-can-be-disabled.107085/#post-2757557

I heard dealers don’t usually want to do this or want to charge to do it.

 

Thanks, that link is helpful. I have contacted 3 dealers already and all of them acted like I was smoking something. Nobody knew what I was talking about. It may be a challenge just to have them agree to look at it and then it feels like a dice roll that something else won't get whacked in the process.

 

It doesn't sound like you have the turbo issue.

From everything I've seen, those that experience the turbo issue see a bunch of DTC lights on the dash. In addition to the dash warning lights, the truck goes into "limp mode" and has severely reduced power to protect the engine. To my understanding, the "Reduced Power" mode also reduces power by not operating the turbos so you're basically driving a naturally-aspirated 3.4L V6 at that point.

 

So.. same truck with the header sound. 200 miles and apparently, according to the computer, every brake system on the truck failed; parking brake,tow brakes, anti-lock brakes and low braking power. Warning signs about bringing it to the dealer ASAP. I shut it down and restarted and now all is good! WTF? Is this a precursor to the wastegate?

 

Its headed to the dealer in the morning to look at this and to disable the ESE (engine siund enhancement) system. Would love feedback on this issue for the morning dealer visit.

 

Check out this post: https://www.tundras.com/threads/ran...d-drove-fine-after.102167/page-3#post-2780172

 

Hey, just an update post dealer visit. A software update addressing the braking concerns was pushed and so far so good. I also had the engine sound enhancement removed and it makes a huge difference in hearing the performance of the engine itself, reduced cabin noise, etc. I put together a simple document for the dealer to use (based on other posts) to guide them through the process if they hadn't received anything official from Toyota. I attached that below for reference purposes.