Shifting in and out in cruise. WHAT???

[srkpaco]

I have a 2004 with 80k on it and it's in great shape, bone stock except for torsion bar crank and no running boards. Driving down MoPac/Loop1 with cruise control set on about 68mph's, with no gear inside, no third seats, inside and just me in the LC it has to shift from around 2200rpm's up to 3400rpm's just to get up slight and I mean slight short upgrades? WTF??? it has a V8, this is annoying as sh.., it there anything I can do?

I am about to take my first long road trip to Colorado next month and this shifting constantly will drive me nuts.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Yeah, the CC in my truck makes me crazy. It will kick down a gear on a grade, which is fine, but then after it's leveled out or even descending it will stay in the lower gear for a LONG time. I usually end up turning off the cruise, letting it shift, and then turning the cruise back on.

 

[petrotk40]

that's interesting. Doesn't sound entirely normal. Mine shifts, but only on fairly steep hills.

Yeah, the CC in my truck makes me crazy. It will kick down a gear on a grade, which is fine, but then after it's leveled out or even descending it will stay in the lower gear for a LONG time. I usually end up turning off the cruise, letting it shift, and then turning the cruise back on.

Mine does the same exact thing, I thought something was wrong with it! Glad to know I'm not alone.

 

[srkpaco]

Would cleaning the throttle body help at all?

 

[04UZJ100]

Normal. Toyota CC is dumb. Learn to manipulate the pedal, or CC, to keep the TC locked in fifth gear. CC doesnt see the hill coming. Blipping up on the CC before a grade will "load" the engine in preparation for the ascent.

 

[Musky]

When I'm driving without cargo and stock 275/16's my landcruiser will stay running around 2000 rpms (60mph)up huge hills without even downshifting. It has so much torque that it can run in 4th gear without dropping a gear. However, when I'm towing my 2000 lb bass boat on the hilly highways with cruise on it makes the tranny jump around all over the place. I turned on the ECT power last night to see if it would help. It did! It seemed to really give it enough torque to hold the hills in 3rd gear without trying to make some crazy jump down to 2nd gear. It held the gears a little longer than I would have liked but did seem to help quite a bit overall while towing. On the freeways here in Wisconsin when I tow I turn the ECT Power off because of the high rate of speed I'm going (65mph-70mph) it never seems to need to switch gears and it seems to have plenty of power for the relativley flat roads. Try the ECT Power if you have problems with your tranny shifting too much. On the other hand maybe you have the ECT-Power on and that is what's holding your gear so long? BTW- Maybe flushing your tranny would help it shift quicker? And were you driving into some kind of head wind? You have the 5 speed tranny which I would think would be awesome! Maybe taking it out of overdrive will give you the torque you need. Sorry for the rambling.

 

[rusty_tlc]

I gave up on the CC fairly early in my ownership.
A couple of things that seem to help;

Turning OD off in gentle hilly terrain helps CC work better.
Anticipate grades and use the gas to increase your speed a few MPH BEFORE you get there.
Don't even screw with the CC if you are towing it will just piss you off.​

I only use CC to give my leg a rest on long flat stretches.

 

[APKhaos]

CC is never perfect, precisely because it can't anticipate what's coming. But you can.
I use CC towing my 6000# race rig over some decent hills. Trick is to get on the throttle a bit as you approach a grade, to give it a bit more momentum up the grade [ as rusty suggested too]. I also switch OD off on long descents to minimize braking. Haven;t tried Musky's ECT Power idea, but it makes complete sense and I will be trying it next track event.