UK landcruiser with Geelong gearbox and engine remap

[MKS]

Brett,
Apologies for the delay but I have been very busy. So here is the story of how I came by the Geelong gearbox and engine remap. Like I said it is a long story.

So I have never been happy with the way the gearbox behaves on the 200 series. It is a pity because otherwise it is a great car.
I looked at many options a couple of years ago and two stood out as looking very promising
Rogers autos torque converter lockup kit,

Lockup kit’s and Remapping - RICHARDS AUTO ELECTRICAL

Lock up Kit The principle of this modification is to achieve more direct drive from the transmission. By locking the torque converter we can prevent the constant hunting caused by locking and unlocking the converter. It is important we still maintain the factory driveability of the vehicle and...

richardsauto.com.au

which I very nearly went for and looking at their site now, it looks like things have moved on.

I also found Albert Wedits solution which sounded much more promising

ECON*LOCK

But after a lot of chasing I found that this kit was now discontinued

I looked at other options and eventually came across this site

Toyota Landcruiser 200 Series ECU & Transmission Remapping | Geelong Performance Centre

Get your transmission behaving like it should! Trust the experts, no lock up switches! Discover why people all over Victoria, Australia & the world are talking about GPD!

geelongperformancediesel.com.au

Take a look, this really appealed to me as it solves all the issues without messing with the wiring loom.
I posted information about it on TLOCUK and got in touch with Crispin who was also looking at getting things sorted.
I put him on to Geelong. Essentially they offer an engine and gearbox remamp as detailed on their website.
The idea is that you send them your ecu they remap it and send it back, which is what Crispin did and was very impressed with the results. there were a few hassles but it did the trick.
So I got back to Geelong to look to getting mine updated.
First you need to send them engine and gearbox software details to see if they can indeed provide the remap for you. To cut a long story short they didnt have the base software for my gearbox but while I was speaking to them on the phone they had another lead. Meanwhile I did mention to them that they had updated Crispin's 2012 LC200 and mine was a 2014 with an incremental update to software versions. My contact there is Paul Farrell, when he realised that I have given Crispin the lead he asked whether there would be others in the UK who would want this mod. I said I'm sure there are so we started an agreement whereby, rather the me sending my ECU to Aus, Paul would recommend the required software and send me the files so that I could update my own ECU.. So... I purchased some software from Russia on advice from Geelong, got it all set up and then paid for the upgrade. Files were duly sent but failed with a date error :-(
These files are encrypted and include a short timeframe to do the install to preserve Geelong's intelectual property. No problem, back in contact with Geelong and new files sent. This time the engine remap worked but the gearbox remap failed. Sent logs to Geelong and they realised they had the wrong gearbox file and didnt have access to the correct one. Looked like a dead end and they offered a refund. I asked they to continue looking. They got another lead, again from Russia with literally thousands of files for all makes including many for the LC200. They had the correct gearbox file, which after some time I managed to purchase and send to Geelong. A file was duly sent but as I was on leave it was again out of date when I tried the install. An updated file was sent and this successfully installed. so I now have an updated engine and ECU remap. You can see the benefits on the Geelong site but essentially around 80 HP more and a much better map for the gearbox. So far I can say I am extremely pleased.

So the upshot of all this is that if anyone wants to go down the same route, I have the ability to perform the upgrade. You would need to send your engine and gearbox software details to Geelong. If they can do the upgrade, you would pay them for said upgrade and they send the files to me which I can then install for you. They had a similar arrangement with a Netherlands club. This saves you sending your ecu to Australia but it does mean you need to come to me or I come to you. You can of course still send your ECU to AUS if your prefer that route

Let me know if you are interested and I'll contact Geelong

FYI Toyota can tell you the software details. Cost me £60 to get that diagnostic. The software I have can also tell you that, so if you can get to me, I can tell you for free.

Essentially Geelong offer this package (GPD Remap) without the dyno time (obviously). You will need to check the price with them but it was I think 1495 australian dollars

Let me know if you would like to follow up

Kind regards

Martin

 

[Brett]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for taking the time to write this up, very interesting, I've only had the 200 coming up to around 6 weeks and like you, I find the characteristics of the gearbox a bit frustrating really.

I have heard there was a Toyota dealer in the UK (Lindop) also doing remaps for the 200 gearbox, but haven't managed to find much info, hence my excitement when I saw you'd had yours remapped by GPD.

I am definitely interested, but not immediately as I need to do a few other jobs first, but whereabouts are you located?

Kind regards,
Brett

 

[MKS]

Brett,
I'm based in Kent near Maidstone

 

[Brett]

Ok, that's doable, I'm in Norfolk.

 

[Raj]

Hi Martin

I too have a 200 2014 model. I don’t understand what you mean by gearbox not impressive as I didn’t drive it much. In general I feel these are noisy n slow but that’s the character of the car I think.

if you are based in Kent I would like to visit you once to understand more about this.
When you mentioned Crispin is it Crispin from this site?

 

[Raj]

Another doubt will we compromise basic character of Landcruiser by modifying factory settings? Longevity n reliability?

 

[Brett]

Hi Raj, if you drive it a bit more, you'll see that the gearbox doesn't want to change up or lock the torque convertor until you hit 70mph, then you have to back off on the accelerator. Then it'll finally change into 6 and lock the TC (Engine revs will be at about 1600RPM. but if you as much as brush the accelerator, or meet a slight incline, the box will change down and start revving high again. It's feels like it's in the wrong gear (which it is) and also wastes fuel. This is all down to the factory map. The remap changes the gearbox to behave better.

Martin will know more about the GDP remap, but it's my understanding you can map the gearbox and leave the engine map alone if you wish. The Landcruiser is a bit unusual as it has a common ECU for both engine and gearbox, rather than separate ECU's.

 

[Raj]

Thanks Brett, I ll monitor this rpm n gear shift pattern now.

 

[MKS]

Hi Martin

I too have a 200 2014 model. I don’t understand what you mean by gearbox not impressive as I didn’t drive it much. In general I feel these are noisy n slow but that’s the character of the car I think.

if you are based in Kent I would like to visit you once to understand more about this.
When you mentioned Crispin is it Crispin from this site?

Raj,
That was Crispin Holsworthy, I know he is on TLOCUK not sure about this site
Regards the gearbox I find the change points totally wrong and it won't stay in sixth gear at sensible speeds, worse if you are towing.
The Geelong mods sort out most of these issues

 

[MKS]

Another doubt will we compromise basic character of Landcruiser by modifying factory settings? Longevity n reliability?

Raj,
It doesn't change the basic character of the vehicle. Just makes the change points more sensible and it will hold gears longer under light acceleration.
The mods come as 2 files, one which modifies the gearbox and one which modifies the engine. You could just go for the gearbox map but I think the extra power is helpful on the odd occasion. You don't have to use it all the time and I doubt with occasional use there will be any effect of reliability

 

[Raj]

Hi,
Today I observed the way LC200 is behaving. Now I understood to your comments. Today while coming from Cornwall I set cruise at 80 mph n rpm was at 1750, it didn’t change with inclines on the road, even at places where v see that incline symbol n slow trucks message, it didn’t change from 1750 rpm. As I entered 60 speed limit near Reading, I disengaged cruise n rpm kept jumping between 1500 - 2000 at 55 - 60 mph. Was wondering why Toyota set it at high rpm at low speeds

 

[MKS]

Raj,
We are all wondering that but Toyota won't do anything about it. I think there was a mod from Toyota in Aus to reduce the speed at which 6th gear engages/disengages but it was never released elsewhere. Even with the Geelong mods it will drop from 6th to 5th below 60mph but it definitely less wiling to change down at every throttle movement

 

[Raj]

Though I don’t drive my Landcruiser frequently, on the two drives I took it last month, I noticed how the rpm needle jumps up and down a lot. If I somehow manage to get into top 6th gear n set cruise, it gets locked there. If driving with out cruise, it’s never settled

 

[MKS]

Interesting Raj. I tended to find the opposite. With light throttle use I could get it to stay in sixth most of the time but if cruise is engaged, any hill would cause it to change down 1 or 2 gears to maintain speed.

I think the idea of speeding up then backing off the throttle to get 6th engaged is well known but have you noticed that this technique can be used in any gear at lower speeds.

Most of these problems are fixed by the Geelong remap though

 

[Raj]

This was on cruise, it would just sit there, no change in rpm at slopes or inclines on road. I was alone in car with max 30kg luggage

 

[Permituk]

Hi there, I've had my 2013 LC since Sep last year. I've since installed the Richard Auto's torque convertor lock up kit. Will this TCU remap play nice with the lock up kit?

 

[Permituk]

This was on cruise, it would just sit there, no change in rpm at slopes or inclines on road. I was alone in car with max 30kg luggage

Is the tyre pressure monitoring a factory option? Thought mine was full spec when I bought it and then I see this lol

 

[Raj]

Tyre pressure monitor is a default option. For me it always shows low warning if I have pressure to 2.4. Mechanics have set it higher than 2.4 (factory recommend pressure). After driving for a while the warning goes off

 

[MKS]

Hi there, I've had my 2013 LC since Sep last year. I've since installed the Richard Auto's torque convertor lock up kit. Will this TCU remap play nice with the lock up kit?

Sorry not been on here for a while. I can check this with Geelong if you are interested. Actually I was thinking about doing the same. I would be interested to know how you are getting on with the Richards Autos lockup kit as I also looked at that before going with the Geelong remap

 

[MKS]

This was on cruise, it would just sit there, no change in rpm at slopes or inclines on road. I was alone in car with max 30kg luggage

Hi Raj,
Yes when you get to 75 or 80 it behaves much better but the issue is more around 60 to 65, it just wouldn't stay in 6th. Even more notable when towing. The Geelong map significantly improves this needing much more pedal pressure to force a change down