the only thing the ect button does that i can tell is shift the transmission at a higher rpm. is that all it does? and why?

 

Yes and its for towing and its uesless. it means Electronicly controled transmission i believe. Its stupid but alot of yotas have it and some work good but most dont change a thing. dont use or worry about it

 

It is beneficial for towing so you can better stay in the "sweet spot" of the power band.

 

if its the 3.0 there is no sweet spot its either crappy or crappier if its the 22re then all i can see towing is maybe a jet ski. prove me wrong with a great towing 22re or 3.0 but im sure it would suck all around even with the ECT. the 22ret doesnt count

 

aint that the truth!! gutless terds. but yeah it does stand for electronically controlled transmission. just never knew what its purpose was... i guess its a good thing that when i bought my t4r there has never been a hitch installed on it. rare!! i thought it was pretty stupid too. but i guess staying in the sweet spot would be nice.... even though im supercharged. and my tow rig is a 96 3500 dually 454, built!!!

 

so your saying DONT use it?

i dunno, i cant see it just for towing, because my moms old toyota camry she bought has the same button... and that thing can barely pull itself lol.

i notice it revs up a lot more before shifting and i click mine on because i drive in "stop and go". it helps in acceleration. i would use it.

but you get worse gas mileage.

 

It does indeed delay the shift points. My '91 & '92 both need to be run with the etc in the off position/light on the dash to run half way ok. 3.slow's need all the help they can get.

By the way there is a entire thread all about this topic.

 

All 3rd Gen 4Runner engines are gutless turds. If only the 4.0 would have come out a few years earlier..