Accelerator Pedal Recall Update

^ I agree. This is what happens when products are made in USA. They become poo poo.

TOYOTA if you read this...PLEASE bring back to rising sun! Please arrigato!

 

DETROIT (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. has told employees that it has figured out how to fix a problem with sticking accelerator pedals and will brief them on the details on Friday.

The company said in an e-mail to employees obtained by The Associated Press that it presented the remedy to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The memo did not say when the repairs would make their way to customers.
"Plans are being developed on a variety of fronts. Tomorrow, we will update you with further details," Toyota said in the e-mail, sent Thursday night.

The company said on its Web site that engineers are working around the clock to fix the problem in eight of its models, including the top-selling Camry midsize sedan.
The automaker and the company that makes the gas pedal systems says the accelerators rarely stick.

But earlier this week Toyota halted sales and production of the models. It has recalled at least 2.4 million cars and trucks in the U.S., Europe and China because of the problem.

A second House committee, meanwhile, is launching an investigation into the problems with Toyota's accelerator pedal systems. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has scheduled a Feb. 4 hearing entitled, "Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?"

"There appears to be growing public confusion regarding which vehicles may be affected and how people should respond. In short, the public is unsure as to what exactly the problem is, whether it is safe to drive their cars, or what they should do about it," wrote Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., in a letter Thursday to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Separately, a House investigative panel is planning a Feb. 25 hearing on the Toyota recalls. In a letter to NHTSA administrator David Strickland, lawmakers requested a timeline from January 2000 until the present for NHTSA's investigations into Toyota defects and other data related to reports of sudden acceleration.

 

While I was at lunch yesterday I heard on the radio that it had something to do with moisture on the floor and the heater being on. WTF!

 

Here's the article.

Toyota is leaving some bread crumbs that help trace its path to the latest recall of 2.3 million vehicles to fix accelerator pedals that can stick and leave you behind the wheel of a runaway car.

A new Toyota truck sits on the sales lot at Superior Toyota of Oakland February 25, 2009 in Oakland, California. The world's largest automaker announced in November that it would replace the accelerator pedal in 3.8 million recalled vehicles after five deaths and two hundred incidents of unintended acceleration were documented. Now it has announced another recall.


CAPTION

By Justin Sullivan, Getty Images​

This is the recall announced last week following months of insistence that the root cause of a runaway Toyota or Lexus that could kill you and your family was floor mats jamming under accelerators and pinning the pedal to the metal. Now it turns out the accelerator pedal can just plain stick on its own.

Toyota, which has been running ads lately touting its safety record, is still selling new vehicles subject to the recall. It explains that the accelerator won't stick until a critical part wears down. It won't say how many miles it will take before that could happen.
To help understand how Toyota became enmeshed in this nightmare, it's worth examining its three-year journey as laid out in a Jan. 21 letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. First, here's exactly what Toyota says is going wrong:

Due to the manner in which the friction lever interacts with the sliding surface of the accelerator pedal inside the pedal sensor assembly, the sliding surface of the lever may become smooth during vehicle operation.
In this condition, if condensation occurs on the surface, as may occur from heater operation (without A/C) when the pedal assembly is cold, the friction when the accelerator pedal is operated may increase, which may result in the accelerator pedal becoming harder to depress, slower to return, or, in the worst case, mechanically stuck in a partially depressed position.
In addition, some of the affected vehicles' pedals were manufactured with friction levers made of a different material (stuff called "PA46"), which may be susceptible to humidity when parked for a long period in hot temperatures. In this condition, the friction when the accelerator pedal is operated may increase, which may result in the accelerator pedal movement becoming rough or slow to return. In light of the similarity with one of the symptoms described above that are associated with the PPS material, Toyota has decided to include these vehicles in the defect determination.
​

Then Toyota lays out the chain of events leading up to the recall:

March 2007-June 2008
Starting in March 2007, Toyota received field technical information regarding reports of accelerator pedals demonstrating symptoms such as rough operation or being slow to return to the idle position. These reports were limited to one model (Tundra), and the accelerator pedal assemblies in those vehicles contained a friction lever made of the PA46 material. Toyota's investigation found that the PA46 material was susceptible to humidity, which could cause the friction lever to absorb moisture and swell. Environmental testing was conducted in order to understand the full impact of the swelling of the friction lever due to humidity.
In February 2008, the material of the friction arm was changed to (another kind of composite called) PPS while investigations continued. In June 2008, Toyota concluded that while accelerator pedal feeling could change under certain conditions, Toyota considered it to be a drivability issue unrelated to safety.
December 2008 -August 2009
Toyota received field technical information from the European market which indicated reports of accelerator pedal sticking on vehicles equipped with pedals containing the PPS material. The reports predominantly involved right-hand-drive versions of the Toyota Aygo and Yaris vehicles.
Toyota began a detailed investigation with an evaluation of returned accelerator pedals in March 2009. Internal inspection of the sliding surface of the friction lever and the pedal arm was found to be partially smooth. Toyota conducted some duplication tests, and it was found that the internal friction could increase if moisture was attached to the sliding surface of the friction lever as the surface became smooth. This made the accelerator pedal stick in a partially depressed position under the condition where condensation occurs on the accelerator pedal (i.e. for several minutes during heater operation after the engine is started in cold temperatures). In addition, in the condition where A/C is operated, the phenomenon did not occur.
At this time, it appeared to be a phenomenon predominantly limited to right-hand-drive vehicles, without A/C equipment, based on the location of the accelerator pedal and the heater duct. Based on the investigation results above, Toyota lengthened the arm of the friction lever and changed its material to prevent smoothing on all vehicles produced in Europe with the subject accelerator pedals starting in mid-August 2009.
October 2009- January 2010
Toyota received field technical information from the U.S. and Canadian markets which indicated reports of sticking accelerator pedals had occurred. Toyota recovered parts in order to evaluate the phenomenon. The returned accelerator pedals have the same material friction lever as previously used in the European models (PPS) and, as a result of the internal investigation, Toyota decided to conduct a voluntary safety recall of all vehicles with the subject accelerator pedals. This recall will include vehicles equipped with friction levers made with PPS material, as well as with the PA46 material, which was associated with the rough operation or slow to return symptoms.
​

 

^^Makes sense, I assume these are the CTS pedals. I wonder what material the Denso pedals use ?

 

SEE ARTICLE FOR COMPARISON OF THE TWO ASSEMBLIES:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ex...nit-looks-cheaper-rumored-to-be-recalled-too/

 

I can admire the humility this guy is going through right now... and I appreciate the fact he can check his ego at the door. That says Toyota is ran by solid LEADERS - not just politicking MANAGERs.

Davos, Switzerland (CNN) -- Toyota's president apologized Friday for the gas pedal problems that have forced the recall of millions of vehicles in the United States and Europe, Japanese media reported.
It was Akio Toyoda's first remarks since the latest round of recalls began last week.

"We're extremely sorry to have made customers uneasy," he told Japanese news agency NHK. "We plan to establish the facts and give an explanation that will take away the customers' concern as soon as possible."

The recall is to correct a problem that, under certain circumstances, could cause the gas pedal, as it becomes worn, to stick partway down. Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles in the United States for the problem this week, although no repair procedure has been put in place.

A Toyota spokesman said that the carmaker is close to announcing a solution for cars in the United States. The company would still need to get regulatory approval for any proposed repair in the United States and in Europe before a fix could be made.

The European recall involves eight models, several of them not sold in the United States. The number of vehicles involved in that recall is under investigation, but could reach 1.8 million, Toyota said in a statement.
The recall is separate from one begun in November to fix a problem in which the gas pedal can catch on the edge of the removable floormat.
The floormat recall was recently expanded to cover 5.3 million vehicles.
In many cases, the same vehicles are involved in both recalls. It was not clear how many different vehicles, in total, are part of both actions.








The halt of sales and production of the company's most popular U.S. models will cause this month's sales to tumble 12 percent compared to January 2009, according to a forecast from sales tracker Edmunds.com.
Michelle Krebbs, senior analyst for Edmunds.com, said that, if not for this week's problems, Toyota's sales would have been up at least slightly for the month.

The expected drop could send Toyota's market share below 15 percent, which would be its lowest level in nearly four years.

Most of Toyota's rivals are expected to post higher sales compared to a year ago. Ford Motor, which last year reported its first market share gain in the United States since 1995, is expected to pass Toyota in market share in January, according to Edmunds.com.

Ford has joined General Motors and other automakers trying to capitalize on Toyota's problems, offering $1,000 to buyers who trade in Toyotas when purchasing a new car.

That could be a big problem for Toyota. "People buy Toyotas for their bullet-proof reliability," said Krebbs. "That was their main selling point, and that's taken a huge hit."

Even after Toyota fixes the gas pedal problems, it is likely to have trouble regaining share, some say. A loss in market share this year would be Toyota's first since 1994.

"This is a game changer for Toyota," said Art Spinella, head of CNW Market Research. "They have some serious, serious work to do to repair the damage done to their image."

Spinella said Toyota was already vulnerable. His firm's consumer survey from mid-January showed Toyota had fallen from its long-held position of first or second in quality estimates to seventh among potential buyers. Apparently, recalls that began late last year are having an impact.
"This was just the latest recall problem for Toyota," said Spinella. "Word of mouth is the key for all of this, and always has been. And it's much tougher to move back up the list than to fall down."

Toyota spokeswoman Sona Iliffe-Moon said the company won't comment about any potential hit to sales or market share before its scheduled release of January sales on February 2.

"Clearly there will be a sales impact with the stopped sales," she said. "Really, right now our focus is working on a remedy."

 

This condensation issue has got me thinking that is what the issue
is with my squeaky clutch...in hot weather.

hmmm...anybody?