Warning on Special Service Campaign - 20TC01

Hello everyone.

I am sad to say that I live in CA, and as a result I had to take my 2012 Tacoma in to the Stealership for this service campaign as we have smog regulations in the dumb state that are out of control.

It was my understanding that the foam filter in the pump could degrade over time and parts could get sucked in to the pump causing significant damage to the pump and other parts of the system. An easy fix for this was to install an Uni aftermarket filter and take out the stock one....so that is exactly what I did. Fortunately, I get the old parts in my tool box in case I needed to take it to the dealer. Yes, they are that anal in CA.

The Uni filter was removed and all the stock crap was put back in. I got my truck back the next day and it seems all they did was put a spiffy cap on the air pump. Being curious if anything else was done, I took it apart and found the same kind of foam filter had been put back in to the truck! I was blown away!

If you have had this Service Campaign done on your truck, please look at the filer. I do not see how the foam filter they installed could be any different then the foam filer they took out.

Link to campaign:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10176699-9999.pdf

Link to Uni filter mod video:
https://youtu.be/XO5d4MqZu5I

Photo of my "new" filter:

 

I had my airpump serviced by the dealership last year as a result of an error code the truck kept throwing. They fixed the issue based on the service campaign you described. One year later, I'm getting the same error.

I wonder if it's that foam filter you found that is causing the issue? Might take it apart and see what's going on in there.

@cfayne did you put your uni back on? Did you remove the crappy OEM foam filter completely?

 

Yeah, it's less a recall than it is a replacing it for a new unit. The same issue is going to bite everyone in the ass within a few yrs. In recalls like this, it's typically cheaper to replace units with existing units than to redesign and introduce a new spare part into the suply chain for a vehicle that hasn't been made in 6 years.

But yeah, some people have been buying broken air pumps on ebay for ~50 bucks, installing them, and then taking their vehicles to the dealership.

This way, they get a spare air pump if it ever happens again and they don't want to pay $500 for a new one and the $500 in labor to replace it.

If you give them a broken pump, you wouldn't have to worry about them taking your unifilter. And if they take it, just ask for all the original parts before you hand off the vehicle for the recall work, they have to give the parts back to you.

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Some analysis on the "air pump".

It's actually a blower with a ceramic wheel mounted on an standard electric 12VDC motor. If pebbles, sand, and/or other debris fall inside, or the foam debris falls into the blower assy, it could crack the blower wheel and/or cause it to stall. If that happens, the motor will burn up, and boom, xmas lights.

My truck is 9 years old with 50k miles, the foam that came w/ the original pump is completely intact and has no issues. I also stuffed a cut up piece of blue shop towel in front of the foam to prevent additional debris from coming into the unit about 6 years ago, this *has* to significantly reduce airflow. This leads me to believe that there is no air volume metering, it just verifies to see if a) the injection valve functions and b) if the "pump" motor spins freely (only 2 wires).