Toyota to replace 3.8M gas pedals

Um, no. Informed opinions are worthwhile, even invaluable.

Content-free, erroneous speculations such as your last post are not.

Cheers!

 

There is one who commented on this story of a local television web page he is almost 99% correct the gas pedal length nor the floor mat is the problem. The problem is the Throttle Control Module. Stated some 19 incidents of sticking throttle killing people in Toyota products in the last few years. I am unsure when Toyota went to Throttle by wire in place of a throttle cable or linkage, this person might be onto to something.

 

Well, one persons informed opinion is another’s worthless opinion. My original point was simple. Why take your truck in to have the gas pedal chopped and the carpet pad trimmed on a non existent problem. Toyota originally stated there is no problem as long as the mats are installed correctly. Nuff said.

 

But CometKat, I can no longer install my mat properly! As I stated in my post, the mat anchor/hook broke! I can't anchor that mat anymore.

 

^And so they recommend removing the mat.

I agree with that. I'll get the pedal replacement done but there's no way in hell they're taking a hacksaw to my pedal and a razor knife to my carpet. Not gonna happen.

 

If it is just the plastic hook piece you should be able to get a replacement at the dealer for a few bucks. If the receiver ring has pulled out of the carpet then you can do the Toyota zip tie fix.

 

I just feel like buying the weather tech mats and calling it good.

 

So maybe this is off topic but...

How can I cleanly remove the little tabs that are supposed to hold my mats in place? I use aftermarket mats that don't line up with those little things and want the outta there.

The mats is long and extends far past the edge of the pedal. There is nothing for the pedal to get lodged against so I am not worried about the "possible" problem.

 

It really is pretty easy. Mine broke off flush with the floor after I removed the mat and drove it for a few days. I bet you could take a good pair of scissors to it.

 

It's easy.... you just pop them up thru the hole in the carpet. They're not attached to anything. They should pop right up - atleast mine did.

 

Toyota dealers can use existing tools for pedal fix
Chrissie Thompson
Automotive News
November 25, 2009 - 8:19 am ET
UPDATED: 11/25/09 4:21 p.m. ET

Toyota and Lexus dealers will be able to use existing tools to quickly
reshape accelerator pedals on 3.8 million vehicles involved in Toyota
Motor Corp.'s largest U.S. recall, a spokesman said.

Spelling out fixes today for a planned recall announced in late
September, Toyota said it would reconfigure the shape of accelerator
pedals to reduce the risk that they may be jammed in the floor mat and
cause unintended acceleration. In addition, Toyota will replace both
first- and second-generation original-equipment floor mats with a pair
of redesigned mats on the seven affected vehicle lines.

Reshaping the pedals is a temporary fix until replacement pedals
become available -- roughly in April, although exact timing will vary
by vehicle model, Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said. Customers who
initially have their pedals reshaped will then have the option of
having them replaced.

Dealers will receive a template, or "jig," next month, along with
instructions for fixing the pedals, Michels said. Customers will start
getting letters at the end of the year, and dealerships will begin
work in January.

The job involves removing the one-piece pedal assembly and cutting 20
millimeters, or three-fourths of an inch, off the bottom of the
pedal's face, Michels said. The width will also receive a small
adjustment.

"That's a simple matter," Michels said. "It doesn't affect any of the
pedal assembly."

The job shouldn't take much time and shouldn't require dealers to get
new tools, he said.

Toyota does not have an estimate of the total cost of the recall,
including paying dealerships for labor, Michels said.

The model years and vehicles involved are the 2004-2009 Prius; the
2005 to 2010 Avalon and Tacoma; the 2007-2010 Camry, Tundra and Lexus
ES 350; and the 2006 to 2010 Lexus IS 250 /IS 350.

As part of the action, Toyota will install a brake override system on
the involved Camry, Avalon, and Lexus ES 350, IS 350 and IS 250 models
"as an extra measure of confidence." The system will shut off engine
power if drivers press the accelerator pedal and brake pedal
simultaneously.

The automaker said it will send first-class letters to owners of the
Camry, ES 350, and Avalon by the end of the year. Owners of the five
other models will be notified throughout 2010.

Plan looks good

A former Toyota engineer who is now with automotive analysis firm
Edmunds.com said in a statement today that the solutions from the
recall should work.

"Our tests have confirmed that an out of position floor mat can cause
the throttle to stick because of the shape and geometry of the current
gas pedal," wrote Dan Edmunds. He served as senior chassis development
engineer for Toyota's Technical Center before joining Edmunds.com in
April 2006 as director of automotive testing.

"Temporarily shortening and replacing the accelerator pedals are
viable solutions to alleviate the problem," Edmunds wrote.

Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, announced plans for the recall
in late September, citing the risk that a loose floor mat could force
down the accelerator, a problem suspected of causing crashes that
killed five people. The recall is only in the United States. No
investigations into unintended accelerations in Toyota vehicles are
underway in Europe, Japan or China, Michels said today.

Toyota has said it has confidence the problem is linked to floor mats
and not a vehicle design flaw or problems related to braking, fuel or
accelerator systems.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said
discussions included "several vehicle-based" factors that may
contribute to pedal interference and a driver's ability to control and
stop the car when the accelerator gets stuck.
Toyota vs. NHTSA

Earlier this month, Toyota Executive Vice President Yukitoshi Funo
denied allegations the automaker tried to sidestep engineering or
design defects that led to the recall.

His comments came a day after NHTSA rebuked Toyota for issuing
"inaccurate and misleading information" about the safety recall, which
advised drivers to remove floor mats that may potentially jam
underneath the gas pedal and cause unintended acceleration.

A Toyota statement days earlier said NHTSA found "no defect exists in
vehicles with properly installed floor mats." In fact, NHTSA had said
Toyota vehicles have a "very serious defect."

The accelerator and floor design of the vehicles create "the potential
for entrapment of the accelerator by floor mats," said a statement by
NHTSA. It said removing the floor mats is only an interim solution
that does not correct the underlying defect.
Funo said Toyota had "no disagreement on this issue."

In early November, ABC News broadcast interviews with a number of
Toyota drivers who said their vehicles suddenly accelerated out of
control even though their foot depressed the brake and not the gas
pedal. ABC cited reports of 16 acceleration-related deaths and more
than 200 accidents.

The floor mat recall was prompted by an Aug. 28 accident involving a
runaway Lexus ES 350 in San Diego that killed four people.

Toyota in late October said it would begin sending letters to owners
urging them to remove the floor mats from their cars while the company
considers what to do to curb unintended acceleration problems.

 

I sure picked a great year to buy a new toy truck! They still haven't replaced my haunted radio, and now they want to replace my pedal.

I must say that I have been happy with toy trucks for 25 years and am still basically happy, and this will definitely not be my last Tacoma. It is my first recall, though.

 

This year my wife and I bought an '09 Tacoma and an '09 Lexus IS250. We really love both of those vehicles. (No real problems thus far.)

I've read about the August accident that killed the California family. It was a dealer loaner vehicle (ES 350) that had an oversized rubber floormat installed on the driver's side by the dealer. After the initial crash investigation, it was determined that the rubber mat appeared to get snarled around the gas pedal.

The original carpeted factory mats don't budge if they are installed properly. I guess I'll be waiting on an actual factory pedal replacement and/or mat before I allow any of them to start hacking up the carpet, etc., etc.

 

I just want to know what the new pedals and floor matts look like...
Then I will decide if I care...

 

I still haven't seen one story that definitively concluded the crash was caused by the rubber mat. Not one.

 

Not even the deer?????

 

and vice versa

 

Huh ?

 

I have not seen conclusions just possible causes.
Hard to find mats in firey crashes and supposed ECM gliches that can't be dupicated at the dealer or at Toyota mothership at this point.
I'm on the driver error side. And I define driver error as not properly securing the mats or having enough skills to react properly.

 

Well since the car was a loner from the dealer and from what I have read, the wrong mats were installed, it can hardly be the fault of the driver for not securing the mats.