Toyota Details Pedal Problem to Dealers; New Supplier Sought
By Michelle Krebs January 27, 2010Dealers are receiving more detailed information from Toyota regarding the recall and sales suspension of the eight models with possible sticking 
accelerator pedals, a problem Toyota blames on a supplier.
Dealer sources have provided Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.com, with documents they received from Toyota Tuesday that provide more specifics on just which vehicles are or are not included in the lastest action, how to inspect the pedal for the supplier that produced its accelerator mechanism, and what dealers should do with the vehicles on their lots and brought in by customers.
Vehicles affected are equipped with an accelerator mechanism produced by an Elkhart, Indiana-based supplier, CTS Corp. Others equipped with a mechanism made by Japanese supplier Denso are not affected.
In the materials sent to dealers, Toyota says there is a "possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position."
Over time, some accelerator pedal mechanisms may become worn. One dealer source told Edmunds.com that it generally occurs when the vehicle has reached 38,000 miles on the odometer.
In addition to seeing the manufacturer's name on the mechanism, dealers can verify which vehicles are affected or not based on the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
Only Toyota-brand models are covered by the 2.3-million vehicle recall and suspension of sales and production. No Lexus and Scion models are included, as they use Denso parts. Dealers tell Edmunds.com that Toyota is seeking an alternate supply of the acceleration pedal parts.
Toyota emphasizes in the document that the incidents "are rare." In a Question and Answer document, Toyota says the number of incidents involving the condition remains under investigation, as are the number of accidents caused by the condition.
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Click here to comment on this entry.Huh? Didn't the first widely publicized incident that killed an off-duty state trooper (driver) and his family occur in a Lexus (and so its Denso part)? And pedals stuck mid-way but returning slowly doesn't match the multiple stories of runaway high speed.
Wasn't there a nearly 4 minute 911 call for the off-duty state trooper and family in the Lexus?? Seems like the pedal would've had to be jammed to the floor for the vehicle to hit 100+mph speeds and to overpower the brakes, as described, if it were a mechanical issue. If the pedal were jammed to the floor, wouldn't something like that have probably come up in the 911 call?? Perhaps the problem is in the drive-by-wire software and this whole thing is a PR distraction and Toyota found a scapegoat.
The NHSTA memorandum on the crash reported that the gas pedal was fused with the floor mat, which was the wrong mat for the car and not properly secured. Also, the gas pedal assembly was removed from the vehicle, tested, and found to be working properly.
We may simply have two separate and unrelated problems here. One the fault of humans involving the use of floor mats, the other a defective gas pedal assembly.
So a state trooper didn't think to check the pedal which in Toyota's version of the story was apparently weighed down by a 50 lb floormat? How many cars in history have been reported
as runaways from a floormat stealthily jamming a pedal?
The State Trooper, having been thoroughly trained in high speed driving and emergency procedures, of all people should have had the presence of mind to simply turn off the ignition. This was tragic and likely could have been prevented.
On ANY car, light truck, or SUV, by turning the ignition switch back *one notch* will immediately stop the engine while retaining steering and braking albeit with higher non-assisted effort.
A typical passenger car or light truck has an average of 14,000 parts. Some are defective by design, some by material, some by improper assembly or installation. No vehicle is immune.
When we start out in our cars we assume these risks even though we don't always think about it.
Shutting off the engine would cause loss of power steering and any power brake assist. Plus reports said the Lexus was a keyless start requiring a complex, non-intuitive technique for shutting off the engine via the start button. The correct procedure is to attempt to put the transmission in neutral.
Although you're correct that a manufacturing or design defect can occur in any product, the expectation is that the manufacturer deal with it quickly and forthrightly. There have been complaints on this for how long now and yet Toyota tries to game the PR with "faulty floormats" vs aggressively going after the problem.
Plus it's reported Toyota have steadfastly refused to let NHTSA or anyone else outside of Toyota examine the source code of the drive by wire, as well as any default fail-safe (eg pressure on accelerator pedal and brake reduces engine to idle)
Let me state again that the ES has, in addition to a push-button start that requires an over-3-second push to turn off the engine, a manumatic gate to the LEFT of the regular gate. So designed, the N for neutral ends up DIRECTLY BESIDE the upshift gate, so it's quite possible the trooper TRIED to put the car in Neutral, but instead forced an upshift or had no effect, regardless of what actually caused the car to accelerate.
Actually 1.7 million vehicles are invloved in both the floor mat recall and the current recall for the "sticky pedal" Not sure of the model s that are involved in noth recalls probably the Camry would be one.
I have heard that Ford uses "CTS" pedals in some kind of Chinese joint venyure and that Ford is stopping production of those cars in China with the CTS pedals. CTS clamims its Toyota's design of the pedals that is at fault for the recall. I believe CTS is right about the Toyota "faulty" design of these pedals.
I personally wouldn;t trust a Toyota vehicle now because of the whole sludge earlier this decade which invloved Toyota/Lexus vehicles made in the late 90's/early 00's era and now this. I rather buy Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, or Ford and avoid these problems.
This will teach other automakers not too take stuff granted and too making a solid car on the plant line. I mean look at many sales Toyota is gonna lose because of this. GM and Ford are offering a 1,000 dollar rebate too Toyota customers.
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