Toyota’s sticking accelerator recall remedy

By Tim Beissmann | February 02nd, 2010

Toyota has issued its plan to fix the 4.4 million vehicles recalled around the world with potential sticking accelerators.

The issue involves a friction device in the pedal designed to provide the proper “feel” by adding resistance and making the pedal steady and stable. The device includes a shoe that rubs against an adjoining surface during normal pedal operation.

Due to the materials used, wear and environmental conditions, Toyota says these surfaces may, over time, begin to stick and release instead of operating smoothly. In some cases, friction can increase to a point that the pedal is slow to return to the idle position or, in rare cases, the pedal sticks, leaving the throttle partially open.

Toyota’s solution for current owners is to install a precision-cut steel reinforcement bar into the assembly that will reduce the surface tension between the friction shoe and the adjoining surface. With this reinforcement in place, the excess friction that can cause the pedal to stick is eliminated.

President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, Tadashi Arashima, said the solution has been developed and rigorously tested by his engineers.

“We understand that the current situation is creating concerns, and we deeply regret it.

“At Toyota, we are fully committed to safety. We know what the problem is and how to fix it, so now our focus is to make that fix as quickly as possible. We will make the necessary checks to ensure future customers do not receive an affected vehicle,” Mr Arashima said.

The first shipments of parts required for this fix will begin arriving in Europe next week, while Toyota has already implemented an effective production solution for vehicles to be sold in Europe.

The official European recall list:

Aygo (Feb 2005 – Aug 2009)
iQ (Nov 2008 – Nov 2009)
Yaris (Nov 2005 – Sep 2009)
Auris (Oct 2006 – 5 Jan 2010)
Corolla (Oct 2006 – Dec 2009)
Verso (Feb 2009 – 5 Jan 2010)
Avensis (Nov 2008 – Dec 2009)
RAV4 (Nov 2005 – Nov 2009)

In addition, plans to contact the affected customers are currently being put into place.

Numbers of recalled vehicles are believed to be as high as 1.8 million in Europe, with another 2.3 million in the US, 270,000 in Canada, and 75,552 in China.

Toyota Motor Sales in the US is hoping to get all the recall repairs done within 90 days, planning multiple mailings as it aims for a 100 percent complete rate.

It said the repair will take around 30 minutes, will be at no cost to the owner, and said the pedal should feel exactly as it did before.

DipStiK

In an emergency when the throttle does stick, why not just put the transmission in Neutral and apply the brakes. I can not see how people are dieing from a simple stuck throttle. Pleas Explain !

fourl6

sitting at your computer desk with a few seconds to think is very different to sitting in a car heading around a corner in a car that seems to be accelerating by it self, unfortunately not everyone has common scene/knowledge when it comes to things like this…

Car Enthusiast

I understand what your saying, but seriously it shouldn’t be that hard.

I mean their’s more than just one way to stop a car in a situation like this.

You can just hold the clutch all the way in and jump on the brakes, jump on the brakes and turn the car off (leave ignition partially open), put the car into neutral, put ur foot behind the accelerator and pull/ flick it back up, or change to a much higher gear (for example if your in 2nd or 3rd wen the accelerator/ car starts to accelerate, put it straight into 6th which will buy you a fair bit of thinking time, and the car will take much longer to pick up speed)or you can ease on the Handbrake until the car slows down, comes to a stop.

In situations like these Your actions should be instictive, and you shouldn’t take to much time to think.

This is why i recon Advanced driver training should be compulsory/ highly recommended before getting your P’s and the same should go for all other drivers
Dave

These people should not be behind the wheel of an automobile if they don’t understand the basics first. Most of these situations have not been in “hairpin turns” They couldn’t put the car in neutral, or didn’t they know that’s what the big N is for? I hate to say it, but perhaps this is a way of cleaning the very over chlorinated gene pool! These same people reproduce and walk among us! They are clueless! I have no doubt as to why this world is in the shape it’s in. Yes, Toyota should do something to fix the accelerator problem, but they cannot fix stupid! Perhaps they should sue the state which gave them the driver’s license too? After all they never showed them that, right? Please people! If you die from an abrupt case of stupidity, don’t try and sue someone else for it!

Mad Max

So your an inexperianced driver or an elderly driver with slower reflexes, driving on a winding road, come to a hair-pin bend and the throtle sticks. You then have to realise whats happend, throw it into neutral while negotiating the bend? I don’t think so! Even an experianced driver would struggle. No the simple solution is Toyota stops building cars with issues like this.

dan

No Australian vehicles affected so who cares?

Joe Graham

I purchased a new Rav4 Cruiser in mid 2006 and disposed of it mid 2008 after experiencing 13 instances of the engine overreving (5000rpm) without any contact with the accelerator pedal.Toyota progressively replaced the Accelerator Pedal Sensor, the Throttle Body Assembly and finally the Engine Control Unit. The problem persisted and the vehicle was taken to Brisbane for intensive testing over several weeks which failled to disclose the cause of the problem.
Can we be sure that the sticking accelerator pedal problem does not apply to Australian vehicles? Perhaps this is the answer to to the problem that caused me (and my wife) so much anxiety over 2 years as well as considerable inconvenience and financial loss.

Phill

Seems like an unsafe design to start with.
Save it for the track

I agree, the mind numbingly, sleep inducing design is unsafe. Driver fatigue through lack of driving dynamics….
ABMPSV

Toyota recalls to continue in the Japanese car-maker on Wednesday announced a 50 thousand Sequoia calls off-road back to the United States. In a somewhat absurd situation, since the 2003 model year sport jeeps made a failure, due to the possibility to come in, the vehicle may cause an unexpected slowdown. The problem of electronic stability control (ESC) is caused by disorder.
Fabian

I just had the “sticky accelerator” experience and I don’t think I will ever be able to drive a Toyota again until they fix it for good. I got the scare of my life. I was lucky to be driving slowly and arriving into a corner, I put the car in neutral and slowly touch the breaks (I don’t remember if I touch the breaks first or put it into neutral first, I always do that as I drive my automatic car as if it was a manual). That’s when it happened. The accelerator went full on, I immediately turned off the engine and moved the car to the side of the road, called the police and explained what happened.
How can Toyota be able to keep selling these cars knowing that it is happening? How irresponsible!! And how can the aussie government allows this to happen? Nobody thinks it is happening? I hate to say it but from now on I am buying “whatever brand” but not a Toyota.
Now the fun starts, I will go to talk to toyota tomorrow and try to get the car returned (I just bought it 10 days ago…)