11-25-2009, 02:07 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
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replace accelerator pedals on 3.8 million recalled vehicles
Has anyone figured out why Tacoma's are being recalled and not 4Runners?
I have both and the gas pedal/mat deal looks identical to me.
I don't think I want them to chop off my gas pedal and remove carpet foam anyway but I was just curious.
Quote:
WASHINGTON - Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will replace accelerator pedals on 3.8 million recalled vehicles in the United States to address problems with the pedals becoming jammed in the floor mat.
As a temporary step, Toyota will have dealers shorten the length of the gas pedals beginning in January while the company develops replacement pedals for their vehicles, the Transportation Department and Toyota said. New pedals will be available beginning in April, and some vehicles will have brake override systems installed as a precaution.
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, announced the massive recall in late September and told owners to remove the driver’s side floor mats to prevent the gas pedal from potentially becoming jammed.
“The safety of our owners and the public is our utmost concern and Toyota has and will continue to thoroughly investigate and take appropriate measures to address any defect trends that are identified,“ Toyota said in a statement.
Popular vehicles such as the Toyota Camry, the top-selling passenger car in America, and the Toyota Prius, the best-selling gas-electric hybrid, are part of the recall. It includes the 2007-10 model year Camry, 2005-10 Toyota Avalon, 2004-09 Prius, 2005-10 Toyota Tacoma, 2007-10 Toyota Tundra, 2007-10 Lexus ES350 and 2006-10 Lexus IS250/350.
On Tuesday, Toyota announced a recall of 110,000 Tundra trucks from the 2000-03 model years to address excessive rust on the vehicle’s frame.
The recall involving the accelerators was Toyota’s largest in the U.S. It was prompted by a high-speed crash in August involving a 2009 Lexus ES350 that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family near San Diego. The Lexus hit speeds exceeding 120 mph, struck a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.
A family member in the runaway Lexus made a frantic 911 call moments before the crash, telling emergency responders that the accelerator was stuck and the driver couldn’t stop the car. The call ended as someone was overheard urging others to hold on and pray, followed by a woman’s scream.
In Japan, Toyota President Akio Toyoda called the fatal crash “extremely regrettable” and offered his “deepest condolences” to the California family.
Investigators with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration determined that a rubber all-weather floor mat found in the wreckage was slightly longer than the mat that belonged in the vehicle, and could have snared or covered the accelerator pedal.
The government has attributed at least five deaths and two injuries to floor mat-related unintended acceleration in the Toyota vehicles and has received reports of more than 100 incidents in which the accelerator may have become stuck. A Massachusetts-based safety consultant who has investigated the Toyota cases, however, has found more than 2,000 incidents involving 16 deaths and 243 injuries potentially tied to the Toyota gas pedals.
To fix the problem, Toyota and the government said dealers will shorten the length of the accelerator pedal on the recalled vehicles and in some cases remove foam from beneath the carpeting near the pedal to increase the space between the pedal and the floor. They said owners of the ES350, Camry and Avalon would be the first to receive notification because the vehicles are believed to have the highest risk for pedal entrapment.
Toyota plans to install a brake override system on the Camry, Avalon and Lexus ES350, IS350 and IS250 models as an “extra measure of confidence,“ Toyota and NHTSA said. The brake override system, commonly called a “smart brake,“ will ensure the vehicle will stop if both the brake and the accelerator pedals are applied simultaneously.
Toyota also plans to make the brake override system standard equipment throughout the Toyota and Lexus lineup starting with January 2010 production of the ES350 and Camry. Most new models will get the equipment by the end of 2010.
Dealers will be instructed on how to modify the pedals before the end of the year and will begin shortening the accelerators in 2010. New replacement pedals are expected to be available for some models beginning in April and will be provided even if the vehicles have already received a modified pedal under the recall.
The automaker and government regulators have been discussing a potential fix for several weeks. In late September, Toyota announced the recall and told owners to remove driver’s side floor mats and not replace them until the company had determined a remedy for the problem. The automaker said unhooked floor mats or replacement mats stacked on top of the originals could lead to stuck accelerators.
In early November, Toyota issued a statement saying NHTSA had confirmed “that no defect exists in vehicles in which the driver’s floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured.“
But in a rare rebuke, NHTSA accused Toyota of releasing misleading information about the recall, saying removing the mats did not “correct the underlying defect.“ Toyota said it was not the company’s intention to mislead anyone.
If a vehicle accelerator pedal becomes stuck and a driver can’t dislodge it, Toyota advises drivers to press on the brake with both feet and then shift the vehicle into neutral, which will disengage the transmission. The automaker says drivers should continue braking until the vehicle comes to a stop.
A driver can also try shutting off the engine or turning the key to the “ACC” position on the ignition. Drivers will not lose control of the steering or the brakes. But once the vehicle is turned off the driver won’t have the benefit of power brakes or power steering. For vehicles that have a start/stop button for the
engine, drivers are advised to hold the button for three seconds to turn it off.
For more information, owners can contact Toyota at 800-331-4331 or the NHTSA hot line at 888-327-4236.
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Vaughn
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11-25-2009, 08:56 PM
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#2
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I was curious also. Have a '07 4Runner and a '02 Tacoma PreRunner. Both have the floor mat hook. ?
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11-26-2009, 12:22 AM
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#4
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haha, why did some ding-bat make a 911 phone call while the gas pedal was stuck to the floor? Just turn off the engine with the key and coast to a stop. Morons.... 
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11-26-2009, 10:15 AM
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#5
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Not to make light of the floor mat accelerator problems and the resulting deaths, but my ex-wife had the opposite problem with her 1993 Corolla (which she owned from '92 until '95).
She was complaining that the car had no power and was not running very well. I told her I would look at it after work, and of course had thought she accidentally put diesel fuel in the tank or something like that.
I drove it and it was sluggish and the auto trans would not 'kick down' when the gas pedal was pushed. Well - Duh! - the had the floor mat up under the back of the accelerator; thus enabling it to only go down about 1/3 of the way. LOL! LOL!
That was funny......but it stumped her for a day or two before I pulled out the floor mat and re-attached the grommet to the little hook in the carpet. No doubt a blonde moment!
P.S. That's almost as stupid as the time I locked the doors of my car when at work (in the 'hood) but left my right-rear window down.
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11-26-2009, 01:46 PM
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#6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zimm
haha, why did some ding-bat make a 911 phone call while the gas pedal was stuck to the floor? Just turn off the engine with the key and coast to a stop. Morons.... |
Not knowing all the facts, it is hard to make any rash judgments about what actually happened. But, I am curious why a State Trooper (according to the news reports I read), wasn't able to react to the situation in a better manner that what appears to be the case. I would suggest that while turning off the key, might be one response, putting the vehicle in neutral and coming to a safe stop should be the more sensible reaction. Yes, it would allow the engine to free-rev, and possibly damage it. But, you would still have brake and steering control, and once you were stopped, then shut off the engine. I would rather take a chance on sacrificing the engine instead of myself and my passengers. Just my humble opinion.
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11-26-2009, 02:54 PM
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#7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TechWrench
Not knowing all the facts, it is hard to make any rash judgments about what actually happened. But, I am curious why a State Trooper (according to the news reports I read), wasn't able to react to the situation in a better manner that what appears to be the case. I would suggest that while turning off the key, might be one response, putting the vehicle in neutral and coming to a safe stop should be the more sensible reaction. Yes, it would allow the engine to free-rev, and possibly damage it. But, you would still have brake and steering control, and once you were stopped, then shut off the engine. I would rather take a chance on sacrificing the engine instead of myself and my passengers. Just my humble opinion.
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 totally
driving is about 80% common sense and only 20% skill
and there's not much common sense out there
it makes me sick that a few person's ignorance can spark millions of dollars worth of recalls from the worlds biggest auto manufacturer. Toyota will not loose millions, if not, billions of dollars because people are stupid. Unacceptable. If you had enough time to accellerate to 120mph and call 911, you had enough time to hit neutral and turn the key off.
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11-26-2009, 03:07 PM
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#8
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Way back in the day I had a 1989 Ford Escort GT. One day I was getting on the freeway and the floor mat (Ford OEM) some how rolled up under and around the gas pedal and got stuck. For a split second I panicked as the car was excelerating quickly when I did not want it to. After saying "W-T-H" I just put it in the clutch and pulled onto the shoulder. As the engine hit the rev limiter I just turned it off. After finding out that I could not quickly fix the floor mat I just tossed it in the back and drove on normally.
My point is this defect is not limited to Toyota and nothing new. Unless its something else like something in the drive by wire system and the car literally takes over its really not a defect but user negligence. After my incident I routinely inspect my floor mats and will replace them when they decide to curl up.
It might also be time that traffic schools get updated. Learning to parallel park is not nearly as important as how to deal with real emergency situations. Pilots are trained to be calm and cool and deal with many situations that could be deadly but end up not being a big deal at all. No reason why the same can't be done to most drivers.
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11-27-2009, 03:38 PM
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#9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ran
I was curious also. Have a '07 4Runner and a '02 Tacoma PreRunner. Both have the floor mat hook. ?
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Toyota has denied that it has anything to do with the drive by wire system. But if it does, then my guess would be the difference in the electronics. My '05 Tacoma has Delco (yup, the supplier for GM) parts for ABS, A/C, etc., and the 4Runner has Denso and Aisin components. That would be my guess IF there is an issue with the drive by wire system. However this doesn't explain the issue in the '04-09 Prius.
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11-28-2009, 12:30 PM
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#10
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There's more to the story then just floor mats. How does Toyota explain sudden acceleration when all floor mats have been removed? There have been many cases of those as well apparently.
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11-28-2009, 02:10 PM
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#11
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Junior Member
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Here's pictures of both
2009 Tacoma mat...
2007 4Runner mat...
Not much difference that I can see.
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'07 Black SR5 4Runner
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11-28-2009, 05:41 PM
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#12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zimm
haha, why did some ding-bat make a 911 phone call while the gas pedal was stuck to the floor? Just turn off the engine with the key and coast to a stop. Morons.... |
There is no key in an ES350 it is one of those push button setups that you have to hold down for 3 seconds to turn off the car. Lot of time at 120mph.
Still doesn't stop you from shifting into neutral
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12-02-2009, 10:15 AM
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#13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LINY4Runner
it makes me sick that a few person's ignorance can spark millions of dollars worth of recalls from the worlds biggest auto manufacturer. Toyota will not loose millions, if not, billions of dollars because people are stupid. Unacceptable. If you had enough time to accellerate to 120mph and call 911, you had enough time to hit neutral and turn the key off.
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Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!
This society not only protects the stupid from the consequences of their actions, it actually nurtures, encourages & coddles them. This trend is profoundly evident in everything from our legal systems to our welfare systems.
And until we stop doing so, we are going to keep accelerating on this downhill slide that we are on.
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