Stuck pedal found on 4runner. Not good..

[T4Fun]

"Now some Toyota drivers are worried about repeats of what happened last month to Michael Teston, a physical therapist from Maunelle, Ark. He was driving a 2006 Toyota 4-Runner -- a brand not included in the recall -- and pulling into a gas station when the car suddenly lunged forward.

"Fortunately, there was a large pole in front of me and it slammed into a pole," he said. "The back wheels were spinning wildly out of control. The back end was bouncing up and down."

Teston said he put the SUV into park, which disengaged the accelerator and caused the back wheel to stop spinning. He said the dealership ran tests on the vehicle but could not find the problem.

Now he is awaiting further direction from Toyota. Because he refused to drive the vehicle back from the dealership, the dealership arranged to send someone to drop the it off at his house, and it is now sitting in his driveway. He said he has filed complaints with the Arkansas attorney general's office and with NHTSA.

"I was not going to drive it because it is a safety hazard," he said. "I think that Toyota should be ashamed of the way they have handled it and they should be held accountable for what they have done."



this is not encouraging at all. Perhaps I will wait until 2011 to purchase 4runner. Sucks.

Here is link

Dealers swamped by worried Toyota drivers - Yahoo! Finance

 

[jca21]

i drive on alot of logging roads and what not so i'd hate to get a stuck pedal while on one of those eh?

might just be a freak accident. :snacker:

 

[westwind77]

At least this guy had a brain, and actually used it! He actually shifted it into P! I can not believe the 911 call I heard with the person screaming about the car with accelerator stuck, seriously!?! Put the #%$^ SUV/CAR into NEUTRAL!!!! Yes, the engine may blow, but guess what, your head does not! Unless you are doing 75mph and 4' from the bumper in front of you, if your car 'takes off' you should be a skilled driver enough to shift it into N or turn the ignition off without a problem. If you are not I think your license should be pulled because I do not want you on the road with me.

If you recall the Firestone/Ford blow out issues with them rolling over, it was due to driver fault. You should know what to do in the event of a blow out, and what NOT to do. A lot of people were doing the wrong things, causing the suv to roll and crash. I know it is not something you want to learn about or think you should but it could save your life. (yes I know it was firestones fault for the blow outs in the 1st places, but a blow out can happen for a number of other reasons too)

 

[M1911]

Yes, the engine may blow,

No it won't. Any vehicle with an electronic throttle also has a rev limiter.

Put both feet on the brake, shift into neutral, and steer towards the curb. Once stopped, turn off the ignition.

 

[war07eagle]

seriously, its regrettable that people died, but this should be a common sense reaction

 

[12guns]

Amen....It's terrible that people have been hurt and some died, however anybody w/ half a brain, no .25 of a brain could avoid any major accidents. Oh well.
How the heck could his 4runner rear wheel be spinning wildly enough to cause the rear end to bounce??? What about VSC and ATRAC! I would bet all my money there was and is nothing wrong w/ his vehicle. Just had a wreck and trying to blame it on Toyota.

 

[scottm]

I would bet all my money there was and is nothing wrong w/ his vehicle. Just had a wreck and trying to blame it on Toyota.

X2. Shades of Audi in the 80s, suddenly every accident was "unintended acceleration". After the headlines showed Audi losing their case in court, Audi proved there was no way this could possibly happen the way it was claimed, but the press didn't find that court decision newsworthy. The good thing was that cheap, fast sedans could be purchased by young and foolish drivers like me!
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Since all 4Runners have been built in Japan, they have Denso pedals, not the Canadian ones that have failed.
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[puk]

At least this guy had a brain, and actually used it! He actually shifted it into P! I can not believe the 911 call I heard with the person screaming about the car with accelerator stuck, seriously!?! Put the #%$^ SUV/CAR into NEUTRAL!!!! Yes, the engine may blow, but guess what, your head does not! Unless you are doing 75mph and 4' from the bumper in front of you, if your car 'takes off' you should be a skilled driver enough to shift it into N or turn the ignition off without a problem. If you are not I think your license should be pulled because I do not want you on the road with me.

If you recall the Firestone/Ford blow out issues with them rolling over, it was due to driver fault. You should know what to do in the event of a blow out, and what NOT to do. A lot of people were doing the wrong things, causing the suv to roll and crash. I know it is not something you want to learn about or think you should but it could save your life. (yes I know it was firestones fault for the blow outs in the 1st places, but a blow out can happen for a number of other reasons too)

He would have put it in neutral but he had one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around his cell phone. Social Darwinisim at work. In his defense, though, that 911 call was attributed to an incompatible floor mat. What needs to be said is " what is the real issue with the accelerator? " Is it CTS or Toyota?

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

You know that this guy was on good mourning America. it was a white 4runner sport ed. and I remember the lady said that it was a highlander. (OUCH my truck was pissed) and today there was more recals extended to the Europe market. all of this stuff reminded me of the same issues in 2003-2004. If any of you know about diesel trucks remember Ford in late 2002-2003? the 6.0 PSD had a few problems (I got an 06) but mostly those cab on chassis ambulances and some patients died. well my point is Ford bought back those trucks and gave them new ones. My question is that why is toyota giving us THE PEOPLE making them number one the cold shoulder? my engineering ethics professor is having a field day with this.

 

[scottm]

My question is that why is toyota giving us THE PEOPLE making them number one the cold shoulder? my engineering ethics professor is having a field day with this.

Has your professor delved into the "unintended acceleration" lawsuits against Audi in the 80s? It nearly ruined the brand, even after Audi won on appeal. Everyone who had an accident tried to blame it on Audi, including people who killed their own children, it was very dramatic and emotional. The people aren't a particularly loyal bunch, Toyota is number one because they make a good vehicle.

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

Has your professor delved into the "unintended acceleration" lawsuits against Audi in the 80s? It nearly ruined the brand, even after Audi won on appeal. Everyone who had an accident tried to blame it on Audi, including people who killed their own children, it was very dramatic and emotional. The people aren't a particularly loyal bunch, Toyota is number one because they make a good vehicle.

Not completely remember I'm in a ethics class in order to be a member of the SAE. I do feel he is a bit biased and he owns a crew max tundra. seeing as we both own toyotas and mine not being on the recall he a bit flustered.

 

[scottm]

I guess ethics were assumed 20 years ago when I joined SAE.

You might Google the Audi thing, could be a good point of discussion. This could cost Toyota dearly, probably will regardless of their actions. Replacing cars for a bad pedal would most likely sink even Toyota. Replacing all the pedals will take time, CTS and Denso probably don't have the capacity to pump out several years worth of production of an improved pedal. It takes special machines to mold, assemble, and test assemblies like that. Even if they're only running at half-capacity, that's still a lot of pedals they'll need.

CTS has got to be worried, this is as ugly as it gets in the auto supply business.

 

[p nut]

From the story, it seems like it took him a while to figure out what was going on if the 4Runner had enough time to SLAM into a pole with the tires spinning out of control with the back end bouncing up and down. I could see if he was traveling at speed, it would only be a split second for him to slam into a pole with the wheels spinning wildly. But at a gas station? How fast are you going? 0-5MPH? Try stepping on your brake and punching the gas. You're NOT going to have enough force to SLAM into a pole. The guy is an idiot and probably stepped on the gas instead of the brake. Which is why Toyota found NOTHING. Either that or he's trying to collect on Toyota's vulnerable position.

Anyway, as far as the actual legitimate issue, I am going to make sure the gas pedal is made by Denso the next time I buy a Toyota. Or are they saying gas pedals are affected regardless of the manuf?

 

[tonyxcom]

He would have put it in neutral but he had one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around his cell phone. Social Darwinisim at work. In his defense, though, that 911 call was attributed to an incompatible floor mat. What needs to be said is " what is the real issue with the accelerator? " Is it CTS or Toyota?

I happen to know the guy that was on that cel phone and he was not the one driving.

The car was also a loaner car that was equipped with a push button start that was probably unfamiliar to the driver (didn't know that you need to hold it down for 3 seconds to turn off engine while moving). It's pretty easy to say he could have done this and he could have done that. I agree. And maybe he did. Nobody will ever know. He managed NOT to slam into dozens of cars for several miles and the fact that he managed that shows that he had his wits about him.

New Toyota's have electronic throttles. It is certainly possible that a lot of these incidents could be attributed to floormats. That is what Toyota has been blaming all of these incidents on.... UNTIL NOW. Now all of a sudden there is a problem with the throttle pedal itself.

Whats to say the problem isn't electrical. Would certainly explain the SUDDEN acceleration people describe. A stuck throttle doesn't explain that.

All I am saying is have a little decency. You weren't in that car on that day.

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

I guess ethics were assumed 20 years ago when I joined SAE.

You might Google the Audi thing, could be a good point of discussion. This could cost Toyota dearly, probably will regardless of their actions. Replacing cars for a bad pedal would most likely sink even Toyota. Replacing all the pedals will take time, CTS and Denso probably don't have the capacity to pump out several years worth of production of an improved pedal. It takes special machines to mold, assemble, and test assemblies like that. Even if they're only running at half-capacity, that's still a lot of pedals they'll need.

CTS has got to be worried, this is as ugly as it gets in the auto supply business.

I should bring that up in class. thanks! correct me if i'm wrong but weren't audi engines burning up, if you will, on highways in the same time period? thats what I know/heard about foreign cars in the 70s-80s. your a member of SAE cool. I'm trying to be a mechanical engineer hopefully in the racing area of the automotive world (Formula D, F1, JGTC, etc.

 

[teampwr2]

I think the guy Just Pushed on the gas by mistake and was embarresed and said the pedal got stuck ..perfect timing. thats why they will never find out what was wrong .

 

[Uneek]

You know that this guy was on good mourning America. it was a white 4runner sport ed. and I remember the lady said that it was a highlander. (OUCH my truck was pissed) and today there was more recals extended to the Europe market.

I wouldn't expect the media to know their cars. They interviewed a lady who owned a second gen Sequoia that the expanded recall covers and both her and the reporter called it a Tundra. The best part of it all was the camera panned around with a picture of the back that said "SEQUOIA" on it and they continued to call it a Tundra.

 

[TThomas]

There will be alot of people jumping on the bandwagon when they have an accident now.... No way of telling who is telling the truth, especialy with the media....

Toyota is a very good company and they will fix any problem if there is one... They will handle what ever they need too.... and i'm sure they will get through it just fine.... They build quailty vehicles and been around for a long while and this sure will not make me go out and buy another car....

Remeber the head gasket recall.... They were commented to it and handled it like professoinals....

 

[dmorel]

Not exactly a stuck gas pedal, but something closely related. One morning last week when I went out to start the vehicle it did something that scared the s&%t out of me and the lady that was walking down the street in front of my house. When starting the engine it made a weird kinda noise (not the usual turning over noise) and it raced up to about 6-7000 rpms and shuddered violently. Immediately turned it off. Waited a couple of seconds. Tried it again. Same thing happened. Tried a third time and it started normally. Took it to the dealership (all the while keeping my hand on the gearshift, ready to shift it to neutral) to report the problem to have them check the computer to see if it had stored any codes that would possibly explain what happened. No codes were stored and they couldn't duplicate the problem. Said they'd send the report off to Toyota HQ and would get back to me if and when they heard anything.

Just more evidence that I really don't think the gas pedals are the only culprit. I never touched the accelerator pedal. Gotta be a computer problem.

 

[scottm]

Just more evidence that I really don't think the gas pedals are the only culprit. I never touched the accelerator pedal. Gotta be a computer problem.

This is a potentially devastating problem for Toyota, no way they'll get away with hiding it or pretending it's something else. They have to fix the problem ASAP, and it's pretty easy to verify if it's a failure in the pedal mechanism. Telling everyone it's a CTS problem when it's a computer problem would destroy whatever credibility they have left, they won't do that.

80-series Land Cruisers have had a problem with revving on start. Cleaning the throttle body and a hose to the crankcase seems to fix it. That hose plugs up with carbon/oil deposits over time, and the grunge gets into the intake. The throttle and computer are doing what they're designed and programmed to do, but the system is not in a normal state. Maybe unrelated to your situation, but just an example that your problem could be completely unrelated to a widespread and systemic problem at Toyota Corp.