Gojirra99

TORRANCE, Calif., July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Sales (TMS),
U.S.A., Inc., will launch a voluntary Special Service Campaign with the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to replace the
crankshaft position sensor on certain 2001 through early 2002 model year
Echo and Prius vehicles. The connector for the crankshaft position sensor
may become disconnected.

The campaign, which does not involve any hybrid components, involves
approximately 34,700 vehicles (26,200 Echo and 8,500 Prius) in the U.S.
There have been no reported cases of accidents or injuries related to the
affected vehicles, and no cases of this condition have been reported to
Toyota in the U.S.

In certain 2001 through early 2002 model year Echo and Prius vehicles,
due to improper molding of the resin body of the crankshaft position
sensor, engine oil may penetrate the seal and enter the connector. In
addition, the shape of the locking tab to secure the sensor's wire-harness
connector may be improper. In this condition, the oil may expand due to
heat from the engine and deform the connector, as well as create pressure
on the locking tab causing the crankshaft position sensor to become
disconnected. In the worst case, if the crankshaft position sensor becomes
disconnected while the vehicle is being driven, the engine will stall and
will be unable to restart.

Toyota will notify owners of the involved vehicles via first class mail
beginning in late-July. Owners are requested to contact their local Toyota
dealer for diagnosis and repair upon receiving their notification.
Replacement will be done at no charge to the owners of the vehicle.

Customers with questions or concerns should contact the Toyota Customer
Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.

Public Web Site: http://www.toyota.com

jrock65

What is the difference between a "Special Service Campaign" and a recall?

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

recall involves the vehicles safety and is mandatory to replace, I would thing a Technical Service Bulletin and SSC are the same, however a recall is the more major one

GS69

Toyota Recalls Vehicles Over Faulty Engine Part
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota (TM) said Tuesday it is recalling about 420,000 vehicles globally, including some Echo and Prius models sold in the USA, over a faulty engine part.

The faulty part is the latest in a string of problems requiring recalls by Toyota, raising doubts over whether the automaker can maintain quality standards amid booming sales.

The recall affects about 150,000 cars sold overseas, mainly in the United States and Canada, Toyota spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said. These autos were manufactured in 2001.

In the United States, 24,490 cars sold under the name Echo and Yaris, as well as 8,476 Prius vehicles are affected by the recall, she said.

In Japan, the recall affects 268,570 vehicles sold across 12 models also manufactured in 2001, including Corollas, the compact cars Vitz and Platz and the hybrid Prius, the company said in a statement submitted to Japan's Transport Ministry.

A faulty engine part could lead to an oil leak in the engine and cause it to stop, the statement said. There have been no accidents blamed on the fault, according to Toyota.

Also Tuesday, Toyota subsidiary Hino Motors recalled 1,913 trucks across five 2004-05 models, also due to engine problems.

The engines of an additional 10,310 Toyota and Hino trucks manufactured in 2003-05 may have faulty turbine blades, the two companies said. The trucks will be repaired for free though the fault isn't serious enough to meet Japan's recall standards.

The recalls come after police investigated three Toyota officials on suspicion of professional negligence in allegedly shirking recalls for eight years and not fixing a defect that may have caused an accident.

Five people were injured in a crash in 2004 in southern Japan when steering failed in a 1993 Toyota Hilux Surf sport-utility vehicle, causing it to swing out of control. Toyota had received five reports of problems with the steering by 1996, but no recall was made until 2004, the company said.

The investigation was another embarrassment for Toyota, whose once impeccable image has been tarnished by a number of recalls.

Earlier this month, the company recalled 367,500 Toyota and Lexus sport-utility vehicles in the USA because a piece in the front console area could come loose and interfere with the gas pedal.

Toyota has been reporting booming sales in recent years and is growing so rapidly some analysts expect it to overtake struggling General Motors (GM) as the world's biggest automaker in coming years.

videcormeum

Where does the engineering, design and assembly of the majority of these vehicles take place? US or Japan?

M.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

with as many cars toyota produces vs recalled, i bet the ratio is still far ahead of other companies

LexusLuver

Toyota is ahead in recalls compared to GM, but these recalls don't necessarily reflect reliability

GS69

Toyota Vows to Step Up Quality; Has No Interest in GM Deal
Posted 7/20/2006 10:59 AM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this Subscribe to stories like this
By Chang-Ran Kim, Reuters
TOKYO — Toyota, plagued by a rise in vehicle recalls and facing a legal probe into past recall practice, vowed Thursday to step up quality efforts, saying this is imperative to ensure continued growth.

Japan's top automaker, which has built its reputation on offering safe and reliable cars at reasonable prices, has recalled more than one million vehicles in Japan so far this year, and on Wednesday issued a recall of some 400,000 SUVs in the United States, its single-biggest market.

In a first for the company, Toyota is also being criminally investigated by prosecutors in Kumamoto, southern Japan, over whether its quality-control managers had wrongfully delayed a recall that could have prevented a road accident in 2004 that injured a couple and their three young children.

"The world-class quality that we've built is our lifeline," President Katsuaki Watanabe told a mid-year news conference dominated by questions over Toyota's recent quality woes.

"There will be no growth without an improvement in quality. This is the biggest task that this management team must undertake," he said.

Commenting on a possible three-way alliance between Nissan-Renault and GM, Watanabe said Toyota is not studying ways to join that partnership, saying that it wants to keep its current relationship with the troubled U.S. automaker.

"We view GM as a great entity, from which we have a lot to learn," Watanabe said, adding Toyota wants to maintain its 22-year-old, California car assembly plant, which it operates with GM.

"We want to keep this relationship going."

Vehicle recalls have been on the rise at most automakers as they use common components across more models to save costs, and pile on advanced features requiring more electronics parts to add value to their products.

"Given our rapid expansion, there is a need to strengthen the various quality processes," Masatami Takimoto, one of two executive vice presidents overseeing quality at Toyota, said.

At a separate briefing earlier, Takimoto noted that Toyota had last year set up a new division dedicated to gathering information on glitches from users more swiftly.

Another measure, taken in June last year, would enable the company to keep data on vehicles repaired after the period covered by warranty, he said.

Concerning the pending criminal case in Kumamoto, Toyota executives repeated the company's position that all decisions taken in that case were sound, but apologised for shaking up customers' trust.

Japan's transport ministry, which had summoned Toyota's quality officials earlier on Thursday for a briefing on its recall process, said it would issue the company with a business improvement order on Friday morning after finding problems in its system of handling vehicle defects.

Despite such setbacks, Watanabe said Toyota was on track to meet its group-based global sales and production forecasts for 2006, of 8.85 million units and 9.06 million units, respectively — figures that could soon see it overtake General Motors as the world's biggest automaker.

In the United States, where Toyota was hit earlier this year by a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit, sales were likely to outperform the 2.46 million-unit target by "a few tens of thousands of units", an executive said, adding the lawsuit had no visible impact on consumers' purchasing decision.

In Japan, where demand for non-mini cars has been especially weak, Toyota stuck to its target of 1.78 million units this year, betting on support from the remodelling of the high-volume Corolla sedan and the flagship Lexus LS model in the fall.

Last month, rival Nissan said it could fall short of its domestic sales forecast as consumers shift to 660cc minicars — a market dominated by Suzuki and Daihatsu.