Nice New Toyotas

The car manufacturer Toyota is not having a good year so far is it? And it’s only February! Several million Toyota cars had been warned and then recalled about a floor mat issue that caused the gas pedal to get caught. Then the recall was expanded to more models and years plus the public was informed it was more than a floor mat issue; it was mechanical.

Why did Toyota wait so long to tell the public the truth? By waiting to divulge that it wasn’t floor mats, but a mechanical part in the gas pedal they may very well have caused more injuries and lives to be lost. At least now they seem to be doing the right thing by getting all the cars in and fixed. But does this action come too late to restore the public’s confidence in Toyota?

By first saying the problem was a floor mat, and then identifying the problem as the gas pedal while expanding the recall, many Toyota owners have to be wondering if their car is safe or will it be recalled as well. Is Toyota sitting on another mechanical failure without telling anyone?

Well, it’s not looking to good because the Toyota Prius is the next Toyota car with problems showing up. There have been rumors and stories floating around the Internet that the new 2010 Toyota Prius has braking issues. Toyota states they have already fixed the problem in the cars on the production line, but they aren’t ready to do a recall yet. Why aren’t they doing a recall? Are they waiting for fatalities to pile up, as the case with the sticking gas pedal?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration isn’t very amused by Toyota’s handling of these recalls, and has issued a formal inquiry in to the 2010 Toyota Prius braking issues. The N.H.T.S.A. has only received 124 complaints but that number will no doubt climb much higher once more Prius owners realize that the braking system is indeed faulty and they aren’t crazy.

This is really turning into a public relations nightmare. Toyota has always been known for safety and reliability, but that is now turning rapidly into distrust and fear. The completely lack of concern over consumer’s lives, consumer’s that bought their cars, is chilling. Yes you’ll lose money in a recall, but aren’t human lives more important than money? I shudder to think at the answer Toyota would give at the moment.

Greetings fellow Toyota owners! Is your check engine light on? Do you have the famous p0440, p0441 or p0446 stored in your computer? Well you’re in luck! I am going to talk a little about this problem Toyota has been having, how to fix it, and how to prevent it from happening again.

Did you know that Toyota issued a Technical Service Bulletin issued for this problem? The Technical Service Bulletin simply goes into explaining that one or more of the above codes stored in the computer are due to an inoperative Canister Closed Vacuum Switching Valve. This TSB from Toyota allows the technician to quickly identify the problem so the tech can assign the correct fix. Or does it? Some of these Diagnostic trouble codes are fixed by replacing the Canister Closed Valve Vacuum Switching Valve (VSV valve) located on the air cleaner box, however most are not.

You see, all these codes are saying is that there is a leak in the Evaporative emission system. The evaporative emission control system prevents fuel vapors generated in the fuel tank from escaping into the atmosphere. These vapors are stored temporarily in the EVAP canister. When the vehicle is in operation, fuel vapors stored in the EVAP canister flow through the EVAP purge solenoid, purge port and intake manifold plenum to the combustion chamber and are burned in the combustion process. This increases gas mileage and decreases the emissions as well. The leak in the evap system could be anything from a loose or missing gas cap, to a stuck open purge valve.

This is where the diagnostics come into play. Many shops will just replace the vacuum switching valve as suggested in the TSB. But this may not take care of the problem. What many Toyota owners do not know, is that by topping of their tank after the gas pump has already stopped can cause serious problems in the evap system. When the gas tank is overfilled, the gas will actually back up and go into the evap system. Because the Evaporative Emission system is only designed to work with vapors, as soon as liquid gas enters the evap system, it starts to create problems immediately.

Another cause is when the charcoal in the Charcoal canister breaks apart and contaminates the whole system. This can happen with age as well as by overfilling your gas tank. The little charcoal bits will actually make their way from the rear of the vehicle by where the canister sits, to the front of the vehicle to the purge valve and the canister closed vacuum switching valve. When the computer opens and closes these valves, the charcoal bits will lodge into the all the valves in the system causing them to stick open when they are supposed to be closed. This is where the computer will recognize the leak in the evaporative emission system and flag your famous evap codes.

The fix: VSV valve. If the charcoal is breaking up in the canister, it will need to be replaced. It would be important to also replace the purge valve and canister vent shut valve as these are contaminated as well. Blowing compressed air through the lines will clean out any access derbies that will contaminate the system in the future.

So as you can see, this is a huge problem and Toyota is aware of it. Toyota has taken the right steps to fix this problem for the later generations models.

Trying to find the facts about how many Toyota cars have been involved in fatal accidents as a result of mechanical failure is next to impossible due to the many articles written by attorneys trying to get rich at Toyota’s expense. News stories looking for sensationalism instead of reporting facts are also in on the hoax.

It could be hundreds, thousands or even millions of Toyota owners who are at risk according to what’s on the internet.

In reality, only 8 out of 4,200,000 cars have had a major accident as a result of mechanical failure, but you can’t find that fact on the internet or even buried in the bottom of a news article.

News stories are confusing numbers of recalls with actual accidents. Recalls are issued to keep accidents from happening. They are issued to make sure the owner of the vehicle does not have a problem with their car in the future.

However, when a recall is reported as an accident and Toyota owners are reported as being up in arms because of their defective cars, a smear campaign is in progress and the truth is not being told.

As a 2008 Prius owner, my anger is not directed at Toyota, but at those telling half truths and blatant lies about the company. My anger is directed at lawyers trying to get rich quick by convincing Toyota owners to exaggerate or invent problems about their car to file a law suit.

What has happened to honesty in reporting? What has happened to integrity in this country?

Back off and let a good car company, Toyota, continue to set the record of excellence in production, performance and price, as well as, safety. Something Toyota has always done. Stop trying to smear a good name.

I turn on the news, and if I didn’t know any better, I would think Hollywood has launched a brilliant viral marketing campaign for its newest recycled horror film: The villain, a seemingly typical hybrid that refuses to listen to its driver or its own brake pads, a metaphor for our blind faith in the hybrid automotive industry; the victims, more than 8.5 million Toyota owners of such demonized machines worldwide, four of whom tragically meet their demise. Hey, it worked with a cell phone, right?

But reports from several independent agencies, as well as Toyota’s own investigation, seem to tell a strikingly different tale, one with all the embellishment, absurdity, and public interest of a prime-time reality show. More often than not, these reports find in such allegedly runaway Priuses – by far the most numerous of all runaways reported – that accidents were caused by human error, not faulty brakes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which reports on vehicle safety issues, recalls and defects, found in one such accident in New York City on March 9, 2010, that “information retrieved from the vehicle’s onboard computer systems indicated there was no application of the brakes and the throttle was fully open” when the vehicle crashed into a stone wall, alleging that the driver was, in fact, at fault.

And the southern Californian who claimed his Prius reached speeds exceeding 90 miles per hour on a crowded freeway the day before? Toyota’s report – confirmed by a congressional committee – finds that his brake pedal and accelerator were repeatedly depressed upwards of 250 times, which can cause the safety feature designed to stop unintended acceleration to fail, among other inconsistencies with his story.

So what, if anything, would cause drivers to create their own chapters in The Case of the Runaway Prius? Well, for one, we are social creatures and crave attention in any form. It is also natural for humans to want to blame an accident of any kind on something – or someone – else. Once an alibi is created, or a loophole produced, especially one with such media attention as the Runaway Prius, it is also natural for such alibis to be repeated. Compound these with the potential for monetary gain through class-action lawsuit, and any such event can be blown out of proportion. As with every story, it is critical to read the facts from reputable sources, lest we begin to believe the works of fiction.