Toyota Finds Ghost In Machine. It Stops The Car

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Toyota is a customer centric company. It now considers a recall that will please the vociferous crowd that thinks something is wrong with Toyota’s engine computer. Reuters reports that Toyota is discussing with NHTSA whether and how they should fix nearly 1.2 million Corolla and Matrix models. They are at risk of unintended stoppage. They might stall out because of flaws in their computer.

Toyota says it believes that the engine control unit could malfunction because of a crack in soldered joints in the unit, or because of an electrical short. Both conditions could cause the engine to shut down without warning, or fail to start.

Reuters says Toyota wrote a letter to NHTSA, requesting a meeting to discuss the problem.

After receiving 26 complaints of engines stalling in Toyota Corolla and Matrix models because of failures in the engine control modules, NHTSA had opened a preliminary evaluation of Corolla stalling complaints in November 2009.

Toyota might reach their elusive goal of 10m cars a year. Recalled cars.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • 1996MEdition 1996MEdition on Mar 18, 2010

    This issue has been under scrutiny since early 2007 by Toyota and NHTSA. Delphi is the only supplier, but two separate issues exist with two different Delphi suppliers. Some of the reason for the numbers appearing low is that a majority of the ECU's have already been replaced due to this issue. If you have access to the warranty data you could see that Toyota was swapping out a couple of thousand a week on average. The recall is essentailly a clean-up. One question comes to mind....this same ECU is in the Pontiac Vibe. The failures occur at the same rate and for the same reason. Where is the GM recall?

  • Ion Ion on Mar 18, 2010

    I'll have to bring in the parental units Matrix for this one. I wonder if Toyota service will try to sell me more premature routine maintenance this time. maybe since I'm at 18,000 miles they'll offer to replace the carburetor or since it's almost spring they'll offer to change the winter air in my tires for summer air.

  • ParrisBoyd ParrisBoyd on Mar 18, 2010

    Get serious, Toyota. NHTSA knows the problem is cosmic rays... Now that we're finally getting a "daily defect report" from Toyota, I wish mainstream media would spotlight all those 1zz engine failures (MR2 Spyders and Celicas). Probably should have been included in the oil sludge recall. And that's another untold story. Over 3,100 customers have signed a petition protesting Toyota's response. Clean up your act, Toyota. http://uc2.blogspot.com

  • Ponchoman49 Ponchoman49 on Mar 18, 2010

    Still waiting for the Toyota Recall watch series!

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