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davidjs
davidjs New Reader
1/26/10 7:22 p.m.

Holy cow... I guess removing the floormats isn't quite the fix...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall

WASHINGTON – Toyota Motor Co. said Tuesday it was suspending U.S. sales of eight recalled vehicle models to fix accelerator pedals that stick, the latest quality problem to confront the world's No. 1 automaker.

ignorant
ignorant SuperDork
1/26/10 8:51 p.m.

They grew too damn fast and let too many americans into their management structure. They've got this program where they send all their top people to Japan for 2 years of "training" before coming back to the USA to get real jobs. My buddy is going to Japan shortly.

carguy123
carguy123 SuperDork
1/26/10 8:54 p.m.

Strangely there are no Lexus models in the recalls or sales suspension.

confuZion3
confuZion3 SuperDork
1/26/10 9:13 p.m.

What is sticking in the mechanism? How many parts are there that could stick? It's a lever that pivots on a fulcrum! That's it!

MrJoshua
MrJoshua SuperDork
1/26/10 9:20 p.m.
confuZion3 wrote: What is sticking in the mechanism? How many parts are there that could stick? It's a lever that pivots on a fulcrum! That's it!

I am really curious about this as well.

HappyAndy
HappyAndy HalfDork
1/26/10 9:38 p.m.

I read about this on auto blog a few minuets ago and it said something about getting stuck with an open signal, so I'm wondering if its a faulty potiometer in throttle by wire set up? Personaly I've always thought that toyotas are highly over rated; a lot more sizzle than actual steak, if you know what I mean.

Mykul
Mykul New Reader
1/26/10 9:39 p.m.

Stupid drive by wire. I'll take a cable any day.

carguy123
carguy123 SuperDork
1/26/10 9:45 p.m.

They said it feels like the cruise control is active. THE DBW fear.

Rufledt
Rufledt Reader
1/26/10 9:48 p.m.

yeah thats too bad, people have died and all... i've always thought simpler was better and drive by wire was far too complicated for the slight advantages it gives. i would assume a cable is so much cheaper to make, too, and you'd think the companies could save a bit of money, too.

carguy123
carguy123 SuperDork
1/26/10 10:00 p.m.

Packaging IS a lot easier with DBW. I thought I'd like it on my Locost, but I'm rethinking that at the moment.

92dxman
92dxman Reader
1/26/10 10:03 p.m.

Man am I glad the Yaris isn't on the list.

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand Dork
1/26/10 10:12 p.m.

Toyota=GM?

I'm glad I'm not the guy who designed that system.

Trans_Maro
Trans_Maro HalfDork
1/26/10 10:32 p.m.
carguy123 wrote: Packaging IS a lot easier with DBW. I thought I'd like it on my Locost, but I'm rethinking that at the moment.

Huh?

It's not really THAT difficult to route a throttle cable is it?

"Packaging" seems to be the excuse used for piss-poor design lately.

I think it has more to do with emissions control and driver nannying than anything.

It's easier to let the computer take control in a DBW system, traction control, launch control, kill all humans. They all need computer controlled throttle.

Shawn

HappyAndy
HappyAndy HalfDork
1/26/10 10:53 p.m.

I've driven a lot of drive by wire vehicles and I don't have any complaints about the ones that I'm familiar with, but then again I've never had one fail and go full throttle You would think that it would be designed to go closed throttle in the case of an open circuit or dead short.

Having TBW makes engine management simpler and emissions control more accurate, and in many cases also improves engine responsivnes since it won't open the butter-fly valve to quickly for the engine to respond.

Rufledt
Rufledt Reader
1/27/10 12:17 a.m.

i heard somewhere that not having a hole in the firewall for the cable also reduces interior noise? seems odd to reduce noise by adding complexity and then routing engine noises into the car via sound induction tube like the new mustang and miata...

alfadriver
alfadriver Dork
1/27/10 6:46 a.m.
ignorant wrote: They grew too damn fast and let too many americans into their management structure. They've got this program where they send all their top people to Japan for 2 years of "training" before coming back to the USA to get real jobs. My buddy is going to Japan shortly.

I do hope you are joking, else can you please post where you work, so that we can all avoid your stuff?

That's such incredible BS, it's not even funny.

Japanese Engineers are nothing special- we all work on the same physics. And we can all see how successful Toyota's grand Japanese trained engineers did in F1.

No, this, and Toytoa's solution to the DI emissions problem shows me that they have their own issues, and it has nothing to do with the US.

Eric

Gearheadotaku
Gearheadotaku GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
1/27/10 6:53 a.m.

never liked DBW, found it laggy and unsmooth. Regardless of manufacturer.

racerdave600
racerdave600 Reader
1/27/10 7:55 a.m.

Had an interesting conversation with an Austrian engineer visiting our facility a month or so back. He used to work in the automotive industry and was commenting on the redundant systems required in all systems that control vehicle speed in Europe. It's quite extensive to get approval of a system there.

Anyway, the reason this came about was drive by wire. Apparently a Citroen got stuck wide open and was unable to close. The car could not be shut off, and the brakes did nothing, he burned them off. They got the guy to basically drive it out of fuel at 200kph plus flat out. They had tv footage of him going through toll areas at that speed apparently! Of course roads were cleared ahead of him once the situation was known. No one was hurt, but evidently European cars have back-up systems. Not sure about everyone else.

I've driven a lot of DBW cars, even race cars, and no issues at all. Most of the time you would not even know the difference.

MrJoshua
MrJoshua SuperDork
1/27/10 7:59 a.m.
Datsun1500 wrote: Typical reporting by the media, 1/2 of the facts. It is an issue with an arm on the pedal itself, nothing electronic, sorry all of you DBW haters... The affected models are made with 2 types of pedals (CTS and Denso). The ones with CTS pedals have the issue, made at the USA plants. None of the ones made in Japan have CTS pedals, about 50% of the ones made here do. The Dealer needs to go through the inventory and see which ones of the affected models he has in stock has the CTS pedal, and can not sell them. If the car has the Denso pedal it is OK to sell even if it is one of the 8 "no sell" models. None of the hybrids have the CTS pedal. I think it makes us look bad as the models with quality issues are only the ones made in the USA, did Toyota hire the ex GM guys? The smart Dealer will market it as only a limited number of these vehicles are able to be sold and be OK. It's still going to hurt...

Is it possible to see the pedal type yourself if you already own one of the cars mentioned?

njansenv
njansenv Reader
1/27/10 8:09 a.m.
racerdave600 wrote: Had an interesting conversation with an Austrian engineer visiting our facility a month or so back. He used to work in the automotive industry and was commenting on the redundant systems required in all systems that control vehicle speed in Europe. It's quite extensive to get approval of a system there. Anyway, the reason this came about was drive by wire. Apparently a Citroen got stuck wide open and was unable to close. The car could not be shut off, and the brakes did nothing, he burned them off. They got the guy to basically drive it out of fuel at 200kph plus flat out. They had tv footage of him going through toll areas at that speed apparently! Of course roads were cleared ahead of him once the situation was known. No one was hurt, but evidently European cars have back-up systems. Not sure about everyone else. I've driven a lot of DBW cars, even race cars, and no issues at all. Most of the time you would not even know the difference.

He couldn't knock it into neutral?

alfadriver
alfadriver Dork
1/27/10 11:38 a.m.
Datsun1500 wrote: Typical reporting by the media, 1/2 of the facts. It is an issue with an arm on the pedal itself, nothing electronic, sorry all of you DBW haters... The affected models are made with 2 types of pedals (CTS and Denso). The ones with CTS pedals have the issue, made at the USA plants. None of the ones made in Japan have CTS pedals, about 50% of the ones made here do. The Dealer needs to go through the inventory and see which ones of the affected models he has in stock has the CTS pedal, and can not sell them. If the car has the Denso pedal it is OK to sell even if it is one of the 8 "no sell" models. None of the hybrids have the CTS pedal. I think it makes us look bad as the models with quality issues are only the ones made in the USA, did Toyota hire the ex GM guys? The smart Dealer will market it as only a limited number of these vehicles are able to be sold and be OK. It's still going to hurt...

Are the Lexus floor mats made in the US too?

E-

hrdlydangerous
hrdlydangerous Reader
1/27/10 11:42 a.m.
Mr Joshua said: Is it possible to see the pedal type yourself if you already own one of the cars mentioned?

Yes. The CTS pedal assembly has a rectangular metal plate on the side of it. The Denso one is all balck (and has "Denso" stamped on it)

turboswede
turboswede GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
1/27/10 12:01 p.m.

BTW, the sales stop is Government mandated, not by Toyota's choosing.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/toyota-sales-halt-was-federally-mandated/

Just FYI for those that care.

Rufledt
Rufledt Reader
1/27/10 2:29 p.m.
Datsun1500 wrote: , did Toyota hire the ex GM guys?

HAHAHA!! the (now closed) GM factory where i grew up had quite a few horror stories about sleeping/incompetent workers. on the other hand i know quite a few guys who work(ed) there who were honest and hard working. this whole situation makes me glad i have an old car who's only problem is complete lack of safety equipment, and the whole 'fills up with carbon monoxide at idle' thing...

Cotton
Cotton HalfDork
1/27/10 2:43 p.m.
Toyman01 wrote: Toyota=GM?

No they aren't. GM actually makes performance cars.

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