Laguna Hills, CA – October 16, 2018 – Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Toyota Tundra and Sequoia vehicles and 2019 Toyota Avalon and Avalon Hybrid vehicles. The air bag electronic control unit (ECU) may erroneously detect a fault during the vehicle start-up self-check. If this occurs, the ECU may not deploy the airbags as intended, in the event of a crash. The defect affects in excess of a potential 168,000 vehicles.

The Defect

According to the NHTSA Recall Safety Report, due to inappropriate programming in the subject vehicles, the Airbag (SRS) ECU may erroneously detect a fault in one or more of the front or side SRS satellite sensors during a self-check that occurs at each vehicle start up. This condition will cause the vehicle to set a specific trouble code, disable the affected sensor(s), sound a warning buzzer, activate multiple warning lights, and display a message on the combination meter display. If a fault is erroneously detected, the Airbag ECU may not appropriately identify the crash condition if a crash occurs, and the airbags may not deploy as intended, significantly increasing the chance of injury.

Toyota is unable to provide an estimate of the percentage of the vehicles to actually contain the noncompliance. Whether the condition will occur prior to first sale and constitute a noncompliance will differ depending on part variation and whether normal sensor variances will cause the inappropriate programming of the diagnostic function to set a specific trouble code in each case.

Timeline of Events

In early July 2018, Toyota received reports describing illumination of the SRS warning light, which was the result of one of a specific type of diagnostic trouble code (DTC) being set. The light was accompanied by a warning buzzer, master warning light illumination, and a message on the multi-information display. Toyota recovered replaced SRS satellite sensors and began an investigation.

In mid-July 2018, the supplier performed bench testing of the sensors alone, and did not identify a fault. Testing was then conducted with the sensors connected to the entire SRS system including the ECU and, in some cases, the same DTCs related to the airbag sensors were recreated.

In early August, a review of the Airbag ECU software identified that the parameters for this self-check were not correct for the type of satellite sensors used in the system, which could result in a failure of the self-check. Failure of the self-check could disable only the sensor which failed for that key cycle. Each ignition on cycle performs the self-check, and factors such as heat can affect whether the sensor will pass this check using the incorrect parameters.

A study was initiated to evaluate how the SRS system would function in the event of a crash with any of these satellite sensors disabled. Based on the results of the investigation, the results of the aforementioned analysis, and the field information from the U.S. market indicating that this phenomenon could occur prior to first sale, on September 28, 2018, Toyota decided that the subject vehicles may not meet certain requirements and issued a voluntary recall to correct the problem.

The Solution

All known owners of the subject vehicles will be notified by first class mail to return their vehicles to a Toyota dealer. The dealers will update the software of the Airbag ECU at no cost to owners. As the owner notification letters will be mailed out well within the active period of the Toyota New Vehicle Limited Warranty, all involved vehicle owners for this recall would have been provided a repair at no cost under Toyota’s Warranty. The recall is expected to begin October 22, 2018.

Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota’s number for this recall is J0X. Owners may also call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153). The NHTSA Campaign Number for this recall is 18V-685.

Laguna Hills, CA – October 15, 2018 – Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2010-2014 Toyota Prius and 2012-2014 Toyota Prius V vehicles due to excessive voltage in the inverter which may cause the hybrid system to shut down and the vehicle to stall while being driven. This recall affected more than 80,000 vehicles, including ones subject to prior recalls.

The Defect

According to the NHTSA Recall Safety Report, the vehicles subject to this recall contain software used to control the Intelligent Power Module (IPM) within the inverter assembly. This module is part of the vehicle’s hybrid system. Certain characteristics of the software used to control the boost converter in the IPM could cause higher thermal stress than normal to occur in specific transistors in the IPM, specifically during high-load driving activities, such as accelerating during highway driving. Over time, stress could damage certain transistors.

In limited instances, the motor/generator ECU could reset, or – if a specific transistor within the IPM fails in a certain way during a high-load driving condition – an abnormally high voltage could be generated. In either case, there is the possibility that the hybrid system could shut down instead of entering a failsafe driving mode, which could cause the vehicle to lose motive power while driving at higher speeds, increasing the risk of a crash. Drivers may be warned of transistor damage via the illumination of various warning lights and the display of a warning message on the instrument panel.

Timeline of Events

Between the month of January and March 2018, based on VOQs and other available information, NHTSA contacted Toyota about allegations of potential incidents where vehicles experienced a loss of motive power while driving at some time after having received the software updates from prior, related recalls (14V-053 and 15V-449.) Toyota began reviewing the information and recovering parts from the field.

Toyota conducted a search of available data for vehicles involved in 14V-053 and 15V-449 and identified a limited number of instances where the data in connection with certain inverter-related trouble codes suggested a possible “ready off.” Based on an initial analysis of recovered failed parts, damage was observed in certain transistors. Toyota surveyed vehicles to identify the software version present in field vehicles, and, in those cases where an inverter failure occurred. Continued analysis of the recovered failed inverters and freeze frame data in a limited number of cases did identify an unexpected, abnormally high voltage value related to the hybrid boost converter.

In September 2018, a design review of the software used to control the hybrid system components in addition to a review of the inverter circuit design identified a potential mechanism for the hybrid system to shutdown instead of entering a failsafe mode based on the observation of an abnormally high voltage in extremely rare cases. Toyota could not exclude the possibility that a limited population of vehicles did not successfully receive a software update in one or both of the ECUs, and the company decided to conduct a voluntary safety recall campaign.

The Solution

According to the Toyota Defect Information Report, Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the motor/generator control electronic control unit (ECU) and the hybrid control ECU as necessary, free of charge. Interim notices informing owners of the safety risk began October 22, 2018. Owners will receive a second notice when the remedy becomes available.

Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota’s number for this recall is J0V. Owners may also call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153). The NHTSA Campaign Number for this recall is 18V-684. The software updates in this recall are needed even if the vehicle had the software previously updated under recalls 14V-053 or 15V-449.

Laguna Hills, CA – October 12, 2018 – Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Toyota Tundra and Sequoia vehicles and 2019 Toyota Avalon and Avalon Hybrid vehicles due to a programming error that could affect air bag deployment.

The Defect

According to the NHTSA Safety Recall Report, Toyota has determined that due to inappropriate programming of the air bag electronic control unit (ECU), a fault may be erroneously detected and disable a front or side supplemental restraint system (SRS) sensor.

If this were to occur, the air bag ECU may not appropriately identify a crash condition, the air bags may not deploy as intended, and as a result, this could lead to an increased risk of injury in the event of a crash.

Timeline of Events

Toyota received reports describing illumination of the SRS warning light accompanied by a warning buzzer, master warning light illumination, and a message on the multi-information display, and began an investigation in June 2018.

A review of the Airbag ECU software identified that parameters for a routine self-check were not correct for the type of satellite sensors used in this system. This can result in a failure of the self-check, which will disable only the sensor which failed for that key cycle. Factors such as heat can affect whether the sensor will pass this check using the incorrect parameters.

Based on the results of the investigation, Toyota decided that the subject vehicles may not meet certain mandated requirements and issued a recall.

The Solution

All known owners of the subject vehicles will be notified by first class mail to return their vehicles to a Toyota dealer. The dealers will update the software of the Airbag ECU at no cost to owners. As the owner notification letters will be mailed out well within the active period of the Toyota New Vehicle Limited Warranty, all involved vehicles are assumed to be covered for this repair under Toyota’s Warranty.

The recall is expected to begin October 22, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota’s number for this recall is J0X. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153). The NHTSA number for this recall is 18V-685.