Recall of 9 models such as wish and eye cis

インタミディエイトシャフト = intermediate shaft

The front-page visible Prius and Hybrid News thread by nbarnes81 has a well-translated article about it from news.com.au as well as the Japanese notice courtesy of Ken.

 

fun. I think I'm gonna go take my car over b/c just in case I am affected, I'm out of state(and facing a 6+ hour drive home tonight). It would suck to get stuck and have to use the warranty to cover things. My vin is within range of the 7,0000's. *sigh* I always wondered what my first recall would be.

Edit: Detriot news is useless but also has an article "It wasn't immediately clear whether the recall affected cars sold outside Japan."


http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...PDATE/605300407

 

Something to point out: if you translate and read the grid regarding the affected vehicles, the column you are all extrapolating VIN range is really chassis (undercarriage) range. This may or may not correlate to VIN suffix range.

 

dealers do not have any information on this recall in the US. please don't go in asking to have this taken care of because they haven't even heard of it yet and will not be able to do anything for you.

i have DH keeping an eye out for it, but nothing has come up yet on TIS.

edit: one more thing- the steering column is designed to collapse on itself during a frontal impact, so that the whole column won't come through and smack you in the chest when the front end crumples.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vincent1449p @ May 30 2006, 01:06 PM) [snapback]262798[/snapback]</div>

This is assuming that all numbers in the VIN range are utilized. If some of them are skipped, then it is possible that everyone in the range is affected.

EDIT: I just realized that the quantities listed were the number of Priuses in those ranges that were sold in Japan (add up all the numbers in the original table and you'll get the number of vehicles recalled only in Japan). Given this, I wouldn't be surprised then that all of the VIN range is indeed utilized, and that all cars in those ranges are affected.

 

This AP article says that there will be a US recall and we'll get notices in mid-June:

"In the United States, Toyota is recalling about 170,000 Prius models because the steering shaft assembly could become loose or crack under certain conditions.

"Toyota said there have been no reported crashes or injuries connected to the problem in the U.S. Owners are expected to be notified of the recall in mid-June."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vincent1449p @ May 31 2006, 02:06 AM) [snapback]262798[/snapback]</div>

Please note that the quantity is for Japan shipment only, and all vehicles are affected I believe.

The VIN numbers for the US format are...
The 11th digit is factory name and the last 6 digits are numbers.

Tsutsumi factory
0: 001043(Aug 2003) - 133242(Oct 2004)
3: 000002(Sep 2004) - 130009(Nov 2005)

Fujimatsu factory
7: 000000(Oct 2004) - 058792(Nov 2005)

edit: Please note that the above VIN numbers are for Japanese market only. The VIN numbers may be different for the US market.

Ken@Japan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 30 2006, 01:54 PM) [snapback]262838[/snapback]</div>

I have a knocking *now* when I'm turning or even changing lanes. My car is a 2004 with a bit over 41K miles on it (yes, I drive it more than average). The knocking is loud enough where I've turned the radio up to cover it up, but obviously this isn't optimal. Prior to this recall, I thought it was just another knock or rattle (which I have a collection of in my Prius). Is it safe to drive, and if so, for how long? I would really appreciate any information or guess you have, because obviously I'm not very happy driving the thing now.

 

jonnycat: we need to know more before we can really tell you anything.

where is this noise coming from? could it be from a CV joint?

is it a repeated knocking, or just a single knock/rattle noise when you are turning the wheel?

if it's repeated, does it seem to go quicker if you're driving fast, than if you're driving slow?

if the steering column is the issue, you would be able to reproduce the noise by turning the wheel even while parked. without the info in TIS, the dealer can't do anything until they get the official documentation. in the meantime, just be a little more alert than usual. avoid impacts with curbs and other shocks to the steering system, and if something doesn't seem right, stop the car. we don't want to cause you too much worry if there's nothing to worry about, but we also want you to be safe in case there is an issue there.

------------

from the sound of this, the problem could possibly happen from cranking the steering wheel over REALLY hard, or hitting a curb, or some other dramatic impact. they don't mention it with just regular everyday-type driving.

he's going to check TIS every day and look for this recall. as soon as it comes up, he'll print it off and bring all the details home so we can share it with everyone.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 30 2006, 06:57 PM) [snapback]263038[/snapback]</div>

It only seems to happen at higher speeds (ie, on the highway) and happens when I'm on onramps or even changing lanes. And it is a repeated knock.

For instance, last Friday I took the highways home, and I heard it a lot. Today I took the backroads (where I rarely exceed 45) and didn't hear it at all.

 

ok. that really doesn't sound like this steering column issue. you should have it checked out though.

any vibration in the steering wheel with the knock? can you feel it in the floorboard? where does it sound like it's coming from? (left, right, high, low, inside, outside, etc)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 30 2006, 07:34 PM) [snapback]263053[/snapback]</div>

There's no vibration... it's just a 'middle' thunk from the outside front, if that makes any sense. As I said, it's active only when I'm turning or changing lanes at higher speeds.. and it's only been active since last Wed/Thurs.

 

it really doesn't sound like this recall thing. but there is something not quite right there. he recommends you take it to the dealer and show them so they can hear it for themselves. over the internet there's only so much you can really convey with a situation like this.

if it makes you feel better, if there was a problem with the recall part, you'd most likely have tactile feedback on the steering wheel. he's done TSBs on that part before to fix a "clunk" in the steering wheel and you could actually feel feedback with each clunk.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 30 2006, 09:00 PM) [snapback]263098[/snapback]</div>

I think DanMan had suggested it could be a CV joint, which I suppose is possible. It still seems awfully early (at 41K miles) to have that sort of problem.

 

well if the boot was somehow damaged, it's possible at any time/any mileage. road debris impact can damage boots enough to cause problems.

typical bad CV sounds like:
when you make turns (usually only to one side, the side where the joint is bad) it'll make a loud pop-pop-pop-pop-pop sound. you might (*might*) find grease buildup on the inside of the wheel rim. he has seen bad CV joinds where the boot was not ripped, also.