📰 Auto News BREAKING: Toyota admits 270,000 cars have faulty engines worldwide

[Mook]

In 20 years, odds are few people will remember that 2010 was one of the worst years for Toyota in terms of recalls, but for now, it seems like the company just can't win for losing. The company has announced that it is currently preparing to recall a total of 270,000 Toyota Crown and Lexus LS, GS and IS models worldwide. As it turns out, some of the company's 4.6-liter V8 and 3.5-liter V6 engines were built using faulty valve springs that may cause the car to stall while driving. Around 180,000 of the faulty powerplants were sold outside of Japan.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the company says that some Toyota Crown, Lexus LS460, Lexus LS600h, Lexus LS600hL, Lexus GS350, Lexus GS450h, Lexus GS460 and Lexus IS350 models will be affected by the recall, and that it will initiate a procedure to fix the problem as soon as it can figure out a way to do so with the least amount of inconvenience to its customers.

The news comes as Toyota continues to try to put this year's bevy of recall issues behind it, including paying a $16.4 million fine to the U.S. government for delaying certain recalls.

[Autoblog]

Click to read more...

 

[02BlueGT]

Damn

Another Nail in the coffin

 

[Dasfinc]

Beige Bites Back.

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

considering that japan has all the equipment for spun ingot casting for spring wire extrusion this shouldnt be a problem...unless they are chinese/outsourced

this could get very expensive the labor times for valvesprings on them s/dohc vvti motors isnt small. took me a day and a half for the boss's 01 avalon to do just the valveseals after they bought it

 

[Poopshinanigans]

would it be easier just to send out rebuilt motors and swap them out?

 

[Eagle]

wow....

 

[radioguy6]

at least theres a chance you will survive if the gas pedal sticks...the faulty valve springs will stall the motor!

 

[bikrboy128]

at least theres a chance you will survive if the gas pedal sticks...the faulty valve springs will stall the motor!

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

this is good to know,
my mom was looking @ the IS

 

[Mook]

Toyota's announcement of plans to recall 270,000 of its V8 and V6 models, including a number of Lexus sedans, was a little light on information. The company didn't say much about the issue other than faulty valve springs could cause a vehicle's engine to stall while driving. Fortunately, the same anonymous source that came through with some information during Toyota's recent pedal recall crisis has stepped up to fill-in some of the blanks.

Apparently, Lexus dealers have been encountering the defect for a few years. The fault typically manifests itself as a zig-zag break about three-quarters up the valve spring. This means that typically, the spring still has enough tension to keep the valve retainers in place, preventing the valve itself from going all hari-kari on the cylinder, cylinder wall and head.

That's not always the case, though. If the failure happens at high RPM, the valve can come loose, causing significant damage to the engine. According to our source, one Lexus GS350 incurred $12,000 worth of damage (in parts alone) during such an incident. And there's no word on who footed the bill.

Toyota hasn't said exactly what's caused the issue, though our source indicates that a Field Technical Specialist within the automaker believe the bad springs either have a casting issue or a deep scratch – weak points that allow the part to fail prematurely. As for why the issue effects both the company's 3.5-liter V6 and 4.6-liter V8, we're assuming that both engines use the same valve springs.

Either way, when one spring fails, Toyota typically recommends replacing every spring in the engine. Meanwhile, another Autoblog tipster was good enough to tip us off to YouTube user Maxseek's video showing the carnage that can occur when one of the valves decides to go kaput on a Lexus GS460. It's not pretty, but you can see the fallout in the video below..

We're not sure whether Maxseek is a Lexus tech or simply unfortunate enough to have the issue crop up on his own personal vehicle. Either way, he says that the problem began showing itself after a mere 5,000 miles, and what started as a rough idle eventually lead to the vehicle not starting at all. After watching the video, there's little wonder as to why. Unlike the valves in the photos supplied by our anonymous source, the valve spring on one of the intake valves on the GS460 has split into three pieces, allowing the valve to come in contact with the cylinder and become bent.

Luckily for the owner of this particular GS, there was no damage to either the block or the head, but the cost of repair was still around $2,150, including parts and labor. Multiply that figure by the 270,000 potentially affected vehicles on the road, and Toyota could be looking at a $581 million price tag for quality flub – if not more. That assumes, of course, that all of these incidents cost about the same to remedy.

 

[Eagle]

OUCH. I'd hate to be footing that bill!

Highest customer loyalty my ass.

 

[Runtz52]

OUCH. I'd hate to be footing that bill!

Highest customer loyalty my ass.

not after this year

 

[Mook]

woops

According to Bloomberg, Toyota has known about issues with valve springs in its V8 and V6 engines since 2007. The news confirms the information we received from an anonymous source within the company. Toyota says that the earliest complaints came from customers in Japan, but the company felt that the issue was fairly rare and didn't order a recall. Now that it has become clear that the issue isn't a fluke, the automaker has issued a recall in Japan and will notify the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration of the problem this week.

Toyota says that the defect is caused by the presence of contaminates within the spring material. The company has since addressed the problem by building the valve springs thicker than what was originally specified, and so far, the fix seems to be working.

Toyota says that around 270,000 vehicles are affected by the faulty springs, and of those, around 138,000 Lexus models are in the US.

 

[AlmightyBirdman]

Toyota says that the earliest complaints came from customers in Japan, but the company felt that the issue was fairly rare and didn't order a recall.

Isn't this the same excuse they came up with for the pedal sticking? Seriously I know American auto makers aren't perfect but that's some shady shit right there. And yet there are still hundreds of thousands of Americans that will nut swing off Toyota all day long. Turrable.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Does Turk's invisible ride fall under this issue?

 

[Turk]

No, I have a 430, or a 4.3L V8.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Oh I was thinking it was the gs460. That's good news. I'm sure something else will pop up

 

[Poopshinanigans]

Oh I was thinking it was the gs460. That's good news. I'm sure something else will pop up

or out

 

[Turk]

Gotta love how everybody demonizes Toyota right now, like they are the only company EVER in the history of automobiles to have recalls. When you sell the most cars in the world, shit happens.

 

[02BlueGT]

Gotta love how everybody demonizes Toyota right now, like they are the only company EVER in the history of automobiles to have recalls. When you sell the most cars in the world, shit happens.

Problem isn't the recalls, just them knowing it but not fixing it.... But you are right, look at the 3800, the Fire recall, years after it was known, the LIM gaskets, that wasn't any fix until GM got sued..... Ford, the roll-overs, and the crown vic fires (they still haven't fixed the fires)

All Manufactures do it, it is just Toyota always claimed to have a higher standard, and all this shit at once that is why everyone is Demonizing them, this will blow over, and they will still exist, The probably will not out sell GM anymore, but that has to do with how much China loves GM, and not much Toyota love going on over there(they sell 300k units to GM's 1.21Mil units) and they don't have the history to make up for these recalls in the short term

 

[Turk]

Problem isn't the recalls, just them knowing it but not fixing it.... But you are right, look at the 3800, the Fire recall, years after it was known, the LIM gaskets, that wasn't any fix until GM got sued..... Ford, the roll-overs, and the crown vic fires (they still haven't fixed the fires)

All Manufactures do it, it is just Toyota always claimed to have a higher standard, and all this shit at once that is why everyone is Demonizing them, this will blow over, and they will still exist, The probably will not out sell GM anymore, but that has to do with how much China loves GM, and not much Toyota love going on over there(they sell 300k units to GM's 1.21Mil units) and they don't have the history to make up for these recalls in the short term

Shit like this happens ALL THE TIME. The LS1 motor has a bulletin out on it for burning up oil too fast, but it isn't a recall. GM knows about it, but will do nothing about it. Why should an LS1 owner have to put 2 quarts in before his 3k mile oil change, on a stock motor???? This could destroy the engine. I believe toyota STILL outsells GM and Ford worldwide on a month per month basis.

 

[Yaj Yak]

yeah except it could destroy the engine... but chances are it probably wont... you always forget that god guy involved with the LS1...

valvesprings breaking. your shits broked. guaranteed. usin a lil oil here and there... your shits just lubed.

 

[jason05gt]

Toyota got too big too fast and their quality has suffered.

 

[Turk]

All I got to say is, I'm not scared to drive my Lexus, and I'm I wouldn't be scared to buy a Toyota product. I feel that way about every major manufacturer our their right now, except for maybe Mercedes and Chrysler.

 

[Yaj Yak]

i feel that way about any major manufacturer also. shit... my vibe is by far more toyota than it is pontiac.