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2009 TOYOTA CAMRY — FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

crash · 757036 · 2010-02-03

Vehicle

Make
TOYOTA
Model
CAMRY
Year
2009
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Corporation
Component
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

THIS CONCERNS THE CURRENT TOYOTA SUDDEN ACCELERATION PROBLEM AND MY INTERPRETATION OF THE MECHANISM THAT MAY BE AT WORK CAUSING THESE INTERMITTENT EVENTS. THESE CARS INVOLVED HAVE TOYOTA'S NEW "FLY-BY-WIRE" IGNITION AND THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM, NOT THE OLD MANUAL THROTTLE CONTROLS. THE ACCELERATION EVENTS MAY BE COMING FROM STRAY RF OR ELECTRO-STATIC DISCHARGE (ESD) CAUSING AN ELECTRICAL STATE CHANGE IN ONE OF THE THROTTLE CONTROL CHIP REGISTERS WHICH THEN CAUSES THE SUDDEN ACCELERATION. THE PROBLEM COULD ALSO BE CAUSED BY THE SAME RF OR ESD, BUT ONLY AFFECT ELECTRICAL CONTROL UNITS IN CARS THAT HAVE DEVELOPED BAD GROUND PATHS (WHICH ALLOW STATIC CHARGE TO BUILD UP UNTIL IT ARCS OVER AND ZAPS A CHIP) TESTING FOR THIS TYPE FOR ELECTRICAL FAULT MUST BE DONE UNDER CONDITIONS THAT ACCELERATE THE FAILURE MODE, IE UNDER CONDITIONS THAT ENHANCE ESD OCCURRENCE AND/OR STRAY RF WHILE CHANGING THE RESISTANCE OF THE GROUND PATHS TO THE THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE. AS A REFERENCE POINT, REQUEST TOYOTA'S HISTORY ON ALL WARRANTY REPLACED FAILED ELECTRICAL MODULES INVOLVED IN/WITH THROTTLE CONTROL FOR THESE RECALLED CARS. A HARD ESD EVENT MAY CAUSE COMPLETE MODULE FAILURE AND HENCE A WARRANTY RECORD. A "SOFT" ESD EVENT MAY CAUSE STATE CHANGES ON THE MODULE CHIPS. A COMPARATIVELY HIGH MODULE REPLACEMENT RATE WOULD BE CAUSE TO INVESTIGATE THEM AND DO FEMA STRIPBACK ANALYSIS ON FAILED WARRANTY UNITS. *TR

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10304735
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown