Toyota has issued yet another massive car recall. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the new Toyota recall of 1.705 million vehicles worldwide includes nearly 245,000 Lexus sedans in the U.S.
The U.S. Lexus recall includes the following models: 2006-07 GS 300 and GS 350, 2006-09 IS 250, and 2006-08 IS 350. According to Toyota, insufficient tightening of the fuel pressure sensor, which is connected to some engine fuel delivery pipes that have nickel-phosphorus plating, may cause the pressure sensor to loosen. This could cause fuel to leak past a gasket that’s used in the connection between the sensor and the fuel delivery pipe. It could also leak through the threaded part of the sensor.
The problem also affects 1.3 million vehicles in Japan and 10,000 in Europe.
Toyota maintains that so far, it has not received any reports of accidents due to this vehicle defect. It has, however, received 75 complaints of problems from North America and 140 in Japan.
To fix the problem, Lexus dealers will inspect cars for fuel leakage. If no leakage is found, they will tighten the fuel pressure sensor. However, if a leak is found, the gasket between the sensor and fuel delivery pipe will be replaced and the sensor will be tightened. There will be no charge for this, Toyota said.
The other recalls involve a bad fuel line that can crack and affects 141,000 vehicles, mostly models sold in Europe and New Zealand.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, this marks the third time in a row that Toyota has started a new year with a vehicle recall. The company announced recalls of some 3.4 million vehicles in January of 2010 and 1.36 million vehicles in January of 2009, both among its biggest to date.
As we’ve reported in December, Toyota was assessed $32 million in fines by Department of Transportation (DOT) investigations into how the auto giant handled two recalls concerning sudden acceleration and steering problem. In one case, Toyota agreed to pay $16.375 million after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found it delayed advising the federal government that accelerator pedals in its vehicles could became snagged by floor mats, causing vehicles to speed out of control. In the other case, Toyota agreed to pay $16.050 million over accusations it inappropriately delayed a recall of nearly one million trucks and SUVs over defective steering rods.
