Toyota has announced plans to recall about 550,000 vehicles worldwide; 420,000 in the United States alone.
The recall is due to a crankshaft pulley problem—the problem is that there’s a possibility of the outer ring of the v-6 engine’s crankshaft pulley becoming misaligned with the inner ring.
“There is a possibility that the outer ring of the crankshaft pulley may become misaligned with the inner ring, causing noise and/or illumination of the discharge warning light,” said Toyota in a statement. “If this condition is not corrected, the belt for the power steering pump may become detached from the pulley and the driver may notice a sudden increase in steering effort.”
Toyota went on to say that “there are no reports of accidents or injuries related to this condition.”
According to USA Today, the crankshaft pulley on V-6 Toyota- and Lexus-brand vehicles — four-cylinder models are not affected. Toyota said it has 79 reports about the defect dating back to 2007 — and no reports of related accidents or injuries.
According to the Associated Press, the global recall is of 447,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. The vehicles involved are certain (No other Toyota or Lexus vehicles or these Toyota models with 4 cylinder engines are involved. ):
- 2004 Avalon
- 2004 and 2005 Camry, Highlander, Sienna, and Solara
- 2006 Highlander HV
- 2004 and 2005 ES330 and RX330
- And 2006 RX400h
“Toyota is currently working on obtaining the necessary replacement parts. Once the replacement parts have been produced in sufficient quantities, Toyota will send an owner notification by first class mail advising owners to make an appointment with an authorized Toyota or Lexus dealer to have the crankshaft pulley inspected and if necessary, replaced at no charge,” said Toyota in a statement. “In the meantime, if an abnormal noise is heard coming from the engine compartment, the owner is asked to make an appointment with any Toyota or Lexus dealer to have the vehicle inspected for this condition.”
