Toyota Camry, Avalon recall may prompt a secondary repair

2008 Toyota Camry

The Toyota Camry is still facing some recall issues. Toyota has told its dealers that it will pay for a secondary repair related to a massive safety recall involving the Toyota Camry, Camry Hybrid and the Avalon for sticking gas pedals. According to Toyota, while dealers were performing the fix on the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Avalon, they may have damaged a bracket holding the accelerator pedal in place.

“In some cases, repair technicians at Toyota dealerships inadvertently stripped bolts on the accelerator bracket in the Camry and Avalon when performing the recall,” Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said.

Check out Toyota’s statement after the jump.

Facts Regarding Recent Technical Service Bulletin for Toyota Camry and Avalon

Some recent media reports have inaccurately characterized a Toyota Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) involving certain Camry, Camry Hybrid and Avalon as a recall, or have implied that customer vehicles may not have been repaired correctly. Toyota is providing the following facts to clarify and prevent potential misinformation.

On November 30, 2010, Toyota issued a Technical Service Bulletin that instructs technicians how to repair two weld nuts that may be damaged when removing the bolts used to attach the accelerator pedal to the bulkhead.

The TSB was issued following inquiries to the Toyota Technical Assistance System by a few technicians who were instructed how to repair the weld nuts prior to returning the vehicle to its owner. Since repair of the weld nuts is an extremely rare repair, the information is not included in the repair manual and the purpose of a TSB is to provide such information as needed.

As with any threaded fastener, the weld nuts may accidentally be stripped when removed. In the unlikely case when a threaded weld nut is stripped, technicians repair the weld nuts before returning the vehicle to operation. No customer vehicles on the road are affected.

Suggestions that this TSB was issued to resolve customer complaints about accelerator pedal feel after the recall or that this TSB is a recall are wrong. No TSB is planned for other models since this component is unique to the Camry and Avalon platform.

Toyota has completed over 5 million accelerator pedal entrapment and sticking pedal remedies which require removal of the accelerator pedal, including over 1.3 million Camrys and 265K Avalons. In the course of servicing so many vehicles, occasional questions about the procedure and guidance to technicians is not uncommon.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Toyota, Automotive News