Toyota Announces Voluntary Safety Recall To Replace Crankshaft Pulley

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. (TMS), announced on November 9 that it will conduct a voluntary safety recall involving approximately 283,200 Toyota and 137,000 Lexus vehicles to replace the crankshaft pulley on the V6 engine.

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. 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. There are no reports of accidents or injuries related to this condition.

The vehicles involved are certain:

2004 Avalon
2004 and 2005 Camry, Highlander, Sienna, and Solara
2006 Highlander HV
2004 and 2005 ES330 and RX330
2006 RX400h

No other Toyota or Lexus vehicles or these Toyota models with four cylinder engines are involved.

The company 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 dealer to have the crankshaft pulley inspected and if necessary, replaced at no charge. The owner notifications will be mailed by first class mail beginning in January, 2012.

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.

Detailed information and answers to questions are available to customers at www.toyota.com/recall and the Toyota Customer Experience Center (1 800-331-4331) or www.lexus.com/recall and Lexus Customer Satisfaction (1 800-255-3987).

NAFA Fleet Management Association
125 Village Blvd., Suite 200
Princeton, NJ 08540

Telephone: 609.720.0882 Fax: 609.452.8004