New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Out of the blue my dealer's service department called my wife asking if we've received a notice in the mail regarding a possible steering issue with our '07 TCH. My wife is not mechanically fluent but she said the issue is related to loss of torque if the steering is wheel is turned maximum right or left.
Personally I've not heard of anything like this.
I did call the dealer and they confirmed they needed to order a part which is backordered at this time.
Can anyone elaborate on what the problem is exactly?
A search of this forum, ToyotaNation and Google didn't yield anything similar.
Thanks.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

It's a recall on replacing the steering rack assembly. I'm not sure if it's just the '07 models or other years. I talked to our local tech and he said that the electric steering is coming out on many of the new gas models. The reason being, no power steering leaks, smaller lines, less power pulled from the engine and it's lighter weight. It also slightly improves the gas mileage.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I wish I had more specific information but talking to the service rep who seemed to know what he was talking about ...

1) This campaign in new, began only in the past few days.
2) The possible symptom of the potential failure is LOSS OF STEERING. Not loss of steering assist but total inability to steer the car. :(
3) It's related to the magnets in whatever steering component has magnets in it (I guess).
4) The campaign takes 6 to 7 hours per vehicle to complete.

This is all heresay. I have no firsthand information on it.
My car goes in this morning.
They are giving me a loaner so the inconvenience is minimal.
I hope.
;)

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I have never heard of any toyota electric assist ever loosing it's steering. I have read about this problem sometimes exist when parking the car like in a parking lot with the steering turned to full lock. If this happens the manual steering takes over. I'm not sure if it's just the 2007 TCH or just certain 2007 build dates.

I'm sure someone will post the TSB and we can then read the details.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I like your explanation better. More in line with the symptom the service rep gave my wife. "When steering is turned to maximum blah blah blah loss of torque blah blah blah".

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Awww....tell your wife she did good :shade:

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

:omg::omg:
Those butchers working on a car for 6-7 hours???? Car will never be the same again!!!:(:(:(

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I have to be careful. It might go to her head.
;)

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Actually the service department at my dealer has been superlative. One of the several reasons I continue to do business with them on the sales side.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Schmidtj, I'm assuming you bought your TCH about the same time as I bought mine (Sept/Oct 06) since we arrived on this site concurrently. Did your dealer tell you if the steering unit defect involved all TCHs or just those J-built sbout the time we took delivery.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

On the service ticket it's listed as

06 07 Camry HV EPS Campaign
Replace EPS Assist

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

.

Many thanks. My TCH was built in July '06. I'll call my dealer Monday.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Please let us know what happens...Is this a "free" repair? I know I am out of the 3 year/36000 mile warranty, but if this is important service recall, shouldn't it be covered by toyota?

By the way, I have a japan built 2007 camry hybrid thank you!

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I would think any factory recall would be completely paid for my the manufacture.

Anyone with a recall letter should confirm with the service writer if their would be any charges to the customer.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I just dropped my 06 Highlander at Toyota service for this recall. I should have asked for a copy of the service bulletin, but here is what I was able to pick up from looking at the document. "Gradual loss of steering assist the further you turn the steering wheel from center. Most noticeable when parallel parking", "replace PS assembly", and something about faulty magnets.

5-6 hours to repair and for that reason, the service person said that a loaner car was not covered by the recall. Only those recall repairs taking more than one day would qualify for service loaner. :cry:

I'll get a copy of the bulletin when I pick up the car, and try to post tonight.. will also report if there is any noticeable difference in the steering feel.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

here is a copy of the service bulletin sent to dealers. I picked up my HiHy today after my dealer repaired the EPS unit. the front tires were also realigned because this was a steering related recall. So overall I am happy that it was taken care of promptly, and that my dealer called me even before I received the recall letter sent to owners.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Thank you! Today I brought in my car and it was under the service campaign. However, the parts are on backorder...nationwide. They said this campaign came out about a week or so ago, so Toyota is trying to keep up with the demand in parts. I'll post the service invoice when it gets done.


Thanks everyone for the heads up on this issue.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

You didn't need to bring your car in to the dealer just to find out that your car is included in the recall campaign. Just call, tell them your VIN number, and they can look it up in their database. Did they give you an estimate of when the parts would be in stock? I suppose I got lucky by scheduling my appointment last Friday for Monday (yesterday).

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Yeah, I know that is exactly what I did. I called them up, gave them my VIN, and they said I am covered under the service campaign. I asked, can I bring in my vehicle for repair today, they said sure, come on up. When I got there, they told me they do not have the parts nor was it in stock at the warehouse.

Sometimes my dealer does that, its annoying, but the owner of this dealership is a friend of my family and I also work there part time on breaks from school so I cannot really complain haha

I asked when should I expect this part.... they said they do not know. It could be up to a month or as soon as 1 week. I'll keep you all updated.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

The parts surpassingly came in today. They did the service, took 4.3 hr units of work to do the repair. I will post the repair sheet later. I cannot really tell any differences, maybe the steering is a tiny bit more sensitive and easier to turn the wheel though.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

My dealer was right on top of it and called me a few days ago. Yesterday they replaced the Electronic Power Steering Assembly and it took them 4.3 hours. After the replacement they performed an alignment. It feels to me the steering is a bit tighter, which I like.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Dealer called me on Monday, I made an appointment for Wednesday and it's all done by 2 PM. Car drives little better, but I think mostly due to wheel alignment, however, the clicking of the steering wheel, which I missed getting fixed under older TBS is also gone, the one when turning to extreme left or right. The older fix consisted of replacing intermediate steering shaft?? or something like that and I was not expecting this to be fixed since different parts are being replaced, but it did, at least for now. Now I need to change my break pads , dealer claims they're totally worn out, which I have hard time to believe since they called me about rear pads needing replacement, but listed front pads as metal to metal on the bill. Too bad I can't look at it until weekend, since they looked pretty good just 6 months ago.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I took this in to my dealer and they confirmed it applied to my vehicle. Work was done in about 5 hours. I took it for a spin afterwards and it doesn't seem like there was any difference. The mechannic couldn't tell me whether Toyota was just replacing these systems or if they were installing an upgraded motor. We'll see what happens in 36 months....

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Peter, how many miles on your car? And what type of driving do you do? Trying to determine why the brakes would be so worn. Maybe a second opinion is warranted? Thanks

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Hi all. I just got off the phone with Toyota Canada. In Canada they refer to it as Campaign #914.
Letters informing owners of this free Service Recall are to go out next week. You don't have to have the letter to book the appt.

I just called my dealer and booked my car in. He confirmed that it's rated as a 4.5 hr job.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I have 60k right now and drive mostly bumper to bumper traffic, so the break pads could be low, but I refused their service and will be working on the breaks this weekend to see for myself. My biggest worry is that maybe caliper freezed and not moving freely causing one side to wear out and it's usually the one on the back, where it's hard to see without taking the whole assembly out. After my father took his Honda to the dealer to check transmission before his 100k warranty expires and they raped him with totally useless $1500 break job, or oil change, where they left screw loose so fresh oil leaked out before I even drove back home and many other horror stories, maybe not with this particular Toyota dealer, but in general, I don't want any mechanic to touch my car unless there is no other way, like this recall. The strange thing is, my break fluid level is almost the same as when new and worn pads should lower the level unless wear is very uneven.Maybe I open new thread after I finish the work, could be one of first break jobs posted on this forum :). I also want to look to see what they did with EPS and that everything is tight and neat.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Here's the notice I received today in the mail for my '06 HiHy. (Click on the image a couple times until it's full size).

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/998/recallor5.th.jpg

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I don't know if it's my luck, or there is no honest people around anymore. I took my car for ESP recall to my local dealer and they called me that I need new break pads in the back. I refused and when I picked the car the invoice stated the front breaks are metal to metal. So I ordered front and rear break pads at the dealer for close to $150 and just took my car apart to fix the problem myself. Well, the front pads are 12 mm thick brand new, mine were about 8mm. Rear pads are about 11 mm thick and mine are about 6-7 mm, well within 1 mm minimum thickness per Toyota specs. So new break pads are going back to the dealer for refund, but I'm really mad they were trying to still money from me again selling useless services. I would make a big scene up there, especially that they wrote on the service order front pads were worn out to the end, so I have a proof of them trying to cheat me, but it's the closest place to my house and I may need to do some other recall or service I can't perform myself, but this is really bad. I just really hope I never ever have to take my car to the mechanic again. At least the power steering looks brand new so it seems they did perform the service I asked for and I hope they didn't break anything inside. Just be warned, if the dealer says you need some extra work done during recall work , you better ask him to see the problem in person.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Pete, can you imagine how many people don't know beans about mechanic work. It's sad a dealer like that would take full advantage of unsuspecting customers.

When I lived in Dallas, a local TV station placed a burned out fuse in 5 or 6 VCR's. They carried them to various TV repair shops. The next few days they picked them up. The bills ranged from $5 to over $100 each. Those shop names were on television and also listed in the newspaper with the story.

A few months later this same TV station did this again. They took a bunch of cars and simply backed off the rear brake shoes. Again they were taken to many shops. Picked up the next day. Most had completely new brakes on all 4 wheels. Prices ran up to about $200. Only a couple of shops said it was simply a rear brake adjustment on both sides and charged a minimal fee.

It was interesting to hear the newscaster with a hidden camera, when they confronted the brake shop owners. They asked, why he replace the brakes when the only problem was the rear brakes not being adjusted.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

:( Not a big surprise, this is why I will not take my car to these places, years ago I worked in a stealership and it was well known to be very good , honest business, well I could write a book about the things that went on lol!!!! If I want some snot nosed kid learning on my car I will let the Grandson work on it. This is why I drive Lexus as you never need to take them back for anything, have owned 10 Lexus vehicals and had one back, a GX470 for sunroof rattle and some snot nosed kid literally tore the headliner out in peices and patched it up and sent it out along with greasy handprints all over it they ended up replacing it and rattle was still there.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

My dealer call me about the recall and yesterday they replaced EPS. 5 hours, as promised. Had no steering problems before. Apparently it only effects Camry and Highlander hybrid vehicles build in Japan in 2006. The magnets in the EPS move under high torque conditions, like parking. The recall includes alignment. Haven't receive a notice from Toyota yet. The steering feels the same to me. Going on a 1000 mile trip next week, will see there is any difference.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Since I got this recall done, I am pretty sure the steering is more sensitive when taking tight corners and sharp turns fast. +1

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Anyone in Canada get the recall yet?

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Mine is going in next Thursday - dealer is giving me a loaner. I thought they'd decline and offer a ride in their shuttle

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

I called our local service department yesterday. He said, my car was not on his steering replacement list. He asked me for my vin number. I called back today and gave it to him. He said my car shows it's ok as is and the steering rack would not need to be replaced.

My car is a 2007 TCH built in the Kentucky plant. Could be because I bought my car at the end of the model year.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Could be because your vehicle was built in the U.S. ;)

See post #31.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Mine is Japan built - wonder if that's a common denominator?

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

We have a problem.... As indicated in the previous posts, I had this service campaign performed on my vehicle. However, now when I turn the steering wheel, I can hear some clicking/grinding noise coming from the vehicle. Its like a "ttttttttttt" noise when turning the steering wheel...Either trying to park at low speeds or making a turn. The noise is very obvious when the car is in EV mode because you can hear the EPS not the engine noise. I guess I am bring it in next Friday for repair/to get it looked at.

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

Is all the work done under the hood? Do they do anything inside the car with the dash or steering wheel? I'm just curious as to how many other things my dealer might screw up while fixing this! ;)

Re: New steering related recall or TSB ?
 

The steering rack is located under the car. Once replaced the alignment man will align the wheels then he or the mechanic may take it for a test drive.