(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) in the United States has told its dealers to fix some 2010 Corolla and Matrix models because an accessory engine belt may deteriorate and detach, according to a notice to dealers.

About 10,750 vehicles may be affected by the "limited service campaign." There are about 9,400 Corollas that could have the accessory belt issue, and 1,350 Matrix vehicles.

The cars affected have the 2ZR-FE engine. The engine accessory belt used to transfer force from the engine to the air conditioner, alternator and water pump may pull free from pulleys. The engine may overheat, the notice said.

By Yuri Kageyama (CP) – 1 hour ago
TOKYO — Toyota recalled nearly 1.7 million cars worldwide Wednesday for fuel leaks, the latest in a ballooning number of quality problems that could add another dent to its tarnished reputation in the crucial U.S. market.
Toyota's latest recalls are mostly in Japan, but they also include the IS and GS Lexus luxury models in North America, where the world's No. 1 automaker faces the biggest obstacles to winning back customer trust.
Toyota's U.S. sales lagged last year despite an industry recovery, putting General Motors Co. within reach of reclaiming its title as the world's biggest car maker by number of vehicles sold. Toyota Motor Corp. became the top-selling automaker in 2008, dethroning GM after nearly 80 years of dominance.
There were no accidents suspected of being related to the latest recall, according to Toyota. The car maker said it had received 77 complaints overseas, 75 of them in North America, and more than 140 in Japan.
Koji Endo, auto analyst with Advanced Research Japan Co. in Tokyo, said the latest recall will cost Toyota about 20 billion yen ($240 million), and that won't hurt its earnings performance by much.
"But there is that perception of here we go again, and that hurts Toyota's image, especially in North America," he said.
Toyota is likely trying to be aggressive with recalls, carrying them out quickly before they turn into bigger problems, and so the latest one is not a sign that quality is taking another plunge for the worse at the automaker, Endo said.
Still, the manufacturer — whose "Toyota Way" production methods have been praised and emulated around the world — can't hope to claim to have put the problems behind it either.
The largest number of the affected vehicles was in Japan at nearly 1.3 million — the second-largest auto recall in the nation's history — and involving two different problems.
The biggest recall in Japan was in 2005, also by Toyota, when nearly 1.3 million Corolla cars were recalled for a faulty headlight switch and some other problems, according to the Japanese transport ministry.
The latest quality hitch comes on top of the spate of massive recalls that began in late 2009, mostly in North America and which now cover more than 12 million vehicles.
Toyota has been struggling to regain its once solid reputation among buyers for producing reliable vehicles. The biggest damage to Toyota's image has been in the U.S. where its response was seen as dallying.
The recalls since late 2009 include defective floor mats and gas pedals that get stuck, some of them suspected of causing unintended acceleration or runaway vehicles.
In one of the problems announced Wednesday, an improper installation of a sensor to measure fuel pressure may cause the sensor to loosen as a result of engine vibration over time, and possibly cause fuel leakage, the company said. That problem also affects 280,000 Lexus cars sold abroad, 255,000 of them in North America and 10,000 in Europe.
Included under that recall are the 2006 through 2007 Lexus GS300/350, 2006 through early 2009 Lexus IS250, and 2006 through early 2008 Lexus IS350 sold in the U.S.
Lexus dealers will inspect the vehicles for fuel leakage and will tighten the fuel pressure sensor with the proper torque, if nothing is leaking. If a leak is confirmed, the gasket between the sensor and the delivery pipe will be replaced, it said.
That same problem was also found in the Crown and Mark X models sold in Japan.
The second problem, which affects 141,000 Avensis sedans and station wagons sold in Europe, and New Zealand, was caused by irregular work on the fuel pipe, which may cause cracks and fuel leakage, Toyota said.
That problem was also found in 16 models sold in Japan, including the Noah subcompact, RAV4 sport-utility vehicle and Wish cars.
Toyota also recalled 6,000 trucks made by group company Daihatsu Motor Co., which were sold under the Toyota brand in Japan, for a problem with a metal part attaching a spare tire to the bottom of the truck. The tire could come loose and fall on the road, Toyota said.
In December, Toyota agreed to pay $32.4 million in fines to the U.S. government to settle the investigation into its handling of two recalls. The latest settlement was on top of the $16.4 million fine Toyota paid earlier.
Toyota has stayed popular in Japan, partly because government incentives for green vehicles sent sales of its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid booming.
Chief Executive Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the automaker's founder, has vowed to regain trust and be quicker in responding to customer needs.
Toyota has held the spot of the world's biggest automaker in annual vehicle sales for three years straight, including last year though General Motors was close behind. But some believe that Toyota's relentless drive for growth hurt quality.
Toyota shares fell nearly two per cent to close at 3,400 yen ($41) in Tokyo.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- An intensive 10 month investigation into possible causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota cars found no fault with the automaker's electronic throttle control systems, the Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, "We enlisted the best and brightest engineers to study Toyota's electronics systems, and the verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas."

NHTSA enlisted the help of NASA scientists and engineers. The agency said their expertise in areas such as computer controlled electronic systems, electromagnetic interference and software integrity would be a big help.

Despite a string of recalls for other problems Toyota has long insisted that the electronic controls in its cars are safe.

Toyota recalled nearly 8 million vehicles in 2008 and 2009 for defects related to gas pedals -- including sticky pedals and floor mat obstruction -- as a result of complaints of unwanted acceleration.

So far, those two problems remain the only known causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, NHTSA said.

Some critics of the automaker, at the time were not satisfied that those two problems were the only ones to blame for for the growing number of reports that Toyotas were accelerating out of control. They pointed to the electronic throttle control system as another possible culprit.

A common feature in newer vehicles, electronic throttle control uses sensors and computer chips to pass commands between the vehicles' gas pedal and the engine to control a car's speed instead of the simple mechanical connection used in older cars.

With the completion of the Toyota investigation, NHTSA said it would begin a broader look at the reliability and safety of electronics systems in modern automobiles.

Congress ordered the DOT to investigate whether there might be a problem with those electronic controls. The study was launched last spring.

As part of the study, the agencies ran tests at a Chrysler Group LLC testing facility in Auburn Hills, Mich. headquarters in which researchers bombarded Toyota vehicles with electromagnetic radiation to see if they could cause any malfunctions that might lead to unintended acceleration.

Toyota Motor Co. has also provided NASA software engineers with "unrestricted access" to the computer code used to control the electronic throttle control systems. The software engineers have been combing through the code looking for anything that might cause a car to accelerate out of control under any circumstances, NHTSA said.

Also, scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and NHTSA East Liberty, Ohio, research center have been examining cars and Toyota throttle systems, searching for any defects that might cause unwanted acceleration.

This summer, NHTSA released the results of some investigations into Toyota sudden acceleration incidents. Those investigations specifically looked into 58 alleged unintended acceleration cases. These investigations suggested that drivers themselves may have been partly at fault. At that time the agency stressed that the results were preliminary.

Although Toyota sales have suffered much of the automaker's sales decline is due to an aging model line-up more than concerns over safety problems, analysts say.

Toyota now includes "brake override" on all its new vehicles. This system automatically cuts engine power as soon as the brake pedal is pressed in order to prevent unwanted acceleration.

NHTSA said that, by the end of this year, it would propose a rule requiring brake override on all new vehicles.

NHTSA also said it plans to propose requirements for standardized operation of push-button keyless ignition systems in cars and to require the installation of Event Data Recorders, devices that record various data including gas pedal and brake usage immediately before and after a major crash.

NHTSA will also research the design and placement of gas and brake pedals in cars to help reduce the possibility of drivers mistakenly pressing the wrong pedal.

Toyota is currently facing hundreds of lawsuits over alleged unintended acceleration, most of which have been grouped together in a single California court. Decisions in those cases are not expected for years.

NASA engineers reviewed 280,000 lines of software code in Toyotas, and bombarded Toyota vehicles with electromagnetic radiation at a Chrysler facility in Auburn Hills as part of their 10-month investigation.

WASHINGTON -- Toyota to recall 2.17 million vehicles in U.S. to address potential gas pedal entrapment.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/24...#ixzz1Et92IoMn

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Toyota is recalling 2.2 million vehicles to correct problems that can cause gas pedals to become stuck in floormats.

In one problem, the gas pedal can get stuck in the plastic pad part of the driver's side floormat, if the floormat isn't replaced properly after it's removed, Toyota said in its announcement. The automaker is recalling 20,000 2006 and early 2007 model year Lexus GS300 and GS350 All-Wheel cars to fix this problem.

Toyota's latest recalls
Carpet pad
Gas pedal can become stuck on a pad in the floormat
2007 Lexus GS300 AWD
2007 Lexus GS350 AWD
Plastic cover
A plastic piece can come loose and interfere with the gas pedal
2004 - 2007 Lexus RX 330
2004 - 2007 Lexus RX 350
2004 - 2007 Lexus RX 400h
2006 Toyota Highlander
2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Floormats
Additional vehicles added to 2009 recall for potential floormat entrapment
2003 - 2009 Toyota 4Runner
2008 - 2011 Lexus LX570
2006 - 2010 Toyota RAV4
Source:Toyota
In other cars, a retention clip used to secure a piece on the vehicle's center console can come loose and interfere with the gas pedal.

To fix that issue, Toyota is recalling 372,000 model year 2004 through early 2007 Lexus RX 330, RX 350 and RX 400h SUVs, as well as approximately 397,000 2004 through 2006 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid SUVs.

Also, Toyota announced it is expanding a 2009 recall in which gas pedals could become trapped on extra-thick floormats that did not originally come with the car. Dealers will reshape the cars' gas pedals and floorboards so that they won't get stuck even when thick, all-weather floormats are used.

Approximately 603,000 model year 2003 through 2009 Toyota 4Runner SUVs, approximately 17,000 model year 2008 through 2011 Lexus LX570 SUVS and approximately 761,000 model year 2006 through 2010 RAV4s are being added to that recall.

The recalls come after a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation to determine if Toyota's 2009 recall for pedal entrapment had gone far enough to cover all possible causes, NHTSA and Toyota said.

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed more than 400,000 pages of Toyota documents to determine whether the scope of its recalls for pedal entrapment was sufficient," NHTSA administrator David Strickland said in a statement. "As a result of the agency's review, NHTSA asked Toyota to recall these additional vehicles, and now that the company has done so, our investigation is closed."

NHTSA recently closed a separate 10-month investigation into whether electronics could have caused unintended acceleration in Toyotas, as some auto safety advocates had contended. Working with scientists from NASA, the agency concluded that electronics were not a factor.

The report ultimately blamed three things: pedals becoming trapped on floormats, pedals that can become stuck because of age and wear, and driver error.

Toyota's response to NHTSA's recall request -- promptly recalling nearly 2.2 million vehicles -- contrasts sharply with Ford's recent recall of 144,000 F-150 trucks after NHTSA requested the recall of 1.3 million.

The differing responses reflect the different positions of each automaker, said Scott Painter, chief executive of the automotive website Truecar.com. Given its recent history, Toyota had to respond strongly in the face of even the slightest question about safety.

"What they're really trying to do is put this investigation to bed," said Painter.

Ford, on the other hand, is riding a wave of public goodwill and, therefore, had more flexibility in its response.

"Ford is doing what any automaker should do and saying 'Safety has to be balanced with reason,'" said Painter.

In Ford's case, the carmaker elected to recall only those vehicles in which an airbag problem was most common. NHTSA is reviewing Ford's decision and could still demand a broader recall.

Customers who want more information on the recalls can call Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-25 LEXUS or 1-800-255-398.

Toyota recalling 680,000 vehicles

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Toyota Motors is recalling about 680,000 vehicles in the United States in two separate recalls. One recall involves airbags in pickups, the other is for faulty brake lights in sedans and crossovers.

The larger of the two recalls involves almost 500,000 2005 to 2009 Toyota Tacoma trucks. Part of the trucks' steering wheel mechanism may rub against a cable assembly. That could result in a damage to the electrical connection for the driver's airbag module, causing the airbag to be deactivated. If this happens, an airbag warning light on the dashboard will be illuminated and the airbag won't work in a crash.

The second recall involves about 70,500 2009 Toyota (TM) Camry sedans and 116,000 2009 to 2011 Toyota Venza crossover SUVs. Brake lamps on some of these vehicles were incorrectly installed so that silicon grease may have gotten inside the switch. The grease impedes the electrical flow inside the switch.

The vehicles' "shift interlock" safety systems rely on that electrical signal. The "shift interlock" system is designed to prevent the car from being started and shifted into Drive or Reverse without the brake being firmly pressed. The purpose of the system, which virtually all modern cars have, is to prevent accidental acceleration when a vehicle is first being started up.

While the brakes will work normally without electricity flowing through the switch, the vehicle' interlock systems may not recognize that the brake pedal is pressed, which will prevent the vehicle from shifting out of park.
If that happens, a warning lamp on the instrument panel will light up, the vehicle may not start and the gear selector lever may not shift out of the Park position. In some cases, the brake lamp itself may also not work.
No accidents or injuries have been reported as a result of either problem, according to Toyota.

Toyota is recalling nearly a quarter of a million vehicles because of a braking problem.

The Japanese automaker said Wednesday the global recall would affect 242,000 Prius and Lexus hybrid cars made between March and October 2009.

Toyota (TM) said it had received more than 90 complaints from drivers who said they needed to step more heavily on the brake pedal than they were used to.

A spokeswoman said a flaw was allowing nitrogen gas to leak into the brake fluid, reducing the effectiveness of the brakes. There were no reports of accidents or injuries, she said.

Most of the cars affected are in Japan, where 117,000 vehicles are being recalled, followed by 91,000 in North America, 30,000 in Europe and smaller numbers in other markets.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., said it would inspect the brake booster pump assembly on recalled Prius and Lexus HS 250h vehicles and replace it if necessary.

Toyota has been struggling to repair its reputation for reliability and safety after a series of recalls affecting millions of vehicles in recent years.

In April, Toyota said it was recalling 1.7 million cars around the world, including some popular Corolla, Matrix and Tundra models, due to problems with airbags.

Last October, the world's biggest automaker recalled over 7 million cars because of a power window problem that posed a fire risk.