1999 Toyota 4RUNNER: loss of power steering

Filed Feb 4, 2010 · Brakes · CO

I have a 1999 toyota 4runner that has the same problem with the ABS as is being reported for the 2010 prius, only worse. When the ABS kicks in on slick or uneven surfaces, the vehicle goes into a freely-floating mode for 5+ seconds. There is no braking capacity at all during that time and steering is difficult. The vehicle is completely out of control during that time. I have had multiple near-misses which would have resulted in serious harm to myself and others and a few incidences where I ended up running off the road (once into a ravine) or hitting median strips w/o involving other vehicles. I took my vehicle to the toyota dealer twice about this issue. Once I was told I was nuts, that the ABS couldn't possibly behave that way; and the other time I was told that, "oh yeah, that's how ABS works." no examination or correction was offered. My strategy has been to always touch the brakes so gently that ABS doesn't kick in, but this winters snowy weather has defeated this plan. Whenever I brake on a slick, snowy surface the ABS kicks in no matter how gently I touch the brakes. Last week, I had an extremely harrowing close call when my vehicle went careening out of control into an intersection when another vehicle was passing through it. This was on a side street when I was moving very slowly and had begun the gentle braking at least 30' before the intersection... But the ABS kicked in, and I could not stop before sliding into the intersection. (for the required field asking for the incident date, I'll give the date of this most recent near-miss, but there have been many incidents over the years.)

Filed Apr 11, 2009 · Fuel system · 54,500 miles · PA

Driving on I-79 in passing lane at 65 MPH, the engine quit, complete loss of power steering and brakes..rush hour. Most dangerous that has ever happened to me. Coasted to side of road, towed to garage, engine will not start, shows a little over 1/2 tank on fuel gage..ends up, was out of fuel ! Gauge gave false reading. The vehicle has only 54,000 miles on it. I did find a toyota tsb el010-00 that addresses this exact problem, but I was never notified of it. My vehicle was bought from a toyota dealer with my name as the new owner on record. This is the most dangerous thing to happen, no indication of low fuel level, no fuel low warning light,,gauge was showing a little over 1/2 tank. This needs to be addressed as a recall.

Filed May 19, 2005 · Fuel system · 72,505 miles · FL

Vehicle stalls and dies on highway almost causing wreck. Find out there is no fuel in tank even though fuel gauge reads 1/3. Toyota says tsb el010-00 addresses known defective 1999 and 2000 fuel gauges and also addresses some gauges inaccurately reading empty when 4 gallons remain, but my vehicle currently have 72545 miles and out of warranty so toyota will not pay for fix. No engine, no steering, no brakes, lots of traffic. I am in the navy and will be driving from florida to san diego next month enroute to japan in october. I called toyota corporate and they said they know about it but since it's only a tsb and not a recall, they can't do anything to fix it unless I pay for it myself. These are known defects since the truck got out of the tahara plant in japan for sale to the u.s.

Filed Aug 26, 2004 · Fuel system · CA

Vehicle stalls and dies on freeway almost causing wreck. Find out there is no fuel in tank even though fuel gauge reads 1/2. Toyota says tsb el010-00 addresses known defective 1999 and 2000 fuel gauges and also addresses some gauges inaccurately reading empty when 4 gallons remain, my vechicle is out of warranty so toy will not pay for fix. No engine, no steering, no brakes, lots of traffic...*ak.

Filed Oct 17, 2001 · Suspension · MN · crash

Was traveling 55mph when vehicle started shaking, and was hard to control, had noticed left front end going into a ditch. Vehicle dropped down, and lost power steering and brake control.*ak consumer stated all bolts broke at spindle so axle was still attached to tire when it flew off the vehicle.