2015 Toyota Tacoma problems

What is wrong

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2011-2016 Toyota Tacoma and 4Runner vehicles equipped with accessory hood scoops installed by SET or SET dealers. The adhesive attaching the hood scoop may weaken, allowing the hood scoop to detach from the vehicle.

Risk

If the hood scoop detaches, it may become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

SET will notify owners, and dealers will mechanically fasten the scoop to the hood, free of charge. The recall began on September 1, 2017. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1‑954‑429‑2000. SET's number for this recall is SET17B.

Recall number 17V425000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2015 Tacoma pickup trucks manufactured August 7, 2014, to December 22, 2014. The affected vehicles may have had their tires and wheels changed to TRD PRO accessory tires and wheels, causing the inflation information on the tire placard to be incorrect which may result in the tire being improperly inflated. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, "Tire Selection and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation Vehicle Trailer Load Carrying Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less."

Risk

Improperly inflated tires may increase the risk of a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will send a revised tire placard with correct tire size and inflation information to owners, free of charge. The recall began March 13, 2015. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 15V099000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 Toyota 4Runner, Tacoma, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, RAV4, Scion FRS, and XB vehicles. The affected vehicles may have accessories installed by SET, such as running boards or other items, that were incorrectly installed. The accessory attaching fasteners were not tightened with the proper torque, possibly causing the accessory to detach from the vehicle.

Risk

Accessories that detach from a vehicle may result in a vehicle crash and/or personal injury.

Remedy

SET will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and tighten the affected bolts, free of charge. The recall began February 23, 2015. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1‑866‑405‑4226. SET's number for this recall is SET-14B.

Recall number 14V828000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (Gulf States) is recalling certain model year 2015 Toyota Tacoma vehicles manufactured September 2, 2014, to October 15, 2014. The affected vehicles may contain an incorrect Load Carrying Capacity Modification Label. As a result, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 110, "Tire Selection and Rims for Passenger Cars."

Risk

An incorrect label may result in the vehicle being overloaded, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Gulf States has notified owners, and dealers will install an accurate label, free of charge. The recall began December 1, 2014. Owners may contact Gulf States customer service at 1‑800‑444‑1074.

Recall number 14V663000 · Recall details

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (ACU) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The ECU receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with manufacturer design specifications.  The ECU in the subject vehicles contains a model DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which controls the communication of the crash sensor signal, firing commands (i.e., when to deploy the airbag(s) and/or pretensioners), and fault information (e.g., diagnostic trouble codes). In September 2016, FCA announced recall 16V‑668 for certain model year (MY) 2010 to 2014 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products manufactured with the subject ZF-TRW ACU.  In this recall, FCA discussed an EOS condition that resulted in a failure of the subject DS84 ASIC, which caused air bag non-deployment. FCA noted that the defect condition had only been observed in vehicles equipped with sensor harnessing routed across the front of the vehicle.  Other FCA vehicles that also used the subject ACU, but were not equipped with cross-car harnessing, had not experienced EOS failures, despite similar time in service. During the course of this investigation, ODI sent two separate Information Request (IR) letters to six vehicle manufactures (including FCA, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Toyota) and one IR letter to ZF-TRW. These IR letters resulted in ODI receiving comprehensive data from these manufacturers and suppliers. Studies of this data found that the DS84 ASIC does not have sufficient protection against negative electrical transients or electrical overstress (“EOS”) that can be generated in certain severe crashes. An electrical transient occurs when the electrical power supplied to a circuit changes momentarily over a short duration of time.  In these severe crash cases, the crash sensors and other powered wiring can be damaged and short circuited so as to create a negative electrical transient of sufficient intensity and duration (that are outside the vehicle manufacturer's specification) to damage the ASIC before the restraint device deployment signal is received by the SRS ECU. This damaged signal can lead to incomplete or nondeployment of the air bags and/or pretensioners.  Airbag non-deployment and/or lack of pretensioner operation can increase the risk or severity of injury in a crash.A total of 8 fatalities and 14 injuries were associated with known EOS events. The common element in all investigated manufacturers vehicles is the SRS ECU containing a DS84 ASIC manufactured by ZF-TRW. The risk associated with the ASIC is equally shared among all OEMS involved in the investigation. The actual real-world risk can be mitigated by other factors which were assessed by ODI during this investigation. The first mitigating factor involves protections built into the ACU design which protect the DS84 ASIC from damage. There are multiple strategies and levels of protection employed by different OEMs that provide effective EOS mitigation. The two most common strategies at the ACU level are circuit protection diodes on the remote senor signal lines, and current limiting resistors that protect critical components. The second mitigating factor is found at the vehicle level and involves the location and routing of the wires leading from the crash sensors to the SRS ECU. If the wires are well protected in a crash and are not routed with other power wires carrying large currents, the risk for an EOS event is significantly reduced or eliminated. These design specific factors combine to produce a spectrum of risk for the vehicles equipped with ACUs using the DS84 ASIC. Given the many of years of field exposure, it is possible to divide the subject population into two groups; vehicles which have experienced EOS events, and vehicles which have not experienced EOS field events. Four of the six OEMs involved in this investigation have experienced EOS field events on at least one of their models equipped with a DS84 ASIC. All vehicle models (including the Toyota models identified in the Failure Report Summary of the opening resume for this investigation) with field events have been recalled. In an abundance of caution, ODI kept this investigation open five years to monitor field performance and did not identify any field events on vehicles not included in existing safety recalls. Given the spectrum of risk identified in this investigation and that all vehicles with a demonstrated unreasonable risk have been recalled, ODI is closing this investigation. ODI is closing this investigation with the following manufacturer safety recalls: 16V‑668, 18E-043, 18V‑137, 18V‑363, and 20V‑024. With the recall actions taken by the subject vehicle and equipment manufacturers, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exists on other model or model year vehicles outside of the recall scopes. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.

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