NHTSA Complaint #10652604 — 2011 TOYOTA TUNDRA

ON SUN. 10/11/14, I DROVE OUR TUNDRA ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN IT LOST POWER. THE ENGINE RACED AND RPMS INCREASED, BUT THE SPEED FELL AND NO ACCELERATION WAS POSSIBLE. ON A HILL, SPEED FELL TO ABOUT 15 MPH. I WAS ON MY WAY TO PICK UP MY HORSE AND TRAILER; IF I HAD BEEN TOWING THEM, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE HIGHWAY SPEED TRAFFIC. IT WAS STILL DANGEROUS EVEN WITHOUT THE TRAILER. I TURNED ON MY HAZARD LIGHTS AND LIMPED OFF. "CHECK ENGINE" LIT UP. TOOK TO DEALERSHIP THE NEXT DAY, WHO SAID CHECK ENGINE CODE WAS "P2445" FOR "SECONDARY AIR INJECTION SYSTEM WATER INTRUSION" REQUIRING REPLACEMENT OF THE AIR PUMP ASSEMBLY, AIR PUMP INLET, EMISSION VALVE SET, ETC. FOR $2600 BECAUSE WATER INVADED THE SYSTEM. THE SERVICE TECH SAID THAT THIS WAS NOT A KNOWN ISSUE, BUT MY INTERNET SEARCH SHOWED THAT TOYOTA ISSUED A 12-PAGE 2011 TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN, STATING THAT "THE AIR PUMP ASSEMBLY INLET HAS BEEN UPDATED TO PREVENT WATER INTRUSION." TOYOTA HAS NEITHER RECALLED THE DEFECTIVE INLETS NOR NOTIFIED OWNERS. THE TSB SAYS ONLY TRUCKS UNDER THE 36,000/ 3 YEAR WARRANTY ARE COVERED. TUNDRAS ARE TOW VEHICLES AND IT IS FORESEEABLE HOW UNSAFE THIS IS. BECAUSE MY TRUCK WAS SOLD JUST OVER 3 YEARS AGO, THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP AT FIRST COULD NOT COVER IT. I CONTACTED TOYOTA HEADQUARTERS, WHO REFERRED ME BACK TO THE LOCAL SERVICE MANAGER, WHO THEN REACHED SOUTHEAST REGIONAL TOYOTA OFFICE, WHICH FINALLY AGREED TO COVER THE REPAIR. WHEN THIS AIR PUMP INLET FAILS, IT ALLOWS WATER TO ENTER THE AIR INJECTION SYSTEM AND THE SYSTEM TO THEN FAIL IN THE DANGEROUS WAY THAT OCCURRED IN MY CASE, RESULTING IN A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THIS HAPPENING TO OTHERS AND THAT THE DEALERS SEEM UNAWARE OF THIS TSB AND THIS "KNOWN ISSUE." TSB LINK IS HERE: HTTP://WWW.AUTOSAFETY.ORG/SITES/DEFAULT/FILES/IMCE_STAFF_UPLOADS/T-SB-0160-11.PDF. *TR