NHTSA Complaint #10680927 — 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA

WHILE DRIVING ON 4 LANE HIGHWAY, I BEGAN TO SMELL BURNING RUBBER, THEN NOTICED THAT THE BATTERY DISCHARGE INDICATOR LIGHT CAME ON. FOUND THAT THE SERPENTINE BELT DRIVING THE ALTERNATOR AND COMPRESSOR HAD BEEN SHREDDED AND WAS HANGING TO THE GROUND. UPON A CLOSER LOOK, THE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY HAD FAILED (IT HAD COME APART). IT APPEARED THAT THE OUTER RING HAD SEPARATED FROM THE RUBBER INNER RING OF THE PULLEY AND THE OUTER RING HAD BECOME MISALIGNED. THE MISALIGNMENT APPEARED TO HAVE CAUSED THE SERPENTINE BELT FAILURE. IT ALSO CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE TIMING BELT COVER, THE TIMING BELT AND THE POWER STEERING BELT. THE BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON BECAUSE OF THE FAILED SERPENTINE BELT. FORTUNATELY, I MAINTAINED POWER STEERING BECAUSE THE POWER STEERING BELT HAD NOT COMPLETELY FAILED WHEN I PULLED OFF THE HIGHWAY. THE FAILURE SEEMS TO BE IDENTICAL TO THAT COVERED BY SAFETY RECALL NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 11V539000. HOWEVER, TOYOTA CLAIMS THAT MY VIN NUMBER IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE RECALL. TOYOTA'S RESPONSE TO ME DOES NOT MAKE SENSE SINCE THIS IS THE SAME MODEL, SAME MODEL YEAR, SAME ENGINE MODEL, SAME PARTS MANUFACTURE (PULLEY CONTAINS THE MARK NOTED IN THE RECALL), SAME MANUFACTURE DATE (FEB. 2005), ETC OF THE VEHICLES COVERED BY THE RECALL. SEEMS THAT THE RECALL HAS NOT COVERED ALL OF THE VEHICLES AFFECTED BY THIS FAILURE. MY VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED NEW ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2005. *TR