Car Recalls Cause Worries for Toyota and Lexus Owners; 82,200 Hybrids Recalled

Toyota Motor Corp has issued its own, voluntary recall of two hybrid models. The car recalls have been issued due to possible overheated or damaged transistors.
DETROIT, M.I. – Car recalls may have paused for a period of time for Toyota Motor Corp, but it seems due to problems with certain transistors in two of its hybrid vehicles, about 82,200 hybrids are being voluntarily recalled by Toyota Motor Corp.
The two models that are included in the current car recalls are the 2006 and 2007 years for:
• Toyota Highland Hybrid, 45,000
• Lexus RX 400h, 36,700
The vehicles that may have the problems have been sold in the U.S. with no other Toyota or Lexus models affected.
The recall issue may be the Intelligent Power Module (IPM), which is built into the Hybrid System Inverter. The IPM’s control board is designed with transistors, and they seem to be the cause of some problems for these models. Due to the improper soldering of transistors on the control boards, there could be damage from heat. This heat may be “caused by a large current flow during high-load driving”, according to Toyota Motor Corp.
The damage from the heat could cause warning lamps to light up on the instrument panel, which, at this point, Toyota Motor Corp has determined two scenarios may occur:
1. In most of these cases, the vehicle will fall into a fail-safe driving most, which will reduce power, but still allow the vehicle to drive short distances.
2. In few instances, the power supply circuit fuse may actually blow when the transistor becomes damaged from the heat. If this is the case, the hybrid system will stop entirely with the vehicle slowing down to a stop.
Owners will begin receiving notices regarding the recall starting in mid-July, 2011. Currently, Toyota Motor Corp is working on getting enough parts to be able to service the vehicles involved in these car recalls and will notify owners at the time the parts become available, advising owners to make an appointment with an authorized Toyota dealer. The dealers will then inspect the IPM and replace if necessary.
Owners who may have questions about the car recalls are welcome to visit www.toyota.com/recall or www.lexus.com/recall, or they may call the Toyota Customer Experience Center (1 800-331-4331) or Lexus Customer Satisfaction (1 800-255-3987).
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[Source(s): AutoBlog]