Posted by Allen on October 29, 2006, 7:13 pm
Bill wrote:
> >>
> >> Will they bury the victims in a hybrid coffin?
> >
> > Awfully dramatic. In 35 years of driving I've experienced sudden shutdown
> > many hundreds of times and never panicked over it. Virtually every car
> > made can be expected to die unexpectedly at some time, and main battery
> > failure is so rare as to not be worth worrying about. The Nissan I traded
> > in for my wife's Prius died several times a day for two months - sometimes
> > only for a second, sometimes for half an hour - before I was able to track
> > down the bad connection responsible. If stalling were all that serious
> > there would be ambulances sent out as a precaution when a tow truck was
> > dispatched.
> >
> > Mike
> That's called SEDS (Sudden Engine Death Syndrome) something I experienced
> with my Dodge Rampage. To make a long story short, a mouse was run over by
> the timing belt causing it to skip to the next series of teeth. To
> compensate, an unenlightened technician compensated by rotating the
> distributor to a point that banjo-strung the wire coming from the coil.
> Eventually the conductor broke but the spaghetti was left intact so the wire
> looked perfect. When I would accelerate, the distributor would rotate to
> advance the spark, separating the broken conductor resulting in immediate
> shut-down, usually in the middle of an intersection. The spaghetti would
> pull the conductor together again and the car would start and run
> flawlessly.
> Three dealerships were unable to find the cause. Frustrated by unrelenting
> SEDS I got out my trusty snow scraper and started poking until I found the
> broken wire.
> An unexpected shut-down in traffic sometimes presents a dangerous situation.
> Since every battery eventually fails, and since coincident ICE/Battery
> failure is unlikely, I would find a work-around an interesting engineering
> challenge. But then, I'm an engineer.
Posted by mrv@kluge.net on October 19, 2006, 12:19 am
out of curiousity, have you had the SSC 40G hybrid battery resealant
campaign done (or whatever campaign # it is in your home country)?
Posted by Allen on October 19, 2006, 12:42 am
mrv@kluge.net wrote:
> out of curiousity, have you had the SSC 40G hybrid battery resealant
> campaign done (or whatever campaign # it is in your home country)?
My car was not subject to that recall.
I have only had the steering rack and computer recall's
Posted by mrv@kluge.net on October 19, 2006, 4:12 pm
Allen wrote:
> mrv@kluge.net wrote:
> > out of curiousity, have you had the SSC 40G hybrid battery resealant
> > campaign done (or whatever campaign # it is in your home country)?
> My car was not subject to that recall.
> I have only had the steering rack and computer recall's
odd, as nearly nearly every NHW11 (except for some late 2003s) were
subject to the battery resealing campaign, along with the early Estima
hybrids (same battery pack). It's about a 4hr (half-day) procedure,
thanks to the curing time. You probably were asked to clean out your
trunk for it, so that they could work on the hybrid battery (access is
through the trunk).
Info from the dealer's notification letter for the SSC 40G:
VIN Range
Year, VDS, Ranges
2001, BK12U, 0002009 - 0038684
2001, BK18U, 0002001 - 0038005
2002, BK12U, 0038687 - 0070195
2002, BK18U, 0038685 - 0070196
2003, BK12U, 0070198 - 0082299
2003, BK18U, 0069295 - 0082310
With the note to check the Dealer TIS to be sure that the vehicle in
that VIN range actually is involved...
Since you say that your 2001 was part of the power steering recall, and
that only affected 2001s in the VIN range 0002009 - 0007793, May 9,
2000 - July 21, 2000 production, then you probably should've also
received a letter for the SSC 40G. (Unless you're talking about the
steering shudders, which wasn't a recall but a warranty extension...)
The only "recall" of a NHW11 computer that I know of is LSC 30D for
some early 2001s. (Mine, produced in Dec. 2000, was too new for the
campaign...) That was for a new PS ECU.
You may have had the ECM replaced under a TSB (as I have), but that's
not a recall - no letter is sent out to you, the replacement is only if
you come in reporting certain symptoms (which includes certain error
codes).
Posted by Allen on October 19, 2006, 4:33 pm
mrv@kluge.net wrote:
> Allen wrote:
> > mrv@kluge.net wrote:
> > > out of curiousity, have you had the SSC 40G hybrid battery resealant
> > > campaign done (or whatever campaign # it is in your home country)?
> >
> > My car was not subject to that recall.
> >
> > I have only had the steering rack and computer recall's
> odd, as nearly nearly every NHW11 (except for some late 2003s) were
> subject to the battery resealing campaign, along with the early Estima
> hybrids (same battery pack). It's about a 4hr (half-day) procedure,
> thanks to the curing time. You probably were asked to clean out your
> trunk for it, so that they could work on the hybrid battery (access is
> through the trunk).
> Info from the dealer's notification letter for the SSC 40G:
> VIN Range
> Year, VDS, Ranges
> 2001, BK12U, 0002009 - 0038684
> 2001, BK18U, 0002001 - 0038005
> 2002, BK12U, 0038687 - 0070195
> 2002, BK18U, 0038685 - 0070196
> 2003, BK12U, 0070198 - 0082299
> 2003, BK18U, 0069295 - 0082310
> With the note to check the Dealer TIS to be sure that the vehicle in
> that VIN range actually is involved...
> Since you say that your 2001 was part of the power steering recall, and
> that only affected 2001s in the VIN range 0002009 - 0007793, May 9,
> 2000 - July 21, 2000 production, then you probably should've also
> received a letter for the SSC 40G. (Unless you're talking about the
> steering shudders, which wasn't a recall but a warranty extension...)
> The only "recall" of a NHW11 computer that I know of is LSC 30D for
> some early 2001s. (Mine, produced in Dec. 2000, was too new for the
> campaign...) That was for a new PS ECU.
> You may have had the ECM replaced under a TSB (as I have), but that's
> not a recall - no letter is sent out to you, the replacement is only if
> you come in reporting certain symptoms (which includes certain error
> codes).
You are correct, the ECM was replaced when I complained that the car
was "surging" at highway speeds. When the dealer explained that it was
a known problem and Toyota would replace the ECM I just assumed it was
a recall item. But I never received a recall notice for the battery
and when I last had the car in for its service call, I has the service
manager check to see if there were any outstanding recalls or TSB's
that applied to my car. He told me nothing was outstanding.
> >> Will they bury the victims in a hybrid coffin?
> >
> > Awfully dramatic. In 35 years of driving I've experienced sudden shutdown
> > many hundreds of times and never panicked over it. Virtually every car
> > made can be expected to die unexpectedly at some time, and main battery
> > failure is so rare as to not be worth worrying about. The Nissan I traded
> > in for my wife's Prius died several times a day for two months - sometimes
> > only for a second, sometimes for half an hour - before I was able to track
> > down the bad connection responsible. If stalling were all that serious
> > there would be ambulances sent out as a precaution when a tow truck was
> > dispatched.
> >
> > Mike
> That's called SEDS (Sudden Engine Death Syndrome) something I experienced
> with my Dodge Rampage. To make a long story short, a mouse was run over by
> the timing belt causing it to skip to the next series of teeth. To
> compensate, an unenlightened technician compensated by rotating the
> distributor to a point that banjo-strung the wire coming from the coil.
> Eventually the conductor broke but the spaghetti was left intact so the wire
> looked perfect. When I would accelerate, the distributor would rotate to
> advance the spark, separating the broken conductor resulting in immediate
> shut-down, usually in the middle of an intersection. The spaghetti would
> pull the conductor together again and the car would start and run
> flawlessly.
> Three dealerships were unable to find the cause. Frustrated by unrelenting
> SEDS I got out my trusty snow scraper and started poking until I found the
> broken wire.
> An unexpected shut-down in traffic sometimes presents a dangerous situation.
> Since every battery eventually fails, and since coincident ICE/Battery
> failure is unlikely, I would find a work-around an interesting engineering
> challenge. But then, I'm an engineer.