Civic-Roger

Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has issued a product recall concerning some 550,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles—420,000 of which are in the United States—in light of potential problem connected to their steering.

According to Toyota, the problem is rooted in the crankshaft pulley’s outer ring assembly, which can become misaligned with the inner ring, thereby causing a notably different engine noise and illuminating a corresponding dashboard warning light.

If left unattended, the alignment defect can then cause the belt for the power-steering pump to detach from the pulley, at which point drivers may suddenly find it hard to turn the steering wheel.

The U.S. recall covers the 2004 Avalon, 2004 ES330, 2004-2005 Camry, 2004-2005 Highlander, 2004-2005 Sienna, 2004-2005 RX330, 2006 Highlander HV, and 2006 RX400h.

Read more: http://www.thetechherald.com/article...0-000-vehicles

annehall

I was browsing other threads when I stumbled here. As far as I know, there have been no reports of mishaps or injuries related to the problem. Toyota's U.S. sales unit said that there is a possibility that the outer ring of the engine's crankshaft pulley may become misaligned with the inner ring, causing noise or a warning signal to light up. This differs from the latest recall of another car company which is Honda. The news is that a small recall announced for Honda Ridgeline due to Wheel mistake. In most cases, the reason for a recall is minor but in worse case scenarios death can result if the issue is not immediately addressed. Well, with so many car recalls, it is always a wise idea for consumers to occasionally view car recall lists to determine if the vehicle they currently own has been the subject of a recall. This is to prevent accidents from accruing due to car defects.

MPR

This really isn't that big of a deal. When a vehicle is in motion, it's still relatively easy to steer without power steering.

I would be more concerned with the crank shaft pulley becoming out of balance.