Pictures of the gas peddle taken apart with comprehensive explanation of possible fix, as well as Denso unit taken apart http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/toyota-gas-pedal-fix-explained-with-exclusive-photos/
How about standard controls and control locations? can the manus do this(I realize this wouldnt help on older vehicles)-Kevin
This is not a new problem. My 2002 Camry had the same problem in 2007. Also, my wife’s sister’s 2002 Camry had this throttle switch failure.
Toyota has been using it as a cash cow up to now. They hide behind their reputation by denying the truth meanwhile charging $648 to replace it.
See attached repair.
"Back in the carburetor days when there was in fact direct throttle linkage, the only thing closing the throttle plates and pulling the gas pedal back up was often a coil spring on the throttle linkage that was sometimes given to fatigue and breakage."
Or even better, like the '68 Buick (or maybe Olds… it was a full-sized station wagon with a 454…) my parents had in the late 80s. It had a cruise control that used this metal shaft to push the throttle open… which broke off and wedged the throttle open. Nice! After my dad pulled it into some shop and shut it off, it ran on for about a full minute too. This was apparently redesigned by like 1969 because of the obvious safety problems wedging the throttle open causes (redesigned to pull the throttle open instead, so the linkage breaking just shuts off the cruise.)
Well, the "PRNDL" arrangement on the gearshift *is* mandated, the gas, break, and clutch (if applicable) locations are standardized. But, other than that, I'm not for standardized controls, because I'm afraid they'd standardize on something awful like one big touch screen and a knob or something.There is a better discussion over in “General Discussions” - “Toyota Fix”
The throttle mechanism, both CSL and Denso, look pretty Rube Goldberg. Modifying the CSL part with a shim to separate the sticking parts is even MORE Rube Goldberg…
One option, admittedly slightly whacky, would be to get a “kill switch” installed. As the issue of possible role of electronic aspects of the throttle mechanism continues to surface, this would be a good back up option. In my experience it is hard to shift an automatic into a specific gear without looking when the vehicle is in motion. A “kill switch” would allow turning off the ignition without risking “locking” the steering wheel.
On my cars (not Toyota’s), you shift to neutral from drive by pushing the shifter forward. There is no need to look or think about it. It won’t shift to reverse without squeezing the button on the shifter, and you don’t need to squeeze the button to shift to neutral. I’m sure that not all cars are this way, but probably most of them are.
Americans are raised on automatic transmissions. Put any seasoned driver in the driver seat and ask him to put the car in neutral without looking and they may have trouble. It’s not instinctive. As for the writer’s question: there are two kinds of fear, rational and irrational. His wife’s fears are rational. Ask Ray LaHood. 
This is not a new problem for Toyota. The throttle control sensor on our 2002 Camry failed in 2007. There was a sudden loss of control of the accelerator pedal and the vehicle just quit going. Thankfully it did not stall while driving in heavy traffic or while pulling out into traffic. The cost to replace the sensor was $650 and, of course, it was out of warranty.
The same failure occurred with my wife’s sister’s 2002 Camry.
As sad as that was, it still surprises me that people won’t put it in neutral or shut the car off (yes i know you lose power-brakes if you shut it off but that just mean you have to press harder on the peddle).
I mean he had enough time to call 911 at some point before the call he knew the accelerator was stuck and should have taken some very basic action. And yes I’ve have it happen to me, I shut the car off as soon as I knew it had stuck, it didn’t have power-brakes but it wouldn’t have mattered I still would have shut it off, back then they didn’t have rev limiters and I know it would have blown the engine.
Like I said it’s sad it happen but the driver could done a lot more to prevent this from happening.
I don’t have a problem with Toyota cars. I drive FORD only.
I’m sure you’re very annoyed by this, but I’d rather keep the Camry and wait for the repair than own a Honda, or a lot of other models for that matter. I have a 1994 4runner that I purchased new. It has had a cylinder head gasket recall and I remember having about 75K on it at the time (way out of warranty) and they took care of it at no charge. Just 3 or 4 years ago, they recalled it for a steering link. I’d owned the vehicle more than a decade and, once again, no charge. I owned a 1993 Honda Prelude that quit due to distributor failure at a cost of about $600. It was a known problem and the same distributor would have been replaced at no charge had it been an Acura (I’m certain of this since I also owned an Acura), but Honda said “tough luck”. Toyota is having a bad run of luck at the moment, but I’m confident they will stand behind their vehicles.
I have an 06 Avalon and it’s a great car. Checked on the 1st recall and they told me my car was not involved in it. Driven it 30,000 miles plus with no problems with a sticking accelerator. I’m just not terribly concerned about it because I’ve lived with the car for more than 2 years without this problem. Can’t see how something will happen out of the blue. I heard on NPR yesterdat that Toyota has been aware of the accelerator sticking problem for ten years. Lenjack might consider that when working out a deal with a trade-back. I imagine that the personal injury law sector will file class action suits,etc.
Ray LaHood has been making IRRATIONAL statements with respect to “park your cars”. He later retracted and asked owners to take their cars to the dealer for service.
Other posters have hinted not so subtly that this is a democratic offical making remarks about a profitable FOREIGN OWNED, NON-UNION company. All this while the the government owns a major chunk of two other US, unionized companies trying to get profitable!!!
I agree that OP’s wife’s fears are rational, as were fears about very bad designs of past GM, Chrysler and Ford cars.
The one bright spot about the Toyota accelerator issue is that now Toyota owners have a great excuse when stopped for speeding!
“I heard on NPR yesterdat that Toyota has been aware of the accelerator sticking problem for ten years.”
comments like this often come up whenever there is ANY recall. but what does it really mean? maybe a single customer complained 10 years ago. then another 8 years ago. yet more 4 years ago.
they may have ALL BEEN legitimate complaints. but every vehicle is (sorta) unique, and every DRIVER is definitely unique. maybe there were a handful of vehicles, with parts installed that were short of the usual standard. these would likely become apparent first with the MOST AGGRESSIVE drivers, and/or the most severe wear conditions. (e.g. total absence of maintenance AND hard driving.)
when a company sells millions of vehicles a year, they cannot be expected to RECOGNIZE an endemic problem until it becomes STATISTICALLY MEANINGFUL.
so yes, technically, toyota may well have “heard” about this problem 10 years ago. and quite legitimately not “recognize” that it is indeed a problem until years later, as the number of reports become statistically meaningful.
even now, of the some 7 million vehicles recalled, the ACTUAL NUMBER of ‘victims’ is LESS THAN 30.
Be sure to practice moving the shift lever to neutral, not into park I have a 2009 Corolla and always shift to neutral when coming to a stop light just so I can remove my foot off the brake. So, I’ve been perform the ‘Fix’ for years already, I just didn’t know it.
Please don’t accuse him of being rational; at least in an engineering sense. He is a professional politician and does not understand the technical issues. I suspect that he was trying to prevent lawsuits against the federal government for not warning people against driving. This was a calculated step on his part, just not calculated in a way that you or I would do it.
“If they can do nothing, I would think of getting a lawyer involved cause my wife will not drive the car.” Lenjack
Paying a lawyer to drive your wife around is a great idea!! She will love you for it!! Make sure he knows how to shift into neutral.
Seriously, this acceleration problem with Toyotas and the foot dragging on taking remedial action about it is not the first time Toyota has been slow to recognize problems. In 2007 they settled a class action suit about engine failure due to sludge. It affected 3.5 million cars. Owners as a class had to sue. Maybe when that lawyer has a moment… Link to sludge story. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/01/toyota_sludge_settlement.html