Toyota Avalon

Last year, Toyota released a “Limited Service Campaign” (LSC) for some of its V6-equipped vehicles.  An LSC shouldn’t be confused with a recall, because recalls are for safety issues and the LSCs are for “customer satisfaction,” according to Toyota.  This campaign is for a defective oil line for the affected engines.  Over time, a rubber portion of the line may degrade, causing oil to leak out, the engine to make odd noises, and the oil pressure light to illuminate on the vehicle’s dashboard.

Toyota RAV4

Sounds like a quality control issue to me, possibly caused by not testing the drivetrain enough, or for long enough.  Furthermore, the losing of oil is never good for an engine – its analogous to a human losing blood.  Lose enough blood or oil, and the body or engine starts to malfunction.  In short, losing oil is a good way to kill a car’s engine.

The original LSC, according to Toyota, covered:

“approximately 342,200 Toyota Avalon (model year 2005 – 2006), Camry (2007 – early 2010) and RAV4 V6 (2006 model year), and 374,000 Lexus ES 350 (model year 2007-2008) and RX 350 (model year 2007-2009) vehicles.”

Phase 3, which begins now and runs until March 31, 2013, includes:

“approximately 128,800 Avalon (2007 – 2009 model year) and 89,000 RAV4 V6 (2007 – 2009 model year) vehicles involved in the United States.”

The fix is supposed to take about an hour, and includes replacing the faulty oil line.  There is no charge to vehicle owners for this replacement, and owners will be notified via mail starting soon.

by John Suit

Source: Toyota

Related posts:

1. Toyota Corolla and Matrix stalling issue solved, recall announced
2. Stalling Cars Stumps Toyota
3. Toyota expands application of Brake Override system