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By Dan_H, September 6, 2010



Dan_H

Eight days after the 05-08 Matrix/Corolla ECU recall was announced, my wife's 06 Matrix did not start when she was leaving work. I stopped by to take a quick look. The engine cranked fine, but no ignition. The relays under the dash were clicking as the engine turned over.. After about 20 tries, the engine started,but the CEL was lit and the throttle response was near zero. Fully depressing the gas pedal would only raise the idle by ~500 RPM. Assuming a low fuel pressure situation, since the tank was removed by the dealer a week earlier to replace a heat shield mounting strap, we decided to go home and have it towed in the morning.

I brought a code reader the following morning, and read a P0607 -- "ECU Performance"default_ohmy Oh, crap! The recall!

The dealer confirmed the code and said the ECU has failed and needs to be replaced at a cost of ~$1,000. Knowing that this was one of the failure modes of the recall, I asked the dealership if Toyota will be covering this. The dealership said it will not be covered yet because Toyota has not issued them instructions for the recall! At best they recommended paying for the repair and asking Toyota for reimbursement later. After I called BS on that during the second phone call, they offered to see what they can work out with Toyota corporate after the holiday weekend. AND THE SAGA BEGINS...

That is BS! I'd understand if this happened before the recall - but right after? Dealership should have all their info online and ready to go, especially with a factory recall. Keep us updated on what is happening there.

Dan_H

Well, they came through. After a couple more calls to the dealership, and the dealership making a few calls to Toyota-- they approved the recall repair. I'm not sure whether it was more of a matter of the dealership convincing Toyota to approve it, or Toyota convincing the dealership that neither wants the PR of pushing back on a safety recall. All I know is that the my conversation with the dealership went from "We'll have to see if they are willing to ship a unit directly off the manufacturing line." to "We just happen to have one sitting in the shop that we can install in an hour." immediately after the dealership talked to Toyota HQ. default_dry

We picked the car up this evening, and it runs fine. I haven't climbed under the dash to look yet, but I'm curious whether it is a Delphi or Denso replacement.

While reading up on the issue, I saw that Toyota estimated the failure rate of the ECU to be 0.8% over a five year span. That was estimated from the 155,000 warranty and extended warranty replacements already done to date. Given that I saw several message boards where people replaced ECUs out of pocket, that there were waiting lists for replacements, and some owners stating they were on their third or fourth ECU, I'd guess that number could be higher. Anyways, I hope the recalls go smoothly...

I used to have ECU problems with my old 2005 Matrix. I took the thing in at least 10 times for the check engine light... i think the stealership I went to just replaced parts for the hell of it just to make money from coporate... then turned the check engine light off and waited for it to come back on. Anyways the 2005s also had a hard crank issue where it took me 2-3 cranks to get the car to start. This was fixed by re-calibrating the ECU

OK, so has anyone actually recieved a notice about this yet?? Notification mailings were supposed to have been in the middle of this month, to me that was the 15th...

OK, so has anyone actually recieved a notice about this yet?? Notification mailings were supposed to have been in the middle of this month, to me that was the 15th...

 

When we took delivery of my wife's '10 Matrix last week, I asked service about it, but they said Toyota hasn't officially distributed the recall info yet. I'm still waiting to hear about it for my '06.

~Chris

OK, so has anyone actually recieved a notice about this yet?? Notification mailings were supposed to have been in the middle of this month, to me that was the 15th...

 

When we took delivery of my wife's '10 Matrix last week, I asked service about it, but they said Toyota hasn't officially distributed the recall info yet. I'm still waiting to hear about it for my '06.

~Chris

I recieved notification a few days ago, says second notification mailings may begin in late November. "The letters will be mailed over several months consistent with parts availability." Good stuff.

 

 

Dan_H

We received our notification letter today, even though we had the ECU replaced about a month ago. Same wording, mentioning that other letters will start in "late November".

I just got a letter in the mail last week for a similar recall on my 05 Corolla S. Has anybody else rec'd a similar notice recently? I called the dealership and they said the inspection would take the better part of the day to complete....

Just got the car back from the dealer. Turns out the ECU mounts were shot and they had to pull and replace the unit. Took a few hours but at least it was free

Guest TRDTundra

Does anyone know the specifics of this TSB? I just got the letter for my '08 Corolla it says that the dealer will inspect your vehicle and determine if the ECM needs to be replaced. My question is how do they know? Is it simply a matter of checking the part number of the ECM? I don't want to take my car in, have to get a ride to work and back with someone only to find out that my ECM is fine and basically I didn't need to take it in.

Rod

^^ Correct, they verify if the serial number on the ECM is within the range of ones that were found to be faulty. If you can provide them with that info - they might be willing to do this over the phone. I suspect that they'll want you to bring the car in - liability issue for the shop if they do it over the phone, sight unseen.

  • 110 posts

Does anyone know the specifics of this TSB? I just got the letter for my '08 Corolla it says that the dealer will inspect your vehicle and determine if the ECM needs to be replaced. My question is how do they know? Is it simply a matter of checking the part number of the ECM? I don't want to take my car in, have to get a ride to work and back with someone only to find out that my ECM is fine and basically I didn't need to take it in.

Rod

Hi Rod,

 

The TSB is EG042–07. I can't find it, but did download "T-EG018-05" from NHTSA.gov web site via Google search. We have engine light on 06 Corolla S, and were told to replace transmission after failing smog test. We bought this used with 100,000 miles on it, so we are out of warranty for new ECU. default_sad. I thought I would include link to TSB so others may find it.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/2009/INRD-PE09054-39623P.pdf



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