NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Equipment Query EQ10-002: CTS Corp Accelerator Pedal Assemblies
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Equipment Query EQ10-002 on January 26, 2010 and closed it on June 30, 2010. NHTSA's investigations file lists the CTS ACCELERATOR PEDAL ASSBL. for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- EQ10-002 (also written EQ10002)
- Investigation type
- Equipment Query An administrative investigation that reviews recall reports to confirm that the equipment suppliers and vehicle manufacturers involved in an equipment recall have filed the recall reports required of them.
- Status
- Closed June 30, 2010
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- CTS Automotive Products
- Component
- Vehicle Speed Control — Accelerator Pedal
- Vehicles and equipment
- CTS ACCELERATOR PEDAL ASSBL.
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Equipment Query EQ10-002.
try.vin does not copy NHTSA's investigation documents; NHTSA's investigation record lists the ones NHTSA has published.
On January 21, 2010, Toyota notified the NHTSA that it had decided certain model year 2007-2010 Toyota vehicles and certain MY 2009-2010 Pontiac vehicles contain a safety-related defect.
Toyota stated that the accelerator pedal assemblies in those vehicles may become hard to depress, slow to return to idle when released, or may remain mechanically stuck in a partially depressed condition, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
Further, Toyota stated that CTS Corporation (CTS) was the fabricating manufacturer of the defective accelerator pedal assemblies.
NHTSA assigned recall number 10V-017 to this matter.
RMD mailed an IR letter to CTS on February 1, 2010 with 23 questions regarding the recalled accelerator pedals.
The IR questions requested information such as quantities manufactured, complete customer lists, part number changes, test results, chronologies, and extensive communications between CTS and Toyota.
The letter also asked if CTS planned to notify its purchasers of a safety-related defect in its accelerator pedals.
RMD requested that the first 7 questions, those involving customers and quantities, be answered by February 3, 2010 and the remaining questions within 30 days.
After a granted extension request, CTS submitted its response to the first 7 questions on February 5, 2010.
Confidentiality was granted by NHTSA's Chief Counsel's Office, but CTS detailed its customer list for all manufacturers it has sold accelerator pedals and listed all quantities sold.
It was noted that subject pedals, those recalled by Toyota for containing a friction element of PPS or PA 4/6 material, were not sold to any other vehicle manufacturer. CTS officials chose to travel to U.S. DOT on February 17, 2010 to meet with ODI personnel.
CTS explained the history of producing accelerator pedals for Toyota and expanded on the construction of the recalled pedals.
CTS explained the recall issue with example pedals and test videos and asserted that unintended acceleration and a slower return to idle are not the same problem.
CTS expressed that, in its opinion, unintended acceleration is not an issue with this pedal design, but, in rare cases in high humidity, there might be a slight delay in the return to idle position and that the pedal met the requirements of the applicable FMVSS even in that situation.
After another extension request in early March 2010, CTS was allowed to produce the answers to the remaining IR questions on a time table ending on April 30, 2010.
Extensive records were submitted including long e-mail strings between CTS, CTS Japan, and various global Toyota organizations.
Detailed accelerator pedal diagrams, testing procedures and results, pictures, videos, field return records, and warranty rate information were all submitted as requested.
NHTSA's Office of the Chief Counsel notified CTS on April 27, 2010 to submit everything that it had prepared already, but not to gather any further information unless requested by the agency.
Virtually all of CTS' submissions were granted confidentiality as they contained sensitive business and commercial information.
However, the core question of an Equipment Query investigation, whether the same or similar equipment was sold to any other vehicle manufacturer for inclusion in a new motor vehicle, was given in CTS' original submission on February 5, 2010.
CTS did sell accelerator pedal assemblies to other vehicle manufacturers, but they were pedals of a different design consisting of different materials than those at issue in Toyota recall 10V-017 (and GM recall 10V-018 for the Pontiac Vibe).(Continued on attachment)
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Equipment Query EQ10-002. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
CTS
CTS ACCELERATOR PEDAL ASSBL.
- model year not given
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for EQ10-002
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.