This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Secondary air injection problems (valves and/or pump) causes a check engine light to come on, and puts the engine in "limp home" mode, without warning, which limits top speed to ~40mph. This is not only ridiculous, but dangerous, especially if it happens while on a freeway. The "limp home" mode persists until the code is cleared, by using an odb tool, or clearing the ECU by other means. This has happened to me 3 times where, with no warning, the truck suddenly lost power, and I had to find the nearest "safe spot" to get out of traffic and pull over. Toyota has acknowledged this issue in a tsb, but provides no recall, despite this being a potentially dangerous situation when it happens.
Vehicle was in motion and check engine light came on. Car immeditely lost power. Computer codes P2440 and P2442 indicated issues that would not effect normal operation of the vehicle- just emmision control issues. 98,000 mi. On vehicle when it occurred. Vehicle would not go over 40 mph.
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Tacoma. While driving various speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate. Also, the traction control and check engine warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the secondary air injection valve failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.
Secondary air pump and switching valves failed on the highway with only 62,000 miles. Truck forced into limp mode and I was not able to travel over 20mph. The truck had a check engine light and trac control light appear. Toyota attempted to charge me over $2100 to fix. After reading about the error codes this is a common problem for all 2012 Tacoma owners and Toyota warranty refuses to cover any of the cost or recall the part (the same issue on Toyota Tundra was recalled).
- Clarksville, TN, USA
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Driving vehicle and all of a sudden engine looses power. Truck did not die and would slowly accelerate. I had traffic behind me honking and cutting me off until I could get to a pull off spot. I had the vehicle towed to a mechanic and discovered the secondary air pump and valves were the cause causing the lots of acceleration. This is a very dangerous and known issue for Toyota owners after researching. I do have repair receipt which is very costly
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Tacoma. While driving approximately 55 mph, the vehicle lost power and then immediately regained power. The check engine warning indicator illuminated. The failure recurred twice. The contact coasted the vehicle to a service station, restarted it, and was able to drive. While depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle would not accelerate past 25 mph. The vehicle was taken to Toyota of poway (13631 power rd, poway, ca 92064) where it was diagnosed that the air system valve needed to be replaced. The contact was also informed that the air injection pump may eventually need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was referred to NHTSA. The approximate failure mileage was 133,472.
At 60,000 miles check engine light and trac off lights come on when starting up truck in morning. This put the truck into limp mode. My mechanic cleared the codes but did not want to get involved in repairing as he couldn't guarantee it wouldn't happen again down the road and said Toyota will not warranty the replacement parts. Dealer advised approximately $2,000 to repair. After seeing all the other complaints from 2012 Tacoma owners, I can not believe Toyota will not cover this under a recall since they covered the exact same problem with the Tundra and sequoia.
Vacumme switching valve and air injection pump failure at 43,000 miles, cost to repair is $2052.32. This part is part of the emission control system and should be covered by Toyota but is not. When this valve throws a check engine light the truck goes into limp mode and is very dangerous to drive as it has reduced power.
The check engine light and the trac off light came on as I was merging onto the interstate. I immediately stopped the vehicle, pulled over, and took my 2012 Toyota Tacoma with 78,000 miles to the mechanic where I left it overnight for them to look at it in the morning. Running a diagnostic they found code P2443 - secondary air injection switching valve stuck. I asked if they had dealt with this before and they said this is a common problem for Toyota and they have done recalls on both the Tundra and sequoia models that have had these issues, but the Tacoma hasn't had a recall yet, even though it seems to be just as common with the same parts. They said the cost of parts and labor would be around $2,000. When I asked them if the vehicle was safe to drive off their lot they said these codes can cause the Tacoma to go into "limp mode" where you can loose power, acceleration, and won't be able to go over 45mph. I hate to think what could have happened if I had kept merging onto the interstate and tried to get up to speed only to "limp" into traffic or if this had happened a minute later on the interstate! every thread I read online from multiple sources show people having similar issues from as low as 1,000 miles on the truck. The issues with the secondary air injection pump and switching valves seems most common between 50,000-80,000 miles, but eventually does happen in the 2012-2015 tocoma models.
At less then 50K miles on the odometer and 900 miles from home my truck decided to get a check engine light and trac off light caused by codes P2440 and P2442 and P2445. Merry christmas to me. These codes put me into limp mode while on the freeway in snowy and icy conditions. I could not maintain speed with the flow of traffic as I was trying to get to the shoulder with traffic zooming all around me, dangerous and scary! Toyota wants $2000 to repair it. Internet research has shown me that it is a common problem that Toyota fails to recognize for Tacoma but has issued a tsb and extended warranties for Tundra. Shame on Toyota. Now I get to endure the cost of repair after the holiday seasons and I'm sure my boss will love to hear I wont be returning to work on time.
Almost lost control of vehicle when the trucks performance jumped into limp mode "trac off" as I was driving. Loss of speed and performance caused me to be a driving hazard. 2 vendors today found the codes P2440 and P2442, which appear to have triggered my truck into "trac off" and "check engine" light on. Mode causes my truck to only drive about 45 significantly impacts performance and dangerous to drive. This is a safety hazard, I had no warning that the loss of performance was going to happen initially when I was traveling.there is another problem that appears to be on a larger scale.I have briefly scanned the internet in the last hour and spoke with various vendors about the problem & I have called my dealership & even the main Toyota line and everyone is aware of the issue. The codes are P2440 & P2442. After finding out the codes I looked at the air injection pump & I was astonished to see that the pump was completely full of what, like someone literally took a waterhose & filled it up. Logically, this is why the air injection switching valves 1 and 2 are both stuck open one code for each of the valves. The next thing that is unusual is that there are an incredible amount of people having this same problem but no recall..then I found the Tundra recall for the exact same pump issue! it is peculiar, that a different model truck with the same pump has this problem & no recall or remedy. Fact-Tundra is a more expensive truck than Tacoma, is Toyota fixing public relation issues for those more well off because they know how to complain to the right folks or cause a big stir and they will hold off on pulling the trigger on a "warranty fix or recall" on the working mans Tacoma? this is just an opinion but my intuition tells me this is intentional. The fix is approx $2000 I am stuck driving 45 mph till then with shady steering & performance. #accountability #me too
Check engine light and trac off light came on and next thing the car would not accelerate properly while pulling out on to a highway heading up hill I had no power. Fortunately I was not killed by the 50 plus mile per hour traffic. After making down the highway was able to get into a pep boys where they coded the secondary air system. This is a serious issue that could have killed me or someone else. I plan to contact an attorney after finding out they only cover their most expensive vehicles with they exact same system. I guess 35K on a truck wasn't enough. The part cost me $770 dollars and I'm not sure if its safe because I had to do job myself because I could not afford $2000 for 2 hours work.
Oem parts failure due to manufacturers defect. This exact issue prompted recall of the Toyota Tundra. Dealership reports numerous customers with same issue. Repair is over $2,000. This is serious issue. Air injection pumps and switching valves are faulty allowing water into the system and causing the engine to seize up and decrease engine speed. This happened on I-90 in heavy traffic causing other motorists to apply breaks quickly. Contacted Toyota and they are aware of the issue but have no plans to initiate a recall.
Recently I was driving my 2012 Toyota Tacoma on the highway at a sustained speed of 70 mph. A check engine light came on and my car instantly dropped in speed to less than 40 mph while in fast moving traffic. I was almost rear ended by a large truck and was forced to cross multiple lanes of traffic to get to the berm and ascertain the situation. As I could find no issues upon inspection, I precariously drove the vehicle to a service store to read the error codes. The vehicle showed P2440 P2442 error codes indicating secondary air injection failures. Apparently, the vehicle went into limp mode upon throwing these codes which limits speed and engine RPM. This almost caused a huge accident and put me into a a very dangerous situation. Additionally upon researching these issues, it seems this is a well documented issue caused by manufacturing defects isolated to the 2012 model year. Apparently, the system is defective in multiple ways. First, a piece of foam is inside the secondary air pump which degrades and is sucked into the fan which not only causes stoppage and burning out the fan motor but also allows for stinky residue and debris to enter the valves causing them to jam open or closed. Additionally, the system allows moisture to be sucked into the valves adding to corrosion and degradation of the valves leading to them to be stuck. This is a roughly 1500.00-2000.00 repair. It is a quite frequent problem with this model yet is not covered under recall or service bulletin. Toyota has acknowledged the issue yet not taken any action. Additionally, they have had similar problems with the Tundra/sequoia and offered remedy to owners via extended warranty. This is not only a quality control issue but more importantly a severe safety issue with the automatic reduction to a slow speed in fast heavy traffic.
I start up the truck and pull out in to the street. Whether at an intersection or making a turn, I push on the accelerator and nothing happens. The rpms don't increase, engine makes no sound - and I am left sitting in the middle of the road. I push the accelerator to the floor and eventually the engine comes to life and the truck moves forward. Happens more often than not when the vehicle is "cold" - within the first 20-30 minutes of operation. The accelerator is not linked directly to the engine through a cable but is a drive by wire. I have maintained my Tacoma meticulously since purchase including tune ups, oil changes, etc. I have cleaned the mass air flow sensor with no change. The problem still persists. It is very dangerous to be in the middle of an intersection with a vehicle that has lost power.
My 2012 Tacoma is throwing lights on for a new secondary air injector valve, parts P2440 and P2442. The Toyota mechanic said this is a common problem with these over the past few years as the 2012's hold moisture after shut down and the valves break down. I see this is a common problem online and a very expensive fix for us all. This should be covered fix, just because it doesn't cause in imminent health hazard doesn't mean it's not a problem that Toyota should cover. The issue with the vehicle once a sensor detects this problem is that it puts it in a limp mode, and makes the vehicle very sluggish even difficult to achieve 45 mph.
I was pulling out on to the highway and my truck failed to exceed 30 mph with oncoming traffic which nearly caused an accident. Upon inspection by my Toyota dealership, they explained that my secondary air injection valves were stuck open (P2440, P2442) which caused the truck to lose all power. I was then told that since I am no longer under warranty (my truck is only 5 years old with 48,000 miles on it) that Toyota would not cover the 2,000 dollar cost to have the part replaced. Upon further research, countless others were having the same issue. The Toyota Tundra also had this issue and an extended warranty was offered for those vehicles. Since Toyota knows this is an issue it is my belief that they should stand by their product and fix the defective part which is a huge safety issue as I found out. Furthermore, there is no reason this emissions part should ever shut down the power to the truck while driving. Thank you for your time.
Error code P2442 secondary air injection valve stuck open. Truck immediately goes into "limp' mode and will not accelerate over 20mph. Extremely unsafe to have the vehicle decelerate on a highway for a known issue that has prompted warranty extensions on Toyota Tundra's.
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- Potts Camp, MS, USA