NASA physicist targets Toyota's electronic throttle control

"Leidecker said he believes the tin whisker risk remains for Toyotas in model years 2002-2006. While the risk is small, it increases with time. 'It’s a game of Russian roulette,' he said." - 4/5/2014 article, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "A Carbondale professor, runaway Toyotas and the hunt for 'tin whiskers"' 

Toyota and its government friends refuse to talk about it, but there's evidence galore of electronic issues associated with sudden, unintended acceleration. After all, the Recall King did fork over some payola to end the federal criminal "investigation," shamfully (sic) limited to floor mats and sticky gas pedals. It's obvious that Congress, NHTSA, and the DOJ put on one whopper of a performance, intended all along to let a filthy-rich corporate slob - with a cash stash of 60 billion bucks - off the hook, nobody jailed. More of the same is underway with GM. 

Never mind that renowned embedded systems expert Michael Barr found bugs in Toyota's electronic throttle control and gave the Recall King a whuppin' in an Oklahoma court. Never mind that Mr. Barr's findings put the Recall King in "settlement mode" for hundreds of remaining unintended acceleration cases. And never mind that tenured professor Dr. David Gilbert impressed NASA - yes, NASA, but don't tell NHTSA - with electronics-related findings now supported by NASA physicist Henning Leidecker who refers to Dr. Gilbert as a "hero" regarding the tin whiskers issue. Physicist Leidecker has concluded that the risk of unintended acceleration increases as tin whiskers grow, and points to Toyota's redesign of pedal sensors, expressly intended to address the tin whisker risk. "Why would (Toyota) do that if tin whiskers were never a problem?" he asks. Of course, the Recall King simply ignored repeated requests to comment about Dr. Leidecker's remarks.

Soon to be published in the prestigious online engineering journal IEEE Access is yet another electronics study - this time by Dr. Antony Anderson - offering a detailed look at the potential for false speed signals to be accepted as authentic, triggering unverifiable instances of unintended acceleration. Dr. Anderson butts heads with NHTSA, demonstrating that "absence of proof" isn't "proof of absence."

A decent government would have taken a serious look at the unintended acceleration issue instead of trying to snow the public by grandstanding with NASA and then broadcasting an outright lie, claiming NASA had ruled out electronic involvement. NASA did no such thing, never claimed it had, and physicist Leidecker's outspoken interest in tin whiskers confirms it.

Instances of sudden unintended acceleration continue. For thousands of customers, Toyota's oil sludge fiasco never got resolved. Engine failures in MR2 Spyders are ignored, and class action lawsuits lining barrister pockets make headlines as Toyota treats customers like dirt.

Does anyone believe Toyota, GM, or the auto industry has changed for the better?

Updates 4/9/2014 -
>  Yesterday, Dr. Antony Anderson's comments below the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article were apparently removed, and Dr. Anderson says no explanation was given. Dr. Anderson addressed some technical issues, stated his support for Dr. David Gilbert, and criticized Toyota's response to Dr. Gilbert's findings. Hopefully, Dr. Anderson's remarks will reappear.  
>  Another massive Toyota recall, and government stooge Yahoo is immediately removing comments I post referring to Michael Barr's findings, and Dr. Leidecker's concerns about the increased risk of unintended acceleration in '02-'06 Camrys. Censorship the American way. 

Updates 4/10/2014 -
>  Dr. Anderson's comments (see yesterday's update) on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article reappeared today. Right on!!! The public needs to know that Dr. Gilbert's findings have the support of other electrical engineers. Oops - mighta spoke too soon. Don't see the comments - I'm lookin' into the matter :-) 
>  The gist of my Yahoo comments (again, see yesterday's update) reappeared yesterday.

Updates 4/11/2014 -
>  Dr. Anderson (see above updates) apparently encountered a log-in glitch. Hopefully, this will be cleared up today. 
>  Dr. Anderson's comments - with the sincere assistance of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch - are now posted. The problem turned out to be - wouldn't ya know it? - Facebook. Dr. Anderson was attempting to log in using his Facebook account, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch webmaster discovered that Facebook had designated Dr. Anderson as a "user who is suspiciously new," thereby blocking his efforts to post comments. I won't belabor the obvious absurdity.

Bloomberg removes my comments re GT 86

Toyota just can't stand the truth. Now that some of the Recall King's lousy products and obscene attitudes toward customers has been exposed, there's an air of desperation as this sorry excuse for a business seeks to recapture those good ol' days when consumers were less wary of the brand. And mainstream media, from industry giants to those less notable, are rushing to Toyota's aid. Coverup is the name. Censorship is the game.

Things are really heatin' up now that Toyota has partnered with Subaru in an effort to produce another sports car. The last thing Toyota needs is publicity about all those MR2 Spyder engines that suddenly disintegrated and Toyota's determination to stonewall the matter hoping it would eventually go away. So what if customers lost - and continue to lose - thousands of dollars on engine replacements? So what if the things fall apart at speed in heavy traffic? "So what?" says the Recall King. We got a new effort goin' now. A new model we've been callin' the FT-86 which we're now callin' the GT 86 (Scion FR-S). Definitely the time to keep it quiet about all those engine failures in MR2 Spyders.

Just think of the embarrassment it would be if Toyota had to recall a whole slew of MR2 Spyders just when they're tryin' to introduce another sports car. Not to worry. Its mainstream media to the rescue. To begin with, I noticed a flurry of "articles" singin' the praises of the GT 86 (formerly FT-86) but no comments were permitted. One of those "articles" came via Bloomberg, and I sent an e-mail to the reporter and the editor expressing my displeasure. Then I noticed the same article had also appeared in Bloomberg's BusinessWeek section, comments were allowed, and a comment I submitted had been published. So I fired off apologies. But alas. I spoke too soon. Wouldn't ya know it? My comment was removed, and a second entry was also removed.

Apologies to Bloomberg retracted, but here's the deal. I really hit a nerve when I started commenting about the GT 86 and referencing engines disintegrating in MR2 Spyders. After a mere handful of auto news websites published my comments, visits to this blog literally soared, topping 85 hits almost immediately. That's the deal, and here's the question: Instead of censoring comments, why haven't mainstream media giants such as Bloomberg - not to mention Consumer Reports - exposed all those engine failures in MR2 Spyders?

Its time for Recall King Toyota and their cohorts in mainstream media to clean up their act.

Update 11/28/2011 - Facebook has blocked a link to this post from appearing in real-time Public Posts, and apparently Facebook is also playin' games with the excerpt from the article that ordinarily appears when links to articles are posted on one's page. The excerpt section was inoperable for this blog post, but still appeared for an article I drafted linking to another media source. Note also that real-time Public Posts on Facebook are searchable via other venues such as Openbook and Bing, so Facebook's censorship tactics in this regard are more sinister than one might think. 

Toyota runs, but can't hide

Reputation for defects, known far and wide; Toyota can run, but Toyota can't hide.

Heartfelt thanks to Armen Hareyan and Torque News for publishing my article, "Toyota Losin' for a Reason."  I'm honored to have my opinion featured.  Visit TorqueNews on Facebook and TorqueNewsAuto on Twitter.  

Word is gettin' out about the Recall King's lousy products and equally lousy attitude.  Things have apparently gotten to the point where Toyota is experimenting with marketing efforts that seek to divert attention away from troublesome issues such as recalls, lawsuits, fines, and investigations.  Meaningful info about the vehicle is all but eliminated, along with reporters' question and answer sessions.  Those questions from the media can be embarassing.  Much safer to spotlight a pagentry of music and models.  All in unison, girls.  Spell the plural of Prius.

But will it work?  Will consumers be mesmerized into plunking down hard earned dollars for products no longer imbued with the mistique of a manufacturer that can do no wrong?  Not likely.  At least not for a stretch.  Recall King Toyota must now face the consequences of deeds brought to the public's attention in a big way.  

Its a little late for glitzy ads, Recall King.  Try all the diversionary tactics you want, but the facts are rainin' on your parade.

Case of jailed Toyota driver affronts fairness

To begin with, it took nine months to file charges. Then there was the charge itself - vehicular homicide - which never did fit the facts of the case. Koua Fong Lee was returning home from church with his family when his Camry suddenly sped out of control on an exit ramp reaching speeds of 70-90 mph before crashing into another vehicle and resulting in the deaths of three people. Lee has steadfastly maintained that he repeatedly pressed the brake pedal but the car wouldn't stop, yet Lee's attorney (lest we forget, Lee is an immigrant who came to this country to escape dirt poor living conditions) sided with the prosecution by stating in his closing remarks to the jury that Lee probably mistook the accelerator for the brake.

Lee was found guilty, sentenced to a whopping eight years in prison, and would have remained quietly tucked away behind bars except for breaking news of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyotas. With a new lawyer, thousands registering support on a Facebook page, street protests, and mainstream media coverage, a hearing was held to determine if Lee should get a new trial. And that's where the story really gets interesting.

Lee's new attorney presented bombshell testimony showing that Lee's car had anti-lock brakes, accounting for the absence of skid marks. At Lee's "trial" there had been false testimony - by a city mechanic - stating that Lee's car did not have anti-lock brakes, and this testimony went unchallenged even though Lee's attorney had a letter from Lee's insurance company stating that the car's brake light was engaged. Sooo... with their opposition to a new trial smellin' worse than a kettle of rotten fish - and the case now making national headlines - the DA's office made a desperate, last ditch effort to dump the blame on Lee by offering to release him from prison if he would agree to drop his petition for a new trial and walk away a convicted felon. Talk about cheap shots. How many folks - with five and a half years of prison time to go - would have refused such an offer? If any, not many, and the prosecution knew it. But this time their victim had the courage of conviction - the sheer bravery - to turn down the offer, maintain his innocence, and proceed with his petition for a new trial. Applause, please, for Koua Fong Lee. Within hours - amidst a groundswell of public outrage over Lee's incarceration - the judge granted a new trial, the DA dismissed the charges declaring "this is over," and Lee was suddenly a free man with a clean record.

Well and good. But it's awfully strange how a mechanic can get a major piece of evidence wrong regarding something as readily verifiable as whether or not a car has anti-lock brakes. Ditto for a defense that allowed this testimony to go unchallenged. And wouldn't it have been a cozy deal for Toyota if Lee could have been bullied into takin' the blame and walkin' away a convicted felon while the matter conveniently faded from public view? Koua's criminal case is over, but it raises troubling questions galore.

Update 8/9/2010 - FB has blocked my Toyota posts from Posts by Everyone, and this morning, Twitter is once again blocking my tweets from real-time results. A new Facebook page (Toyota's cars kill innocent people. Stand up for the truth), and exposure of  false testimony, witheld evidence, etc. in the Koua Fong Lee case is turning up the heat on Toyota. Activists should monitor real-time publications for dirty tricks style censorship. Don't be dupped just because posts appear on profile pages, etc.

Censorship: Facebook joins Twitter and Yahoo

Facebook has apparently caught the censorship virus also.  Today on FB, I posted a reference to yesterday's blog post exposing the lousy service at Toyota dealerships.  And wouldn't ya know it?  Searched "Toyota," and the info didn't appear in FB's equivalent of Twitter's real-time results.  Dirty trick Twitter style, the info did appear on my FB Home page, Profile page, and Posts by Friends.  Facebook blocked the info from Posts by Everyone.

If it isn't government supported efforts to censor media coverage of the BP oil catastrophe, its an assault on Internet neutrality by the likes of Twitter, Yahoo and Facebook, while bloggers in China (make that RED China) accuse Toyota of paying private companies to delete unfavorable posts.  Let's be vigilant, expose censorship whenever it occurs, and speak out loudly in favor of Internet neutrality.