Here is another thing to think about - the issue has obviously been out
there for some time BUT what are the chances of having TWO defects affecting
braking - a defective floor mat AND a spacer required on the accelerator
pedal?

Frankly I never believed the floor mat thing and assumed it was the usual
smoke screen - but I feel that they may be doing the same with the "spacer"
fix. Having a piece of MODERN electronics (for modern read probably
unreliable) in sole control of a vehicle accelerator with no overide
possible is a bit like sea diving off a cliff without checking that the tide
is in - OK not quite that bad but you see the point 


John Burke
(408) 515 4992


-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bob Landman
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 12:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]; '(Leadfree Electronics Assembly Forum)'
Subject: [tinwhiskers] Perfect opportunity for tin whiskers induced failures
- Toyota did not install brake override systems despite complaints

Just as I predicted, the increased use of electronics in automobiles when
mixed with RoHS can make for a deadly cocktail.
We don't know (this article doesn't say) what the causative agent was, but I
have heard recently of brand new autos showing up at dealers that will not
start.  That cause has been linked to tin whiskers.

I cannot fathom how foolish the industry was to rush to adopt lead-free
manufacturing without first solving the well known risks such as tin
whiskers.  When I read comments such as "SAC405 is known to suppress whisker
growth" I have to laugh.  There is so much misinformation being cast about,
it's ludicrous.

Toyoda better do as they've been advised if they are using lead-free
manufacturing (and even if they are not as the parts are lead-free now so
even IF you use SnPb solder you still will be subjected to tin whisker
induced failures.

And people will die, make no mistake about that.

Bob Landman
Life Senior Member, IEEE
President, CTO
H&L Instruments,LLC

 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR2010012803
971.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline

Toyota did not install brake override systems despite complaints

By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 29, 2010; A16

Toyota Motor began facing complaints of runaway cars years ago, but the
company did not install "brake override" systems in those vehicles, even as
several other automakers deployed the technology to address such
malfunctions.

The brake override systems allow a driver to stop a car with the footbrake
even if the accelerator is depressed and the vehicle is running at full
throttle. The systems are an outgrowth of new electronics in cars,
specifically in engine control.

"If the brake and the accelerator are in an argument, the brake wins," a
spokesman at Chrysler said in describing the systems, which it began
installing in 2003.

Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz also install such systems in at
least some of their cars, the companies and industry experts said, some as
far back as 10 years ago. General Motors installs brake override in all of
its cars in which it is possible for the engine at full throttle to
overwhelm the brakes.

"Most other automakers have adopted this technology," said Sean Kane, a
former researcher at the Center for Auto Safety who now works at Safety
Research and Strategies. Not adding the systems "is one of the mistakes that
created this perfect storm for Toyota."

Toyota did not respond Thursday to questions about its decisions involving
brake override.

But at the Detroit Auto Show in December, Toyota North America President
Yoshi Inaba said the company would begin equipping its vehicles with brake
override. His comments followed a November statement from the company that
the override system would be made standard on Toyota and Lexus vehicles
starting with some models in January 2010.

The precaution comes too late, however, to forestall a tsunami of negative
publicity that has engulfed the company since it halted production and
suspended sales of eight popular models after reports of unintended
acceleration. For a company that famously aimed to become the largest
automaker in the world by touting a reputation for reliability and safety,
it has been a striking turnaround.

The company has blamed the accelerations on faulty floor mats and their
installation, as well as defective accelerator pedals, which they are
seeking to redesign. The brake override systems, when they come, will
provide a measure of redundancy.

It was not immediately clear how much it would cost to install the brake
override systems, and industry experts said the costs of the control
technology are difficult to measure.

"There's really no cost, but it's a critical skill issue -- we can only find
so many people who can do this kind of work," said a senior engineer at a
major automaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "It would require
a bunch of software and development people to design it, but spread across
lots of cars, the money involved would be negligible. . . . No one wants a
runaway."

As far back as 2004, government investigators were looking at 2002-2003
Toyota Camrys and Solaras and Lexus ES 300s to determine whether they were
defective, gathering information about 37 owner complaints of sudden
acceleration, according to the Center for Auto Safety.

Automotive experts said that in at least some of those incidents, a brake
override system could have prevented harm.

In the accident that has drawn perhaps the most publicity, a 2009 Lexus ES
350 raced through San Diego, weaving at 120 miles an hour through rush-hour
freeway traffic. Veteran California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor was
at the wheel, with his wife, teenage daughter and brother-in-law aboard.

"We're in trouble. . . . There's no brakes," Saylor's brother-in-law told a
police dispatcher over a cellphone. As they approached an intersection, and
the end of the road, the passengers could be heard urging each other to
pray. All four died.

Afterward, investigators said that it appeared the brakes had been applied
for so long that the brake pads melted, according to a report by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Had a brake override system been at work, the engine would have been
depowered -- not turned off, but slowed.

Until recently, an accelerator pedal opened the throttle mechanically. But
newer pedals control the engine via sensors and a computer.

The new throttle electronics and software have often themselves been the
focus of some suspicion in the runaway crashes.

Whatever the causes of accidents, engineers noted that there are trade-offs
in using brake override systems. For example, some customers prefer to be
able to apply the brake and step on the accelerator without reducing power
to the engine, especially in high-performance driving.

Toyota, moreover, is not the only automaker to eschew the fail-safe
technology.

In an e-mail, Honda spokeswoman Christina Ra said that "Honda and Acura
vehicles do not apply any override logic between brake and accelerator pedal
inputs. . . . We continue to accept application of the accelerator and brake
pedals as representing the driver's intention."

But experts said that the value of the brake override systems is that they
can mitigate acceleration problems no matter where they come from. Toyota,
as well as the NHTSA, appear to have struggled in diagnosing exactly what is
causing the trouble.

"A brake override system can paper over a multitude of mistakes," Kane said.

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