Toyota Mechanics Discover They Can Accurately Find Defective Engines By Hitting Them With A Hammer
Posted on 8/18/2026 by Agent009
What happens when Toyota has more than a quarter-million potentially defective twin-turbo V6 engines on its hands and tearing every single one apart simply isn't doable? As it happens, Toyota service techs in the United States have been instructed to swing a plastic hammer.
Exposed by Tim Esterdahl of Pickup Truck + SUV Talk, the technical instructions for safety recall 25TA14 are as unconventional as they come. A document titled V35A Crank Bearing Inspection tells dealer technicians to strike the crankshaft pulley with the plastic mallet, all while an accelerometer mounted on the crank bolt measures the resulting vibrations.