20E026 – Fuel Pump May Fail and Cause Engine Stall – Denso

April 24, 2020 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 20E026000

Fuel Pump May Fail and Cause Engine Stall

If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 20E026

Manufacturer DENSO International America, Inc.

Components FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

Potential Number of Units Affected 2,020,000

 

Summary

Denso International America Inc. (Denso) is recalling certain fuel pumps. An impeller within the low pressure fuel pump may crack and deform, potentially causing the fuel pump to fail.

 

Remedy

Denso has notified the affected vehicle and aftermarket equipment manufacturers who will conduct recalls as necessary to replace the fuel pumps. The recall schedule will be decided by vehicle manufacturers. For DENSO-related questions, please contact DENSO NA Corporate Communications at corp_communications@denso-diam.com or 1-248-372-8261.

 

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

 

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June 9, 2020

Amended Defect Information Report (20E-026)

 

Manufacturer Name : DENSO International America, Inc.

Manufacturer Information :

Manufacturer Name : DENSO International America, Inc.
Address : 24777 Denso Drive, Southfield, Michigan 48086 U.S.A
Company phone : +1 248 350 7500

 

This supplements DENSO’s Amended Part 573 Report of April 27, 2020 (20E-026) concerning the fuel pump assembly issue on certain Toyota and Subaru vehicles.

 

This recall affects certain vehicles equipped with specific low pressure fuel pumps with an impeller which may become deformed under certain conditions which could render the fuel pump inoperable.

 

Under current knowledge, if an impeller is manufactured with a lower density, and contains a lower surface strength or is exposed to production solvent drying for a longer period of time, higher levels of surface cracking may occur which, when excessive fuel absorption occurs, may result in impeller deformation.

 

Geographic location and vehicle applications influence the potential for deformation resulting in fuel pump inoperability.

 

Denso sells low pressure fuel pumps of similar but not identical design and construction to other vehicle manufacturers. The vehicles of the other vehicle manufacturers possess different fuel delivery systems, engine configurations, and other variables.  Denso is cooperating with other vehicle manufacturers’ investigations. Recently Honda made safety recall notification and implemented a safety recall for certain Honda vehicles for a particular period.  Thus, DENSO is amending its Part 573 Report for this recall (20E-026) to add the Honda vehicles to the affected population.

 

Number of potentially involved :  Amended to: 2,156,057

 

Part No. :

Amended to: See attached file “Part Numbers”

 

Chronology :

Amended to add:  May 2020 – In addition, Honda made safety recall notification and implemented a safety recall for certain Honda vehicles for a particular period.

 

Comments :

Amended to include:
Number of potentially involved : 2,156,057 (revised May 2020 to include Honda)
This is the number of Toyota, Subaru, and Honda potentially involved vehicles in the U.S.

 

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Manufacturer Name : DENSO International America, Inc.

Submission Date : APR 24,2020

Recall No. : NR

Manufacturer Recall No. : NR

 

Manufacturer Information :

Manufacturer Name : DENSO International America, Inc.

Address : 24777 Denso Drive, Southfield, Michigan 48086 U.S.A

Company phone : +1 248 350 7500

 

Population :

Number of potentially involved : 2,020,000

Estimated percentage with defect : NR

 

Equipment Information :

Brand / Trade : DENSO

Model : Fuel Pump

Part No. : Various part numbers

Size : N/A

Function : Fuel supply Descriptive Information :

The low-pressure fuel pump is located in the fuel tank and supplies fuel pressure to the fuel injection system.

Production Dates : SEP 1, 2017 – OCT 6, 2018

 

Description of Defect :

Description of the Defect :

An impeller in some low pressure fuel pumps may become deformed under certain conditions which could render the fuel pump inoperable.

 

FMVSS 1 : NR

FMVSS 2 : NR

 

Description of the Safety Risk :

If an impeller deforms to a point that creates sufficient interference with the fuel pump body, the fuel pump becomes inoperative. According to vehicle manufacturer’s system evaluation, an inoperative fuel pump may result in the illumination of the check engine light and/or master warning indicators, rough engine running, engine no start and/or vehicle stall while driving at low speed and, in rare instances, a vehicle stall could occur while driving at higher speeds, increasing the risk of a crash.

 

Description of the Cause :

Under current knowledge, if an impeller is manufactured with a lower density, and contains a lower surface strength or is exposed to production solvent drying for a longer period of time, higher levels of surface cracking may occur which, when excessive fuel absorption occurs, may result in impeller deformation.

Geographic location and vehicle applications influence the potential for deformation resulting in fuel pump inoperability.

 

Identification of Any Warning that can Occur :

According to vehicle manufacturer’s system evaluation, an inoperative fuel pump results in the illumination of the check engine light and/or master warning indicators, rough running, or no start, all of which are indicators that service is required.

 

Supplier Identification :

Component Manufacturer

Name : DENSO International America, Inc.

Address : 24777 Denso Drive, Southfield, Michigan 48086 U.S.A

Country : US

Name : DENSO CORPORATION

Address : 1-1,Showa-cho,Kariya,Aichi 448-8661,Japan

Country : Japan

 

Chronology :

June 2019 – August 2019

In early June 2019, Denso received increased information of a vehicle manufacturer’s field reports related to low pressure fuel pumps ceasing to function.

 

In mid-June, Denso began inspection and analysis of fuel pumps collected from the field and observed impeller deformation inside the fuel pump. A further analysis of impellers in the fuel pumps collected from the field was conducted, and it was found that the deformed impellers had a lower density. Generally, impellers with lower density are more susceptible to fuel absorption.

As part of the analysis, additional observations were made of cracking on the impeller surface. To understand the relationship between surface cracks and deformation of impeller, Denso began an investigation to attempt to determine what factors potentially contribute to cracking.

 

September 2019 – December 2019

As part of the investigation, Denso hypothesized that solvent used during the manufacturing process may be a factor causing impeller cracking and began duplication testing. During the testing, some cracks occurred on the surface of the impellers as the solvent dried over time. However, the cracking resulting from the duplication testing was inconsistent with the impeller cracking that was observed in the impellers  collected from the field.

 

January 2020 – February 2020

While analysis of the exact cause of the impeller deformation is ongoing, Toyota implemented a safety recall for certain Toyota vehicles for a particular period, as described in Toyota’s Part 573 report.

 

Denso continued investigating other factors that could create further cracks. One factor considered was the possibility that longer lead times caused by fuel pump transit to the vehicle assembly plant led to the fuel pump being exposed to drying solvent for a longer period of time. Duplication testing was done with low density impellers under the condition where longer duration of drying solvent exposure was applied. As a result, higher levels of cracking were observed, and fuel soaking test confirmed the similar level of deformation as observed in the impellers collected from the field.

 

However, Denso observed that some field reports showed impellers that had low density with similar cracks, even though they had shorter lead times to the vehicle assembly plant (i.e., they were not exposed to drying solvent for the longer period of time as were the pumps investigated above). Thus, Denso investigated the surface strength of the impellers. Analyses were performed on impeller samples with lower densities. These analyses identified that the surface strength was low on one particular impeller type. The impellers of this type can experience higher levels of surface cracking even when exposed to shorter durations of solvent drying.

 

Based on the above activities, it was concluded that fuel pumps produced with impellers of lower density that also either (1) have a lower surface strength or (2) were exposed to production drying solvent for longer periods of time could experience the impeller cracking at a level that could lead to excessive fuel absorption and could cause impeller deformation. Then, if impeller deformation results in sufficient interference with the fuel pump body, the fuel pump may become inoperative.

 

In the investigation by Denso the transport time of the specific pump type produced during the period from September 2013 to February 2015 for the specific manufacturer was also long, and cracks due to long-time drying were observed with a lower density impeller.

 

March 2020 – April 2020

Based on above investigation, Toyota amended Part 573 report filed in January 2020 for certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles with certain fuel pumps and engine configurations.

 

In addition, Subaru implemented a safety recall for certain Subaru vehicles for a particular period.

 

Denso sells low pressure fuel pumps of similar but not identical design and construction to other vehicle manufacturers. The vehicles of the other vehicle manufacturers possess different fuel delivery systems, engine configurations, and other variables to those recalled by Toyota and Subaru. Denso is cooperating with other vehicle manufacturers’ investigations.

 

Description of Remedy :

Description of Remedy Program :

The remedy program, if any, will be determined by vehicle manufacturers.

 

How Remedy Component Differs from Recalled Component :

The impeller of fuel pumps utllized for a remedy component have higher density.

Identify How/When Recall Condition was Corrected in Production :NR

 

Recall Schedule :

Description of Recall Schedule : The recall schedule will be decided by vehicle manufacturers.

Planned Dealer Notification Date : NR – NR

Planned Owner Notification Date : NR – NR

 

Purchaser Information :

The following manufacturers purchased this defective/noncompliant equipment for possible use or installation in new motor vehicles or new items of motor vehicle equipment:

 

Name : American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Address : 1919 Torrance Blvd.

Torrance CA 90501-2746

Country :US

Company Phone : NR

 

Name : Ford Motor Company

Address : 1 American Rd, Dearborn, MI 48126

Country : US

Company Phone : 800-392-3673

 

Name : Mazda North American Operations

Address : 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW DC 20036

Country :US

Company Phone : NR

 

Name : Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.

Address : 4015 Aspen Grove Dr, Franklin, TN 37067

Country :US

Company Phone : 865-441-4166

 

Name : Subaru of America, Inc.

Address : One Subaru Drive Camden NJ 08103

Country :US

Company Phone : 856-488-8500

 

Name : Toyota Motor North America,Inc.

Address : 6565 Headquarters Drive,

Plano TX 75024

Country : US

Company Phone : 469-292-4000

 

Name : Magnuson Products, LLC

Address : 1990 Knoll Drive, Building A, Ventura, CA, 93003

Country : US

Company Phone : 805-642-8833

 

 

Comment section :

complementary explanation

 

Number of potentially involved : 2,020,000

This is the number of Toyota and Subaru potentially involved vehicles in the U.S.

 

Estimated percentage with defect : NR

Denso is unable to provide an estimate of the percentage of vehicles to actually contain the defect. Whether the issue will lead to a vehicle stall while driving at higher speeds depends on many variables, such as the vehicle operating conditions.

 

Part No. : Various part numbers Attached file reference.

 

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Vechile manufacturer	Part No.
TOYOTA	195140200
TOYOTA	195140201
TOYOTA	195140202
TOYOTA	195140204
TOYOTA	195140222
TOYOTA	195140248
TOYOTA	195140249
TOYOTA	195140255
TOYOTA	AF195140239
TOYOTA	AF195140246
TOYOTA	291100021
TOYOTA	291100042
TOYOTA	291100043
TOYOTA	291200100
SUBARU	291100112
SUBARU	291100113
SUBARU	291100119
SUBARU	291100166
SUBARU	291100170
SUBARU	291100190
HONDA	291100114
HONDA	291100127
HONDA	291100135
HONDA	291100136
HONDA	291100138
HONDA	291100156
HONDA	291100159
HONDA	291100186
HONDA	AF291100125
HONDA	AF291100140
HONDA	AF291100143
HONDA	AF291100144

 

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1 Affected Product

Equipment

BRAND	PART NO.	PRODUCTION DATES
DENSO	FUEL PUMP

 

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7 Associated Documents

Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-20E026-9130.pdf 238.119KB

 

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Recall 573 Report

RCLRPT-20E026-9105.PDF 224.972KB

 

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Recall 573 Report – Amendment 4

RCLRPT-20E026-9188.PDF 215.167KB

 

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Miscellaneous Document-Part Numbers_amended

RMISC-20E026-7892.pdf 15.15KB

 

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Miscellaneous Document – Part No list

RMISC-20E026-5024.pdf 13.996KB

 

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Miscellaneous Document-DIR_Amendment_20E-026

RMISC-20E026-5824.pdf 14.762KB

 

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Original Chronology

RMISC-20E026-0594.pdf 44.978KB

 

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Latest Recalls Documents

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/documentList.xhtml?docId=20E026&docType=RCL

 

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Last update on 2025-04-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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