Engine flaw likely to mean Toyota recall

WASHINGTON – Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday about 270,000 cars sold worldwide, including luxury Lexus sedans, have potentially faulty engines, in the latest quality issue to confront the Japanese automaker after a string of massive recalls.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. government’s auto safety agency, said Toyota had not formally notified it about a recall. Japan’s top-selling daily Yomiuri said the company will inform the Japanese transport ministry of a recall on Monday but the paper cited no sources.

Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma in Japan said the company was evaluating measures to deal with the problem of defective engines that can stall while the vehicle is moving. He would not confirm a recall was being considered.

Lexus general manager Mark Templin said during manufacturing there were some contaminated materials used for valve springs in the engine, which could cause abnormal noises or rough idling. In extreme cases, Templin said, the engine could stall and drivers would likely hear noises or idling before the vehicle stalled.

Templin said the engines were included in previous model years of the IS350, GS350, GS460, GS450h, LS460, LS600h, LS600hL and Toyota Crown, which is primarily sold in Japan. He said the company was still evaluating which model years were affected by the engine problems and the company would make an announcement when a fix is determined.

Toyota spokesman Ed Lewis said the company had not formally notified the U.S. highway safety agency about the issue.