Toyota Recalls Power Window Switches for 6.5 Million Vehicles Worldwide

According to Toyota, the switch might not have received adequate lubricant grease during manufacturing, and over time this could lead to a short circuit. In a worst-case scenario, the part might even overheat, melt and cause a fire. As a fix, dealers will inspect the component on these vehicles and apply heat-resistant grease to it, and any broken examples will have an internal circuit board replaced.

Of the total, about 2.7 million are in North America, 1.2 million in Europe, and 600,000 in Japan, the automaker said.

Toyota said modules in the power window master switch may have been lubricated inconsistently during the manufacturing process. Debris caused by wear from the electrical contact points can accumulate and cause a short circuit. That in turn could cause the switch assembly to overheat and melt, and potentially lead to a fire, it said.

Among other models subject to the recall are the Matrix, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia and Scion xB. The vehicles were produced between January 2005 and December 2010, Toyota said.

Toyota also issued a separate recall in Japan of about 140,000 Crown and Crown Majesta models for a glitch that could cause the hood to open inadvertently.

Toyota already issued one recall for this problem in 2012 when it had to repair 7.5 million vehicles globally from the 2007-2009 model years. These latest models had the grease applied in a different way.