'Spiders in the fuel lines': The freakiest vehicle recalls ever

12/23/2024 02:00 PM

This year alone almost 900,000 Australian vehicles were affected by recalls, according to the Department of Infrastructure.

Recalls are usually something that needs to be fixed to make sure you stay safe in the event of an accident or something that will promote the longevity of your vehicle. But what about the more abnormal recalls? There certainly have been some scary ones over the years.

RELATED: Do you use more fuel at higher speeds?

Not many people would be able to keep their cool if they found a spider or snake while driving, but what if creepy crawlies were not only in the car, but causing damage too?

Spiders aren’t scary enough? How about a vehicle that would immediately catch fire in the event of an accident?

We have compiled some of the scariest, and outright strange, vehicle recalls over the years.

Spiders cause cracked fuel tanks on Mazda 6

First noticed in 2012, Mazda United States recalled 42,000 Mazda 6 sedans because a certain type of spider would get into the fuel vent, make webs and cause mechanical issues for the car.

The creepy crawly that was causing the issues was the yellow sac spider. Originally, it was believed that the spiders were attracted to the smell of petrol, leading to them making their way up the fuel evaporation lines and building webs in them.

It’s usually not an issue anywhere else in the car, but the webs were clogging an important vent for the fuel tank, causing negative pressure. This would then cause the fuel tanks to crack and leak.

During the first recall, Mazda added a spring to the charcoal canister – where the fuel fumes vent – to prevent spiders from crawling inside.

A second recall was issued after spiders continued to get into the lines, and Mazda had to change the fuelling software on the engine control unit (ECU), which thankfully solved the problem.

Since the recall, research has been done into why the yellow sac spider loved the fuel fumes. It has since been disproven that it was the fuel fumes. Instead, they were attracted to the hose material. Knowing that earlier certainly would’ve saved Mazda a heap of trouble.

Luckily for Australians, the yellow sac spider does not live Down Under, so you don’t have to worry about this eight-legged creature ruining your day.

Spiders cause vehicle recall in a Toyota Camry

If spiders getting in your fuel lines and causing cracks wasn’t scary enough, how about spiders getting into your car and making the airbags go off?

Yes, this was a very real issue with the 2012 and 2013 Camry, Venza, and Avalon models, causing the recall of 803,000 cars.

Spiders would get into the vehicle and begin making a nest in the air-conditioning units. The webs would cause the condensation port, which usually dumps water onto the road, to become clogged – forcing the condensation to leak within the vehicle.

This leaking liquid would then drop onto the airbag control module, which in most cases would just cause the airbag light to switch on, but there were a few times that the airbag would deploy.

At the time of the recall, 35 cases of the airbag light switching on and three cases of airbags spontaneously deploying were due to spider webs.

While spiders were not mentioned in the actual recall, a Toyota spokesperson told CNNin 2013 that in the cases the car maker had investigated, the only consistent cause of failure was spider webs causing a blockage.

Again, this was an issue that seemed to only affect the US models and the type of spider that was causing the issue was never confirmed.

Holden’s phantom tailgate latch

Australia’s own Holden Commodore fell victim to a weird, and mildly dangerous, defect in the early 2010s.

The VE Commodore, a popular option for tradies to load up the tray with heavy and expensive goods at the time, would unlatch itself if impacted outwards (if the load in the tray shifted back and hit the tailgate).

The recall noted: “A condition can occur under specific operating conditions where the tailgate may unlatch when impacted rearwards with sufficient energy by unsecured objects placed in the rear cargo tray”.

Luckily, Holden caught the latch issue early, recalling 34,432 utes in the VE range after just two reported latch failures.

If this had continued to fly under the radar and caused a ute to expel its load, it could’ve suffered the same fatal fate as our next freaky recall.

Ford’s fiery blunder

The Ford Pinto has long been famous as the vehicle that would spontaneously combust into flames. The vehicle made its way into pop culture by directors making fun of its combustible nature in films such asTop SecretandThe Spirit of ’76.

All comedic appeal aside, the Pinto had a very serious issue that caused real deaths. The problem was the design of the fuel tank. Due to a lack of reinforcements, protection, proper cushioning, and the overall location of the tank, it would rupture in the event of an accident.

If you were unfortunate enough to be rear-ended in a Pinto, the tank would crush and send the entire contents out onto the road, and so much as a small spark would ignite it, causing the Pinto to catch fire.

Where the Pinto saga starts to heat up is the fact that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into the vehicle in 1974 before it decided that the vehicle did not need a recall.

In 1981, the matter went to court in Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company after a Pinto got into an accident and left a 13-year-old boy with severe and disfiguring burns, according to Justia Law. This case led to Ford recalling 1.5 million Pintos, but not before the model had a confirmed death tally of 27.

Ferrari vehicle recall over fears of getting trapped in the boot

Ferrari once had to recall more than 3000 cars due to a fear of trapping someone in the boot without a latch to let them out.

Vehicle Standard 401 in the United States mentions that “each passenger car with a trunk compartment must have an automatic or manual release mechanism inside the trunk compartment that unlatches the trunk lid”.

The strange part is that the Ferrari 458 that was recalled is a rear-engine car. The boot is on the front of the car, and the interior space is so minuscule that it’s highly unlikely that anyone would be able to fit inside.

However, vehicle standards must be applied to all cars in the United States and the Ferrari 458 was recalled regardless.

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