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Car Safety DB

NHTSA Campaign Number

98V278000

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:ANTI-THEFT:CONTROL MODULE

Reported to NHTSA: October 19, 1998

Key Takeaways

  • Recall 98V278000 currently maps to 2 tracked vehicle-year pages across 1 make.
  • This page summarizes the official defect description, safety consequence, and remedy text published by NHTSA for this campaign.
  • This is a campaign-level lookup, not a VIN-level clearance result. Use a VIN lookup before assuming your specific vehicle is still open.

Useful Next Steps

Check a VIN for an open recallRead what to do after a recall noticeBrowse more electrical recallsOpen an affected vehicle page

Defect Description

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, MINI VANS AND PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A THEFT DETERRENT SYSTEMS (TDS) SUPPLIED BY AUDIOVOX CORPORATION AND DISTRIBUTED BY SOUTHEAST TOYOTA DISTRIBUTORS, INC. IN THE STATES OF ALABAMA, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. THE ALARM WIRING HARNESS PLUGS INTO THE VEHICLE'S IGNITION SWITCH AND THE VEHICLE'S IGNITION SWITCH WIRING HARNESS PLUGS INTO THE ALARM HARNESS TO COMPLETE THE CIRCUIT. A PERCENTAGE OF THE FEMALE TERMINALS USED IN THE ALARM CONNECTOR WERE FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE, CAUSING AN 'OPEN CIRCUIT' CONDITION WHEN MATED TO THE MALE IGNITION SWITCH TERMINALS.

Safety Consequence

THIS CONDITION CAN CAUSE INTERMITTENT PERFORMANCE OF THE VEHICLE'S ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS SUCH AS THE DASH WARNING LIGHTS AND/OR HVAC FAN SPEED CONTROLS. ALSO, THE VEHICLE MAY NOT RUN SMOOTHLY AND COULD STALL.

Remedy

DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE DATE CODE LABEL ON THE SECURITY SYSTEM HARNESS AND ANY DISPLAYING THE MANUFACTURING/FINAL DATE CODE WILL BE REPLACED WITH NEWLY PRODUCED HARNESSES. THE DATE CODES ARE: RAV4 - 6/24/98, 6/25/98, 6/26/98; SIENNA - 6/25/98, 6/26/98; AND AVALON - 6/30/98, 7/1/98, 8/31/98, 9/1/98, 9/2/98, AND 9/3/98.

What This Recall Page Shows

This page summarizes a single NHTSA recall campaign, including the defect description, safety consequence, and manufacturer's remedy. The affected vehicles listed below are the make/model/year combinations tracked in our database — this is not a VIN-specific result. To check whether your individual vehicle is covered by this recall, enter your 17-digit VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Click any vehicle below to view its full safety profile.

VIN recall lookup guideWhat to do after a recallMore electrical recalls

Affected Vehicles (2)

YearMakeModel
1998ToyotaRAV4
1999ToyotaRAV4

Browse Affected Vehicles

Affected Models

Toyota RAV4

Affected Make + Year Views

1999 Toyota1998 Toyota

Affected Years

19991998

Related Electrical Campaigns

These campaigns share the same broad recall component family, so they are useful if you want to compare how similar issue types appeared across other vehicles and time periods.

26V248000ELECTRICAL SYSTEMJaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Land Rover Range Rover Velar and Land Rover Discovery, 2020-2023 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, 201…35 tracked vehicle pages · Apr 17, 202626V225000ELECTRICAL SYSTEMChrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Ram 1500 Pickup, Ram 2500 Pickup, Ram 3500 Pickup, Ram 3500 Cab Chassis, Ram 4500 Cab Chassis, and Ram 5500 Cab Chassis vehicl…6 tracked vehicle pages · Apr 9, 202626V188000ELECTRICAL SYSTEMNissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2026 LEAF vehicles. The high voltage battery may have internal damage that can cause a short circuit within the battery mo…1 tracked vehicle pages · Mar 26, 202626V185000ELECTRICAL SYSTEMVolkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2025 Jetta and Taos vehicles. The instrument panel may fail to display warning lights or gauges. As such, these …2 tracked vehicle pages · Mar 25, 2026

This recall information is from NHTSA campaign 98V278000. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA. Contact your dealer or call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 for more information.

Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026