Received warranty enhancement notice-ze7, as instructed, dealer test was performed. Oil loss totals under 1qt. For ea. 1200 miles driven. Was told this did not qualify for repair. My concern is this: toyota service required for oil change is every 5,000 miles. My car has excessive oil consumption of just under 1qt per 1,200 miles, so driving 5,000 miles would effectively burn 4qts., or more, thereby starving engine for oil and resulting in engine failure. Service department advised me to keep checking oil level, and add oil as required. I am disappointed in toyota's solution to this problem and advised them of my opinion. I am able to add oil as required, but questioned customer service about other senior citizen's ability to self maintain the oil level, or for that matter, any consumer that has this problem. Toyota has assigned me a case number from regional ca. Office. I was told that perhaps toyota will change qualification requirements so that at 5,000 miles, oil consumption would not result in engine starvation and failure. Also, in my case continue to monitor oil loss, and if it increases in volume, come back to dealer and test again. I think that design failure due to manufacturing defect should be fully covered under this warranty enhancement notification that was mailed to me.
1997 Toyota RAV4: engine failure
5 of the 54 complaints about the 1997 Toyota RAV4 describe engine failure.
- owner complaints
- 5
- of this car's complaints
- 9%
- recalls
- 0
Engine failure by model year
What owners say
My rav has had 2 engine replacements the first at 16,000 miles and the second at 49,000 miles. The first one happened when it stalled out going through an extremely large puddle of water on the access road and the second for no apparent reason.
My rav 4 - 57348 miles. It started making a tapping sound in the engine and it has makes a metal on metal vibration upon acceleration and especially when I make a gradual left turn and decelerate. I brought it into the dealer. They say it may be that the lifters are a bit worn and that this will not harm anything. This is odd because a new engine was placed in the car at 49,000 + miles. They could not identify what the vibration noise was and said that it is possibly a rock in the brake system. I know what that sounds like and strongly disagree with their analysis. The noise is definitely coming from the engine.
Possible engine failure caused the vehicle to crank but not start.
Engine failed causing vehicle not to start.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 1997 Toyota RAV4 engine failure
Is engine failure a common problem on the 1997 Toyota RAV4?
5 of 54 owner complaints about the 1997 Toyota RAV4 (9%) mention engine failure. The model year with the most reports is 2007.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1997 Toyota RAV4?
There are 0 recalls and 2 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1997 Toyota RAV4
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