2001 Toyota RAV4: engine stalls while driving

Filed Feb 7, 2012 · Acceleration, Transmission · NV

When attempting to accelerate from a stop, the car stalls. Automatic transmission does not hold on to a gear and when a gear is finally engaged, the car jerks violently forward. This is extremely frightening; I thought I was going to be hit because I stall in dangerous situations. Trying to enter a fast paced road is highly risking the chance of being read ended, and at times I would attempt to accelerate from a stop light only to crawl into the intersection and sit in horror. Sometimes higher gear would judder the car. Apparently toyota knows the ECM is faulty and damages the transmission, but the actions they took on this matter were too late and barely caring. I was not notified of the danger. I had to come into the dealership to learn and by then my car is already out of warranty and my car is in no working order. No proper steps were taken to warn drivers of this hazard. The warranty they provide is incapable and restrictive of addressing the faulty ECM that will inevitably put unwary drivers in danger. I am still trying to learn more about this matter but toyota representatives insist I pay out of pocket for a defect that would have been solved by a recall years ago.

Filed Aug 31, 2011 · Electrical · 81,000 miles · FL

We received a letter last year from toyota notifying us about an extended warranty on a part that they expected to malfunction, the ECM - something to do with transaxle and a harsh shift condition. We were not currently experiencing the problem, so we did as the document recommended and filed it. Last week out of no where, we started experiencing this harsh shift condition. The car stalled out when we attempt to accelerate and then jerks into gear quickly and on traffic filled roads, dangerously. We promptly took it to the dealership and they diagnosed the car as needing that part replaced. Then they told us sorry, the extended warranty expired december 2010. Two months after we'd received the notification. I am unemployed, we are a one car family and now we have a vehicle we can't drive and can't afford to fix through no fault of our own and because of this extended warranty instead of a proper recall toyota refuses to take responsibility for the malfunction of their product which could cause hazardous road conditions and jeopardize the safety of my family, so now due to transportation issues, my husband's job and our one source of income is at stake. Toyota has put my family in a bad situation and refuses to take responsibility. I want the ECM recalled and for them to take responsibility for their product.

Filed Aug 10, 2011 · Transmission · IN

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 toyota rav4. The contact stated that the electronic control module malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to stall in the middle of the road. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, where a diagnostic test was performed and the dealer stated that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The contact also stated that the faulty transmission was a known issue with this year, make and model. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Jun 8, 2011 · Transmission · TX

My 18 year old has a 2001 rave 4 the mechanic says that the ecu has trashed the transmission so now she needs both to be replaced. I have found many complaints on line about this problem and most likely not many people know to contact this agency or this would have been addressed by now. Please refer to the toyota service bulletin march 3, 2006. Toyota is aware of the issue! This problem has the potential to cause an accident due to lose of power or stalling of the vehicle. My daughter has been very fortunate not to be in an accident due to this ecu /transmission problem.

Filed Oct 22, 2010 · Transmission · 170,000 miles · MA

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 toyota rav4. While the contact was driving approximately 15 MPH, the manual transmission began to stutter and then the vehicle completely stalled. The engine restarted and resumed normal. The failure occurred intermittently. The failure was not diagnosed or repaired. Updated 03/16/11 *bf updated 10/12/11

Filed Aug 28, 2010 · Transmission · 89,476 miles · OR

I bought a used toyota rav4 in 2007. Last week my ECM (transmission) computer malfunctioned. I got the car fixed by my toyota dealer, but found out that this is the 3rd ECM computer replaced. My car did not accelerate. It would not move. And if the shift is bumped the shifter will move to another rgear. I am scared to drive it now. What if it completely stalls. I could see one computer but 3!!! I will not buy toyota again. After finding articles on this on the internet-seems like toyota still has not figured out how to fix it. And now the question remains-how good is my transmission at this point?

Filed Jun 29, 2010 · Engine · 132,000 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 toyota rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle would sporadically stall while driving at various speeds. The check engine light would illuminate when the failure occurred. The dealer advised that the electronic control unit (ecu) was damaged and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer would not provide any assistance. The failure and current mileage was 132,000.

Filed Apr 28, 2010 · Transmission · 90,000 miles · CA

My spouse has a toyota rav4, 2001 and it experienced major stalling problems while driving, almost like the transmission was going out. We took it to the toyota service team in berkeley, ca three times for a potential fix. First it was the engine control monitor (ECM at $1,040), then it was the transmission fluid at $266, then it was a bend pipe/tube leading to the transmission. The bottom line is we're still experiencing the same problem one month later.

Filed Mar 1, 2010 · Transmission · 93,500 miles · MN

Hello, my wife and I purchased a 2001 toyota rav 4 in 2003. It served us well until about a month ago, when at 93,500 miles it began to have shifting problems. When the car was cold, I would step on the accelerator and the car would crawl along; then it would begin to slip, as if I had hit a patch of ice--the engine would rev but the car would not go forward. And I heard a loud and ominous clanking noise from underneath the car as I crawled along. As the engine warmed up, the problem subsided so I headed home. As I was driving down the highway the car stalled momentarily. Thankfully, no accident occurred, though I could have easily been rear-ended. After many hours spent with my mechanic, our selling toyota dealer, and a local transmission shop, we were told that the ecu module in the rav was going bad and that is what wrecked our transmission. We needed a rebuilt transmission and a new ecu module. Grand total for the work: a whopping $4500! I googled the problem and read that hundreds of other people have experienced the same problem; that in 2006 toyota issued a service bulletin to its dealers, acknowledging that there was a problem with ecus in ravs model year 2001-2003. But the owners of these vehicles were never notified, leading to a burn-out of rav transmissions all across the country. A class action lawsuit has been filed against toyota to get them to take responsibility for their defective parts. I called toyota; they politely but firmly refused to pay for any of the work, simply claiming the vehicle was out of warranty. Then I spoke with the general manager at the dealership--same answer. This is not simply a matter of money and inconvenience; these vehicles are dangerous and I believe it is just a matter of time before someone gets into an accident as a direct result of these defective parts that toyota installed in its vehicles. Please pressure toyota to take responsibility for the problem it has created! Thank you.

Filed Feb 19, 2010 · Transmission · 87,145 miles · DE

Transmission slipping, unable to accelerate. Severe jerking, bone rattling and very jarring, loss of power and vehicle stalling. Occurred several times, had repaired immediately and a high cost to me. Transmission hasn't felt right since. Stopped driving vehicle to replacement of ECM was replaced. I'm not confident that the transmission didn't suffer damage during this limited time it was driven and until the repair could be made. I haven't felt completely safe because the failure was so severe and quick to surface.

Filed Feb 5, 2010 · Transmission · CA

I also had to shell out $3000 to replace a faulty ECM for the toyota rav4 2001. The car had low mileage and just past the 7 year warranty. The car's transmission is not shifting and the car almost died on the way to the dealership. I found thousands of reported cases of people sharing the same grief and apparently this problem with the ECM extends to 2002-2003 rav4 and corollas as well. Toyota knows about this problem because they had a recall the patch the ECM at 2006. But the patch does not work and perhaps a small bandage to mask the real problem. And toyota banked on the fact that car will exceed the warranty so they blow all of us off and make us pay for the part or dump the car. I brought this up with the dealership and also with toyota headquarter and they vehemently denied this is a wide spread problem and refused to fix the problem for free or to do a recall. But just doing a casual search this problem is the highest reported problem with any toyotas and this problem spans to eu and australia as well. The only reason why this is not publicize is because luckily no one died, or we don't know about it. But the rav4 can easily stalled on the freeway and causing another car to slam into the rav4. Toyota has a history of lying to the public. For the last 10 years, their cars all had some type of electrical problems. It's not just the accelerator or brake issue, it's electrical. They have a poor design that kills. I hope this letter can prompt another investigation into other models of toyota that had suffered with other issues in the last decade.

Filed Jan 30, 2010 · Transmission · 84,795 miles · OH

My transmission started slipping and bucking in aug. 2009. The car would loose power and almost stall out. While driving on the highway I came close to being rear ended due to loss of power. I had taken my car in to have it looked at and was told that I didn't have codes so they could not tell me what the problem was and would have to wait for it to happen again or bring it back what the check engine light came on. Before I left the lot the light came on and the code p0755 was the code used to repair the car. This however did not fix the problem, and I began to do some research and it seems that this has been an issue for many others with a 2001-2003 rav4. I called the toyota company and was told that this is a known issue, but because my car was out of warranty they would not help fix the issue. Due to the fact that this is the only car I have and needed to go to work I had no choice but to pay to get the car repaired. I feel that this is an issue that toyota needs to address along with the current issues they are having with the recall models now. Just because no one has died from this issue does not mean no one will, if the owner does not know about the problem and are driving on the highway with their families in the car with them.