2002 Toyota RAV4: sudden loss of power

Filed Nov 15, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 94,230 miles · NY

Attempting to enter highway, car lost power, eventually kicked in, immediately brought car to dealer. They serviced fuel injection, fuel system, spark plugs. Found no problem with transmission. 4 weeks following repair, hesitation happened again, this time check engine light came on, returned to dealer and was told the transmission and ECM unit needed replacement. Going through all my previous service records, came across a service ticket dated 05/18/2012, showing a service performed on a faulty ECM unit. Toyota was aware of this problem, but never informed consumers that the faulty units could affect the transmission, and driving ability of the vehicle. I am stuck with a $5,000. Repair bill, but I also could have been involved in an accident, had I been merging onto a busier highway. There have been many complaints filed, but yet no action taken by the national highway traffic administration...will it take a loss of life, or serious injury before action is taken?

Filed Jun 10, 2010 · Transmission · 47,680 miles · NV

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. While driving 30 MPH up a hill, the vehicle lost power. The vehicle will be taken to the dealer for a diagnostic test. Report 1006100118 was filed with the manufacturer; however, they will not offer any assistance with the repairs since warranty has expired. The failure and the current mileages were 47,680.

Filed May 22, 2010 · Electrical, Transmission · 61,500 miles · AZ

I purchase my vehicle a 2002 rav4, automatic, new. The vehicle has been well maintained. Approximately in march of 2010 my vehicle starting jerking, I look at my gas gauge and thought I must be lower on gas then the gauge is showing. I got gas and the problem stopped. About 2 weeks later the same problem. I got gas and the situation stopped. Sporadically, in the 2 week time frame my vehicle seemed to lose power. I did take my car into my mechanic and he had the car and did test drives with no problems. Again, in april the problem arose again and the car when to my mechanic and again they could find no problem. On april 22, 2010 upon leaving work I started my vehicle and there was a horrible jerking, shaking and at times seemed to have no power I finally was able to make it home (1 mile away) with the tires barely rolling down the road. Immediately, the next day I took it to my mechanic and as we were doing a test drive the vehicle began the jerking, shaking and lost power, the car was not operable any longer. The diagnosis: transmission burnt and new ECM (my third in this vehicle). The vehicles engine check light never came on or any other sensors in the vehicle. When the ECM was tested it did not display any codes or problems with the vehicle. I contacted the dealership and explained the situation and was advised I needed to bring it in for them to look at it. I explained to them it does not run and not going anywhere and would these (I would have had the vehicle towed with an expense of anywhere from $250 to $300.00, a hours drive away) expenses be covered. Response "warranty expired 60 days ago." after many days of an agonizing decision, I advised my mechanic to go ahead and fix the car at the tune of $3500.00, replacing the ECM and transmission. The vehicle is still being repaired and I will have it back next week.

Filed May 3, 2010 · Transmission · 147,000 miles · VA

2002 toyota rav4, while putting in drive the car stalls for a second then jerks into gear...I had ECM work done for 1300.00 dollars and the car still jerks into gear and sometimes there is no power...I am worried that my wife will be in traffic and the car will lose power causing an accident.

Filed Feb 16, 2010 · Electrical · NY

After having an oxygen sensor replaced in the exhaust system of my 2002 toyota rav4 on 02/02/10, I noticed that my car began accelerating sluggishly. Approximately 50 miles after the service was performed, I noticed my car jerked when shifting through gears 1-3 and the tachometer would rev to 3000 rpms. The car then ran fine for app. 4 days with no gear slippage. A week later the gears started slipping again without warning and the car seemed to have no power when the gas pedal was fully engaged during a right hand turn to merge with oncoming traffic. The car then bucked violently. This resulted with my passenger and I becoming anxious/scared because we didn't know if the traffic coming toward us would have hit us if we suddenly lost power. I immediately drove my car home where it has remained parked and set an appointment with a toyota dealer explaining the problems. According to similar stories from fellow rav4 owners, there is a problem with the electronic control module causing irreversible damage to the transmission. I am taking the car to the dealer to have it 'officially' diagnosed although it only codes to have the o2 sensor replaced, which I did.

Filed Sep 22, 2009 · Transmission · 151,000 miles · CA

Transmission started to "roughly" shift. Almost lost power on freeway. This happened suddenly. No warning of transmission failure. Was working perfectly earlier in the day. Drove home in slow lane with hazards on. Afraid engine would shut down on freeway.

Filed Mar 26, 2009 · Transmission · 86,200 miles · CA

The car was running fine until one day when it started "bucking" and I experienced a significant loss of power accelerating. This occurred when I was making a left turn with oncoming traffic and resulted in the other car being forced to stop to let me pass. From a stop, car felt like it was starting in second or third gear instead of first gear. Very dangerous! Limped to local shop and car was diagnosed with bad solenoid in transmission. This was replaced, drove three miles home and the same problem occurred the next day. Same code appeared during diagnosis and this indicated that the main computer (ECM) was defective. This will cost $1200 to replace. Potential replacement of transmission may be needed as well at a cost of $3500. After a search on the internet I found that this problem had been experienced by hundreds of other rav owners. My car has 86k miles and was just over the 80k mile window for the manufacturer to pay for repairs. Toyota has known about this problem since 2006, according to tsb issued. The car has been regularly serviced at the toyota dealership.

Filed Oct 8, 2008 · Engine, Transmission · 88,000 miles · FL

Our rav4 began to have problems shifting, and the check engine light was on. Took to local dealer. First visit resulted in tune-up items. Dealership treated it as an engine-related problem. Check engine came back on again the same afternoon. On second visit, dealership kept car overnight to drive it while it was cold. We were told that we had a bad catalytic converter, and that this would have to be replaced before any further diagnosis could occur. The cc was only three years old, already having been replaced under warranty. They had already reprogrammed the ECM. Per a toyota service campaign. After the cc replacement, car is still not shifting properly, and is getting worse. Dealership advised us that we need an ECM replacement, at a cost of $1300. After the fact, we found toyota tsb tc002-06, which describes the exact issues our rav4 is having. Toyota admits in the tsb that the ECM of the '01 through '03 rav4's can cause the harsh shifting that we are seeing, and that toyota made changes to the "manufacturing process to reduce the possibility of this condition occurring". The recommendation is the replacement of the ECM. It cannot be reprogrammed to eliminate this problem. The result of this ECM failure is that the car is no longer drivable, as the transmission does not shift properly at all, and it constantly looses tension on its clutch pack, resulting in loss of power to the road. The condition gets worse over a short time. In only two weeks, the car will not stay in any single gear when driving. A search of this issue on the internet found many other people having the same problem. Often, the ECM failure causes physical transmission failure. The dealership will not stand behind their faulty diagnosis, nor will they make toyota honor the warranty, which is 80,000 miles or 8 years. We are under the years, but over by 8,000 miles. How can this not be treated as a safety issue? Is it not serious enough when your car slips out of gear in traffic unexpectedly?

Filed Jul 27, 2008 · Transmission · 67,000 miles · CA

Automatic transmission shifts erratically and completely loses power at any given time. I was coming off of the freeway and slowed down for my exit when it lost all power . When I got power again it began jerking and shifting on it's own. It was really a dangerous situation as there were many vehicles behind me that had to basically stop on the exit of the freeway. Please help us rav4 drivers get a recall for this problem from toyota.

Filed Jul 23, 2008 · Engine, Transmission · 78,846 miles · NC

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle stalled and lost power while attempting to make a left turn. The contact applied pressure to the accelerator pedal numerous times before the vehicle gained power. In addition, the gears shifted roughly and the automatic transmission was jerking and vibrating. There were no warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the failure was related to the engine control module. The vehicle repair was covered by the manufacturer warranty. The contact was concerned of the safety risk involved. The failure and current mileages were 78,846. Updated 09/24/08. *lj updated 09/26/08.

Filed Oct 5, 2007 · Transmission · 84,000 miles · OH

I started to have intermittent issues with my toyota 2002 rav4 transmission; concerning hard shifting and lose of power during acceleration. I have been informed by the dealer that I require a new transmission. After searching the internet (www.carcomplaints.com, www.tundrasolutions.com, & rav4world.com) I was able to find quite a few instances of people having the same issues with their 2002 rav4. Each story ends up with the individuals paying an average of $4500 to have the transmission replaced then having to go back and have the ecu replaced ($1000). After all was said and done, the problems still existed. After speaking with toyota they feel there is no issue and do not plan on investigating the issue to determine if a recall is required. I just had my transmission replaced and the issue is still there. I am in the process with my local amoco transmission co. To resolve the problem. The problem can occur at anytime without notice during acceleration from a stopped condition or during normal driving causing the car abruptly slow down in traffic, which could put the driver in a life or death situation.