Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav 4. While driving 15 MPH the vehicle down-shifted and stalled. The contact is aware of the safety risk involved. A transmission specialist replaced the transmission to correct the failure; however, the failure resurfaced. The current and failure mileages were 74000. Updated 12/7/09 *cn the consumer stated when she attempted to make a turn, the vehicle downshifted erratically. The consumer was informed the engine control module needed to be replaced. Updated 12/08/09.
2002 Toyota RAV4 engine complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 63 of 63, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Check engine light kept coming on; I would carry it to toyota dealership and they would re-set. This happened more than twice. Finally, what I thought and was told that the transmission blew, but found out later that is just sounded and reacted as if the transmission was gone. But was the engine control module which had failed. Of course the warranty was off and after contacting toyota I get no assistance. This is some of the information I found out: ) that toyota hq has been aware for at least a few (2,3?) years that there was a defect in the design of the ECM installed in 2001/2002 toyota rav4?s > > 2) that the defect causes problems with transmission or gear-changing mechanism > > 3) that the resulting transmission or gear-changing problems are not due to ?normal wear and tear? Of the vehicles. They are caused directly by the defect in the ECM. > > 4) that the resulting transmission or gear-changing problems have caused toyota rav4 owners to spend significant amounts of money. (a casual read of owner complaints suggests many of them have spent anywhere between $3000 and $5000). > > 5) that toyota has failed to compensate owners for costs of fixing the problems caused by a defect they were aware of. I have had to replace a transmission and a engine in this car.
I purchased a new 2002 toyota rav 4 in 2002. Last year, a few years after the purchase date, toyota had a recall for the check engine light. I took it back to the dealer and the light was fixed. Maybe a year or two after, the light began to come on and has stayed off and on for years. Last year, my truck began to "hesitate" while driving and finally it began to stop all together. I took it to a transmission shop and an air conditioner belt was replaced and the agent told me that he could not find a problem with it. For a day or two, I had no problems with the truck. But shortly after, the problem came back and I was stuck without transportation. I was told it was a $2,500 computer engine problem. I do not have that kind of money. So, I had to rent a car. My insurance would not pay rentals. Externally, it is a beautiful truck, even today. But, internally, it completely let me down. When I purchased my truck, I thought I was getting a dependable truck that would last for years after it was paid off. I paid off the car in january of this year and it is sitting in front of my house. How bad can this get? My truck has over 140,000 miles which according to my research, exceeds warranty dates. If the repair cost is high, I will have no other choice but to try to sell the truck. I went out and bought an american made used car the other day. It cannot compare with my toyota when it was in good condition. Now I am back in debt again. This time I got a three year warranty. To make a long story short, I am so disappointed in the toyota rav4 trucks. According to the web, a lot of us are.
I have a toyota rav4 2002-in may 2006 I went to military training school, I got back oct 2006 while driving my engine failed on the hwy. I took it to toyota and they told me it was 420 miles over the warranty and it was not covered. I did all my required upkeep and maintenance and to my surprise it had oil sludge. He claims its from sitting but alot of vehicles sit and do not have problems especially military members that are deployed. I had to pay 3989.00 for a used engine. After researching and finding out 2001 -03 camry and lexus had the same problems and were recalled. I fought got and attorney and still no recall. I hope to have a civil lawsuit with toyota because of this but it never happened. March 2007 my transmission went out while on the hwy. I was driving and notice it kept jerking. Then it would hesitate getting into gear and reverse. I took it to a toyota dealer and they told me my transmission is going out and it would cost 4980.00. Ok let me break down the existing problems up until this point. The drivers door electric locking system went out it was repaired 4 times, the check engine light never goes off said its a electrical problem. The alarms comes on and will not go off even when door key or key pad is indicated. So I had to unhook. Yesterday march 31st I was done with the rav 4. I have notice that more than 35 % of owners have this problems and toyota refuses to recall.
I bought a toyota rav4 2002 at the dealer "toyota of alahambra" and I been having a problem to many times with the computer engine light come on. When I take the car to the dealer they told me that nothing was wrong. They turned off the light and said and said that everything was ok, this happened three times. Recently I had problems again with the computer engine and they charged $1,200.00 dollars to fix it and they told me that was my fault that I was taking off in 2nd gear but I never use the 2nd gear. What I know this cars had problems with the engine computer. The name of the dealer is "toyota-scion of glendale" 1260 s. Brand blvd. Glendale, california 91204. As I know we have 170 complaints about this rav4 toyota cars. Fortunately I have not any problem with death, or fire, or crash, but I am worry about this computer problems, when I am driving the car I am not comfortable driving any more, can you tell me that can I do about. Thank you very much for your attention.
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?
Toyota rav4 2002, 98367 miles, taken to toyota dealer for recall on ECM reprogram, after done the recall by toyota dealer, transmission shifting very erratically. Took car back to dealer and they said that transmission needs to be replaced. Also it is dangerous to drive due to loss of transmission.
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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 55 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the speed reduced. The vehicle began jerking and hesitating without warning. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the engine control module failed. The vehicle is currently being repaired. The failure and current mileages were 141,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. The vehicle was serviced for a recall regarding the engine light. A the federal safety agency campaign id number was not found. After the vehicle was retrieved from the dealer, the vehicle shook while driving between 2-50 MPH. There were no prior failures or warning indicators. The dealer stated that the ECM needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was 144,000 and current mileage was 144,411.
Car tries to stalls.
My 2002 rav4 has been diagnosed as having engine oil sludge and needs total replacement. Oil changes have been performed between 3,000 - 4,000 miles.
Faulty engine control module. It has failed and caused transmission to fail as well. After $4k replacement transmission is shot again. Transmission misses gears and has stalled in the middle of intersection. Nothing was done to correct. Dealership is stating to replace transmission first then come back to fix computer. For other complaints of similar nature see: www.carcomplaints.com/toyota/rav4/2002/transmission/problems_shifiting.shtml
This is my third toyota. I have never owned a toyota that smokes. I park my toyota rav 4 for a while, and crank it up it and smoke comes out of the exhaust. This problem started with only 61, 000 miles. I am totally dissatisfied with this toyota, and disgruntled with the poor quality of manufacturing of toyota's vehicles. Unfortunately this will possibly be my last.
Check engine light came on intermittently. Dealer said nylon gear on camshaft had damaged teeth, allowing timing chain to jump back and forth, and thereby changing ignition timing. Cost of repair was $1,600.
Oil was changed regularly on the car. Oil and engine light came on but mechanic could not find a problem and stated there was plenty of oil in the car. Driving on the expressway. The engine, then oil lights came on, as I pulled over there was a loud noise, and every thing froze. I was told the engine had seized and it would have to be replaced (for $6000).
November 17, 2006 - after being parked in my driveway for approximately 30 minutes the engine caught on fire. The rav4 engine compartment and entire interior was demolished, tires exploded, glass exploded over at least a 20 foot radius. Two engine trucks and 10 responders later the fire was out. 63,000 miles, no prior problems, 50k maintenance completed by dealer jan 2006. Vin has zeros and letter o which are indistinguishable. Try both.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 45 MPH the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer where the dealer encountered sludge in the entire engine. The dealer determined the sludge was from poor maintenance. The contact stated the vehicle was regularly maintained by service dealers. Updated 9/22/2006 -
Was driving on the freeway when my oil light turned on an seconds later white smoke started coming out of the engine. Had car towed to dealership. After looking at the car the dealership determine that the radiator had cracked due to the sludge in the engine. Said I would need to replace the entire engine. Told them I had a 100,000 mile 5 year warranty. My car had about 85,000 miles on it at the time. Toyota dealership said that they doubted that the warranty people would cover that and they rarely saw people get coverage for sludge in the engine. Reported to warranty people and they told me that my car was "very poorly maintained" and because I did not change oil or maintain my car they would not cover. I told them that I had changed my oil several times since I owned the car. They said I need all receipts. I had a few receipts but not all. Took my car to a private shop and got rebuilt engine. Still have not been able to get car out because I am financially strapped. It costs 3500.00. Toyota said I would have to pay 8000.00 for a new engine and 5000.00 for a used engine. Had to rent car that has cost me 1100.00. Must take car back because I cannot afford it. Won't have transportation. I am disappointed because one of the reasons I bought a toyota was because of its reputation for manufacturing dependable, long lasting cars. I am a single mother and have so much on my plate to worry about broken down cars.
I have a 2002 toyota rav 4. I have taken my car to the dealer for the changes of oil and filter. Twice they suggested a wynns system engine cleaning which we paid for. The last one was done on april 2005. Last october 7, 2005 I was driving my car on the expressway and all of a sudden the oil light lit up and the car stopped. The car was towed from the highway to our house and the next day was towed to the dealer adriel toyota in rio grande, puerto rico. About two hours later they called me and stated that the motor stalled and the warranty was not going to pay since I had not taken the car to them for the last oil change. I reminded them that just nine months earlier a wynns motor engine cleaning had be done by them and that it was impossible for the motor of the car to have sludge if they had done the job correctly. The toyota company of puerto rico called to tell me the same thing. I made a complaint at the consumers affairs in puerto , I am waiting for a decision. Today I showed the pictures to an automotive expert who states that the motor have not had any oil changes and the worst was that there was no way that the engine had be cleaned. The dealers states that they have not had any motor sludging on any rav 4 in puerto rico but consumer report states that toyota has this problem most commonly with camry's . Today I found out that rav 4 have the same engine camry's have. Am I supposed to be punished for whatever problem toyotas engines have?
My 02 toyota rav4 check engine light comes on and I found out that my o2 sensors are reading below of what they're supposed to read. The o2 sensors are priced way to extreme, one of them is $400 and the other is $150 and there are 2 of each. I believe that they should be working right cause my car is less than 2 years old.
On july 7, 2003 I was on my way to work when the battery discharge light came on and I had no steering capability. I was travelling about sixty miles per hour on the interstate. I almost hit the median divider before I could steer the vehicle to the side of the road. I called the dearlership and explained what had happened. They told me to have the vehicle towed in, they didn't even offer to have it towed. Incidentally this is a new vehicle with less than 1100 miles on it and I had only driven the vehicle about one week before the above happened. The dealership kept my vehicle for two days and I went to get my rav4 and asked what had happened. The service manager said that the drive belt pulleys had not been properly installed on my new rav4 and that caused the drive belt to come off of the pulleys and broke the tensioner and the housing guide. I took the car home and the next morning, the new rav4 would not start. I jumped srtarted the rav4 from my wifes vehicle and let it run for about fifteen minutes thinking that the battery just needed a charge. My wife was going to use the neew rav4 vehicle that day to shop. She called me about mid-morning and informed me that the new rav4 vehicle would not start as she had gone to the mall. That evening my wife and I went to the mall and jum started the vehicle agin and I finally got it home and it is now in my garage, it just will not start. I called and talaked to the service director about all of the problems that I was having with my new rav4 SUV. He equated my break-downs to going to the store and buying a box of four light bulbs and taking the light bulbs home and putting a new light bulb in a lamp that had a burned out light bulb and when the lamp is turned on then the new light bulb burns out. This really made me angry. I told him that there was big difference in a fifty cent light bulb and a $25,000.00 new vehicle with only 1100 miles on it.
When driving for more than 15 miles and stopping the vehicle shakes. Took vehicle to dealer and they stated that it was normal for vehicle to shake. *ak consumer states that the engine is loud, when stopping, it feels like the brakes lock up and when the vehicle is turned off the power windows continue to work and the lights go on and off.
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