2002 Toyota RAV4: engine stalls while driving

Filed May 5, 2022 · Transmission · CA

2002 Toyota RAV4 AWD transmission problems and will be available upon request. Transmission caused vehicle to disengaged , jerks, stalls with severed engine braking while driving creating a safety performance and hazard on the roads to myself and other unexpected drivers. Upon reading similar complaints of other owners reported similar transmission problems. This was believed to be a reproduced problem and should be investigated for Safety-Related defects. The vehicle was inspected by manufacture according to previous owner. Manufacturer recently replaced transmission and updated ECM per previous owner. The vehicle appeared in working order for 3-4 months then the transmission problems occurred again as mentioned above. There was no warning lights while I experienced this transmission problem.

Filed Jul 22, 2020 · Transmission · 77,010 miles · VA

Vehicle stalls and jerks constantly while driving; unable to accelerate after stoplight. Very unpredictable.this is due to defective ECM which toyota has been aware of but refuses to list as a recall.I purchased the used car 1 month ago --- had no idea it had this serious, dangerous problem. Took it to toyota dealer which is saying it will cost $5k to fix !! Car only has 77k miles.

Filed Nov 6, 2015 · Electrical, Transmission · 71,890 miles · FL

Car went into neutral while negotiating an intersection on several occations. Has bucked stalled pulling into traffic, and failed to shift while passing, im told its a know problem with ecu, but toyota cut a deal and did not have to notify owners! Bought this car new now there telling me 6000 to 9000$

Filed Nov 19, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 150,000 miles · VA

My mother had the engine control module fixed june of 2013. She had to pay for this repair herself because toyota refused to fix it, even though they sent letters out to people saying that they would cover the cost to repair this known issue. After 1900.00 later, she paid for it. A year later I own this same vehicle and the same thing has gone bad. Its just out of the warranty. I almost got hit due to the car stalling when I pulled out at an intersection. This is a known problem, and it was paid for by another family member. Yet it has the same issue. Toyota needs to fix this problem. Horrible costumer service.

Filed Apr 24, 2014 · Transmission · 61,135 miles · WA

I was driving west on northgate way toward meridian avenue. The car (automatic transmission) failed to shift gears and almost stopped in the middle of the intersection near i5 northbound entrance. I continued to drive to meridian way and turn left. I pulled over to the curb on meridian way and turned the car off. I then restarted the car and drove home to wallingford (3 miles) by pacing the car so that I did not have to interact with other vehicles. (this occurred early on a sunday morning so traffic was light.) I was barely able to drive the car up my driveway - shifting continued to be a problem so that the car stalled and did not respond to the accelerator. Toyota has a document that describes the problem. However I cannot access any assistance from toyota because the car has been in service greater than 10 years. The experience was very frightening. The failure is episodic and unpredictable. I feel toyota should replace the ECM in any car that fails in this manner. There are technical service reports on the website. The warranty is limited to 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

Filed Dec 6, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 140,002 miles · MD

This past summer the 2002 rav 4 started giving indications that something might not be right. The car had always gotten its required mileage maintenance which was also due at the time. So those things were done. However, over the last three weeks the following started: --the engine light came on, then off; --there was hesitation when accelerating/ a harsh jerk and shift when changing gears --the vehicle would sometimes slip back into neutral and stall while driving three independent toyota-certified technicians diagnosed that there is a problem with the transmission, so we took it to darcars toyota where the car was purchased. The technician there confirmed the diagnosis but said we needed to contact the warranty enhancement department. After placing me on hold for about 5 minutes, she told me that the car had exceeded the time for the warranty by about 3 months and therefore nothing could be done. Is toyota willing to jeopardize the long-term customer loyalty and more importantly, the safety of their customers, just because the car chose to display its problems 3 months later?

Filed Sep 7, 2012 · Acceleration, Steering · 88,000 miles · IL

Dangerous transmission problems occurred in this car. The car would stall before going into second gear. Once it occurred as I was in an intersection. There are low miles on this so there should not be a need for repair or replacement at this time.

Filed Jan 11, 2012 · Engine · 128,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 55 MPH, the contact heard a grinding sound coming from the front end of the vehicle followed by the vehicle stalling. The vehicle was towed to the contacts home and was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The contact had previously taken the vehicle to the dealer for a similar failure where the technicians replaced the flywheel. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 128,000. Updated 04/19/12*lj updated 04/25/12

Filed Aug 22, 2011 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 121,000 miles · VA

Toyota 2002 rav4, automatic transmission problem when switching into first / second gear, car will hiccup, and or not accelerate as expected. Aamco transmission specialists confirmed defective ECM module failure, and require a full transmission rebuilt. Toyota apparanty knows about this problem, and has issued service advisory, but no recall. Problem can resurface any anytime, very high potential for accidents as car will fail to accelerate or just stall when entering intersections and or freeways.

Filed Jun 30, 2011 · Electrical, Transmission · 155,475 miles · GA

I was going north on molly lane and going to turn right on us hwy 92 going east. I pulled into oncoming traffic when my car stalled and it acted like the transmission slipped. I was almost rear ended. I drove and picked up a pizza on townlake parkway and the same thing happened when I pulled out of papa johns. I knew there was a bad problem at that point. I was going to drive it home and have it towed to toyota. Upon turning onto the entrance ramp it stalled again and had no power. The cars behind me were blowing their horns. At the top of the ramp it revved and then surged. I drove it home and had it towed. Toyota says that the ECM is bad and needs to be replaced and then they can check the transmission. I looked on the internet and found there have been numerous problems with the 2001 - 2003 rav4's. This is a definite safety risk and toyota should be made to do a recall to fix the ECM boards.

Filed Jun 24, 2011 · 100,000 miles · MA

While on an onramp, going into thick, fast traffic on the highway (95) our rav4 had what I guess is called a "harsh shift" and stalled in newton, ma. We think this is due to a faulty ECM or transmission (we already had the ECM replaced once, in pasadena, ca at the end of 2008, and it was like pulling teeth to get toyota to do it!) I can't believe the vehicle is experiencing the same problem, again!! Someone could have been seriously injured! A quick search of the message boards (carcomplaints.com has 3 pages of complaints regarding this issue!) and a lovely new york times article written on july 13, 2010 by christopher jensen about toyota extending the warranty on the obviously faulty ECM's tells me this is a problem that needs to be addressed, sooner rather than later.

Filed Aug 26, 2010 · Engine · 87,178 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. The contact was driving less then 5mph when the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The dealer performed a diagnostic and advised that the engine control module would need replacing. The vehicle was repaired yet the failure recurred. There were additional repairs made to the throttle position sensor yet that did not remedy the failure. The dealer then advised that they were unable to diagnose the failure and advised they were unaware of how to correct the failure. There were no further repairs. The failure mileage was 87,178 and the current mileage was 88,515.