2007 Toyota RAV4: sudden loss of power

Filed Oct 4, 2022 · Electrical, Steering · CA

while driving down the big bear mountain, the vehicle lost power steering i could not turn the wheel and hit the railing, thank god i didn't hit another car. The battery light was flashing steering locked up other dash lights came on. The mechanic could not give me any answers, Toyota says there is no recall on this and after reading other complaints about the 2007 Toyota RAV 4 i am shocked that the dealership has nothing to say and can not fix the problem, this is so dangerous and i am at a loss on how to fix the problem. who has to die for them to take this problem seriously!!!

Filed Dec 9, 2018 · Electrical, Steering · 110,000 miles · CA

I was traveling down arrow hwy in the rain when my electrical system failed. I lost power from both my alternator and battery intermittently. I was coasting down to an approaching intersection when I made the descision to turn right at the intersection. The steering was so hard that I nearing hit the center divide. My windshield wipers were barely working and many of my dash icons were coming on randomly. Through it all, my engine continued to run and I made to the next street that turned into condos that had parking spaces. I shut my engine off and tried a restart. The engine,of course,did not start. After being hauled to the nearest toyota dealer they diagnosed the problem as an alternator that shorted the battery. Having a little experience in this electrical area, I understand how this can happen but with proper design it could have been avoided. The battery was saved after recharging. Here is my point; I don't want any one that I know and love to go through what I had to. Those that drive this car should be made aware that this could happen with a car equipped with electrical steering. This problem could have been more severe if the engine would have stalled; which, by the way would have happened in a short time.

Filed Aug 29, 2017 · Engine · 171,000 miles · WI · fire

2007 toyota rav4, on sat august 26th we were driving from madison wi to milwaukee wi on i94. Just shortly before we reached johnson creek the car made a strange noise and then the noise went away. As we were driving past johnson creek the engine made a pop sound and I lost power and I coasted to a stop along the side of the freeway. I noticed smoke or steam coming from the engine compartment, I opened the hood and there was a fire in the engine compartment. I removed some items in the car and my wife called 911. By the time the johnson creek fire department arrived the rav 4 was completely engulfed in fire. The car was a complete loss

Filed Mar 3, 2017 · Acceleration, Engine · 126,000 miles · PA

Car had been using excessive oil.while I was driving on interstate, cruise control failed ,warning lights came on , started flashing and then car quickly lost all power. Barely got off the highway onto the right side of interstate. Very dangerous condition exists with these vehicles. I consider myself lucky.

Filed Nov 10, 2015 · Engine · 136,103 miles · WI

7/24/2015 traveling from wisconsin to florida in 2007 rav4. Driving on freeway when engine lost power. Unable to restart engine on the side of the freeway exit ramp. Had car towed back home. Later that week had car towed to mechanic. Mechanic discovered catastrophic damage to engine. The engine had seized. The metal on the pistons melted and other engine parts where scorched. Replaced engine with a rebuilt. Only had 136,000 miles on rav4. The rav4 had regular oil changes and routine maintenance. Now I am seeing on the federal safety agency website that toyota knew about engines problems. I did not receive notice of this issue and I am out the cost of a rebuilt engine and the cost of a rental car while the engine was replaced. Is this same thing going to happen to my rebuilt engine? Toyota had me submit documentation of what mechanic found and did told me that they would review documents and that I was eligible for reimbursement under the csp ze7 program. On oct 19 written notice received, states reimbursement for replacing the engine denied. Received notice from toyota regarding warranty enhancement ze7 after engine failed that rav 4 had an excessive oil consumption problem. Attached are pictures of melted engine parts of an engine that had regular oil changes.

Filed Aug 25, 2015 · Engine · 136,000 miles · WI

7/24/2015 traveling with family from wisconsin to florida in my 2007 rav4. Driving on freeway when engine lost power. Coasted off freeway down exit ramp. Unable to restart engine on the side of the freeway exit ramp. Had car towed back home. Later that week had car towed to mechanic. Mechanic discovered catastrophic damage to engine. The engine had seized. The metal on the pistons melted and other engine parts where scorched. Replaced engine with a rebuilt. Only had 136,000 miles on rav4. The rav4 had regular oil changes and routine maintenance. Now I am seeing on the federal safety agency website that toyota knew about engines problems. I did not receive notice of this issue and I am out the cost of a rebuilt engine and the cost of a rental car while the engine was replaced. Is this same thing going to happen to my rebuilt engine? Toyota has not responded to my notification to them of the catastrophic engine failure.

Filed Jul 28, 2014 · Steering · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota rav 4. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering with the engine and vsc light illuminated on instrument panel. The vehicle regained power steering once the vehicle was turned off and restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but they could not duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.

Filed May 16, 2014 · Steering · 53,574 miles · TN

Lost power steering without warning in heavy traffic. P/s light came on at the same time. Barely avoided collision with large truck. Started engine after 20 mins., p/s light out & steering normal. Took vehicle to dealer who found code c1524 (low voltage in power steering). In order to find root of problem I need to pay $200 for diagnostic, which I refused. This is not a wear/tear issue but either a defect or malfunction. Called toyota, asked them to pay for diagnostic & toyota refused since vehicle is out of warrenty. Guess toyota could care less about customer safety even though there are numerous vehicles with same complaint!

Filed Aug 23, 2012 · Engine · 97,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota rav-4. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle lost power and the motor became inoperable without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the failure was that the motor oil was abnormally low and damaged the engine. The engine was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and who stated that the vehicle was not under any warranty and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 97,000 and the current mileage was 99,000. ....updated 10/11/12 *bf updated 10/16/2012

Filed Oct 31, 2010 · Brakes, Electrical · 22,300 miles · CA

Last night, my rav4 battery died due presumably to the rear door light getting accidentally turned on. Upon jump starting the car, everything seemed fine. I drove it home without incident. Then, this morning, the battery was not quite up high enough to start the car, so I jump started it again. It started, but a few hundred feet away, I lost power steering and power brake assist. It required every ounce of force I could muster to turn the vehicle around and get it back to my house. Thankfully, this happened on city streets near my house and not on the highway last night or the chp would have been scraping me off a bridge post. The rav4 cannot realistically be steered by an average person without the power steering assist because of the gearing ratio, making this a very serious design defect. If a vehicle cannot safely operate, the vehicle should not operate. The problem is that, because the battery plays an integral role in power smoothing, and because the power steering and power brake pumps are electrically operated, a low battery can result in failure of the power steering and brake pumps while the engine is still functional. This can easily result in an uncontrollable vehicle barreling down the highway at 80 MPH. I believe that fixing this problem requires a fundamental redesign of the electrically operated pumps to add additional capacitors so that the battery is not playing such a crucial role in smoothing out the pulsating dc from the alternator along with the addition of sensor hardware to detect a low battery condition and activate an indicator light until the vehicle is safe to drive. Ideally, the steering gearbox should also be redesigned with a lower gear ratio so that it does not become undriveable. Without these fixes, the 2007 rav4 is fundamentally unsafe. This design flaw probably also affects most other late models of toyota.

Filed Aug 15, 2007 · Steering · 1,000 miles · NY

Tl*the contact owns a 2007 toyota rav4. While driving 10 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering without warning. The power steering did not return until the dealer replaced the steering column. The failure recurred while driving 45 MPH. The failure mileage was 1,000 and current mileage was 4,600. The consumer stated the first time the steering malfunctioned, it reset itself, however the second time it happened the steering column was replaced. The third time, a computer component was replaced. The dealer was not able to determine what was causing the problem. Updated 09/18/07.