2001 Toyota RAV4 POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

ECM FAILED ON MY 2001 RAV4 AND TOYOTA REFUSED TO PAY FOR REPAIRS. WHEN IT FAILED IT PUT ME IN AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. THIS WAS AFTER A RECALL ON THE ECM. SO I HAD ALREADY BROUGHT MY CAR INTO THE DEALER AND HAD THE ECM REPROGRAMMED. IF I HAD DIED IN AN ACCIDENT WOULD ANYONE HAVE CHECKED THE ECM TO SEE IT WAS NOT WORKING? I DEFINITELY COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED AND PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE ON THE ROAD DRIVING THESE CARS THAT COULD AT ANY MINUTE START ACTING ERRATICALLY. *TR

EVENT 1: 1. SHORTLY AFTER BUYING CAR, NOTED ENGINE REVS WOULD SOAR BY 700 TO 800 RPMS BETWEEN GEARS WHILE SHIFTING MANUAL TRANSMISSION. FOUND THIS HAPPENED BY JUST DISENGAGING THE CLUTCH WITHOUT SHIFTING EVEN WITH FOOT NOT ON THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. 2. THE REV SOARING HAPPENED CONSISTENTLY. NO CONSEQUENCES EXCEPT FOR AN UNPLEASANT DRIVING EXPERIENCE. 3. COMPUTER WAS REPROGRAMMED BY THE DEALER FROM WHOM I BOUGHT THE CAR. REV JUMPS REDUCED TO ABOUT 400 RPM. A SECOND REPROGRAMMING REDUCED IT TO ABOUT 200 RPM. THIS BEHAVIOR STILL EXISTS. EVENT #2. 1. ABOUT SIX MONTHS AFTER PURCHASING THE CAR, NOTED THAT WHEN CRUISING WITH RPMS ABOVE 2800 RPM IN 5TH GEAR WITH CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGED AND FOOT NOT ON ACCELERATOR PEDAL, ON DISENGAGING THE CLUTCH, THE ENGINE REVS WOULD SOAR TO 3,200 RPM TO 3,500 RPMAND REMAIN THERE FOR PERIODS RANGING BETWEEN 5 SECONDS TO OVER A MINUTE. THIS OCCURRED WHILE THE CAR WAS COASTING AND SLOWING WHILE NOT UNDER POWER. 2. THIS BEHAVIOR FREQUENTLY OCCURRED UNDER THE ABOVE CONDITIONS. NO CONSEQUENCES EXCEPT AS A PROFESSION ENGINEER AND FORMER SPORTS CAR RACING DRIVER, I KNEW THIS BEHAVIOR WAS NOT NORMAL. 3. BEHAVIOR EXAMINED BY MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER. MECHANIC HOOKED UP RECORDING BOX TO CAR, BUT I WAS UNABLE TO REPLICATE THE BEHAVIOR ON THIS OCCASION. DATA EXAMINED BY A TOYOTA ENGINEER WHO PRONOUNCED THERE WAS NOT A PROBLEM. LATER, I WAS AGAIN ABLE TO REPLICATE THE BEHAVIOR. AFTER YET ANOTHER COMPUTER REPROGRAMMING, THIS BEHAVIOR OF REMAINING AT A HIGH RPM SEEMS TO HAVE STOPPED. HOWEVER, THE ENGINE REVS STILL WILL SURGE TO ABOUT 3,400 RPM BEFORE DROPPING OFF. *TR

MY CAR IS TOYOTA RAV4 2001 2WD AUTOMATIC. RECENTLY, THE CAR ON ACCELERATION STARTED DOING HARD SHIFT. MANY PEOPLE HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT IT. HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/TOYOTA/RAV4/2001/TRANSMISSION/PROBLEMS_SHIFTING.SHTML. WHEN I PURCHASED THE CAR FROM PRIVATE PARTY, I HAD ASKED TOYOTA OF KIRKLAND (WA) TO CHECK FOR ECU MODULE. I WAS TOLD IT IS THE RIGHT MODULE AND NOT THE RECALLED ONE. SO, I PURCHASED THIS CAR FROM THE PRIVATE PARTY. AFTER 9 MONTHS OF USING THIS CAR, I GET THE SAME PROBLEM WHICH SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE EXPERIENCED. THE CAR JERKS WHEN ACCELERATING. SOMETIMES IT REFUSES TO ACCELERATE. TOYOTA EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THE CAR BUT WHEN I PURCHASED IT WAS NOT UNDER WARRANTY. I THINK IT IS A FAULTY PART IN THE CAR. IF REPLACING ECU DOES NOT FIXES THE PROBLEM THEN WE HAVE TO FIX THE TRANSMISSION WHICH WILL COST ME ADDITIONAL $4000. TO REPLACE NEW ECU OR ECM, IT COSTS $1100+. PLEASE ASK TOYOTA TO RECALL THE RAV4S. THIS IS A BIG BLOW TO US IN THIS ECONOMY. *TR

FAULTY ECU IN 2001 RAV4 AUTOMATIC CAUSES INTERNAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE. SLIPPING & DOUBLE-SHIFTING BETWEEN 2ND & 3RD GEAR, LONGER ECU IS USED THE WORSE THE SLIPPING OCCURS. RESETTING ECU FIXES PROBLEM FOR SEVERAL HOURS AND TRANNY WILL WORK PERFECT, THEN IT STARTS ACTING UP AGAIN. *TR

OUR TOYOTA RAV 4 IS HAVING ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE IS A BUST. IT CONTROLS AMONG OTHER THINGS OUR TRANSMISSION, AND THE SHIFTING OF GEARS. THE ECM HAS PRETTY MUCH RUINED OUR TRANSMISSION. THERE HAS BEEN MANY RAV 4 OWNERS WITH THIS SAME PROBLEM. AND TOYOTA IS (WAS) A REPUTABLE COMPANY. ONE WOULD THINK THEY WOULD MAKE THIS RIGHT. OUR WARRANTY WAS UP LAST YEAR. AND THERE WAS RECALLS ON DIFFERENT COMPUTER THINGS FROM THEM BUT, THEY WILL NOT HELP US. AND WE DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO FIX THIS. AND THIS IS OUR ONLY FAMILY CAR. ONE WE NEED TO HELP US GET TO WORK. ANY SUGGESTIONS? *TR

2001 TOYOTA RAV 4 STARTED WITH CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMING ON AND OFF THEN TOYOTA SENT SSC-601 IN MARCH OF 08 THAT I NEEDED TO HAVE ECM REPROGRAMMED WHICH I DID{TOOK TECH 2 TIMES TO GET IT RIGHT} NOW MY TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING SO I TOOK IT IN TO TOYOTA AND THEY DID A DIAGNOSTIC AND SURE AS PIE THEY SAID ECM HAS FAILED AND THEY WANT 940.00 TO REPLACE IT. THIS IS A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN SEEN BY TOYOTA AND IS A MANUFACTURES DEFECT THAT THEY EXPECT US THE CONSUMER TO EAT I'VE HAD NOTHING BUT RUNAROUND FROM BOTH LOCAL DEALER AND THEIR CORPORATE OFFICE. NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE AND IS UNWILLING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS. *TR

ON NOVEMBER 8, WHILE TRAVELING TO WORCESTER TO SEE A FRIEND RECOVERING FROM A SERIOUS MEDICAL NEXT I CALLED TWO OF THE MAJOR TRANSMISSION SPECIALISTS IN THE AREA; COTTMAN TRANSMISSION IN NORTHAMPTON AND THE TRANNY SHOP IN PALMER, WHERE BRIAN AND SCOTT TOLD ME THAT TOYOTA'S REPROGRAMMING DIDN'T WORK, AND THAT I'D NEED TO BUY A NEW MODULE OUT OF POCKET FOR $900-1100. THEY BOTH SAID THAT IF I CAUGHT IT EARLY, I WOULDN'T NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION. IT SEEMS TOYOTA IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM, BUT UNWILLING TO PAY TO MAKE IT RIGHT. *TR

TRANSMISSION SLIPPING ON 2001 TOYOTA RAV4. SERVICE BULLETIN ISSUED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT OF COMPUTER TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. BULLETIN EXTENDED WARRANTY TO 80,000. CONSUMER NEVER NOTIFIED OF THIS PROBLEM. COMPUTER WENT BAD AT 87,000 MILES. TOYOTA AND CONSUMER CURRENTLY GOING ROUND AND ROUND OVER WHETHER TOYOTA OR CONSUMER MUST PAY FOR COMPUTER REPLACEMENT. CONSUMER ALSO TOLD THAT TRANSMISSION MAY NOW NEED TO BE REPLACED. TOYOTA HAS RECEIVED NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM FROM RAV4 OWNERS AND IN MANY CASES THE SHIFT PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE COMPUTER FAILURE HAS RESULTED IN DAMAGE TO TRANSMISSION WHICH TOYOTA WILL NOT PAY FOR. *TR

ROUGH SHIFT IN LOW GEARS CAUSING ENGINE TO REV BUT CAR DOES NOT MOVE. HAD SOLENOIDS REPLACED, PROBLEM STILL EXISTS. TOLD ECM NEEDS TO BE REPLACED BUT OTHER OWNERS SAID THIS HAS NOT CORRECTED THE PROBLEM. CAR REVS BUT GOES NO WHERE AND CREATES DANGEROUS SITUATION ESPECIALLY IN DENSE TRAFFIC WITH BIG TRUCKS. *TR