Automatic Transmission problems of the 2001 Toyota RAV4 - part 2

Transmission started jerking and slipping in second gear then jumping to third gear, then taking off in third gear, flush tranny and reprogram ecm, din"t 'help also check engine light is on for code p0758, I was told I need a new ecm and a new transmission. Toyota knew of this ecm problem and fail to notified its customers.

Going at below 40mph car on the expressway in rush hour traffic to take my son to school my 2001 Toyota Rav4 began to jerk repeatedly under acceleration. This was extremely frightening as I felt the car would lunge forward out of my control and hit the cars in front of me! it would stop if over 40 could be maintained. A few days prior I experienced this 2 single jerks while driving through a parking lot. The car was taken in to a nearby dealer for diagnosis. I am being told that I need to replace the car's computer and may possibly need to replace the transmission. Toyota has issued a service bulletin on this some years ago but I was never notified. The jerking represents a very serious safety and consumer liability and there should be some recourse for prevention.

As I tried to accelerate through an intersection where the cross traffic did not stop, my car would not accelerate beyond 25mph and my family and I came dangerously close to a pretty serious accident. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to replace the transmission right now, which is what is needed, so I do have to continue to drive the vehicle. I have to utilize little used roads and hope that I can get a little more life out of my current transmission!.

2001 Toyota Rav4 2wd 4 cylinder. The transmission is stalls at take off, I was told I have to replace the ecm and transmission. My car stalled in the middle of an intersection almost causing an accident, leaving our car in the middle of the intersection while there was on going traffic.

My 2001 Toyota Rav4 shifts gears erratically and stalls while being driven. It started while I was driving on the interstate by suddenly surging while I was driving 70mph. Now it occurs daily while trying to take off from a stopped position or even while driving speeds of 25 to 40 mph. I had the transmission flushed but this did not alleviate the problem and I've been getting estimates in regards to the transmission.

I own a 2001 Toyota Rav4 and the transmission started acting funny this morning. In reverse it started jerking. I also noticed some hesitation in 1st and 2nd gears. I decided to leave the car at home and took a ride to work. My wife took the car to school to pick up the kids and it was driving fine. When she picked up the kids from school and she got on the freeway all of the sudden the transmission started jerking my wife almost got hit by a SUV. She managed to pull over and turn the car off. When she turned it back on after 2 minutes and started driving it was fine. I searched online and come to find out this is been a known problem with this truck. I just like to know how come some one never took any action including Toyota. When I called the local Toyota dealer they advise me to have the car checked and the ecu needs to be replaced because apparently there has been 14 cars in their service department which had the same issue.

My 2001 Toyota rav 4 would not shift when I pulled into traffic and almost caused accidents as I pulled onto the interstate, it seems that service bulletin was issued for transmission problems and I never got it and now Toyota wont fix it, I have small children in the car daily.

I was driving to work when I stopped at the red light when it turned green I tried toaccelarate but my was stuck and there was a heavy traffic I took this car to the Toyota dealer they told me it was the transmission I took it to a transmission place I changed it but two day after it gave me the same problem only this time on the highway I started looking for answer and found out that most of the 2001 rav 4 ecu came out with a problem but never got a recall now the Toyota company are not taking any responsibility for this is there anyone that can help me with this pro thank you there is a website where you can see all the people complaining bout the same problem I had it seems that Toyota has known about this problem but never did anything about it. . Read more...

2001 Toyota Rav4 stalls at stop lights, does not want to shift into first or second gear, very dangerous for our driver at college in st. Louis. In research, have found numerous similar complaints re 2002 Rav4s and it appears it is faulty engineering. Diagnostics indicated internal transmission problems.

Complaint regarding ecm on 2001 Toyota Rav4. Ecm causes shifting issues with automatic transmission resulting in unsafe operation of vehicle. Requires replacement of ecm at a minimum.

2001 Toyota Rav4 suddenly started shifting hard/jerking. . . Took to mechanic, who could not find problem. . . No check engine light. . . Drove vehicle few days and the problem returned. . . Had vehicle towed to Toyota dealership, told transmission would have to be replaced, ecu failure.

While driving at typical city speeds, the transmission made a loud clanking sound and the car stated stuttering intermittently. Often when starting from a stop, the car had trouble finding a gear and did not move forward. While driving, sometimes there was little or no acceleration. This caused a problem for drivers behind me. The fix was a new engine control module (ecm). Fortunately, the mechanic knew about Toyota's technical bulletin on this matter.

After not having problems for nearly 4 years, the cil came on and the transmission began hard-shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. The ecm code was for an O2 sensor heater. Changed the sensor, light came back on calling out a gear and the shifting was worse. Took it to the dealership. They flushed the oil and flashed the ecm per TSB. Ran fine for one day. Cil came back on and hard shifted horribly while on the freeway on the way home. Pulled over and checked fluids. All fluids looked clean and were at appropriate levels. Headed for dealership again. Got on the freeway and low gear hard-shift went away, but suddenly lost all power and narrowly avoided an accident at 60 mph! car regained power and shifted fine in low gears but would not shift above 3rd. Drove rest of the way to dealer at 35 mph and dropped it off for diagnostics. I have spent almost $2k in diagnoses, parts, and labor and the problem is not fixed. Now, we nearly were killed on a major freeway! this is dangerous! this problem manifested in September and peaked yesterday (11/17/09). We cannot afford to keep paying to repair this obviously unsafe defect.

Car had check engine light coming on; mechanic ran diagnostics on system- check engine light went off. Radiator needed replacement. After car pickup, car gradually started shifting abnormally between 2nd and 3rd gear- 2001 Toyota Rav4.

2001 Toyota Rav4 at 86,000 miles having transmission trouble due to electronic control module.

Rav4 2001 transmission problem, the transmission went at only 100,000 miles, dealer replace the transmission but they charged me $3,600 this include the new ecm they installed required by warranty in the transmission. Please make note if there is more vehicles(rav4 2001) with this issue.

The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Rav4. When attempting to accelerate, he experienced gear failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the transmission module was replaced. The failure mileage was 85000 and the current mileage was 97335.

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?.

Entering highway and the vehicle would not shift. The vehicle would not go over 30 mph and had to pull over to avoid being hit.

I also had to shell out $3000 to replace a faulty ecm for the Toyota Rav4 2001. The car had low mileage and just past the 7 year warranty. The car's transmission is not shifting and the car almost died on the way to the dealership. I found thousands of reported cases of people sharing the same grief and apparently this problem with the ecm extends to 2002-2003 Rav4 and corollas as well. Toyota knows about this problem because they had a recall the patch the ecm at 2006. But the patch does not work and perhaps a small bandage to mask the real problem. And Toyota banked on the fact that car will exceed the warranty so they blow all of us off and make us pay for the part or dump the car. I brought this up with the dealership and also with Toyota headquarter and they vehemently denied this is a wide spread problem and refused to fix the problem for free or to do a recall. But just doing a casual search this problem is the highest reported problem with any Toyotas and this problem spans to eu and australia as well. The only reason why this is not publicize is because luckily no one died, or we don't know about it. But the Rav4 can easily stalled on the freeway and causing another car to slam into the Rav4. Toyota has a history of lying to the public. For the last 10 years, their cars all had some type of electrical problems. It's not just the accelerator or brake issue, it's electrical. They have a poor design that kills. I hope this letter can prompt another investigation into other models of Toyota that had suffered with other issues in the last decade.

My Toyota rav 4 (2001) suddenly started sliding, jerking, motor racing in may of 2009. It had just passed the 80,000 mi mark, and the shifting of the transmission nearly stopped. I had bought it used, and when we checked with the local dealership, found that the 2006 bulletin on the problems with the ecu which controls the transmission had resulted in the ecu being 'flashed'. So it had the work done which would supposedly fix the problem. It is lucky that it happened on a street and not on a freeway, which would most likely have resulted in a terrible accident. Toyota was phoned, a complaint was made. Nothing has happened. At my own expense, I had the ecu rebuilt; the damage to the transmission was there, but the rebuilding of the ecu enabled me to drive the car. I don't know how long it will last.

The computer in my Rav4 failed. It was giving my transmission intermittent commands to drive in the wrong gear. For example, my mechanic said there were times the car was essentially in 2 gears at the same time. I was nearly in an accident because the car bucked and almost stalled as I tried to move forward from a stop. Once it started happening I drove to the nearest mechanic I could find and only made right turns because I was afraid and didn't know what the car would do. It burned up the transmission and I had to have it replaced. When the computer was reset (as when the battery is disconnected) the car would drive normally for a few miles and then the ecm would begin giving the wrong commands again. The mechanic had to drive the car to the nearby Toyota dealer to get the ecm repaired and he got to experience the problem. He said it was a scary ride, which it was. When I spoke with Toyota's customer service the rep denied that the Rav4 has a history of this problem. When I told him that I had researched on the internet and had found many people with my problem he stated that anyone could create fake internet postings, including myself. Please, please research this. Toyota takes no responsibility and I worry what will happen. My car has been fixed but I don't want other people to go through what I did. I don't want someone to be injured or killed because their car has the same issue mine did. It comes on very suddenly, it is not the case of a small problem gradually becoming worse. If I had known that I could make a report like this I would have done so sooner.

Toyota Rav4 transmission problem, hard to shift the transmission when acceleration. This problem puts myself and my family on risk of being hit by other cars.

The ecu computer on a 2001 Toyota Rav4 caused the automatic trans to not shift like it should. It got so bad that it felt like it went into park coming to a red light. Computer ecu had to be repaired and the trans rebuilt and the trans shop that did the work was not so good. Toyota wants $4200 to fix.

I am one of the many unlucky people who own a 2001 Toyota rav-4 which has had check engine light issue for years. After brining to Toyota more than once to have them not be able to turn off I am now facing a failed transmission- over $2,500 to fix. As I see all these complaints regarding the faulty ecm and Toyota's lack of acknowledgement I am disgusted. Shame on Toyota and as a once loyal owner I will never buy a Toyota again and would not recommend to anyone.

The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Rav4 utility. The contact stated that intermittently the vehicle would down shift. As a consequence his risk for vehicle crash was increased. He has taken the vehicle to multiple dealers, in which the technician have reprogrammed the ecu, replaced the computer module and transmission. None of the repairs have remedied the failure. He contacted the manufacturer and was only offered a $300. 00 discount toward future repairs. The failure mileage was 75,473. The current mileage was 80,426. Bl.

My 2001 Toyota rav 4 started experiencing hard shifting late last year. The shifts became harder early this year particularly between 2nd and 3rd gear. I've never had any serious problems with my vehicle and at that time I had probably 78000 miles. When the hard shifting occurred, my vehicle would almost stall completely while driving. I started doing some research and discovered a known transmission trouble "supposedly" solved by reprogramming my ecm card(which I had done). This however did not solve my problem. According to other's who had the same thing done, the transmission will have to be replaced because the faulty programming has already damaged my existing transmission. I am still driving my Rav4 waiting for it to completely fail. Toyota should be responsible for replacing the transmission. I bought a Toyota at a higher price point, for it's reliability! the 1st major repair made on my vehicle should not be the transmission.

My 2001 Toyota Rav4 began acting up and would not shift correctly. It would shift very hard, and would often hesitate before shifting into gear. The check engine light came on, and the vehicle was taken to a transmission shop. The shop recommended replacing the transmission and ecm monitor to correct the issue, as they were very aware of the issue with the Rav4's and also because metal shavings were found in the transmission pan. Toyota is well aware of this issue, and continues to try and avoid their responsibilities with these vehicles. In March 2006, Toyota sent dealers a technical service bulletin warning them that some consumers might complain about harsh shifting. It said improvements were made to the computer ?manufacturing process to reduce the possibility of this condition occurring. ? it then told the dealers to replace the module and if that did not work to replace the transmission. But consumers owning the vehicles were never notified about the problem. Toyota also refused to do anything is the vehicles mileage is over the 80,000 warranty period, and lucky for them, most vehicles do not have any issues until they are out of the warranty period.

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.

2001 rav 4 transmission not shifting right. Just started to happen. Cannot drive the car, I do not have the money to fix it. Dealer and another garage said it needed a new transmission. I guess that ravs have this problem and Toyota won't acknowledge the fact that they do and keep selling them and people keep getting ripped off.

Acceleration frequently hesitates causing driver to pull out into traffic without power. This problem has recently gotten worse and happens every time I drive. Internet research suggests a bad ecm is causing the problem.

Our 2001 Toyota Rav4 recently started shifting very hard and the check engine light came on. I took the car to the dealer and started to do some research. The car was very dangerous to drive as there were large hesitations before the next gear would catch. I found out that Toyota put out TSB tc002-06 in regards to a defective ecm computer that controls the transmission. Our ecm did need to be replaced, but Toyota needs to take responsibility for this serious safety issue. They should be replacing this part for free. Toyota has admitted the part is defective, yet will not stand behind their product. The damages to our car due to this computer could have cost in excess of $5,000 to repair.

I have a Toyota Rav4 2001 car. Its an auto transmission with 117,000 miles on it. Suddenly about 10 days ago I started feeling the harsh shifting / bucking / jerking while taking the car. I then went to a near by Toyota dealer for diagnostic test and what they have found was a fault code p0755 (harsh shift and/or m. I. L. ?on? dtc p0750/p0753/p0755/p0758/p1760) which is basically recommending to replace the engine control module. . Read more...

I gave the rav 4 gas the engine was revving up but the car did not move. I put it in neutral and then drive to no avail. I had to be pushed off the road since the car did not move . I had to have the transmission rebuilt at a cost of $3700.

My '01 Toyota Rav4 began experience shifting problems in aug07, it would not shift properly, and would suddenly slam into gear. This happened sporadically on and off, check engine light would go on and off. Due to this problem, it made it very dangerous to merge onto highways, as I'm trying to accelerate and the car won't go beyond 1st gear, and then once I'm running, it slams into gear, almost causing me to hit the car in front of me. In nov07, based on a notice from Toyota, I sent car to dealer to get ecm reprogrammed. Apparently this was causing the problem. Well, it did nothing. So in june08, as the problem got even worse, I sent it back to dealer. They said I needed the ecm replaced, this caused my car to get worse. So a week later, I took it to a transmission specialist to get transmission rebuilt.