Automatic Transmission Control Module problems of the 2002 Toyota RAV4

Hesitation accelerating from stop. Lack of power going up a steep incline. Improper shifting from one gear to another. Vehicle became undrivable 03/01/2010. Pcm/ecm module defective- needs replacement at a cost of 1693. 41.

I have a 2002 Toyota Rav4 with transmission/ecm problems. My issue is that there was a technical service bulletin sent out to all of Toyota service departments it is as follows: technical service bulletin tc002-06, revised March 3, 2006: "some 2001 ? 2003 model year Rav4 vehicles equipped with an automatic transaxle may exhibit a harsh shift condition and/or m. I. L. ?on? with dtc p0750, p0753, p0755, p0758, and/or p1760 stored. Improvements have been made to the engine control module (ecm) (sae term: powertrain control module/pcm) manufacturing process to reduce the possibility of this condition occurring. Use the following procedure to repair the vehicle" it goes on to say replace the ecm/ecu and possibly the transmission. My complaint is that Toyota did not notify any consumer about this issue and now that many of us are just now having a problem with this and after researching it learning that we are not alone and it is happening with many of the same model car- mainly the 2002. I have contacted Toyota corp. As well as the dealership where my car was purchased. I was told the cost to repair my car would be a costly $9,000. 00. This is something that Toyota intentionally kept from consumers to avoid costly repairs to themselves. Had I been notified I would have had the ecu/ecm replace in 2006 while my car was still under warranty. There are 121 complaints to the national highway traffic safety administration. This just started with my car 3 weeks ago I was almost hit by another car because my car would not switch into gear once I reached about 20 mph and again at about 40 mph. . . The engine revved to about 6000 rpm's and just sat there if it were in neutral. I am very worried about the safety of driving this car. Toyota needs to own up to this problem and issue a recall. I am very upset and feel I was not dealt a fair hand with this car - Toyota would only repair this problem based on a customers specific complaint under 80k miles.

Vehicle would hesitate from a stop creating a potential hazard. Independent garage told us that it was a transmission issue. Transmission was covered under our extended warranty so we took vehicle to Toyota dealer. They advised us that issue was ecm (electronic control module) issue and not covered by the extended warranty. When I asked if Toyota would cover I was advised that they would not as this issue was not subject to any recall? they did however have a technical bulletin that addressed the transmission hesitation to the faulty ecm? I replaced the ecm ($1612) and it appears that it corrected the problem. My research has shown that this problem is very common to the 2002 Rav4 model only in the Toyota family of suvs. Is this a design defect?.

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. . Read more...

Hard shift prob from 2/3rd gear with Toyota 2002 Rav4 took car to dealer on 9-17-2007. Recall for emission problem caused the engine light to come on. I described problem to the dealer and asked them to look at this problem. Dealer said any other problems should show on computer. Picked car up asked about shift prob. They said nothing came up on the computer diagnostic ( I later learned that they test drove the car and could not duplicate problem) and it sounded like it could be a transmission problem. They said to make an appointment to have the transmission looked at. I asked for cost and they said they had no idea it would depend on how long it took to find problem. I took car to transmission shop. They hooked car up to computer and said internal transmission failure and need transmission rebuilt. I had this repar done at cost of 2,639. 81. Called me after transmission was rebuilt there is a problem. They researched database and found that there was a bulletin put out by Toyota on March 3, 2006. Powertrain control module that causes a shift problem in 2001-2003 Toyota Rav4's. It explains the diagnostic and repair for this problem in detail and states that the ecm may need to be replaced. I am informed that in order for my transmission to work need to have ecm replaced. Toyota knew about this problem when I took my car to them they could have fixed the problem then and saved me $2,639. 81. I paid dealer to have the ecm replaced for $1003. 81. Part to me for a wholesale price. The car is now finally running fine. I was told that they do not search for bulletins on cars that are in for service. They said there are just too many of them for them to keep up with. I saw time it took for the tech to look up the bulletin on laptop info came up immediately. My research shows that other 2002 Rav4's have same problem. I have failed ecm that was removed from car.

Automatic transmission damaged because the ecm Toyota installed in 2002 rav 4 had programming logic issues.