Check Engine Light On problems of the 2002 Toyota RAV4

Attempting to enter highway, car lost power, eventually kicked in, immediately brought car to dealer. They serviced fuel injection, fuel system, spark plugs. Found no problem with transmission. 4 weeks following repair, hesitation happened again, this time check engine light came on, returned to dealer and was told the transmission and ecm unit needed replacement. Going through all my previous service records, came across a service ticket dated 05/18/2012, showing a service performed on a faulty ecm unit. Toyota was aware of this problem, but never informed consumers that the faulty units could affect the transmission, and driving ability of the vehicle. I am stuck with a $5,000. Repair bill, but I also could have been involved in an accident, had I been merging onto a busier highway. There have been many complaints filed, but yet no action taken by the national highway traffic administration. . . Will it take a loss of life, or serious injury before action is taken?.

My check engine light came on in November. I had it checked out by numerous places. They all told me it was my oxygen sensor (bank 1 sensor 1), so I replaced that twice. My check engine light has still not shut off. I have been having to purchase gas daily and car is not running as well.

I have a 2002 Toyota Rav4. About a month ago it started intermittently skipping/jerking and being stuck in gear. I took it to two Toyota dealerships, the first one informed me of a factory warranty extension for the ecu for my vehicle, but because the check engine light is not on they cannot get any codes, the second dealership told me the same thing as well as the Toyota company. The warranty is for 10yrs or 100,000 miles whichever comes first. I have 70,000 miles and it will be 10yrs the 25th of this month. I have researched this problem online and have found that hundreds of people have the same problem with this vehicle. Do I have any options to have this taken care of, ASAP because of the 10yr warranty that will no longer cover me for this?.

I have a Toyota Rav4 2002. I am now experiencing a nightmare. A few weeks ago, my car started shifting gears, shaking, and the engine light went on. I brought it to hyannis Toyota. The csr told me it was a defective computer. The car was under warranty and they would replace it. Approx. 3 weeks later, my car started with the same problem. Shaking, moving into a different gear and the engine light went on. I brought it back to hyannis Toyota and was told, "this is not the same problem. " you need a new coil. It will cost you $250. 00. Also, I had to rent a car. Of course at my own expense. Now, I do not know how to deal with this company. If the computer was defective, and was replaced. Why am I still experiencing the same problems?.

2002 Toyota Rav4 started hesitating on initial acceleration and bolting when the gear caught 2nd. Was pulling out into intersection and nearly t-boned by Ford expedition. Brought to transmission specialist. No engine light, no code. Read about potential ecm problem. Brought to Toyota and spent $1400. 00 to replace ecm.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving the check engine light illuminated, and she was unable to shift gears. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the failure was within the electric control unit. The vehicle was taken to a foreign garage specialist who replaced the electronic control unit. The contact received a letter from the manufacturer concerning a warranty enhancement for the ecu failure, but the manufacturer denied reimbursement since the vehicle was over the 150,000 mile warranty enhancement program. The failure mileage was 172,000. The current mileage was 188,000. Updated 03/07/lj.

In 2009, 2010, and 2011 my 2002 Toyota Rav4 exhibited sharp, rough shifting into and out of gear, often when on the freeway. The vehicle also had a check engine light that repeatedly came on. I was initially advised by a non-Toyota repair shop that the issue was with the transmission and it had to be replaced. However, upon taking the car to a Toyota dealership they stated the problem was with the ecm. In 2009 they re-programmed the ecm, in 2010 they re-programmed the ecm and in 2011 (after the extended warranty was issued by Toyota corp) they replaced the ecm. They never did any service on the transmission. Now in April 2013 just 17months after they replaced the ecm it happens again and they tell me I need a new transmission and I have to pay for it because it's out of the extended warranty. Since the ecm was throwing the transmission in & out of gear for 3 years, isn't it obvious that the transmission was damaged by the ecm? it was even mentioned in the service bulletins that the ecm was possibly causing damage to the transmission and the dealerships may also have to replace the transmission at the same time the ecm was replaced. Yet because they chose not to repair or replace the transmission on my car in 2011 while it was under warranty, I now have to pay for what should have been done in the first place. Toyota has been aware of this problem since 2006 yet they never issued a recall or notified owners until a class action lawsuit was filed. Toyota needs to satisfy their customers by issuing a recall and admitting that both the ecm and transmission need to be replaced on any 2001-2003 Rav4 that experiences rough shifting, or shifting in & out of gear, or codes that reflect a problem with the ecm or transmission. This is dangerous for drivers and Toyota is negligent in preventing injuries and deaths due to a known defect.

I bought a Toyota Rav4 2002 at the dealer "Toyota of alahambra" and I been having a problem to many times with the computer engine light come on. When I take the car to the dealer they told me that nothing was wrong. They turned off the light and said and said that everything was ok, this happened three times. Recently I had problems again with the computer engine and they charged $1,200. 00 dollars to fix it and they told me that was my fault that I was taking off in 2nd gear but I never use the 2nd gear. What I know this cars had problems with the engine computer. The name of the dealer is "Toyota-scion of glendale" 1260 s. Brand blvd. Glendale, California 91204. As I know we have 170 complaints about this Rav4 Toyota cars. Fortunately I have not any problem with death, or fire, or crash, but I am worry about this computer problems, when I am driving the car I am not comfortable driving any more, can you tell me that can I do about. Thank you very much for your attention.

Our Rav4 began to have problems shifting, and the check engine light was on. Took to local dealer. First visit resulted in tune-up items. Dealership treated it as an engine-related problem. Check engine came back on again the same afternoon. On second visit, dealership kept car overnight to drive it while it was cold. We were told that we had a bad catalytic converter, and that this would have to be replaced before any further diagnosis could occur. The cc was only three years old, already having been replaced under warranty. They had already reprogrammed the ecm. Per a Toyota service campaign. After the cc replacement, car is still not shifting properly, and is getting worse. Dealership advised us that we need an ecm replacement, at a cost of $1300. After the fact, we found Toyota TSB tc002-06, which describes the exact issues our Rav4 is having. Toyota admits in the TSB that the ecm of the '01 through '03 Rav4's can cause the harsh shifting that we are seeing, and that Toyota made changes to the "manufacturing process to reduce the possibility of this condition occurring". The recommendation is the replacement of the ecm. It cannot be reprogrammed to eliminate this problem. The result of this ecm failure is that the car is no longer drivable, as the transmission does not shift properly at all, and it constantly looses tension on its clutch pack, resulting in loss of power to the road. The condition gets worse over a short time. In only two weeks, the car will not stay in any single gear when driving. A search of this issue on the internet found many other people having the same problem. Often, the ecm failure causes physical transmission failure. The dealership will not stand behind their faulty diagnosis, nor will they make Toyota honor the warranty, which is 80,000 miles or 8 years. We are under the years, but over by 8,000 miles. How can this not be treated as a safety issue? is it not serious enough when your car slips out of gear in traffic unexpectedly?.

Check engine light kept coming on; I would carry it to Toyota dealership and they would re-set. This happened more than twice. Finally, what I thought and was told that the transmission blew, but found out later that is just sounded and reacted as if the transmission was gone. But was the engine control module which had failed. Of course the warranty was off and after contacting Toyota I get no assistance. This is some of the information I found out: ) that Toyota hq has been aware for at least a few (2,3?) years that there was a defect in the design of the ecm installed in 2001/2002 Toyota Rav4?s > > 2) that the defect causes problems with transmission or gear-changing mechanism > > 3) that the resulting transmission or gear-changing problems are not due to ?normal wear and tear? of the vehicles. They are caused directly by the defect in the ecm. > > 4) that the resulting transmission or gear-changing problems have caused Toyota Rav4 owners to spend significant amounts of money. (a casual read of owner complaints suggests many of them have spent anywhere between $3000 and $5000). > > 5) that Toyota has failed to compensate owners for costs of fixing the problems caused by a defect they were aware of. I have had to replace a transmission and a engine in this car.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The vehicle was serviced for a recall regarding the engine light. A NHTSA campaign id number was not found. After the vehicle was retrieved from the dealer, the vehicle shook while driving between 2-50 mph. There were no prior failures or warning indicators. The dealer stated that the ecm needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was 144,000 and current mileage was 144,411.

I have a Toyota Rav4 2002-in may 2006 I went to military training school, I got back oct 2006 while driving my engine failed on the hwy. I took it to Toyota and they told me it was 420 miles over the warranty and it was not covered. I did all my required upkeep and maintenance and to my surprise it had oil sludge. He claims its from sitting but alot of vehicles sit and do not have problems especially military members that are deployed. I had to pay 3989. 00 for a used engine. After researching and finding out 2001 -03 camry and Lexus had the same problems and were recalled. I fought got and attorney and still no recall. I hope to have a civil lawsuit with Toyota because of this but it never happened. March 2007 my transmission went out while on the hwy. I was driving and notice it kept jerking. Then it would hesitate getting into gear and reverse. I took it to a Toyota dealer and they told me my transmission is going out and it would cost 4980. 00. Ok let me break down the existing problems up until this point. The drivers door electric locking system went out it was repaired 4 times, the check engine light never goes off said its a electrical problem. The alarms comes on and will not go off even when door key or key pad is indicated. So I had to unhook. Yesterday March 31st I was done with the rav 4. I have notice that more than 35 % of owners have this problems and Toyota refuses to recall.

Check engine light came on intermittently. Dealer said nylon gear on camshaft had damaged teeth, allowing timing chain to jump back and forth, and thereby changing ignition timing. Cost of repair was $1,600.