Battery Cable Problems of Toyota RAV4

The vehicle stalled while I was driving on a highway at approximately 55 mph. I had been driving for 15 minutes. I lost power at the dashboard, lost power steering, and the engine stopped running. I coasted to a side street and stopped the car. I opened the hood, and discovered a fire in the engine compartment. The battery cable closest to the engine was on fire, and had melted one corner of the battery. A passerby helped extinguish the fire, and the fire department was called to inspect and make sure the fire was out. Earlier that day, the vehicle stalled in the same way while driving approximately 5 mph in a parking lot, but the power came back in a few seconds. Immediately preceding that was a 1-hour drive at interstate highway speeds with no troubles.

See all problems of the 2015 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

Squirrels crawled into the hood and chewed the battery cable wire and turn signal wire, this happened 2 days in a row after repairs were done the first time. The soy based coating of the wires is attracting a swarm of squirrels.

See all problems of the 2013 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

Electrical fire starting inside master window control switch. I was cleaning my car with the ignition on battery power (in order to listen to the radio). After approximately 30 minutes I noticed a burnt plastic smell, considerable smoke pouring out of the driver’s door and a small tongue of flame from the same place. The source of the fire was (later found to be) the white electrical connector, for the front passenger window master control, where the physical window switch meets the circuit board. I was not touching any window or other controls at the time or within 15 minutes before the fire. The fire stopped rapidly after I took the keys out of the ignition, disconnected the battery cables, popped off the master switch assembly with a screwdriver and then smothered the controls with a wet towel. All the vehicle’s windows were inoperable after that. I brought the vehicle to my local Toyota dealership. They performed an inspection and reported that they were “mystified� as to the cause. The service manager’s words were: “i’ve never seen anything like that in my 25 years working on cars. €� the property damage was confined to the master switch assembly and cost $422 to replace. Toyota refused to pay for this.

See all problems of the 2007 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

Leads to battery were colored wrong. The positive lead was painted black and the negative lead was painted red. When I jump-started the car I put the battery cables to the associated colors. It was connected for about 1 minute when I noticed something smoking. After I found out what the problem was I corrected the connection and started the car. The car would only idle due to a blown fuse, which the car dealership had to find.

We have a Toyota Rav4 electric vehicle. Car rolled away from charging station while plugged in - person in car shifted into 'neutral' by mistake. Ripped out charging paddle down to the electrical wires - potential electrical hazard. Could be avoided by a simple relay that will prevent people from shifting out of 'park' when car is plugged in. Happens to many Toyota electric vehicles - I don't know how many complaints have been filed. Picture (jpeg) available if needed please do pass on this complaint to Toyota.

See all problems of the 2003 Toyota RAV4 🔎.