Going For A Looong Road Trip!

[stevepen]

For anyone driving over there I would recommend a Telepage Toll Device. You get your own reserved lane (always empty) and no looking for change etc.

How does this work for a tourist? Autocharges a credit/debit card on each use; or have to pre-load it with credit?

I used my Cards in the booths and generally pretty good, but did have the odd long queue while the telepage lanes were empty

Yes, it autocharges your credit card at the end of the month and you pay a fee of 2 euros just for the month you use it. Its 30 euros to buy to keep as long as the Battery lasts or you can hand it in at the end of your holiday and get the 30 euros back. The toll charges are exactly the same.

[three5]

For anyone driving over there I would recommend a Telepage Toll Device. You get your own reserved lane (always empty) and no looking for change etc.

How does this work for a tourist? Autocharges a credit/debit card on each use; or have to pre-load it with credit?

I used my Cards in the booths and generally pretty good, but did have the odd long queue while the telepage lanes were empty

Yes, it autocharges your credit card at the end of the month and you pay a fee of 2 euros just for the month you use it. Its 30 euros to buy to keep as long as the Battery lasts or you can hand it in at the end of your holiday and get the 30 euros back. The toll charges are exactly the same.

In a rash moment, I agreed to take the OH to visit relatives in Switzerland at the end of October. We will do Hull to Rotterdam on the ferry and then the plan is to drive down the Rhine valley as far as the Black Forrest and then cut across to Switzerland. It's nearly 40 years since I drove in Germany and it was pretty manic then. Anyone been there recently or can recommend a quieter route? Are the Autobahns toll roads as in France? Are there any special rules that apply to driving there? Any advice gratefully recieved!

Best regards

Chris

[Hoovie]

The Autobahns are still insane Lane discipline is pretty good but the unrestricted ones (which are shrinking in number all the time) can be very dangerous, as when an accident happens, it is a Biggy!!

My Advice - Get a Sat Nav if you don't already and if you have the time, don't use the Autobahns all the time. Oh - and have a great time :D

[three5]

The Autobahns are still insane Lane discipline is pretty good but the unrestricted ones (which are shrinking in number all the time) can be very dangerous, as when an accident happens, it is a Biggy!!

My Advice - Get a Sat Nav if you don't already and if you have the time, don't use the Autobahns all the time. Oh - and have a great time :D

Cheers Hoovie - the XT5 has the Toyota satnav which seems very good ( I've not caught it out yet and it seems to have a much more sensible approach to the "shortest distance" than the Navigon that I used with the Vitara ). We will be in no rush as OH is retired and I'm supposed to be! Miss Daisy does most of the driving these days when Fujisan will part with her. I take it the Germans don't have a lot of worries about fuel economy then? Wonder if the black RAV would pass as a heubik then I could drive in the inside lane at 95k/hr. I'll practice my solemn expression and swop me flat cap for a topper. ;)

Best regards

Chris

[Hoovie]

you can wave to my relatives on your way down to Switerland (Nr Minden, Dusseldorf and Munich)

talking about Mad Germans (I'm allowed - I am one ), we flew over there for a wedding about 13 years ago and one of my cousins gave me and Mrs H a lift back to Dusseldorf airport.

There was a slight communications breakdown ....... I told him what time we had to check in but my cousin thought I told him when the plane was leaving so we were going about 220kM/Hr (140 MPH?) in the Torrential rain to get to the airport

So we arrived REALLY early to check in :D

[three5]

you can wave to my relatives on your way down to Switerland (Nr Minden, Dusseldorf and Munich)

talking about Mad Germans (I'm allowed - I am one ), we flew over there for a wedding about 13 years ago and one of my cousins gave me and Mrs H a lift back to Dusseldorf airport.

There was a slight communications breakdown ....... I told him what time we had to check in but my cousin thought I told him when the plane was leaving so we were going about 220kM/Hr (140 MPH?) in the Torrential rain to get to the airport

So we arrived REALLY early to check in :D

Oh s**t! I don't speak any German at all so what chance have I got of being understood!!! I've just looked at my last post - don't know what a "heubik" is but I'm sure I typed "heubik". Are the Germans kind to those suffering from dementia? What's the German equivalent of losing my marbles? :(

Chris

[three5]

you can wave to my relatives on your way down to Switerland (Nr Minden, Dusseldorf and Munich)

talking about Mad Germans (I'm allowed - I am one ), we flew over there for a wedding about 13 years ago and one of my cousins gave me and Mrs H a lift back to Dusseldorf airport.

There was a slight communications breakdown ....... I told him what time we had to check in but my cousin thought I told him when the plane was leaving so we were going about 220kM/Hr (140 MPH?) in the Torrential rain to get to the airport

So we arrived REALLY early to check in :D

Oh s**t! I don't speak any German at all so what chance have I got of being understood!!! I've just looked at my last post - don't know what a "heubik" is but I'm sure I typed "heubik". Are the Germans kind to those suffering from dementia? What's the German equivalent of losing my marbles? :(

Chris

IT'S DONE IT AGAIN "heubik" is supposed to be H E !Removed!.

[dave.m]

you can wave to my relatives on your way down to Switerland (Nr Minden, Dusseldorf and Munich)

talking about Mad Germans (I'm allowed - I am one ), we flew over there for a wedding about 13 years ago and one of my cousins gave me and Mrs H a lift back to Dusseldorf airport.

There was a slight communications breakdown ....... I told him what time we had to check in but my cousin thought I told him when the plane was leaving so we were going about 220kM/Hr (140 MPH?) in the Torrential rain to get to the airport

So we arrived REALLY early to check in :D

Oh s**t! I don't speak any German at all so what chance have I got of being understood!!! I've just looked at my last post - don't know what a "heubik" is but I'm sure I typed "heubik". Are the Germans kind to those suffering from dementia? What's the German equivalent of losing my marbles? :(

Chris

IT'S DONE IT AGAIN "heubik" is supposed to be H E A R S E.

PMSL its the swear filter it thinks you are saying a r s e

[Hoovie]

ROLFL - I wondered what "heubik" was and didn't want to ask and look silly (like I need any help on that front :) )

I had the same problem with rear seat as one word i.e. reubikat :D

[Fujisan]

Miss Daisy does most of the driving these days when Fujisan will part with her.

Chris

I wondered were the old girl was off too on her days off!

Just as long as she's in safe hands :group-cuddles:

Have a good journey!

[St Thicket]

I'm back and alive!

We did se a lot of dangerous driving on the roads, and for those who haven't driven in Norway I can say the roads are quite narrow, and winding, so trying to overtake someone can be hazardous...

Anyway, my Rav behaved nicely, except for once on our way home. Suddenly the engine lost power (even if it was still running, had normal temperature, and had plenty of fuel), and the "check engine" light lit up... We were quite nervous since it was on our way up a mountain, in the middle of nowhere. We powered down, waited, and powered up. The light was gone and the engine behaved ever since.

Does anyone have an explanation on what this could be?

[Fujisan]

Glad your back alive and well

Hope you had a great holiday!

[anchorman]

I'm back and alive!

We did se a lot of dangerous driving on the roads, and for those who haven't driven in Norway I can say the roads are quite narrow, and winding, so trying to overtake someone can be hazardous...

Anyway, my Rav behaved nicely, except for once on our way home. Suddenly the engine lost power (even if it was still running, had normal temperature, and had plenty of fuel), and the "check engine" light lit up... We were quite nervous since it was on our way up a mountain, in the middle of nowhere. We powered down, waited, and powered up. The light was gone and the engine behaved ever since.

Does anyone have an explanation on what this could be?

Yes welcome back.

Were you at high altitude when this happened? The fuel air ratio can be strained under these conditions but the code should be stored in the ECU. Read the code and it will be easier to draw some conclusions.

Codes are categorised in three ways;

Not serious - light on for duration of "problem"

More serious and needs attention - light stays on

Very serious, stop engine and seek mechanical attention to avoid damage - light flashing continuously.

It seems that something went out of range briefly but the issue was resolved.

Don't worry too much but it will be interesting to see what it wasn't happy about.

Regards

[St Thicket]

Were you at high altitude when this happened? The fuel air ratio can be strained under these conditions but the code should be stored in the ECU. Read the code and it will be easier to draw some conclusions.

I was hoping for your excellent support anchorman :D

I was at about 1400 meters

I've read something about using my OBD2 reader for reading error codes manually, since my diesel does not support OBD2. I read it somewhere on this forum, but couldn't find it... Could you please show me how this is done? I have a ELM327...

[anchorman]

I think 1400m is high enough to cause problems. The air density makes it hard for the system to maintain the correct ratios and could stray out of range for a few moments (maybe while just changing gear or taking your foot off the throttle). Read pages 3 and 4 on this pdf to see how to retrieve the flash codes. The SST is simply a piece of wire to short the two terminals. Give me the code and I/somebody will tell you what they relate to. I will be working later but if someone else hasn't found you the code I will look in the morning.

Regards

[St Thicket]

Somehow it seems like I'm not able to download the attachment... is something wrong?

If I'm to connect my obd2 reader, how do I read the flashing?

[shcm]

Check your PM! :D

[St Thicket]

I managed to read 3 flashes, then 4 flashes... What could it be? It's not listed anywhere.

As I could understand from the pdf, there would be one flash as to start with, but it seems like the tree first ones are the first digit as they are continous...

[shcm]

Turbo Pressure?

See:

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=81930

[St Thicket]

It sure looks like it... Same symptoms.

I hope it doesn't happen again

[St Thicket]

My apologies for resurrecting such an old thread, but we're going on the infamous road trip again... 5000km of Norwegian wilderness to drive through with our excellent Rav4.2D-4D! Now with even one more kid in the back seat!

Anyway... I feel the need to prepare a bit for this trip. A roof box is on the want list. Thinking of getting a Thule Spirit 820... but I'm open for advice!

Considering that our Rav4 has gained 170,000 km on the odometer (more than 100,000 miles), it's getting quite worn. Engine rattles a bit, but that might just be me being used to the smoothness of the VVT-i on my Corolla, which is my daily commute. However, there's some issues that bothers me. The engine has some trouble accelerating, and it was more of a problem this winter when it was very cold. Now it happens from time to time, and sometimes the car reacts by showing the MIL.

From the Human-Machine-Interface point of view, what happens is; when I press the accelerator, obviously to accelerate - preferably harder than normal, it feels like it starts accelerating, but suddenly it changes its mind. It's like when you clutch to change gear, and no reaction if I press the accelerator even harder. To gain acceleration again, I need to release the accelerator and wait for the rev-counter to fall a couple of 100 rpm, and then try again, often successfully. The fault reminds me of my old Nissan Cherry GTT that had acceleration problems when the air filter was blocked. I've checked the air filter on my Rav, but that looks fine. We've had the car on service regularly, and I believe the air filter should have been changed then.

This problem comes more and more frequently, and on some longer trips, we encounter the MIL light several times when driving up mountains. I've taken the car to a (non-Toyota) garage, but they were unable to provoke the fault.

I would highly appreciate advice to what could be wrong.

[anchorman]

If the MIL light has been on it will record a code so get that first. The usual ones are SCVs or the VSV causing turbo overboost problems. In the meantime the VSV is very easy to just squirt some WD40 inside to free up the internal shuttle.

If you can't find a garage with a code reader you can buy one for 30 Euro off eBay.

[St Thicket]

Thanks for your reply. I checked the code when it first occurred during our long trip, and the code said 34. You sent me some documents on how to read the codes on my prefacelift, I just resurrected them from my Gmail archive, because somehow you reminded me that I had already been through it :D However, it might not be the same code now.

I'll check again tonight to verify the code.

I saw the SCV guide on the Technical Information/hints & Tips section, so I assumed that this might be the case, but when I think of it, the code I got was about the turbo pressure... So it might be the VSV (or both).

Are there any guides on where to locate the VSV?

[anchorman]

Only posted it the other day. In this thread, post 17;

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=107303&view=findpost&p=997025

[St Thicket]

The codes have now been checked, and it said "34" and "78". 34 has been mentioned earlier, and states turbo pressure. The other code states SCV... So... how likely is it that both VSV and SCV are faulty? Should I try to replace the SCV first and then see if it fixes it all?