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Rav4 2002 Auto Gearbox Problems


arorat
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Wanted to ask your help.

Our Rav4 Auto gearbox has been playing up, clunking when reverse is engaged and then jumping or having problems with 2nd gear and also losing power. Its 2002 petrol model, VVTi.

I looked up the issue which seemed to indicate faulty ECU, as a test I disconnected the negative batt terminal for a few minutes and drove the car, all was good even the engine light (O2 sensor had gone), after parking the car and driving again gearbox problems cam back.

I had the car diagnosed at an auto gearbox garage yesterday and code "P0755 – solenoid B" was highlighted, see this for some explanation http://engine-codes.com/p0755.html

After the full reset at the garage the car drove fine and for a longer period, but the problem has come back.

I am confused if the problem lies with ECU as its not the gearbox or if the issue is with the transmission oil or the Solenoid B.

Any help will be appreciated, and sorry if this topic has been covered before.

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Hi,arorot, and a big welcome to the club.

Sorry to hear of your troubles with your motor.This is a problem with some auto boxs of around that year.

This has been well covered on this section so perhaps a visit to the Search section.

You will find that if it is the ECU and you continue to drive it the transmission will end up wrecked and that will be expensive to repair.

There are two places known that can repair,or rebuild,your ECU for you ,one in the USA and one in England

Del

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Great stuff,matie.

Yes that is the UK one and Anchorman has kindly gone to the trouble and sorted out a discount with them for club members,just use the code word Don.

And please be sure to let us all know how it works out for you,personally and company wise, as info like that is always useful to other members who happen to find themselves with similar probs.

All the best with this. :thumbsup:

Del

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Great stuff,matie.

Yes that is the UK one and Anchorman has kindly gone to the trouble and sorted out a discount with them for club members,just use the code word Don.

And please be sure to let us all know how it works out for you,personally and company wise, as info like that is always useful to other members who happen to find themselves with similar probs.

All the best with this. :thumbsup:

Del

Thanks you are very helpful.

I called them today, they need the part no, it will be monday before I can get that to them and ship the ECU. I will mention the code - price seems good :)

Cheers

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  • 3 weeks later...

I booked the ECU with www.ecutesting.com who were nice to deal with. Taking the ECU out wasn't easy due to the brackets, prob was finding a star screwdriver with a dimple, anyway a local garage obliged. Whilst wasting couple of days on sorting this out a friend who worked near BBA Reman in Rochester said he could take the ECU into them. Checking their website I noted their part no was same as mine and they offered a lifetime warranty whilst I had the car. ecutesting showed a diff part no but said they could fix it.

The ECU has been fixed or rather the TCM module on the ECU has been fixed, which I think was the problem.

After installing the ECU the auto box was hesitating a bit in 2nd to 3rd (revs would go up slightly and then change gear) but a lot better than before and after 30 miles driving, all is well.

Cost £246 inc vat with BBA. ECUTESTING were charging £195 less 10% plus vat, so £210 in total. Either would have been fine but I get the lifetime warranty with BBA.

Thank you for you help guys :)

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They sometimes take some settling in while the ecu learns the parameters.

Wel done.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all, I am new to this site and new to any type of forum! I have a 2001 Rav4 auto purchased 4 weeks ago. After a week the gear problem appeared. Toyota diagnosed code P0750 shift solenoid A malfunction but wanted £900 for new ecu. I have had ecu repaired by BBA Reman (£390), and car seems much improved but the alarm starts as soon as the ignition is turned off. I have had to leave the key in the ignition with the Battery disconnected. I have tried various sequences of door locking/unlocking to no avail. Tried disconnecting Battery for 15 minutes. Nothing works. Have now been back to Toyota who say that the siren was water damaged, they disconnected so lovely peace and quiet now, but said that Toyota don't manufacture these sirens any more so basically can't fix it :( Does anyone have experience of the gears improving once ecu repaired, as BBA said that it had to relearn the gears from my driving...sounds strange to me, or that the lower gear levels may need to be reset by Toyota??? Does this mean try and keep your fingers crossed? It is definitely running better but still not great, lumpy on 2nd to 3rd gear eventually dropping in whereas before it screamed and had to take foot off throttle for it to go into 3rd. Toyota also said that the A/F sensor heater circuit bank 1&2 sensor 1 need replacing. They wanted £686 for this. Local garage will do for £320. Are these important with the running of the car or just the fuel efficiency? Sorry for the length of this post. I really love the car and have wanted one for ages and just want it to work properly. Any comments from folks more technically minded than me would be appreciated :)

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It sounds like somebody lined you up for that car Jackie.

Leave the gears for a couple of weeks, they do actually learn as you go so should get better.

You can leave the sensors for now, it won't make much difference to how it runs but it may get picked up on MOT as it has recently been added to the test.

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Thanks Don, yes I think the garage definitely cheered when I arrived and showed an interest in the car. Now I know why they gave me a good part exchange value. In my defence I did test drive it myself and it was fine, and I had not heard about the gear shifting problems. Hopefully the ecu will learn. Thanks for your reassurance that this happens as it sounds unbelievable to me. Will leave the sensors for now as you say not too much of a problem. Thanks for your comments.

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  • 3 months later...

Hi guys,

some really helpful info on here.

I have a 2002 Rav4 auto, around 60,000 miles only ( Vx model)

have had a similar issue. decelarating and a thump sound from the back. local mechanic said it's the gearbox and changed the oil in it. its not as bad but still the problem is there.

Have had the car since 2006 with no issues.. however the engine light ( on the dash) appeared to go on and off about 2 years ago and last year it seemed to not go off at all so now its on permanently..was told that its a common electrical fault in RAVs and the car drove fine ( passed MOT etc)

wondering now if I should have it checked out properly by ECMtesting or just drive it around for a while and see how it goes. dont want to do permanent damage by not getting something sorted if thats what i need to do.

any comments would be helpful.

thanks

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Hi guys,

some really helpful info on here.

I have a 2002 Rav4 auto, around 60,000 miles only ( Vx model)

have had a similar issue. decelarating and a thump sound from the back. local mechanic said it's the gearbox and changed the oil in it. its not as bad but still the problem is there.

Have had the car since 2006 with no issues.. however the engine light ( on the dash) appeared to go on and off about 2 years ago and last year it seemed to not go off at all so now its on permanently..was told that its a common electrical fault in RAVs and the car drove fine ( passed MOT etc)

wondering now if I should have it checked out properly by ECMtesting or just drive it around for a while and see how it goes. dont want to do permanent damage by not getting something sorted if thats what i need to do.

any comments would be helpful.

thanks

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I had a similar problem with my Rav4 VX model 2003. The problem is not the gearbox but the ECU. I did lots of search on this problem and finally got to the bottom of it. I suggest you get the ECU reconfigured. Am sure the car is drivable but the risk is that it may cause damage to the gearbox in the long run and too expensive to fix. I paid about £200 to fix the ECU and car runs fine no more thumping noise or lack of acceleration. Good luck

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ECU Testing Ltd

email is :info@ecu-testing.com

website. www.ecutesting.com

tel: 01773535638

Get in touch with them over the phone and they are helpful.

please note that you will need a special screw driver tip which you can get for the local car spare shop, it is star shaped. Can be awkward to remove ecu but with some patience you can do it. The dealer quoted me £900 for this work. another tip is to take some pictures of the different parts (brackets)when you remove it otherwise it can be a puzzle putting the brackets back. I checked my receipts, they charge me £244 with vat.

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Thanks Skittles. I will get on to ECu testing. How long does this take to get it reconfigured generally?

will keep you posted on how this goes!

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Have not ye booked it at ECM testing as I need my car for school runs.

Has anyone tried turning the O/D off so it stops the car shifting to a higher than 3rd gear?

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks Don, yes I think the garage definitely cheered when I arrived and showed an interest in the car. Now I know why they gave me a good part exchange value. In my defence I did test drive it myself and it was fine, and I had not heard about the gear shifting problems. Hopefully the ecu will learn. Thanks for your reassurance that this happens as it sounds unbelievable to me. Will leave the sensors for now as you say not too much of a problem. Thanks for your comments.

The problem with the gearbox on my Rav has come back and I noted P0755 again (using an OBD tester I bought form ebay), from 1st to 2nd gear the revs go up and 2nd takes a while to kick in. From standstill going into R and D are jerky.

Before I send the ecu back for a retest, I will have the gearbox oil chnaged and the Solenoids checked/replaced.

The O2 Sensor issues are always there, obviously the engine light goes away when I reset, if the gearbox issue is fixed I will invest and have the O2 sensors changed and keep the Rav for another 2 yrs.

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They sometimes take some settling in while the ecu learns the parameters.

Wel done.

indeed, i have posted in one of the topics a link to my server with a pdf instruction sheet.

hang on here it is; http://www.bit4net.com/files/rav4/Check_Engine_Etc.pdf

could you check the link for above I can't seemto open that, thanks.

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Sorry about that. I did clean up my server a bit so please find here the correct link; http://www.bit4net.com/files/cars/rav4/Check_Engine_Etc.pdf

BTW our Rav 4 NRG gearbox still drives like new after we got the ECU done back in Nov 2010 at 100k miles. Odo now at almost 140k miles so almost 40k later still all good while the message from Mr. T was

Clonk from gearbox. Requires new exchange gearbox and ECU.

bear in mind that with some Rav 4 vehicles you need to use a special security tools instead the phillips screwdriver mentioned in this video. and of course we have this ECM box on the left side :laughing:

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Thanks Don, yes I think the garage definitely cheered when I arrived and showed an interest in the car. Now I know why they gave me a good part exchange value. In my defence I did test drive it myself and it was fine, and I had not heard about the gear shifting problems. Hopefully the ecu will learn. Thanks for your reassurance that this happens as it sounds unbelievable to me. Will leave the sensors for now as you say not too much of a problem. Thanks for your comments.

The problem with the gearbox on my Rav has come back and I noted P0755 again (using an OBD tester I bought form ebay), from 1st to 2nd gear the revs go up and 2nd takes a while to kick in. From standstill going into R and D are jerky.

Before I send the ecu back for a retest, I will have the gearbox oil chnaged and the Solenoids checked/replaced.

The O2 Sensor issues are always there, obviously the engine light goes away when I reset, if the gearbox issue is fixed I will invest and have the O2 sensors changed and keep the Rav for another 2 yrs.

Not sure but if you keep driving with those faulty O2 sensors you might damage your cat what cost way more then those £105 plus sensors if bought at http://www.ecolambda.co.uk/

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Thanks Don, yes I think the garage definitely cheered when I arrived and showed an interest in the car. Now I know why they gave me a good part exchange value. In my defence I did test drive it myself and it was fine, and I had not heard about the gear shifting problems. Hopefully the ecu will learn. Thanks for your reassurance that this happens as it sounds unbelievable to me. Will leave the sensors for now as you say not too much of a problem. Thanks for your comments.

The problem with the gearbox on my Rav has come back and I noted P0755 again (using an OBD tester I bought form ebay), from 1st to 2nd gear the revs go up and 2nd takes a while to kick in. From standstill going into R and D are jerky.

Before I send the ecu back for a retest, I will have the gearbox oil chnaged and the Solenoids checked/replaced.

The O2 Sensor issues are always there, obviously the engine light goes away when I reset, if the gearbox issue is fixed I will invest and have the O2 sensors changed and keep the Rav for another 2 yrs.

Not sure but if you keep driving with those faulty O2 sensors you might damage your cat what cost way more then those £105 plus sensors if bought at http://www.ecolambda.co.uk/

Oh really, i did not know that I will get them replaced, Thanks again.

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  • 4 years later...

Hi, I have had problems with my auto gearbox on my 2003 rav4, engine revving between 2nd & 4th, clonking when you put it into drive or reverse but I have no fault codes showing. I have spoke to ECU testing and they say it is unlikely to be a faulty ECU because I don't have any fault codes showing. I changed the ATF using the correct grade fluid as recommended by Toyota which has improved the function of the gearbox (smoother & quieter) but still has the same faults. Toyota an my local auto gearbox specialist just want to replace the ECU and the gearbox. Any help Please.

Thanks Terry

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5 hours ago, terryhawes said:

Hi, I have had problems with my auto gearbox on my 2003 rav4, engine revving between 2nd & 4th, clonking when you put it into drive or reverse but I have no fault codes showing. I have spoke to ECU testing and they say it is unlikely to be a faulty ECU because I don't have any fault codes showing. I changed the ATF using the correct grade fluid as recommended by Toyota which has improved the function of the gearbox (smoother & quieter) but still has the same faults. Toyota an my local auto gearbox specialist just want to replace the ECU and the gearbox. Any help Please.

Thanks Terry

My last post was in 2013... our RAV is still the same, even after 2 ECU rebuilds. It clunks hard in reverse and judders when going into 1st, slow pickup. I did get the error codes. I had the O2 Sensors changed but it made no difference, however it probably helps the catalyst. We use the car for local journeys only and making trips to the TIP. The other 2 cars are for normal / long distance.

Onto you... its odd you dont have any error codes and its great you replaced the ATF fluid. It may help taking the car on a long journey as that cleared some issues with our Rav, before you do that do a full ECU reset by taking the Battery off so ECU resets and then re-learns the drivability. 

My only concern with replacing / repairing the ECU or the gearbox on a car that is 2003 is the cost and the unknown factor if the fault(s) will fix after spending £1k to £3k, is it worth it ? but its a personal choice. 

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