Rav 4 D4D Poor Starting When Hot.

[RAV4-D4D]

Hi, I had this with my RAV; I replaced the Battery, replaced the starter, heat shielded the starter and cleaned all the electrical terminals (in that order).

The first three masked the problem to some extent but in the end I think the main thing that sorted it was cleaning the electrical connections. I do quite high mileage so I've done approx 5k miles in that time with plenty of hot starts and it's not recurred once.

The first connection between the negative terminal on the Battery and chassis is easy to find, the cable is only about 6 inches long and you just need to unbolt them and clean with wire brush or similar (I also took the paint off the chassis to help the connection as I think it relied on the bolt). One day I'll pop a little Battery paste on them connections to prevent corrosion.

The second cable is found under the air filter box and it's a hose connector and three bolts to remove this., Underneath you'll find another cable and you need to clean it up as before.

I'd start with that as it's free and takes about 30-45mins. Good luck!

[jonathan bg]

hi,my 2003 rav 4 been to garage today with hot start problems put it on box and it was pointing towards camshaft sensor,awaiting auto eletrican for second opinion before we spend any money.

[RAV4-D4D]

I refer you to my post immediately preceding yours, my car has been faultless for the past 4-5 months; and when it was bad it was really bad!

If I had my time again I'd start by spending 30mins cleaning the earthing cable connections (Battery to chassis and chassis to engine block) and see if that solves/improves things. It may sound implausible but sometimes the simplest things can cause the biggest of issues.

Good luck!

[fghg]

I know I'm late to the party, but, I have just cured this problem.

Same symptoms on a 2004 D4D.  Did all the usual, Battery, starter motor, earths etc.

Eventually tried bump starting it when up to full operating temp. and not turning over fast enough.

Down one side of a hill 7 times, back up again down the other side 7 times. In between tried it on the key, no joy with the key, but with every bump start

away it went no problem at all.  

Procured a 2.2Kw RAV D4D starter motor and replaced the new 1.4Kw

motor a garage had fitted (Which proved to be a cheap Chinese copy) Now the vehicle is back to normal

starts every time hot or cold far better than it ever did with the old 1.4 Kw starter motor, Toyota or otherwise.

[Dave888]

On 10/13/2019 at 6:22 PM, RAV4-D4D said:

Hi, I had this with my RAV; I replaced the battery, replaced the starter, heat shielded the starter and cleaned all the electrical terminals (in that order).

The first three masked the problem to some extent but in the end I think the main thing that sorted it was cleaning the electrical connections. I do quite high mileage so I've done approx 5k miles in that time with plenty of hot starts and it's not recurred once.

The first connection between the negative terminal on the battery and chassis is easy to find, the cable is only about 6 inches long and you just need to unbolt them and clean with wire brush or similar (I also took the paint off the chassis to help the connection as I think it relied on the bolt). One day I'll pop a little battery paste on them connections to prevent corrosion.

The second cable is found under the air filter box and it's a hose connector and three bolts to remove this., Underneath you'll find another cable and you need to clean it up as before.

I'd start with that as it's free and takes about 30-45mins. Good luck!

Thank you so much I was quoted hundreds just to inspect my inspector seals so I tried your fix couldn't even get the bottom one off as it's rusted solid so I did the top one next to Battery and the car is fixed so glad I came across your post I was about to sell my car for cheap 👍👍👍👍

[RAV4-D4D]

Great to hear that you fixed the problem and you didn't have to sell the car! Thanks for taking the time to feedback that it helped you.

[rcw88]

Ho hum, 2001 model 3 door, 133,000 miles although an MOT check shows its hardly done anything for the past ten years.

I've got one too that won't start when its hot - turbo blew - fault went away after replacing, and the engine management light that came on after ten minutes of driving.  Driven it a few times, but not far after putting it back on the road [SORN for a year]. 

Worked great, after changing the Battery for about two weeks now the problem is exactly as described, feels like a dead Battery.  Stuck outside the post office.  Floored the accelerator and cranked, after three failed attempts at starting normally, it fired up and drove it home.

So I do suspect a failed fuel temperature sensor, but I am going to clean up the earth points,  the car was neglected, badly, for several years so corrosion is a thing..  But its lovely to drive so I don't want to get rid.