Toyota - Rav4 :: 1997 - Intermittent Startup After Short Drives
Jun 11, 2016
I have a 1997 Toyota Rav4. 2nd owner. No accidents. Regularly maintained at a mechanic. No issues until this one. I searched the forums looking for an answer, seen similar but not exactly my issue. The car has an intermittent starting problem. This never happens in the morning. It only happens when the car is driven a short distance. When the key is turned to start the car, the engine does not crank. All the electrical comes on. We had the starter rebuilt. I have had it towed to my mechanic five times. Each time, when it is unloaded from the tow truck, it starts right up. We have left it there overnight and all day. They cannot replicate the problem. I drove the car to a friend's house 1 mile from mine and it would not start for 24 hours so I had it towed to the mechanic. Again once it was unloaded it started right up. A couple months ago we did a major service with a timing chain/belt. It did not happen for a couple months. Now twice in a week it has happened. My mechanic will not do anything more until it fails completely.
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I have a Toyota 4 runner model year 2007 that stalls after it hasn't been used for a few days. I live in the city, so i'm doing short drives. The first time it happen i hadn't used the car in 3 days, and today was the second time, i hadn't used the car in about a week. I brought it to the dealership, after the first time, but they couldn't find anything wrong with the car.
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My 2004 toyota rav4, manual transmission, 70,000 miles has been problem free. Now when i turn the key , nothing, no sound , dead. sometimes the 2nd or 3rd try 'it'll start right up, and run like nothing's wrong. other times will not start at all. 2 hrs later , try it and starts right up,. the battery has been replaced and it changed nothing. The mechanics are stumped and say they can't do anything till the problem repeats itself, and it starts fine, at their garage. I've been stranded and don't want that to happen again. What's wrong? The clutch switch?
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I have a 2008 Rav 4. 86000 miles and serviced vigilantly. Before the warranty ran out it had a problem that no one could diagnose so now it's out of warranty and the problem is a lot worse, still no one has a definite diagnosis. What the problem could be.The rattle was very intermittent at 40mph going up a slight hill. If I took my foot off the accelerator and put it back on the noise went away. Now it is rattling quite a bit and not just at 40mph. I can still have it stop for a bit by taking my foot off the accelerator and putting it back on. My mechanic told me to try driving in 3rd gear. It has not rattled in 3rd gear yet. Toyota mechanic of 29years has never heard this noise before and neither has my mechanic so it is an unusual one. Toyota wants to do a transmission flush 3 times and then if that doesn't fix it will put in a new transmission. My mechanic thinks it is the transfer case. No one knows for sure.
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My 97 Rav4 shut down on the highway yesterday. Checked the oil when I lifted the hood. It has only been 4500 since the last oil change, but the oil was barely registering on the stick. The engine will turn over, but will not start. Do Toyotas have an auto shut off mechanism when the oil gets too low or is my Rav4 toast? There were no warnings, temperature, low oil light, nothing.
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I have a 1997 Toyota RAV4 with 137,500. I got it in 2004 with 93,000 miles. Since I've had it, it burns about 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles or so. I don't think it's been getting worse since I've had it. I had the compression in the cylinders checked last year, and the compression's good in all four of them. What the problem might be? It the problem worth repairing, or should I just keep adding a quart of oil every 1,000 miles? Also, does burning oil damage other parts of the car?
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My wife’s ’97 RAV4 has 135,000 miles on it. Two days ago it started bucking/hesitating (feels more like bucking, and its worse if you try to give it the gas) at speeds below 25 -30 mph. No loss of speed/power when going uphill. Its worse when the engine is cold.
I cleaned the throttle body with spray cleaner, no change. I added Prestone fuel system cleaner to the gas and have driven 20 miles since then. Very little if any change so far. I always use good gas (Chevron regular) and the car has been well maintained (primarily by me).
Timing belt, seals and both bearings were replaced two years ago. Just about a year ago I changed the plugs, air filter, distributor cap and rotor. The fuel filter has never been changed, and the spark plug wires have never been changed. What I can try next? Where is the fuel filter located? I have the Toyota repair manual. It shows a pic of the filter, but not where its located. I have one ready to install if that could be the problem.
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1997 Rav4 with 185k miles burns some oil. I replaced the PCV valve thinking that may be the issue. That seemed to stop the visible smoke at a cold startup but alas, the problem still persists. We bought the car for a song at 180k so I don't feel I'm out much. The previous owner took incredible care of the car so it is solid in most areas.
I did learn the previous owner followed a dealer recommend oil change interval and changed the filter with every other oil change so this may explain some things.
My real question, if the engine does need a refresh, what is the best option? I've not at all afraid of tackling a major overhaul myself and, in the past, have had pretty good luck with aftermarket rebuilt short blocks. But that was years ago. The dealer cost for a crate motor is outrageous and not justified for a '97 anyway. So at this point, I'm just looking for some advice from others who may have been down this road. Again, the rest of the car is solid and we don't have much money in it at this point so would like to keep it as our 'second' car for awhile.
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Two years ago a mechanic told me that my rear differential mount was broken - hitting the floor board. He told me this was not dangerous - just annoying. This is a car I rarely use but now considering using more. It currently has 170000 miles on it driven in the mild climate of California. Just what is involved and what should the cost range be?
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Several weeks ago someone backed into my '97 RAV4 in a parking lot. Body shop charged around $900 for the repair (estimate indicates labor for both headlights, but doesn't look like they replaced them). This afternoon one of the low beam headlights burned out. I went to change both sides just to be safe. On both headlight assemblies, grasping the wire assemblies to the low beam bulbs, the headlight assembly on both the left and right side is loose within its housing. I've changed the bulbs in the past, this is something new. Take it back to the body shop? What happened????
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I recently purchased a 1997 Rav4 (3F-SE Engine) with 162000 miles. Overall, it is a great car. The only problem (besides a clutch, which can wait) is that it hesitates/bucks between 1500-2100 rpm while accelerating. This happens usually on a shift change from 1st to 2nd, or while in 2nd and after decelerating to make a turn. This only happens after the engine has warmed up, i.e. the temp gauge is above 25%. When cold, there is no hesitation at all. It just passed emissions testing. Check engine light is off. I recently replaced the TPS (and adjusted it properly), with no change in symptoms. This car does not have a MAF sensor.
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On the way home yesterday I was caught in a deluge. I ended up having to go through one spot where the water was pooled, but not really that deep. Anyways, 45 minutes later I arrive home, park the car, and 15 minutes later the car horn starts blowing constantly. This went on for several minutes, stopped and started a few times, then eventually stopped. Nothing I tried would make it stop, it just eventually stopped on its own. So as not to wake the neighbors last night I pulled the fuse to the horn. With the fuse back in, the horn still works, what caused the problem?
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I had the timing belt, water pump and thermostat replaced on my '97 RAV4. The next morning while braking at a red light I heard a rapidly repeating sound that sounded like metal on metal. The car never made that sound again but now I'm hearing a noise coming from the passenger side of the engine (timing belt side). When the engine is cold I don't hear it. After driving a while its starts, then once the engine warms up it generally goes away (except for this morning which was the coldest morning since this started, temps in the 40s).
I was only hearing the noise when the car was stopped either in drive or reverse (reverse sounded louder) if I lightly let up on the brake pedal (there's no pulsing in the brake pedal). Once under way the sound goes away. This morning it was making the sound virtually every time I came to a stop (once the car warmed up) even with my foot firmly on the brake pedal. I recorded the sound Saturday while standing still with the car in drive and my foot slightly easing up on the brake pedal. The sound starts at the 20:30 mark, what it could be?
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When starting the car (2002 Toyota Camry XLE) with 114k miles, I noticed that I can gasoline. I also have a rare intermittent stalling when brake & come to a stop. Earlier post: [URL] ....
What could cause the smell of gasoline when I start my car? Is this something that needs to be fixed or can it be ignored? Would this be something that could cause intermittent stalling when braking? After the stall happens, I'm unable to immediately start the car but it starts normally after 15 minutes. Is this the result of some flooding by the gasoline?
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1990 Toyota Camry.4cyl Starts normally drives about 50 or so miles and dies. It will not immediately restart. Turn off the ignition key for a few minutes and it starts back up and may travel 1 mile or 10 miles before it dies again. It appears after the first failure the interval between stalls gets shorter and shorter until the car is left alone over night. the next day i get 40-50 miles and it stalls. I loosened the fuel line at the filter under the hood and during the period it wont start there doesn't appear to be any fuel pressure. Is there a more acurate way to test if the fuel pump is failing or the sensors that control it are?
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since the cooler weather, i have noticed a short squeal on start after sitting for a while and a squeal when i turn the steering wheel to full lock either direction. question, is the squeal at full lock normal for our cars?
another question, when adjusting the ps belt, do you all use a tool to put tension on the belt till you tighten it or do you just pull back with your hand? I am thinking and hoping the belt just needs a tad more tension on it.
i replaced belts about 2 months ago with gates brand- replaced originals with 30k miles on them. I had squeaking before while running which the belt change fixed.
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I have a 2000 Toyota Echo. Symptoms are, the car drives fine until warmed up. Once warmed up, about 10 min or so, there is surging, an inability to maintain idle, periodic loss of brake assist, all consistent with my p1349 code. This happened about two months after I changed my oil (the old oil was in there for an embarrassingly long time). I ran motor flush and again changed the oil; symptoms persist. I have removed the OCV and OCV screen; both look fairly clean. Here's the question: what checks can be done on the OCV itself before I call a bad OCV and replace it? The service manual was of only marginal quality in explaining any checks.
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So, I don't know if any of these problems are related but a few months ago, I accidentally put diesel fuel in my car. We got it flushed out (used some fuel injector cleaner and filled the tank up to dilute what fuel was left after i siphoned it) and my car was doing fine. Then my car started running really shitty, just taking forever to accelerate, revving really hard when I gassed, but not going fast at all, so we changed the spark plugs, oil, and transmission fluid and now it drives forward just fine, but will not reverse. all it does is move forward a bit then stop. It will drive in neutral up to 20-25 mph. What might be wrong??
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My 2013 Elantra is experiencing intermittent power shorts where all power (electrical is lost). Had to open door with manual key; clock resets and radio pre-sets lost.
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1999 f150 5.4 it's been over 3 months since It happened I hit a pretty big mud hole and right after it starts bogging and running rough and won't drive I made it home and second and I've been driving it around town in second gear since. I've been trying different things since it happened, It runs rough in drive, reverse, neutral, and first (towing gear) but revs up just fine in second (towing gear).
So far I've
- Checked all fuses
- Changed plugs checks coil packs
- Dropped pan changed tranny fluid and filter
I broke a heater core line so I replaced the intake manifold and got a good look at everything and cleaned it out
- Cleaned throttle body
- Checked all connections
- Checked all vacuum hoses
- Replaced maf sensor
- Pulled the codes but I don't have them handy.
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I guess it would be classified as very intermittent but in the past year I have had 3 separate times when my truck has after a short drive suddenly had zero boost..
Pull over and turn it off for 30 sec or so and all is fine. Cycle the ignition faster than that and issue persisted. It has only happened in colder temps. In all the reading I have done on FTE I've not come across anything similar.
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