Rav4 2007 D-4d Clean Power Diesel 177ch - Fuel Consumption

[Justin Adie]

Hello all

i've recently bought a late 2007 Rav4 D-4d 177. On the whole i'm happy with the purchase (low mileage, good price). But i'm horrified by the fuel consumption. I drive like an aged grandfather and am getting only 21 mpg. My journeys are typically 30-60km country roads.

So ... is this with norms? I had expected something closer to 40mpg.

I read elsewhere that people have lost more than 10 mpg with the ECU revision in 2008 - has any link been proven and if so is anyone aware of whether Toyota is addressing this?

thank you for your time.

Justin

[Mereside]

Justin,

I have a T180 which I gues is the same car.

I used to get 34-35mpg knocking around with no long journeys. It seems to give better consumption on local roads where the engine is running under 2000 rpm.

I had a new turbo fitted to cure a noise I had. Wrong diagnosis, but at the same time the upgrade was done on the ECU and consumption is down to 32-33 mpg.

Unless your journeys are at 90mph I would suggest youi have it checked out as I cannot imagine ever being able to get that low with mine however fast I drove or however long I queue in cities.

Good luck because otherwise it is an excellent car.

Let us know how it all turns out.

Regards

[t180 mike]

Hi

I have a 2007 T180 15000 miles, and have had the ecu upgrade ,and i am getting 30-31 mile to the gallon

[bothwell_buyer]

In the UK, most RAVs have a gearbos where you can choose to change the forward gearing. The choice is between 5 gears, and sometimes 6 gears with some models.

Have you tried changing gear - its the vertical stick in between the front seats which if selected, will alter the revs your engine does.

By driving in gear 1 around the lanes of France, you're lucky you have even got 21mpg :P

[Justin Adie]

well there you go! after 20 years of driving i've finally found out what the stick is for.

back in the realms of normality ... the car has just had its 30k km service. what are the likely culprits for such high consumption? (french garages are notoriously unwilling to investigate anything with too much depth...)

[Davrav]

well there you go! after 20 years of driving i've finally found out what the stick is for.

back in the realms of normality ... the car has just had its 30k km service. what are the likely culprits for such high consumption? (french garages are notoriously unwilling to investigate anything with too much depth...)

Hi Justin,

Are you basing your MPG on what the computer is telling you or do you calculate based on actual fuel used over a measured milage?

[Mereside]

Justi,

I am sure someone who is more technical than me will get in touch but the old favourites are, in no particular order.

Binding brakes.. chances are you would have noticed a smell if this was the case.

Air filter clogged up.. easy one to check. I now use a K & N filter which I think helps the car to breat better and helps consumption a bit.

Clgged injectors.... put some Red ex or similar through the tank but I think this is unlikely with such a low mileage engine.

If cars are just run around town at low revs they sometimes need a good high rev run under load ie up a big hill at high revs to clear the rubbish out of the system.

Failing that all I can suggest is the fuel itself, have you tried different fuel stations/ different suppliers.

Nice country by the way, am I okay to come and visit again next year?

Regards

[bothwell_buyer]

well there you go! after 20 years of driving i've finally found out what the stick is for.

back in the realms of normality ... the car has just had its 30k km service. what are the likely culprits for such high consumption? (french garages are notoriously unwilling to investigate anything with too much depth...)

Only 20 years

My father has been driving for 70 years and only uses 1st and 2nd gear !! :lol:

[mike xt-r]

Justin,

I have a T180 which I gues is the same car.

I used to get 34-35mpg knocking around with no long journeys. It seems to give better consumption on local roads where the engine is running under 2000 rpm.

I had a new turbo fitted to cure a noise I had. Wrong diagnosis, but at the same time the upgrade was done on the ECU and consumption is down to 32-33 mpg.

Unless your journeys are at 90mph I would suggest youi have it checked out as I cannot imagine ever being able to get that low with mine however fast I drove or however long I queue in cities.

Good luck because otherwise it is an excellent car.

Let us know how it all turns out.

Regards

Hi, can you give some more info on your turbo replacement / noise, thanks Mike

[Mereside]

Mike xtr,

When I got the car it ran fine and had 1500 miles on the clock.

When I used gentle acceleration in fourth gear at 30mph - 35mph it sort of chattered a bit then as the revs picked up it went silent. It was in effect just as the turbo spooled up.

I went on holiday and left the car with Toyota who replaced the turbo under warranty.

It did not solve the problem.

Long storey short... it was the drive belt and pulley. The engine pulses with the high pressure injection system and to smooth it out they use a dual mass flywheel (lots of info about that on this site).

My car was incresing engine speed at a fast pulse rate and catching the belt out so in effect the belt was juddering untill it caught up. It was like a fan belt slipping but it was a different noise and not the usual screach that you normally hear.

So not a turbo fault at all.

If you need any further info private message me as I will get my wrist slapped for going off topic.

For info I did post a topic for this under 'turbo chatter' and put the parts numbers on that fixed it.

Regards

[Dippy]

On mine I don't usually measure it. I can tell you that one day I did a journey of 320km, perhaps 90% on motorway, where I started cruising at 140kmh and crept up at points to 180 :o . Used about three-quarters of a tank...

If someone wants to calculate my mpg off that - please don't tell me!

[vivianM]

Mike xtr,

When I got the car it ran fine and had 1500 miles on the clock.

When I used gentle acceleration in fourth gear at 30mph - 35mph it sort of chattered a bit then as the revs picked up it went silent. It was in effect just as the turbo spooled up.

I went on holiday and left the car with Toyota who replaced the turbo under warranty.

It did not solve the problem.

Long storey short... it was the drive belt and pulley. The engine pulses with the high pressure injection system and to smooth it out they use a dual mass flywheel (lots of info about that on this site).

My car was incresing engine speed at a fast pulse rate and catching the belt out so in effect the belt was juddering untill it caught up. It was like a fan belt slipping but it was a different noise and not the usual screach that you normally hear.

So not a turbo fault at all.

If you need any further info private message me as I will get my wrist slapped for going off topic.

For info I did post a topic for this under 'turbo chatter' and put the parts numbers on that fixed it.

Regards

Hi Mereside,

I originally had a problem with the T180, like a hesitation/misfire when accerating from low revs in 5 or 6th gear and full throttle, took it back under warranty, dealer (Stockport RRG) did a very full check and road test and said that I was trying to accelerate from too low revs ! They were right I now use more revs and have never had the problem again - they told me the turbo only really comes in about 1600/1700 revs and also I would expect the performance to greatly improve once I had done about 10,000 miles - if that is right it will fly then as I think it is excellent now.

Guy

[bothwell_buyer]

Mike xtr,

When I got the car it ran fine and had 1500 miles on the clock.

When I used gentle acceleration in fourth gear at 30mph - 35mph it sort of chattered a bit then as the revs picked up it went silent. It was in effect just as the turbo spooled up.

I went on holiday and left the car with Toyota who replaced the turbo under warranty.

It did not solve the problem.

Long storey short... it was the drive belt and pulley. The engine pulses with the high pressure injection system and to smooth it out they use a dual mass flywheel (lots of info about that on this site).

My car was incresing engine speed at a fast pulse rate and catching the belt out so in effect the belt was juddering untill it caught up. It was like a fan belt slipping but it was a different noise and not the usual screach that you normally hear.

So not a turbo fault at all.

If you need any further info private message me as I will get my wrist slapped for going off topic.

For info I did post a topic for this under 'turbo chatter' and put the parts numbers on that fixed it.

Regards

Hi Mereside,

I originally had a problem with the T180, like a hesitation/misfire when accerating from low revs in 5 or 6th gear and full throttle, took it back under warranty, dealer (Stockport RRG) did a very full check and road test and said that I was trying to accelerate from too low revs ! They were right I now use more revs and have never had the problem again - they told me the turbo only really comes in about 1600/1700 revs and also I would expect the performance to greatly improve once I had done about 10,000 miles - if that is right it will fly then as I think it is excellent now.

Guy

have I read this right ---- a flying oily burning 5 door??? Surely not!

[Mereside]

Dear Bothwell Buyer,

You did read that right, the oild oily things do wind themselves oop quite nicely.

The only thing I miss about the evil pertrolly things is that they rev better and sound better.

The advantage with the T180 for me is the way it pulls out of roundabouts and slow corners then the torque comes in and away she goes.

The bonus is that when chugging along the main roads I get a bit better consumption.

On another note, why is the exhaust pipe so clean inside. I had a new Octavia 2,0 140 diesel before the Rav and it was soooty but the Rav is clean as is a friends BMW 2.0 diesel?

Regards

[anchorman]

It's explained in the attached. The D-CAT (diesel-clean air technology) engine is equiped with various aids to clean the exhaust which tends to be top end on Toyota and more standard on BMW. They will all move towards clean air regardless of cost with time.

dpnr.pdf

[OldSkoO1]

The exhaust might be clean(er) but up top where the EGR valve is its clogged up with soot and particles.

[anchorman]

The exhaust might be clean(er) but up top where the EGR valve is its clogged up with soot and particles.

Yes they have had problems and some have been modified to stop it from happening.

[OldSkoO1]

The exhaust might be clean(er) but up top where the EGR valve is its clogged up with soot and particles.

Yes they have had problems and some have been modified to stop it from happening.

Hi Anchor,

Is that a physical mod or was that the ECU re-map they did?

[anchorman]

The exhaust might be clean(er) but up top where the EGR valve is its clogged up with soot and particles.

Yes they have had problems and some have been modified to stop it from happening.

Hi Anchor,

Is that a physical mod or was that the ECU re-map they did?

I believe they have been fitting new EGRs and a different ECU mod to the one stated but only for 177 engines. Shcm might have a TSB?

[OldSkoO1]

The exhaust might be clean(er) but up top where the EGR valve is its clogged up with soot and particles.

Yes they have had problems and some have been modified to stop it from happening.

Hi Anchor,

Is that a physical mod or was that the ECU re-map they did?

I believe they have been fitting new EGRs and a different ECU mod to the one stated but only for 177 engines. Shcm might have a TSB?

Ah, ok - interesting hopefully the TSB will show when the modifications have started - can't see my t180 having the different part being 07.

Thanks,

[shcm]

Shcm might have a TSB?

I only seem to have one that relates to an ECU re-flash. Maybe there is a later one. I haven't checked lately.