Clutch Feels Juddery In Low Gears On 2 Litre Xt3 Rav4

[Humans First]

Purchased my 1st Rav4 a couple of weeks ago. 70k miles on 54 plate everything fine but the clutch feels "juddery" when the car is in 1st or 2nd gear when the car is cold. Maybe me as I'm used to an automatic Mercedes - it's not a massive issue but I need to be careful when changing gears when the car is cold and obviously concerned it maybe a bigger issue in the making.

Looked on the site and there seems to be a fairbit of noise about clutches on Rav4 models. Have I bought a dodgy motor here? Any advice?

For info I purchased via independent dealer and purchased extra cover in case of major mechanical failure.

[Big Kev]

To save anybody else asking, Ed.........petrol or diesel?

Welcome to this forum.

[Humans First]

Sorry Big Kev it's a petrol mate

[Big Kev]

Sorry Big Kev it's a petrol mate

That is better news than having a diesel, Ed, as could have been more serious implications. At 70k miles it is more than possible clutch is waving goodbye, so does the warranty you took out cover that......?

Also, do you feel any roughness or hear any noise when you depress the clutch......? Do not worry about engine or gearboxes on this model.........Mayor of Hiroshima still has his.......

[sich1]

Welcomd ed

i sometimes get a judder on my diesel when cold,but sweet as a nut when warm

sure a petrol pro will be along soon.

ah, there is one now!

[Humans First]

Yes pretty sure the warranty covers that. Covers me for 2 years or 20k miles. No noise when depressing the clutch it just feels like the biting area is really limited and get it wrong and you end up with a fairly rough gear change.

[gjnorthall]

A slight judder when cold is fairly common on this model - presumably it's OK once the engine has warmed up. It may well go on for a while without further deterioration but at 70K miles and an unknown usage history - the clutch may be well worn. The clutch would be covered under the warranty that the trader is legally obliged to provide (3 months) but may be excluded from a longer term purchased warranty - these usually exclude wear and tear items such as clutch plates, brake pads etc.

[Big Kev]

A slight judder when cold is fairly common on this model - presumably it's OK once the engine has warmed up. It may well go on for a while without further deterioration but at 70K miles and an unknown usage history - the clutch may be well worn. The clutch would be covered under the warranty that the trader is legally obliged to provide (3 months) but may be excluded from a longer term purchased warranty - these usually exclude wear and tear items such as clutch plates, brake pads etc.

..........which is why I asked re.the warranty covering the clutch...........methinks you may need that Fellow from Delphia (lawyer.....?) to look at small print......

[Humans First]

Oh I will check the warranty. And will check the small print. And will talk to the independent dealer ASAP as I feel it's a problem that'll only get worse. Many thanks to all contributors for words of advice.

[IanXT4]

I have had a petrol XT4 since new in 2004 and as many others have posted over the years it suffers from a very poor 1st to second gear transition. When the weathers cold I dread all the gear changes at junctions in the first mile while it warms up, its often jerky then settles down.

If the clutch and engine feels ok when its warm I suspect that all is well, other than the clutch has 70K on it.

On a separate note, from 2004 onwards the idle in the car is controlled by very fine movements of the throttle body butterfly valve. When the car is warm and in 1st gear on level ground you should be a able to very gently raise your foot from the clutch without touching the throttle pedal. The ECU should very gently increase the fuel flow and you should move off without stalling and then it should be possible to creep along smoothly in first without touching the throttle.

When my car had done approx 50K it would no longer do this and would also stutter along in 1st at idle threatening to stall. A throttle body clean fixed this, there was carbon build up interfering with very fine movements of the butterly valve.

I would check this, as a dirty throttle body could be amplifying your cold gear change issues.

(try all this away from other traffic :-)

[Grumpy stumpy]

I have had a petrol XT4 since new in 2004 and as many others have posted over the years it suffers from a very poor 1st to second gear transition. When the weathers cold I dread all the gear changes at junctions in the first mile while it warms up, its often jerky then settles down.

If the clutch and engine feels ok when its warm I suspect that all is well, other than the clutch has 70K on it.

On a separate note, from 2004 onwards the idle in the car is controlled by very fine movements of the throttle body butterfly valve. When the car is warm and in 1st gear on level ground you should be a able to very gently raise your foot from the clutch without touching the throttle pedal. The ECU should very gently increase the fuel flow and you should move off without stalling and then it should be possible to creep along smoothly in first without touching the throttle.

When my car had done approx 50K it would no longer do this and would also stutter along in 1st at idle threatening to stall. A throttle body clean fixed this, there was carbon build up interfering with very fine movements of the butterly valve.

I would check this, as a dirty throttle body could be amplifying your cold gear change issues.

(try all this away from other traffic :-)

Ian xt4 mine is a 2004 xt3 with 67k and does the exact same as yours, and as you say I cleaned my throttle body and it improved it no end, but this time of year gear changes are not as smooth.

Phil

[gjnorthall]

I suppose the first step is to establish if this is clutch judder or gear baulk. Cleaning the throttle body is an excellent idea (problem largely caused by emission control) - maybe should done routinely - around 50k miles seems about the frequency. Some manufacturers such as Ford - apply a non stick coating to the throttle body - don't really know if this improves matters greatly.

[dwilson]

The only judder I have noticed on mine is if I try to pull away too quickly! I find that annoying and is one of the reasons why I would like an automatic version!

[pgp001]

2004 Xt3 paetrol here as well.

Mine is exactly the same as yours, very lumpy 1st to 2nd on a morning but settles down after a while when it warms up. Try to take your time between 1st and 2nd, its when you rush it that it gets notchy.

The throttle body on mine had to be cleaned for the reasons already mentioned, its just starting to show signs of needing doing again.

You might notice it struggling to settle down to a steady idle at around 700 rpm when this happpens, it will try and hunt, sometimes dropping down to 500 or so rpm and nearly stalling.

It seem to be about the only real problem on this model.

Phil