New Purchase....have A Bought A Wrong'un?

[tommyrugrat]

Hello Folks

This is my first post, and just seeking a little advice on possible remedies of my new (old) 1997 Rav 4 GX STAX,Petrol, with 105,000 miles.

Firstly let me say that my previous experience of these forums are a brilliant way of doing the majority of the work yourself and saving a bundle of cash, so hopefully this one will be the same?

So....the car.

Now.... i bought this car blind on eBay last week (long story), but with assurances that everything was fine, drives well, doesnt smoke etc etc, it has 12 months MOT so (naively) i took a gamble.

So....on the driving the car back to Cornwall (bought in the Midlands) i noticed that the air conditioning stays on permanently, the push button light on the dash goes on and off as it should, but makes no difference to the amount of air flowing into the car, the more i rev, the more amount of air increases flowing into the car....is this normal?

Secondly the power steering is juddery on full lock, i am thinking it could be the power steering belt maybe? Currently it is at full adjustment and seems a little slack (although i have no Haynes at the mo so i am unsure of the correct belt tension?)

Thirdly and most importantly, is when i am decelerating in gear at around 30-40 mph, there is an almighty knocking from what sounds like, in and around the middle of the bulkhead area?

I was told by the previous owner that it was just exhaust rattling, but i have been under the car and yanked on the exhaust and nothing? The noise goes away when i pull the clutch in, or free wheel and seems to be more noticeable going downhill?

Apart from them issues, it seems a great little car, then engine sounds like it should, looks the part, and goes well.

I know that this is an epic post and my apologies, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[Conrod]

Hope I can help a little ..

With the aircon you need to find out if the hot/cold control on the heater is working, it might no be cold air/con but just outside cold air.

Under the bonnet at the back of the engine bay is a metal lever with a cable attached.....see if that's working.

PAS could be a worn belt....try a belt first.

Noise could be clutch release bearing....or the clutch itself :( another possibility it engine or gearbox mounting, or just a loose exhaust shield on the manifold.

[tommyrugrat]

Hi Geoff

Thanks for that, i will have a look at the heater later, and hopefully like you say it could be a stuck cable? I am just ordering the PAS belt and hopefully fingers crossed it is, just that?

Regarding the knocking sound i certainly have a look at the engine and gearbox mountings, most of the the exhaust heatshields (including the manifold shield) have been taken off so we can rule that out.

i did suspect the clutch, but it seems fine under heavy load, and if i am right in saying, if it was the clutch bearing, it would make a whining noise as opposed to a knocking (i may be wrong), It is just the deceleration part that makes me suspect the mounts.

I will keep you posted, and thanks again

Tommy.

[Conrod]

Hi Geoff

Thanks for that, i will have a look at the heater later, and hopefully like you say it could be a stuck cable? I am just ordering the PAS belt and hopefully fingers crossed it is, just that?

Regarding the knocking sound i certainly have a look at the engine and gearbox mountings, most of the the exhaust heatshields (including the manifold shield) have been taken off so we can rule that out.

i did suspect the clutch, but it seems fine under heavy load, and if i am right in saying, if it was the clutch bearing, it would make a whining noise as opposed to a knocking (i may be wrong), It is just the deceleration part that makes me suspect the mounts.

I will keep you posted, and thanks again

Tommy.

As you say a clutch release bearing would be more of a whining noise.

[tommyrugrat]

Hi Geoff

Update....

The knocking is just the exhaust (Phew)....it looks as though somebody has bodged the Catalytic Converter length of the exhaust, and has removed the hanger bracket (along with welded bar), so basically the exhaust is unsupported until the back box mount, hence knocking on the front sub-frame, mystery solved.

I had a look under the bonnet for the heater lever, but struggled to find it, could you tell whereabouts it is exactly as there alot going in there.

Cheers

Tommy

[Conrod]

Hi Geoff

Update....

The knocking is just the exhaust (Phew)....it looks as though somebody has bodged the Catalytic Converter length of the exhaust, and has removed the hanger bracket (along with welded bar), so basically the exhaust is unsupported until the back box mount, hence knocking on the front sub-frame, mystery solved.

I had a look under the bonnet for the heater lever, but struggled to find it, could you tell whereabouts it is exactly as there alot going in there.

Cheers

Tommy

Think I was talking rubbish on that one :( I use to have a early RAV4 and thought the heater value was in the engine bay...maybe it's inside the car next to the main heater unit.

Once the cars warmed up does the heater get the car warm inside ?

[Conrod]

When you move the heater hot/cold control on the dash, can you look under the dashboard and see if the cable is pulling any levers on the heater box ?

[tommyrugrat]

I will have a look over the weekend and try and get it sorted, but yes it does get warm inside the car once warmed up, but as soon as i switch the air con button to 'on' (green light) there is no discernible difference to engine revs etc....I am just going on previous cars i have had before, after switching the aircon on, there is a very noticeable difference in engine signature, but on this Rav, nothing?

It also seems very noisy when the engine revs are high?

[alan333]

I'm pretty sure air con doesn't work below a certain temp, like maybe 3 or 5 degrees, although the light will come on. Is it cold where you are?

[tommyrugrat]

Yes, but not unusually, I'm in Cornwall, so this time of year it is around 10 degrees, but i will certainly keep an eye on the air temperature in relation to the air con.

Cheers Folks.

[Conrod]

I will have a look over the weekend and try and get it sorted, but yes it does get warm inside the car once warmed up, but as soon as i switch the air con button to 'on' (green light) there is no discernible difference to engine revs etc....I am just going on previous cars i have had before, after switching the aircon on, there is a very noticeable difference in engine signature, but on this Rav, nothing?

It also seems very noisy when the engine revs are high?

The aircon compressor has an electric clutch on it , the pulley will go around all the while the engine is running but on the end of the pulley thin disc that freewheels, when you press the aircon switch that freewheeling disc lock onto the main pulley......have a look over the weekend :)