2004 Rav 4 D4D Idle/Stalling Issues

February 18, 2020

Hey everyone - I am new here! 🙂

I had a 95 Toyota Rav4 which I had for ten years, it was an amazing reliable car which I absolutely loved, when it was no longer viable to keep fixing it, I went out and bought a 2004 Rav 4 D4D, it came with FSH and has been really well looked after and serviced.

After getting it home, it started immediately with a hot starting issue, after replacing the fuel filter, Battery and SCV valves, we read that putting a 2.2kw starter motor in it would fix the starting issue, which it did.

That was 2 weeks ago and it has been starting beautifully and working really well, I was starting to become more confident.

Then on Saturday, I drove one of my teenagers down to the shop, and whilst looking for a parking space, the car stalled, I presumed it was my fault as I was manoeuvring at the time, it took a couple of cranks to start again but it did and it was fine, of note, I was on the last line of the fuel gauge and so after the shop visit, I poped to the local independent petrol station and put £25 of diesel in.

When I got home, my son had a look and found that it was staling on idle, even sometimes when the engine revs, we have replicated this a few times over the last couple of days. My son and mechanic friend had a look last night and ran a diagnostic test which said there was an injector electrical issue (P0200 Injector Circuit Malfunction), however when shutting off each injector through the computer, it didn't seem to be them themselves that were the issue.

They tried unplugging one of the sensors going into the throttle body and it started to idle properly, but when it was driven it went into limp mode.

They then took off the throttle body and completely cleaned it, but its still doing the same thing.

Any ideas? It is a great clean and tidy car, but I have already spent a considerable amount of money trying to get it right and I am wondering if I should just get rid of it 😞

Thank you x

February 18, 2020

Hi congrats on the new car - despite the teething issues I hope it turns out to be a great workhorse.

I know you say you have fixed the hot start issue but you also mentioned it was still a little reluctant to start so it might be the 2.2kw motor has masked the problem a bit. I found cleaning the earth connections helped with that but I also wonder if it will help with your idling issue - as you'll know car electronics can do odd things when they are not getting enough power so I'd spend thirty mins cleaning the two earth cables (search hot start and you'll find my description of where they are). It's free and easy and you've nothing to lose!

If it doesn't work I'd also try putting a couple of tanks of BP ultimate or similar in the car, just to make sure you've not got some dirty fuel. Perhaps give it a decent fast run and use the rev range a bit just to clean it out.

The other thing you could try (bit of a crazy wild card) is to press the idle up button on the dash, that gives the car a little more juice at idle when cold and may help stop it from stalling.... not a fix but may help!

Either way, please keep us updated with progress even if things don't work it's good to know and others may have more suggestions.

February 19, 2020

Hey John,

Thank you for your ideas, we are wondering if its a fuel issue, my mechanic friend is coming over with some additive today and we are going to take out some of the fuel I bought on Saturday as there is half a tank still in there.

I will get my son to clean the two earth cables.

We tried the idle up button with no success 😞

I really want to keep the car, it is so lovely, but someone told me last night, the diesel version of the Rav4 is rubbish?????

February 19, 2020

Oh - also - we took out the EGR last night and cleaned it as the car was throwing the P0200 code and the P0403 code last night.

This didn't make a difference.

(I say 'we' - I am chief torch holder! 🤣)

And I will definitely update if we discover what the issue is, I find these forums very difficult when I find the same issue as we have, with lots of ideas, but can't find the final fix.

February 19, 2020

Hi Anna,

Don't give up hope just yet, when I got my RAV it had the hot start issue (which was really bad) and a few other wear and tear items - but it's a 15 year old car so that's to be expected.

It sounds like you're trying the right kind of stuff to diagnose the issue (and the stuff you're trying isn't terribly expensive so worth a shot), when it stalls you could also try pumping the fuel manually (little black button on top of the fuel filter) - you may just get a feel for whether the pressure in the fuel lines is low.

Another thing you could try is temporarily unplugging the MAF sensor on the air intake - the car should run fine with it disconnected as it just assumes some generic values (so marginally less efficient) - again this may give you a clue what's at fault. I will say when I did this I got a diagnostic light for a few days but it went out once I plugged it back in - but if you're reading codes chances are you could reset it.

I think anyone who says the diesel is rubbish is making a sweeping generalisation. I do 20k a year in my car and find it very easy to drive and pretty economical for a permanent 4x4 - I do long trips but rarely get less than 40mpg from the tank and have even got as high as 50mpg (measured properly, not using the onboard computer).

Any finally, kudos for the torch holding skills, a vital member of the team!

February 22, 2020

The Rav is finally fixed!!!

We put on a new Injector driver, but this did not fix the issue.

Then this morning we (well I was batch cooking stirfry and meatballs 🤣) cleaned the ground, which I’m told was caked and filthy.

they saw the contacts on the ground wire looked as though it had been arcing with the chassis where it hadn’t been making proper contact.

They took the ground wire out at both ends and cleaned the contacts, then they put copper grease on it. Then they cleaned the bolt hole and contact points at both ends, then they hammered the washer off the bolt and filed down the underside and rust off the bolt as it was very messy.

Then they put a new washer on it and covered it in copper grease, then screwed it all back in.

They then took it for a drive and the check engine light went off on its own after a restart.

I’ve since been out with several stops and it’s worked perfectly!

I am so relieved, I thought I was going to have to get rid of it!

Thanks so much John - I am so grateful for the time you took to help me.

To clarify for those having similar issues with a hot start in a Toyota D4D 2004ish engine, my starting issues were solved by putting in a 2.2kw starter motor and cleaning the ground.

I got the 2.2kw starter motor from here, great service and delivery and not a bad price delivered at £117.

https://www.startermotor-alternator.co.uk