That Engine Management Light!

[Ravver]

Hi there, new member here. Bought a 2003 D-4D Vx after a disastrous experience with a Freelander TD 4, (& that's supposed to be the reliable model!) The Rav is brilliant on the road in comparison. However, whilst towing my caravan on the M6, the engine management light lit-up & power dropped off. I got onto the hard shoulder & turned engine off, then restarted. Light stayed on, so I switched off, left it 2 minutes & tried again. This time the light was out, stayed out & hasn't come on since! That weekend, I had a new timing belt fitted, 61,000 on the clock, but strangely, there was nothing stored in the ECU at all!

Since then though, when accelerating in 2nd & 3rd gear, at around 2400 rpm, the engine seems to 'cough', before picking up & accelerating smoothly again. It's only an intermittant thing, but very, very annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone have any ideas, coz Mr. T can't help at present!

[anchorman]

Welcome to the club.

I have pm'd you with some info

Cheers

[mulberry]

Hi, seems that I'm having similar problems with my 2002 Rav4 (auto) GX. At low speeds approx 20mph the car shudders as though it cannot decide which gear to go into, also difficulty with gears uphill. This is an intermittant fault, today Toyota tecnician took for a road test and fault did not occur but following an extended test drive (with me driving) the fault did occur. The technician said the ECU would need to be relaced, no faults showed up on the diagnostic but they said that this has happened before to 02 Rav4's and a new ECU solved the problem.

I only purchased the car in Sept (87,000 miles) and have a Motorplan Warranty but they seem reluctant to agree the repair as there were no codes on the diagnostic and are sending their own technician to look at it. I suspect they will refuse to pay, the cost is £830.

Has this problem happened before and is there any advice you can give me?

Thanks in advance, mulberry.

[anchorman]

These ECU's are solid state devices and my experience, unless any of the gearbox plugs are loose then that is probably something I would leave until last at that price.

This may sound bizarre but the VVTi engine should be fitted with Iridium plugs and they should have been renewed at 60k. If the haven't or they have been replaced by copper cored plugs then a misfire will give the hesitation and difficulty on hills that you describe.

It is a fiddly job so I will cover it as a maintenace tip.

If you find that doesn't work you could either;

get an ECU from a breakers yard

find a willing person with another auto and try theirs

I once found a very helpful Nissan dealer who loaned me a mass airflow meter to validate a problem - maybe you could find a dealer that will loan you an ECU? They stand to get a sale out of it.

Cheers