Annoying Little Beep

[Nightstalker]

Hello you mad Ravvers.... :D

do any of yous know if it is possible to turn the annoying beep noise you get when our fab Rav (4.3) lets you know that there might be some ice on the road...?

Mine tends to let me know when its 3c out there and sometimes it cant make its mind up if its 4 or 3 c and keeps on changing between the two - which means everytime it goes from 4 to 3c it beeps and the ice warning light lights up. Dont mind it if it would just stay on 3 but when it bounces between the two over the journey in the car the beeping drives me NUUUUTTS!... It almost wants me to trade my Rav in for one of those who shall not be mentioned!!! - YEAH Right! NOTTT!

And whilst on the subject of Nuts....Happy Christmas to all of yous who celebrate it and hey for those of you who dont...Happy Crimbo anyway...

Regards

Rob

B)

[PinkMinkee]

i have no idea, buuuuuuuuuuuut i had to add my aannoying beep story.....tonight i am bringing home a pile of washing in a washing basket that i placed on the front seat and it was sitting there quite happily until i went round a corner and the passenger seatbelt light came on and the beep started beeping........that kept me quite amused beeping and flashing on and off on my journey home.

then my 11 year old daughter discovered she could get it going too which she also found quite amusing (she's 11), whose the biggest kid me or her?....aahhh little things please little minds and all that

[shcm]

Rob - according to some documentation I have, pressing one of the pack buttons (I'm guessing the right hand one), for more than 0.8 seconds should cancel the message - but whether it stops the temperature cycling annoyance, I don't know. I think I've cancelled it in the past, but for the life of me, can't remember how at the moment.

I'm sure there was a thread about this on here about the same time last year. I Must have a search!

Jan - I never knew you could have so much fun with a pile of washing :D

[anchorman]

shcm is right, you can temporarily disable it by pressing the right button and holding it will clear the warning triangle with a confirmatory flash of the temperature but I'm afraid it will do it all again if the temperature cycles between 4 and 3 deg C.

Permanently disabling the temp warning buzzer is not on the "customise electrics" options which are dealer set.

The seat warning system has two functions. There is a pressure pad in the seat cussion to activate the device. It will sound a warning to remind the occupant to fasten seat belt and when not occupied it disables the passenger side airbags and seat belt pre-tensioner in the event of an impact. This improves visibility and saves money. In the case of a pile of washing it might be better on the back seat or floor!

[sywy]

shcm is right, you can temporarily disable it by pressing the right button and holding it will clear the warning triangle with a confirmatory flash of the temperature but I'm afraid it will do it all again if the temperature cycles between 4 and 3 deg C.

Does it come back on again during the same journey, if the temp flutuates? I have to cancel it quite often recently, but can only rememebr doing it once on the same journey. Could be my memory playing up though!!

The seat warning system has two functions. There is a pressure pad in the seat cussion to activate the device. It will sound a warning to remind the occupant to fasten seat belt and when not occupied it disables the passenger side airbags and seat belt pre-tensioner in the event of an impact. This improves visibility and saves money. In the case of a pile of washing it might be better on the back seat or floor!

Yes I found the pressure pad the other day, when I place a backpack full of camera equipment on the front seat

[bothwell_buyer]

Solution - move tae Scotland an ye'll no have that problem ... its been -0C or less for a few days now - not that my RAV cares as its warmed up within 300 yards...and how ? Ahm no tellin!

4 point harnesses tend to work better than the factory cheapy - but don't ask me.... speak to the guys who survive bumps on the race circuit....

[anchorman]

Its been cold here too bothy. Even the sheep are shivering. If I had to guess your stainless one piece racing exhaust comes through the interior where the afterburners are situated right?

Sy - yes you have to keep cancelling it every time it rises then falls below 3C - a nuisance really. It doesn't give any warning if the ambient was below 3C when you entered the car as it assumes you know there could be ice on the road.

[bothwell_buyer]

Its been cold here too bothy. Even the sheep are shivering. If I had to guess your stainless one piece racing exhaust comes through the interior where the afterburners are situated right?

Sy - yes you have to keep cancelling it every time it rises then falls below 3C - a nuisance really. It doesn't give any warning if the ambient was below 3C when you entered the car as it assumes you know there could be ice on the road.

Wur sheep are TOUGH. An ma stainless wan piece goes unner the car - whits an afterburner???

An while oan the topic, whits a Cat converter?? Ma auld maw had Siamese cats an not wan o them ever converted - they were all Church o Scotland.

[Steve@Aberdeen]

On my 4.3, if you cancel the ice warning (holding in the RH button until the normal display is back on - seems to need a fraction longer) it stays off until the engine is restarted. Of course, it it's <4 when you set off, the system doesn't give any warning - but then, we all check our instruments before pulling away, so we'd know there was an ice risk!

[NMaria]

Opportunity to have another little go about the thermometer: ice warning thingie and thermometer are nearly useless, in my view. Ice can occur in a wide range of conditions, not just when the air temperature hits 3 degrees. Also, the thermometer is inaccurate anyway: mine overstates the actual temperature by about 2 degrees. It was the same on my 4.2, and it's not just when the car has been parked with a hot engine or in the sun or whatever - it's consistently unreliable. I think it would be better not to have it than to be falsely reassured. So when the conditions are iffy, I test them: slow right down (second gear), pop into the middle of the road, put the brakes on firmly. Or park and test the surface on foot. Even then any iciness might be patchy so you still can't be sure. Obviously these tests are better carried out on an empty countryroad than, say, the M25.

[sywy]

On my 4.3, if you cancel the ice warning (holding in the RH button until the normal display is back on - seems to need a fraction longer) it stays off until the engine is restarted. Of course, it it's <4 when you set off, the system doesn't give any warning - but then, we all check our instruments before pulling away, so we'd know there was an ice risk!

That was what i was trying to say earlier on, but wasn't sure if I was correct, as it's not something I've paid attention to...

Maria, what are you comparing your cars temp guage to?

[NMaria]

[Maria, what are you comparing your cars temp guage to?

Good point. I am comparing it to the gauges in other people's cars who say they have found theirs to be fairly accurate, our outside thermometer, and any of those temperature displays that you sometimes see on commercial buildings. Also, when my car is covered with ice at six o'clock in the morning and everything around me is frozen solid and my little friend the RAV tells me that the ambient temperature is above zero, I am not inclinded to believe it... What I have not tried is whether the error varies with the temperature; for example, whether it is more accurate at 20 degrees than at zero.

[bothwell_buyer]

Reasonable simple solution is to balance a mug of water on the front and try it now and again to see if its frozen....?? If the mug keeps falling off, try supergluing it to the bonnet.

Cheepncheerful

[duncerduncs]

On my 4.3, if you cancel the ice warning (holding in the RH button until the normal display is back on - seems to need a fraction longer) it stays off until the engine is restarted. Of course, it it's <4 when you set off, the system doesn't give any warning - but then, we all check our instruments before pulling away, so we'd know there was an ice risk!

That was what i was trying to say earlier on, but wasn't sure if I was correct, as it's not something I've paid attention to...

Maria, what are you comparing your cars temp guage to?

I'll 3rd that!! Spent my week off last week driving the wife to and from work, after she had hurt her back sitting on the toilet... (long story )

Only cancelled the ice warning once, by pressing 'disp', even though the temperature was fluctuating

[shcm]

Opportunity to have another little go about the thermometer: ice warning thingie and thermometer are nearly useless, in my view. Ice can occur in a wide range of conditions, not just when the air temperature hits 3 degrees. Also, the thermometer is inaccurate anyway: mine overstates the actual temperature by about 2 degrees. It was the same on my 4.2, and it's not just when the car has been parked with a hot engine or in the sun or whatever - it's consistently unreliable. I think it would be better not to have it than to be falsely reassured. So when the conditions are iffy, I test them: slow right down (second gear), pop into the middle of the road, put the brakes on firmly. Or park and test the surface on foot. Even then any iciness might be patchy so you still can't be sure. Obviously these tests are better carried out on an empty countryroad than, say, the M25.

Hello NMaria,

Of course you are absolutely right about the varying conditions when ice occurs, but I think we have to cut Toyota some slack with the temperature measurement accuracy.

To begin with, I don't ever remember seeing an accuracy quoted for it, but then I don't have all the documentation in front of me at the moment.

Also at this moment in time, I don't know what kind of technology the temperature sensor is based on (but I could probably find out). If it is a thermistor then they are non-linear anyway, but you tend to use a smaller and therefore approximately linear part of the curve and/or some form of compensation. I wouldn't expect it to be that linear and/or accurate to say a couple of degrees C.

If it is a silicon based device, that will be more expensive that a thermistor, but the cheaper ones will only be accurate to typically +/- 3C. You can get silicon devices to measure to +/- 0.3C, but they tend to be more expensive. For Toyota it is going to be a accuracy/price trade off. Of course there are methods to measure temperature very accurately, but how much do you want to pay for it?

I've designed ECUs in the past, where the customer insisted on very accurate internal ECU temperature measurement. We found it a bit silly to be honest, but had to do it because the customer demanded it.

The figures I quoted above are going to be worst case specifications, so some people may be lucky enough to have sensors that appear more accurate.

I guess Toyota have to put the feature on the car because their competitors do.

I'm not trying to defend Toyota, it is just that a few degrees out, seems to make some sense to me. I hope that explains it a bit better to you and doesn't cause offence.

Cheers :D

[NMaria]

No offence at all, shcm - it is interesting to hear the comment from someone who is obviously knowledgeable about this kind of thing and has an insider's perspective. What strikes me, though, is that my old Galant, my parents' Shogun (although they have been converted to the RAV4 too - hurray!) and my husband's Octavia all seem to be considerably more accurate, and I doubt if their respective manufacturers are spending their cash on a much more expensive kind of technology. So my thought was that it can be done - why can't Toyota do it?

As you suggest, perhaps the provision of a thermometer is something manufacturers are almost compelled to do, because others do it. Its practical uses are indeed very limited so perhaps it falls into the category of gimmicky things and is not really worth getting too excited about! So I shall climb off my little hobbyhorse again and be quiet... Anyway, it's all good thought-provoking stuff.

[jonbr]

Spent my week off last week driving the wife to and from work, after she had hurt her back sitting on the toilet... (long story )

My boss broke his foot once when he fell off the toilet, and no he wasn't standing on it either!

[bothwell_buyer]

Spent my week off last week driving the wife to and from work, after she had hurt her back sitting on the toilet... (long story )

My boss broke his foot once when he fell off the toilet, and no he wasn't standing on it either!

Its jist a jinx when ye own a 5 door dieselly oily RAV

[Fujisan]

On my 4.3, if you cancel the ice warning (holding in the RH button until the normal display is back on - seems to need a fraction longer) it stays off until the engine is restarted. Of course, it it's <4 when you set off, the system doesn't give any warning - but then, we all check our instruments before pulling away, so we'd know there was an ice risk!

I'll try that! Thanks

[shcm]

What strikes me, though, is that my old Galant, my parents' Shogun (although they have been converted to the RAV4 too - hurray!) and my husband's Octavia all seem to be considerably more accurate, and I doubt if their respective manufacturers are spending their cash on a much more expensive kind of technology. So my thought was that it can be done - why can't Toyota do it?

To a small extent might also depend where on the car the sensor's installed, I would have thought. I had a look at typical chip sensors (the Toyota temp sensor may be another tech and it would have to be packaged). Just for comparison purposes, for +/- 3C accuracy it about $0.4, where as +/- 0.3C it is about $1.70 (sorry, very often we work in $ or euros). Might not sound much to add to the cost of the car, but if you make several million of them a year and +/-3C is good enough, it is a very large saving. You may not believe it, but automotive stuff does generally get designed with costings down to the nearest cent in mind.

So I shall climb off my little hobbyhorse again and be quiet... Anyway, it's all good thought-provoking stuff.

Oh, don't do that, we enjoy it when people go for a good gallop on their hobby-horse :D

Cheers

[Fujisan]

Oh, don't do that, we enjoy it when people go for a good gallop on their hobby-horse :D

Just wanted to use that Emoticon

[linzicol]

could somebody actually tell me where the outside temp sensor is , as mine reads the current temp+2 degrees as a matter of course i wondered if my sensor may have oil or something on it and perhaps might work better if cleaned cheers and happy christmas linzicol

[bothwell_buyer]

could somebody actually tell me where the outside temp sensor is , as mine reads the current temp+2 degrees as a matter of course i wondered if my sensor may have oil or something on it and perhaps might work better if cleaned cheers and happy christmas linzicol

Hi and a very warm welcome to the worlds largest forum of diesel 5 door RAV carers.

I'd reckon your temperature sensor is outside somewhere.....then again, I don't have one or need one as I know when its frosty weather outside - I slip down my wheelchair ramp !!

I've found now for 13+ years that the RAV 3 door is one of the most stable cars on the road, in whatever road condition. On the bit of road where I live, it never gets gritted yet I have no problem driving over the neighbours front gardens!!

There have been some recent posts exactly on the 'problem' you mention. One gets the same problem with catering temperature gauges which cost much more yet don't give an accurate figure. With food, a temperature of 2C short can be disasterous. When it comes to road condition; you'll find that an outside temperature of anywhere between 0C and 4C can still leave icy patches on parts of a road where the sun doesn't hit it. So when you hit it, you lose traction. With the RAV (well mine) being 4 wheel drive constant to each wheel then one needs to lose grip on all 4 to lose control. But then again, I have much wider tyres fitted now on my 3 door and so gives me a wider track and a larger 'footprint' on the road..

I am sure that one of our resident diesel gurus will advise you where the sensor is when their train gets back....

[shcm]

could somebody actually tell me where the outside temp sensor is , as mine reads the current temp+2 degrees as a matter of course i wondered if my sensor may have oil or something on it and perhaps might work better if cleaned cheers and happy christmas linzicol

For the 4.2, when standing, looking at the front of the vehicle, I *think* it is roughly on the right hand side of the grill, possibly behind it, or further into the engine compartment. I never found it on my old 4.2, but then I didn't have a serious look for it.

I remember it used read high when having been standing in the sun, with the front of the car facing the sun. It was never so bad if the front of the car was parked shaded from the sun.

It would also read high after standing for a bit, but while the engine was still warm, even on cold days or nights - which may support the "located around engine bay" theory. When you drove it again, it would return to something reasonable.

2 degrees may well be within the part's tolerance, but as I've never seen a spec, I don't know for sure, but it seems a reasonable figure to me.

Cheers