Gear Grind

[miccipy]

Oh woah is me. :( I Have a massive problem. I own a toyota rav 4 xt2, 2004 model, in the UK. I bought it new and it was my first car so its literally my baby . But recently for some reason, it seems to be practically falling apart on me. I am a super careful driver and have never driven over bumps or anything too fast.

to cut a long story short, i went in for a regular service and was told that i needed to get my brake pads, and suspensions changed as they had failed me my MOT and it cost me a bomb. I had also been noticing that recently when i get into my third gear, it Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrinds no matter how far i engage the clutch. I told the dealers about it and they claimed they couldnt hear anything. I went back to them a couple of weeks later getting really worried, and they claimed that they could suddenly hear it (surprise surprise) BUT, then they said they would have to do a gearbox strip to find out what was wrong.....and they wanted £495 just to do that!!!!!! BEFORE THEY EVEN START ANY WORK ON IT!!!!!

anyone have any ideas what could be wrong?? and are there any UK based people near the essex area who know a good mechanic who is able to do something at a reasonable price!!!???

thanks

miccipy

[anchorman]

Mmmm

A few questions;

Does it only do it in first gear or does it also do it in reverse?

When you are driving along can you get through the gears cleanly and without problems?

Where is the clutch bite point - near the top or near the bottom?

Does the pedal feel firm? There should be about half to one inch free play and then it should feel uniformly firm all the way to the floor.

Is there anything interfering with the pedal travel, i.e. can it go all the way to the floor with no mats or anything in the way?

Regards (and welcome to the club).

[miccipy]

hi

thanks for the speedy reply. well it only does it in 3rd gear actually. all the other gears are fine. when im driving along, i get through all the gears just fine....except for 3rd gear. The clutch bite point????? :o whats that???? lol. like you say, there is roughly about a half of inch or so of free play and then it is firm all the way down. And no there is nothing interferring with the pedal travel. I had originally thought that and i removed my mat, but the 3rd gear grind remained!!! so im fresh outta ideas!!

miccipy

[anchorman]

Unfortunately that puts another light on things. If it only does it in 3rd (and especially not reverse as that has no synchro on it) then it sounds like 3rd gear synchro has thrown its hand in.

To check, the box does have to be opened up but you might find a good garage willing to do it at a better hourly rate.

Good luck

[bothwell_buyer]

Hmmmm

what mileage has it done??

New brake pads and suspension?? was it pads and discs they put on (a well known dealer trick).

anchorman - what warranty if any exists on things like gearboxes?? Certainly sounds like someones crunched the box and bgrd the synchro???? Unusual for such a young car, no?

If there's no warranty, then there's no advantage paying a fortune to a dealer - try to find a local gearbox specialist that can check the problem. If the box is bgrd, then 3 options are to have it fixed; go for a replacement from a write-off or get an exchange box.

The suspension should be ok - what did the MOT tester write down on the failure note??

[anchorman]

I'm afraid just the usual 3 years or 60k. If it has been dealer serviced from new they may do some sort of gesture but take care - a 10k mile service will cost them next to nowt, is worth about £150 to you and as bothy says you could save far more at a good independent garage. If they will do the labour and make you pay for parts then that might be worth it.

My feeling is you will get nothing. You can always ask.

Cheers

[miccipy]

wellllll. its now done roughly about 37500 miles to date, but when it was serviced it had done 36466 miles (i went on a trip to bristol shortly after that).

they put new brake pads because on the failure note the main reasons for me failing was that one of my front dimmer lights was out (im not very observant) , and the brake pads where verrrrryy thin(1mm), oh and my wipers where bgrd!!! About the suspension, they said that they were leaking, coz i really felt like everytime i went over a bump, there was a mini earthquake in the car.

i have done pretty much average mileage and taken it to service like clock work....it just seems really unsual to me that its literally starting to fall apart now. i want to keep my rav as long as possible since the !Removed! :censor: toyota people decided to stop making the 3dr!!!! how do i get replacements from a write off?? gosh so much new info!!!

muchos gracias

miccipy

[bothwell_buyer]

wellllll. its now done roughly about 37500 miles to date, but when it was serviced it had done 36466 miles (i went on a trip to bristol shortly after that).

they put new brake pads because on the failure note the main reasons for me failing was that one of my front dimmer lights was out (im not very observant) , and the brake pads where verrrrryy thin(1mm), oh and my wipers where bgrd!!! About the suspension, they said that they were leaking, coz i really felt like everytime i went over a bump, there was a mini earthquake in the car.

i have done pretty much average mileage and taken it to service like clock work....it just seems really unsual to me that its literally starting to fall apart now. i want to keep my rav as long as possible since the bloody :censor: toyota people decided to stop making the 3dr!!!! how do i get replacements from a write off?? gosh so much new info!!!

muchos gracias

miccipy

Lets take things slowly -

first have a long cool drink - green tea or whisky - whatever.

Noo

37,500 miles is nothing for a car of this build quality. Pads replacement - ye - I can go with that.

Wipers - should be done every 12 months whether they need it or not - they go hard whether used or not. I do them every 5 years as I'm skint and its a matter of priorities.

The suspension is a weird one. I don't know your version of the 3 door, but the 3 door is light, and theres no way that the suspension should be faulty unless its been in an accident / hit kerbs. And the only thing I have on mine which could leak is either the shock absorbers (which last 100,000 miles+) or the steering gaitors.

Is there something else on these that can leak (other guys on forum??)

Next thing is to recognise that in the world of car mechanics there are specialists and there are chancers. dealers too often fall into the latter category.

You won't visit a GP to have a heart operation, so why take the RAV to someone who maybe only works on a RAV4 gearbox once every 6 months???

By finding a gearbox specialist (google it on the web, or look at the local phone directories) then they give you an idea of costs. There are several companies around the UK who specialise in breaking Japanese cars (Toyota, Nissan etc) that have been written off. The costs of straightening bodywork on a 5 year old car often outweighs the value so they write it off. The mechanical bits are often ok. You can find these folk in auto mags or exchange and mart and the likes; or by using websites that check for you like Parts Gateway.

I've had engines delivered to me on pallets which have come from south of england up to Glasgow at costs of less than £60! Gearboxes are even smaller/cheaper. Or you can leave it to the guys that specialise in gearboxes. Whichever way, you want a guarantee that the thing will work!!

After thinking about this, if you have more questions then get back on to here!!

In the meantime maybe one of the other guys will be able to think where the suspension may have been leaking from.

[anchorman]

It can only be the shock absorbers. Why do they fail prematurely is another matter. If the vehicle was stored out of use for a period of time it is perhaps possible that the seals have dried or perished. I used to do development work at Leyland trucks and they had a pave (pavae) circuit. The shockers got very hot and testing had to be slowed down or they had to water cool them to stop them from just falling to bits. I suppose if you lived in an area where you had to cross rough ground daily they might fail quicker.

It seems acedemic now as they have been done. My local garage uses those jap-parts people and the stuff that comes looks brand new. If I were in the same boat I would get somebody like that to fit one of those for me.

Actually if it was me I would have the box in bits and fix it. I can't believe that parts are not available but maybe kingo could comment.

Bothy, I change my wiper rubbers about every 6 months - what will you give me for the old ones?

Cheers

[bothwell_buyer]

It can only be the shock absorbers. Why do they fail prematurely is another matter. If the vehicle was stored out of use for a period of time it is perhaps possible that the seals have dried or perished. I used to do development work at Leyland trucks and they had a pave (pavae) circuit. The shockers got very hot and testing had to be slowed down or they had to water cool them to stop them from just falling to bits. I suppose if you lived in an area where you had to cross rough ground daily they might fail quicker.

It seems acedemic now as they have been done. My local garage uses those jap-parts people and the stuff that comes looks brand new. If I were in the same boat I would get somebody like that to fit one of those for me.

Actually if it was me I would have the box in bits and fix it. I can't believe that parts are not available but maybe kingo could comment.

Bothy, I change my wiper rubbers about every 6 months - what will you give me for the old ones?

Cheers

OK

With postage costs; you avoiding landfill duty; etc, I can offer you the cost of postage + £0.09 - seems a fair deal...? Second Class post of course.