Rav4 2.0d Dglx

[lisaxx]

I picked up my 2002 diesel rav4 ( never had a diesel before) very excited it had a smell of dog in it which i mentioned to the car sales man which he said would go once valeted (it didnt) but its bareable. Probems ive had is they fitted me a tow bar twin electrics on thursday i hooked up my caravan which is a 1989 eldiss wisp 400/5 very small and light weight 998kgs Anyway the electrics wouldn,t work but was only going 20 mins drive.So when i got to campsite i reversed my caravan into posistion didnt wheel spin or struggle at all. With that i got this foul stink in my car,it smelt like a chemically smell bit like burning rubber it was puterid.I went to the back of my car to unhook and the stink was even worse it was coming from the backend,We came to the conclusion it was the electrics. So we quckly unhooked and i moved my car to realize me temperature gauge wasnt registering.i rung carsales place up told them my problem they sent someone out straight away, a towbar company the towbar fitter told me he,d not been able to connect the electrics because the mechanics had my engine in bits to fit new cambelt and fanbelt so he couldnt try the electrics so he fitted electrics and off he popped.So it couldnt have been the electrics as first thought. Anyway my huby took her for a drive and the smell had gone and temp gauge was working Great!! but then i went out in it and couldnt take my keys out of ignition without the alarm going off. Finally it calmed down. When we came to coming home we hooked up again set off but i had to wait for my parents that were in there caravan and yep the stink came back ( ANY IDEAS PLEASE) then as i was driving i got a smell of gas in my car when i stopped i asked hubby if he,d disconnected gas bottle in caravan which of course he had and he could smell gas too?????? i got out of car to unhook caravan an alarm started kicking off again tried about 15times to turn off engine untill it would finally let me lol. i have to take the car back tomorrow but i realy didnt want them fobbing me off id like to try and look as though i know what im talkng about if i could lol.So if anyone has any ideas id luv to hear them

Thankyou Lisaxx

[chatman]

Welcome to TOC Lisaxx and the RAV section.....May be a bit quite on here as most of on holiday or like you towing something slow behind them :rolleyes:

You say the smell came when you reversed....Is it only noticeable when reversing the RAV under load, say as you did with the caravan ;) , may be clutch smell

The garage letting you have the RAV back and not completing the Electrics...is very bad on there part...Just as a peice of mind...did you get a warranty with the RAV...

Hope all turns out all right and nothing major....Come back and keep us informed of the outcome/resolution...

[lisaxx]

Welcome to TOC Lisaxx and the RAV section.....May be a bit quite on here as most of on holiday or like you towing something slow behind them :rolleyes:

You say the smell came when you reversed....Is it only noticeable when reversing the RAV under load, say as you did with the caravan ;) , may be clutch smell

The garage letting you have the RAV back and not completing the Electrics...is very bad on there part...Just as a peice of mind...did you get a warranty with the RAV...

Hope all turns out all right and nothing major....Come back and keep us informed of the outcome/resolution...

Hiya, Thankyou for your warm reply very nice. The smell was only there when i had the caravan on not just when reverseing.But when hubby took it for drive the smell had gone but he didnt have the caravan on the back, then when w set off to come home and i was sat waiting for my parents its stunk again,Yes we have taken a 2yr warranty out with the rav Thanks Lisa

[chatman]

I would say at a guess ;) ;) It is the clutch...as the smell is not there when no load is being placed on it, only when reversing/moving the caravan...

[anchorman]

Hi Lisa

Welcome to the club.

Just have a read through this;

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...ll+cabin+filter

I think the electrics are a red herring with regard to the smell - no pun intended but you obviously need to get the tow bar man to sort that little wiring issue out.

Other than that you are required by law to post some photos (well our law anyway) and enjoy your car!

Regards

[lisaxx]

Hi Lisa

Welcome to the club.

Just have a read through this;

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...ll+cabin+filter

I think the electrics are a red herring with regard to the smell - no pun intended but you obviously need to get the tow bar man to sort that little wiring issue out.

Other than that you are required by law to post some photos (well our law anyway) and enjoy your car!

Regards

Thankyou Chatman and thankyou Anchorman i will post some fotos asap i love my car just this smell of burning the doggy smells been drowned out with this burning smell and then the smell of gas.But your link was very interesting Anchorman i have had the electrics done to towbar and tomorrow im hopeing my other problems will be sorted then i will look into changing the filter like you,ve showed Thankyou Lisaxx

[chatman]

Lisaxx best not smoke in your RAV until the toxic smells are removed then..... :o :o :o

Think not so long ago there was a thread about dog smells in car's...think the best solution was miltons or bleach diluted...

Mine is not to let the dog in the car too often....or use the tow bar for longer walks :o :o

[dave.m]

Hi Lisa and welcome to TOC. While experiencing the stink, did you notice any difference in the clutch pedal ?

[lisaxx]

Hi Lisa and welcome to TOC. While experiencing the stink, did you notice any difference in the clutch pedal ?

Hiya Dave Thankyou for the welcoming, i must admit i didnt feel any real difference in the clutch but thinking bout it it went stiff. Have you experienced this before? the smell was real nasty Thankyou Lisa

[dave.m]

Yep sounds like your clutch, I had an little incident with my old 4.2 a while back. Same thing, really bad stink,

clutch pedal stiff and would not come right up. After a couple of miles it righted itself and never happened again

but best get it checked. I am sure I done a thread about it, I will do a search. Good luck. :)

[allycomet]

My "smelliest" experiences with cars have been caused by clutches. Not mine I must add. Once when a mates nedflander was stuck in mud .

The smell was something else, kinda like rotten eggs.

PS That was a couple of years ago and the the car seems to be OK. I mean the clutch is OK. The rest of the motor is pants lol

[bothwell_buyer]

Although most cars are only 12 volts, high currents are used for some circuits.

One thing I'd wonder about - if you use the 2nd socket to plug in the caravan fridge or whatever, whether the wire supplying the current is heavy enough - smouldering or overheating wire insulation can be quite toxic. Depends of course on whether it happened after the electrics were done.

Can't comment much on the clutch - if the clutch is slipping under load, you'd be aware of the overheating smell if taking caravan over a soft ground; and going uphills. Could be coupled with smoke as well.

Dead rotting mice give off a smell very like gas......

On the car itself, what mileage has it done - cambelt and fanbelt? 60,000? If thats the case, the clutch might need done as well. If the clutch is on its way out, you wouldn't notice it until a load (caravan) is put on. Maybe the smell was there before and the garage guessed it was the belts causing it??

Doggy smells on the fabric - I used to use febreze. One thing about cars is that spillages can often go through the carpet to the underlay beneath and it becomes a nightmare trying to get rid of things like spilt milk based drinks. Try buying a dog and let it live in the car - you still get the smell but then have something to blame!!

other things - overflowing portaloo; husband with a focus on cashing in an insurance policy on you; running over horse manure; dog dirt on yer shoes; previous owner left kippers in airvents before re-possession; cat litter living in engine compartment; and so on

[dave.m]

Here you go, see link -

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...l+mass+flywheel

[lisaxx]

Although most cars are only 12 volts, high currents are used for some circuits.

One thing I'd wonder about - if you use the 2nd socket to plug in the caravan fridge or whatever, whether the wire supplying the current is heavy enough - smouldering or overheating wire insulation can be quite toxic. Depends of course on whether it happened after the electrics were done.

Can't comment much on the clutch - if the clutch is slipping under load, you'd be aware of the overheating smell if taking caravan over a soft ground; and going uphills. Could be coupled with smoke as well.

Dead rotting mice give off a smell very like gas......

On the car itself, what mileage has it done - cambelt and fanbelt? 60,000? If thats the case, the clutch might need done as well. If the clutch is on its way out, you wouldn't notice it until a load (caravan) is put on. Maybe the smell was there before and the garage guessed it was the belts causing it??

Doggy smells on the fabric - I used to use febreze. One thing about cars is that spillages can often go through the carpet to the underlay beneath and it becomes a nightmare trying to get rid of things like spilt milk based drinks. Try buying a dog and let it live in the car - you still get the smell but then have something to blame!!

other things - overflowing portaloo; husband with a focus on cashing in an insurance policy on you; running over horse manure; dog dirt on yer shoes; previous owner left kippers in airvents before re-possession; cat litter living in engine compartment; and so on

Awww thanks mate you,ve made me feel a lot better with my new rav4 that i was so proud to own untill you mentioned i mite have rotting mice, my comode mite have spilt over, ive to let my dog live in there, my husbands tryin to do me in for the insurance ( mmm not a bad idea hes worth more than me lol) ive had seats out so theres no kippers lmao No seriously thankyou for replying when i first got the smell the electrics had never been attached. they wasnt any smoke though lol Thanks again Lisa ps yeah u was there or there abouts with mileage its done 57 thousand ill mention the cutch to them tomorrow few of you have said that could be the problem Thankyou

[bothwell_buyer]

I'd certainly argue the clutch as its expensive to get done - hunners...and its not your fault if its wear and tear the garage should have soerted afore punting it on. Stick it in writing to them and hand them the letter as well. It gives you a future argument if it ever comes to that (Uncle Arnie did me for a fortune cos he refused to accept all that i told his garage service manager - nothing in writing he said!!!)

Baby wipes are quite good fur yer dogs rrr's (this site edits out sweary words I've found).

Shame about the mice. Probably choked tae death oan the fumes!!

[lisaxx]

Hiya, just to let you all know i took my rav back into carsales place today, i told them that i,d been advised that its the clutch makeing the smell. They rung me back this afternoon to say did i want to go pick it up and remake another appointment for it to go back as they have to strip the engine down because they beleive it is the clutch.I told them no im not coming for it until its done and also what about the alarm going off all time she said its to go to toyota to be diagnosed what that problem is.So so far so good just hope they sort it ill keep you all informed and Thankyou all again for your help Lisa

[bothwell_buyer]

Hiya, just to let you all know i took my rav back into carsales place today, i told them that i,d been advised that its the clutch makeing the smell. They rung me back this afternoon to say did i want to go pick it up and remake another appointment for it to go back as they have to strip the engine down because they beleive it is the clutch.I told them no im not coming for it until its done and also what about the alarm going off all time she said its to go to toyota to be diagnosed what that problem is.So so far so good just hope they sort it ill keep you all informed and Thankyou all again for your help Lisa

Dealers change the clutch by taking the engine out (well thats the book instruction I believe)