Scared Of My Rav4

October 22, 2008

Hi all. I know my topic name sounds silly but 2 weeks ago I brought a 1996 Winter Rav4 with 280000 on the clock. I know it is high, but I also know toyota engines can last quite awhile if looked after. When I test drove the rav it felt fine. I paid for it and later that night drove it to work. It seemed ok on the 100km drive to work, did seem to struggle sitting at 110km an hour though. The next morning when I finished work I was doing 110k again when the car seemed to pull back slightly then went bang in the rear. At the time I was sitting in between two large trucks. I continued to drive it for a short while longer, but the noise and smell became unbearable. Until the pull back and bang there was not one noise (except the usual noisy driving), I did not have the radio on as I wanted to listen for any problems. I had it towed back to the dealer and told him the rear diff had blown out. After nearly two weeks at the mechanics and a replacement rear diff I am now scared *****less to drive it to work tomorrow. What noise should I be listening out for?? The mechanic that fixed it said there must have been a noise, but I did not hear one. Is there anything else that can make the diff go?

October 22, 2008

Hi all. I know my topic name sounds silly but 2 weeks ago I brought a 1996 Winter Rav4 with 280000 on the clock. I know it is high, but I also know toyota engines can last quite awhile if looked after. When I test drove the rav it felt fine. I paid for it and later that night drove it to work. It seemed ok on the 100km drive to work, did seem to struggle sitting at 110km an hour though. The next morning when I finished work I was doing 110k again when the car seemed to pull back slightly then went bang in the rear. At the time I was sitting in between two large trucks. I continued to drive it for a short while longer, but the noise and smell became unbearable. Until the pull back and bang there was not one noise (except the usual noisy driving), I did not have the radio on as I wanted to listen for any problems. I had it towed back to the dealer and told him the rear diff had blown out. After nearly two weeks at the mechanics and a replacement rear diff I am now scared *****less to drive it to work tomorrow. What noise should I be listening out for?? The mechanic that fixed it said there must have been a noise, but I did not hear one. Is there anything else that can make the diff go?

Welcome to the forum -

Not heard of anyone having this sort of problem with a diff. My turbo RAV (first version) has 174,000+ miles on the clock on the original gearbox and diff. = 280,000 kms. The drivetrain is capable of around 350bhp which is almost 3 times the power the 3SFE engine has. I have hammered the diff on quarter mile sprints and have no trouble - the only trouble I have is with the diff mount. Maybe the diff on your car hadn't been enjoying an oil change - or perhaps whoever sold it to you knew there was a problem but masked it by shoving in thicker oil or grease. I do have problems with the rear suspension mounts, but hopefully will be replacing them with polybushes soon. The suspension mounts need replacing every 80,000 miles = 130,000kms.

If the diff has been replaced, I can't imagine you would have any more bother.

What engine is fitted into yours?? I know in other countries some different engines were fitted...but I'd guess the transmission is the same.

And for interest is it 3 door or 5 door?

I'd give the car a try out, keeping to maybe around 80kmh for a couple of hundred kms til you build your trust up again, - other thing depending on the engine is it might need a cam belt change...do you know when it was last changed??