Uk Ecu Gearbox Repairs

[IanXT4]

I was browsing the internet today and came across this interesting UK company that was mentioned in the Telegraph.

Seems that they specialise in rebuilding ABS units and more interestingly they offer Gearbox ECU repairs for the RAV.

I thought I would post it for future reference, I have no idea of cost etc.

http://www.ecutesting.com/toyota_rav_4_gearbox_ecu.html

[anchorman]

Good stuff Ian.

I've emailed them to see if they would do us a club rate for a repair.

[crofter]

As this company is local to me I was going to pay them a visit and suss them out as well as seeing if we (TOC) could squeeze a discount but you were too efficient for me,ancs. Still maybe the more requests the better eh? Will you let us know if they respond?

I think I will still visit to see if my ECU needs uprating and what the cost will be and see if I can gather any useful info

[bitman]

i'm a bit sceptical about it as also in the US there are others then the Brooklyn guys but if you hear the stories...

but if they can do a good job then better for us all as those uk custom guys should be hanged :censor:

it took only from 11 nov till 13 nov for my parcel to be back in the uk and then... well look at the table :o

Parcel tracks

Date Time Location Tracking Event

16-11-2010 13:55 National Hub Received and processed

14-11-2010 23:40 International Hub Awaiting Customs clearance

14-11-2010 23:36 International Hub Received in destination country

13-11-2010 11:19 Heathrow Airport Received in destination country

11-11-2010 21:24 Delivery Agent - NEW YORK -PTT Forwarded for export

10-11-2010 08:33 Delivery Agent - UNITED STATES AMERICA

[anchorman]

I have now heared from the UK specialist. They say they will give us a 10% discount on the £195 + VAT price for an ECU rebuild. Thats £212.26 all in.

If anyone wants it done there pm me for the password.

[bitman]

nice one mr. anchorman

hoop to hear some results soon. please keep your receipts as we might going to take mr t. to court

[trbj]

Hi all,

seems the Toyota guys are the only ones not interested in fixing the ecu problem!

Bitman, - when receiving your box from Check Engine maybe you should open it and see what has been done, - i.e. look at the soldering and see what kind of parts that has been changed. Maybe this is a very simple repair which might as well just include cheap passive part(S). Photo appreciated!

Maybe we could buy you a security bit kit in return, - your angle cutting actions seemed a bit over the top!

Got your box out of customs yet?

Trond

[bitman]

I have now heared from the UK specialist. They say they will give us a 10% discount on the £195 + VAT price for an ECU rebuild. Thats £212.26 all in.

If anyone wants it done there pm me for the password.

my total cost (incl. p&p) with the Brooklyn guys £195.02

so those uk guys do need to do something with their £

[LesC]

I have now heared from the UK specialist. They say they will give us a 10% discount on the £195 + VAT price for an ECU rebuild. Thats £212.26 all in.

If anyone wants it done there pm me for the password.

Hi,

My wifes 02 RAV4 auto has just developed this fault. The engine management warning light came on and our local Toyota dealer identified the fault code as an auto transmission problem and gave us the contact no of a local specialist. Apparently they fit a new ecu which has to be programmed for the car. Having googled I see that this is a common RAV fault caused by the ecu and found that ECU Testing can repair the existing unit and there is even a discount available. What is the magic password?

[junebug1701]

Here's an article from The New York Times about Toyota's transmission/ecu problems. This is from February 2010:

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/toyota-owners-complain-this-time-about-the-rav4/

[crofter]

May I repeat a previous post that you must have to hand the part number on your ECU when contacting ecutesting.

Del

[charlierav4]

Hi I've just had the same problem and went to Toyota with all the information I had off the internet but they said they knew nothing about it.

After a week they have realised this is a common fault and have sent it to the claims department to see if Toyota will pay for the repairs.

If anyone that has had this problem could get in touch then maybe we could Toyota to do a proper recall so this problem can finally get sorted!

Look forward to hearing from you!

[airies67]

I have now heared from the UK specialist. They say they will give us a 10% discount on the £195 + VAT price for an ECU rebuild. Thats £212.26 all in.

If anyone wants it done there pm me for the password.

Hi

How do i find out the password ?

Thanks Mick

[Davrav]

I have now heared from the UK specialist. They say they will give us a 10% discount on the £195 + VAT price for an ECU rebuild. Thats £212.26 all in.

If anyone wants it done there pm me for the password.

Hi

How do i find out the password ?

Thanks Mick

Hi Mick and welcome to the club

If you send a Personal Message to member Anchorman by clicking on the letter icon in his information to the left of the post, he will return it to you [he has a post 9 above this one]

[bitman]

Here's an article from The New York Times about Toyota's transmission/ecu problems. This is from February 2010:

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/toyota-owners-complain-this-time-about-the-rav4/

now its time about toyota europe to react!!! :ffs:

[bitman]

update:

since i installed the repaired ecu from the us brooklyn guys some months ago i can let you all know;

"the gearbox is better then ever before"

bear in mind that the gearbox is still the same since when our rav 4 was build in 2003!

those toyota grease monkeys wanted to exchange the whole gearbox (£3k plus) and didn't had any interest in our story; 'we only do what toyota tells us to do'

(what a boring job they must have those overpaid garages)...

[airies67]

Hi

Last week my beloved 2001 Rav4 developed the same problem mentioned on many posts, After reading the many posts i contacted Toyota uk.

The conversation started with them saying they were not aware of any problems, after i read them many of the online posts, it changed to " well we are aware of problems in the usa but not here " after a few more online quotes, it changed to " over here we are dealing with it case by case.

They arranged for me to take it to my local dealer for an inspection report free of charge.

Just picked it up and according to the manager no fault codes came up relating to the auto box and because of that Toyota were not willing to anything about it.

i asked for a copy of the report and in bold lettering it states, AUTO BOX NOT CHANGING SMOOTHLY NO CODES FOUND BUT APPEARS TO BE FAMILIER TO AN ECU FAULT.

I,ve contacted the ecu testing company in the uk and told them the part number 89661-42682, but its not one they have across before and i can't find any reference to it being on any list of faulty ones.

so its begining to sound like my gearbox is maybe just knackered. boohoo

ps. it only does it when its changing gear between 20-30 mph, before 20 and after 30 its as good as gold.

is it worth sending the ecu off ? or just call it a day ? booooohoooooooooooooooo

[anchorman]

I sent you the info. I would send it off to them.

[bitman]

Hi

Last week my beloved 2001 Rav4 developed the same problem mentioned on many posts, After reading the many posts i contacted Toyota uk.

The conversation started with them saying they were not aware of any problems, after i read them many of the online posts, it changed to " well we are aware of problems in the usa but not here " after a few more online quotes, it changed to " over here we are dealing with it case by case.

They arranged for me to take it to my local dealer for an inspection report free of charge.

Just picked it up and according to the manager no fault codes came up relating to the auto box and because of that Toyota were not willing to anything about it.

i asked for a copy of the report and in bold lettering it states, AUTO BOX NOT CHANGING SMOOTHLY NO CODES FOUND BUT APPEARS TO BE FAMILIER TO AN ECU FAULT.

I,ve contacted the ecu testing company in the uk and told them the part number 89661-42682, but its not one they have across before and i can't find any reference to it being on any list of faulty ones.

so its begining to sound like my gearbox is maybe just knackered. boohoo

ps. it only does it when its changing gear between 20-30 mph, before 20 and after 30 its as good as gold.

is it worth sending the ecu off ? or just call it a day ? booooohoooooooooooooooo

and again, toyota is full of bs...

our nrg didn't spit any fault codes either as i have my own fault code reader computer. ours started to make a clunk when from r into d and versa visa. also it started to slip when driving off making it difficult to cross junctions etc. when we got the ecu back from the brooklyn guys all was fine and still is.

now this is our own experience and it doesn't have to be the same for you but i didn't want to destroy the gearbox and for a coupe hundred $ is always better then the many £ at the main dealer wanting the renew the gearbox.

good luck

[airies67]

Update:

Took it to a local Auto electrician i know today because i couldn't get to 2 of the !Removed! screws on top of the ecu bracket off !!!!

and he said he's come across a few Rav4's sent to him from dealers as trade ins with the same problem and his success with having the ecu's repaired over here was bit hit and miss.

He sent me to a garage that specialized in auto boxes just to rule out any problems with the gearbox before i parted with any money, He drove the car at various speeds for about 20 minutes and checked a few things and ruled out any problems with the gearbox, Definitely an ecu problem, after a long conversation, he said 90% of problems with Rav4 auto boxes is down to the ecu !!!!! nice one Toyota !!!!

Funnily enough he also didn't recommend having the ecu repaired over here, So looks like it will be heading to Brooklyn. hey ho at least the ecu seems to be getting about, built in japan, well driven in the Uk and Europe and now off to the states for brain surgery LOL.

Bitman can you let me know the procedure you went through with dealing with the Brooklyn boy.

[bitman]

pm send.

i had a problem too with those security bolts; http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=105216&hl=%20ecu%20%20bitman&st=30

all good fun

[airies67]

Update:

Whipped out the ecu yesterday, packed it, dropped it off at UPS depot Watford at 3pm.

Tracked it today and was signed for at check engines etc, New York today at 1:12pm very impressive.

I will now be pacing up and down like a father awaiting the arrival of his first born lol.

I would like to thank everyone for their invaluable advice and tips especially, bitman and anchorman.

maybe bitman would like to start a new thread, Extreme angle grinding in tight spaces lol.

Hopefully my next update will be good news.

[IanXT4]

Came across these the other day

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverhill-Point-Star-Torx-bits/dp/B003ALOG06/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1300429963&sr=8-2-fkmr0

Not as much fun as an angle grinder or a cutting torch

[bitman]

Came across these the other day

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverhill-Point-Star-Torx-bits/dp/B003ALOG06/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1300429963&sr=8-2-fkmr0

Not as much fun as an angle grinder or a cutting torch

i have those bits in my toolbox from Halfords but they didn't fit (pin on bolt to thick) hence angle grinder

well talking about grinders... got my pitman arm off my truck

but have now an puller;

[airies67]

Update:

Got my Ecu back on Thursday, been driving it for the last two days and it's absolutely FANTASTIC

I was already p****d off with Toyota for giving me the brush off and denying there's any problem. :ffs:

But when i saw The feedback on eBay for these guys I was realy P****d off, They've got 100% feedback and done hundreds of Ecu's in fact that's all they do, and Toyota still deny there's a problem :ffs:

I even went through the boring task of checking all the eBay feedback for these guys to see which ones came from the UK, i then contacted some of them to see if their Rav4's were still working properly after all this time and low and behold they all got back to me and all. still running fine :ffs: :ffs: :ffs:

And to top it up while checking the feedback to see which ebayers came from the UK it turns out that its worldwide, Greece, Spain, Canada, Austria, Chile Etc etc Etc :ffs:

How many Rav4 owners Have spent thousands on gearboxes and ecu's with Toyota without having to :ffs:, It takes the Brooklyn guys 1 hour to fix the ecu, i posted it on the 16th, it arrived there on the 17th and they post it back out on the 17th.

I will be contacting Toyota on Monday to see what they have to say but i'm not holding my breath.

And finally to finish off my Saturday evening rant, if any body from Toyota is reading this and is wondering what effect their deny all attitude has on loyal Toyota owners then read on, we were going to buy a new Yaris for my wife to run about in but she now has a shiny

Citroen C3 on the drive and i will keep repairing my beloved Rav4 for as long as financially possible ( though not through Toyota ). but When it does finally die i will be going to Kia or Hyundia.

Once again i would like to thank everyone in this club who helped me get my car back on the road.