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We have an 01 Toyota RAV4 (AWD) with 97,500 miles.
Car: Toyota, Rav4, 2001, 4 cyl. gas engine - Back to Fix-It - Toyota Repair Manuals
Q.We have an 01 Toyota RAV4 (AWD) with 97,500 miles. We had a snow storm here in the DC area. We traveled yesterday approx. 40 miles through snow covered roads. Anyhow, earlier this evening, we took a short trip approx. 5-6 miles. I immediately noticed the engine sounded a little louder (or perhaps different than normal)..even when I put it in Neutral. When travelling on roads with a 35mph limit.. I would notice erratic movement (brief moments of sudden spikes) on the tach. I would be travelling anywhere between 10-30 miles.. everything seemed fine but then suddenly the tach would be at 1000 or 1500 RPMs and then suddenly jump up to 2000 rpm for a split second then back down.. it would go up and down for a few seconds sometimes. Very odd - never experienced this before. Additionally, I noticed when I had put it in Reverse, and tried to pull out of a parking space, I would apply gas and the car didn't move until I applied significant amount of pressure to the gas pedal. Any ideas?
Could this be something related to the cold temperatures which may have resulted in lubricants being frozen? I had the transmission fluid fully flushed just several months ago and have not experienced any prior problems with this RAV4.What would be the recommended course of action for this sort of problem?
More Info required-Did the check engine light come on at any point?
-After you let the car sit for a while is it still acting up?
-If you start the car and leave it in PARK is the noise still there? What about if you rev the motor up in park does this change the noise level at all?
Addition 1) The Check Engine light has NOT come ON at any point.
2) Yes, even after the car has sat for a while, it would still act up. On two separate occassions, it sat for over an hour. Still same behavior.
3) With the car started and left in park, the slightly odd engine noise seems more pronounced when the gas is applied (engine revved). Although, it seems to level off sometimes after it's been runing for a while.
More Info required Ok, if you were to describe this noise how would you describe it......a grinding, a gurgle....a sound similar to a rock tumbler, etc.....how would you BEST describe this noise or what would you compare it to in your own words?
Addition Just got home from a relatives home. I was not able to backup the vehicle into driveway - engine would just rev up and would not back up into elevated driveway. Had to park car on side street.
When i walked outside the vehicle (while in park) and engine still running. I do notice that from the front of the car, i hear a prominent buzzing type sound. I had never heard that before. The buzzing type sound was somewhat irregular and didnt seem to always be in sequence with engine.
Answer I always hate to be the bearer of bad news but my job here is to provide Acurate and unbiased answers regardless of if it is what the customer "wants to hear" or not, from what I am gathering from you the final drive inside the transmission is coming apart, the entire transmission will need to be replaced here, I have replaced quite a few of these in this specific vehicle, my advise to you if you plan on keepng this vehicle for a while is to purchase a quality remanufactured unit from a dealer, these have the best quality and long term repair and are also backed by an unlimited mileage warranty.
Addition Crap.. that's what i was afraid of. Based on your experience, how much can i expect to pay for a quality remanufactured unit from a dealer. To include the cost of the new transmission and labor?
Answer You cannot purchase a "new" transmission for this vehicle, a dealer "remanufactured" is the closest thing you can get, the transmission case is the ONLY part that is not replaced with a NEW part when toyota remanufactures them, I see a lot of customers try to get these "rebuilt" at transmission shops and end up costing theirselves more $$$ in the long run as this is rarely a successful repair.
Even with new cars under warranty we install the remanufactured units as the repair, we do NOT repair transmission in house, toyota has an exchange program and they have specialists that remanufacture the units for us in a toyota owned facility.
Cost I cannot be Acurate on here, prices always changing so you will need a quote from a dealer, off teh top of my head plan on about $800-1000 labor and the transmission is going to be roughly......$3,500?
Be sure to have the engines rear main crankshaft oil seal replaced while the transmission is out to save future headache.
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