Problems with 2001 Toyota RAV4 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Rough shift in low gears causing engine to rev but car does not move. had solenoids replaced, problem still exists. told ecm needs to be replaced but other owners said this has not corrected the problem. car revs but goes no where and creates dangerous situation especially in dense traffic with big trucks. *tr

My wife drove the 2001 toyota rav 4 to work this morning. it was a 5 mile drive. after parking the car a fellow employee told her the car was on fire. the fire department responded and put the fire out. but the car was a total loss. the fire inspector located the origin of the fire, along the firewall directly in the middle of the wall, but said he was unable to determine the cause. he said no accelerant was used, and that the fire was probably the result of a cracked fuel-line or some other fluid leaking onto the engine. we noticed no fluids leaked onto the driveway at home. i am posting this in case any one else had a similar situation.*ak

Dt*: the contact stated while attempting to enter the highway, with the accelerator pedal applied the engine revved, but did not move forward. the vehicle operated at a reduced speed in a jerking motion. the vehicle was seen by a dealer for inspection. the dealer determined the computer needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was alerted.

While driving passengers smelled a burning odor. the consumer opened the hood, and saw fire. the consumer immediately called the fire department. *ak smoke had come from under the hood. *sc

Dt: the consumer stated that the engine light kept illuminating in the 2001 toyota rav 4. the vehicle was taken to the dealership three times. the first time they reprogrammed the computer, the second time they replaced the oxygen sensors and the third time they determined that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. the consumer planned to replace the catalytic converter in the future. currently the contact was driving the vehicle with the engine light on. the vehicle was not driving differently. the consumer contacted toyota and they urged the consumer to work with the dealer, and maybe they would help her with the cost. *ak (11/21/05) the consumer was aware of other same make model and years that have experienced this same problem. *sc

The vehicle has a hesitation during acceleration making it difficult to determine if i can safely merge into traffic. i took the vehicle to the dealer ,and they said that they had to clear the onboard computer's memory, and the problem should be cleared up. nothing was said on how or why this would fix the problem but it did not. the day after the clearing of the memory the vehicle did this again. i was told to bring it into the dealer again for another clearing of memory. what measures can i take to resolve this issue? i cannot be expected to bring this in every week. *ak

Premature wearing of brake pads, making vehicle hard to stop. *ak the vehicle makes noise. at first the dealer turned pads, second the dealer installed updated front brake pads, then replaced both rear drums but the problem remains unsolved. while driving with the a/c fan on there was a vibration in dash area. the roof rack screw was loose and fell out. the center seat belt was missing trim piece. the rear door rattles while closing. *yh

Event 1: 1. shortly after buying car, noted engine revs would soar by 700 to 800 rpms between gears while shifting manual transmission. found this happened by just disengaging the clutch without shifting even with foot not on the accelerator pedal. 2. the rev soaring happened consistently. no consequences except for an unpleasant driving experience. 3. computer was reprogrammed by the dealer from whom i bought the car. rev jumps reduced to about 400 rpm. a second reprogramming reduced it to about 200 rpm. this behavior still exists. event #2. 1. about six months after purchasing the car, noted that when cruising with rpms above 2800 rpm in 5th gear with cruise control engaged and foot not on accelerator pedal, on disengaging the clutch, the engine revs would soar to 3,200 rpm to 3,500 rpmand remain there for periods ranging between 5 seconds to over a minute. this occurred while the car was coasting and slowing while not under power. 2. this behavior frequently occurred under the above conditions. no consequences except as a profession engineer and former sports car racing driver, i knew this behavior was not normal. 3. behavior examined by my local toyota dealer. mechanic hooked up recording box to car, but i was unable to replicate the behavior on this occasion. data examined by a toyota engineer who pronounced there was not a problem. later, i was again able to replicate the behavior. after yet another computer reprogramming, this behavior of remaining at a high rpm seems to have stopped. however, the engine revs still will surge to about 3,400 rpm before dropping off. *tr