2011 Toyota Rav4 Engine Problems

Your car's accelerator pedal continued to speed up even after you released it, forcing you to brake hard and shift to Park to stop the engine. The car operated normally after restarting, but this has happened multiple times and feels unsafe. You've ruled out floor mat interference and suspect the accelerator pedal itself is sticking intermittently. A mechanic should inspect the pedal assembly and throttle system for mechanical sticking or binding.

Your car unexpectedly accelerated and rolled forward while you were stopped at a red light with your foot on the brake. This happened again when you shifted from Park to Drive. An independent mechanic found that the canister purge valve and throttle body needed attention, and the vehicle was repaired. The repair likely involved replacing the purge valve and cleaning or servicing the throttle body to restore proper engine idle and acceleration control.

Your engine is consuming oil much faster than normal — you're losing about 4 quarts between oil changes and only 1,000 miles of driving. The check engine light didn't come on until the engine actually stopped, and now you have to check the oil level every day instead of just at regular intervals. This has been happening for almost 4 years. The fix will likely involve diagnosing the source of the leak or excessive burning (such as worn piston rings, valve seals, or a gasket leak) and repairing or replacing the damaged components.

The car had 115,000 miles on the engine and was just at 3,000 miles post oil change. Making a left turn over oncoming traffic the car died. Barely missed having an accident. As the car sat it did restart. No lights on the dash for engine issues. Drove 2 miles directly to my mechanic. The car had half a quart of oil remaining! Car now closely monitored burns 1/2 quart every 500 miles and more if highway driven.

Making a left hand turn across traffic and the car completely shut down. Restarted car. A mile later making a right turn and the car completely shut down. Took the car to my mechanic and they had it fail 3X while turning. Only 2000 miles since last oil change I had less than a quart of oil remaining. Oil burning / consumption put me and others at serious risk for a car accident.

JUST PURCHASED 2011 RAV4 WITH 104K MILES AND SOON FOUND OUT IT HAS A BAD CAM GEAR! APPARENTLY THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT FOR THIS YEAR! OF COURSE IT'S NOT UNDER WARRANTY AT THIS MILEAGE! SHOCKED LIKE EVERYONE ELSE TO FIND OUT THIS WASN'T RECALLED BY TOYOTA. THEY NEED TO STEP UP AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS KNOWN FAULTY PART! NOT HAPPY WITH MY FIRST TOYOTA!

SEVERAL CARS HAVE HAD A CAMSHAFT TIMING GEAR ASSEMBLY PROBLEM SINCE DAY 1. SO MANY PEOPLE BACK 10 YEARS AGO HAD THE PROBLEM AND STORIES OF ENGINEERS BEING CALLED IN TO DIAGNOSE IT FILL THE NET. HOW DO WE NOW 11 YEARS IN KNOW THAT WHILE THE CAMSHAFT GEAR WAS IN NEED OF R/R THAT ENGINE DAMAGE OF ANY KIND DIDN'T OCCUR? T-SB-0041-13 HAS BEEN REVISED SO MANY TIMES IT IS RIDICULOUS THAT THIS HAS NOT BECOME A FULL FLEDGED RECALL.

FIRE UNDER THE HOOD

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE STARTED TO EXPERIENCE HIGH OIL CONSUMPTION, WHICH EVENTUALLY CAUSED THE SPARK PLUGS TO BURN OUT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO TOYOTA CARLSBAD (6020 AVENIDA ENCINAS, CARLSBAD, CA 92011) WHERE THEY TESTED THE OIL CONSUMPTION. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN ANY RECALLS AND WERE UNABLE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER ASSISTANCE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 107,000. *BF CONSUMER STATED TOYOTA HAS DIAGNOSED YHIS VEHICLE AS HAVING AN OIL CONSUMPTION ISSUE. IT FAILED THE TEST 1/23/19 ON THE 3RD TESTING USING 1 QUART OF OIL FOR 598 MILES. AT 107,000 MILES I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR OIL CONSUMPTON. THEY TOLD ME I HAD EXTENDED WARRANTY SO THEY EXAMINED THE CAR. LATER I WAS TOLD THAT I WAS TOLD INCORRECT INFO. CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE IN A THIRD TIME. BOTH VISITS I WAS TOLD THE CAR PASSED THE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST PROBLEM IS GETTING WORSE.*JB

VVTI GEAR..WHEN THE VEHICLE IS FIRST STARTED THE ENGINE MAKES A LOUD RATTLING NOISE AS IF THERE IS NO OIL GETTING TO THE PISTONS

CAR IS 7 YEARS OLD WITH 123,000 MILES. RECENTLY STARTED BURNING OIL EXCESSIVELY. MY CAR IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE TOYOTA TSB RELATED TO THIS ISSUE. HAD IT TESTED AT TOYOTA DEALER & IT FAILED. LITERALLY RAN OUT OF OIL & DIDN'T KNOW IT; CAR JUST STOPPED IN TRAFFIC. TOYOTA REFUSES TO DO ANYTHING FOR ME.

EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION. AT LEAST ONE QUART OF OIL NEEDS BE ADDED EVERY 600 MILES. PROBLEM STARTED AT APPROXIMATELY 80,000 MILES. OIL SLUDGE BUILT UP IN A VALVE WHICH CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO STALL UNEXPECTEDLY.

I HAVE A DEFECTIVE VVT-I GEAR ON MY 2011 RAV4. UPON RESEARCHING THE DIAGNOSIS FROM MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER (DAVID MAUS TOYOTA), I DISCOVERED THAT TOYOTA HAS KNOWN ABOUT THIS ENGINEERING FLAW SINCE 2010 AND HAD PUT OUT A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (T-SB-0146-10) SO THAT DEALERSHIPS WOULD KNOW HOW TO REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE PART. MY VEHICLE'S VIN # IS SPECIFICALLY LISTED ON THIS TSB AS AN EFFECTED VEHICLE. ALSO, THERE ARE MANY OF FORUMS, ONLINE, OF PEOPLE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM AND TOYOTA IS REFUSING TO REPLACE THESE PARTS FOR OWNERS. THIS IS NOT A WEARABLE PART. IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE TO BE REPLACED AND IT IS A VERY EXPENSIVE REPAIR (APPROX. $2,000) WITH NO DISCOUNTS. I SHOULD MENTION THAT I HAVE BEEN DILLIGENT WITH MY CAR'S MAINTENANCE AND CAN PULL MOST (IF NOT ALL) OF MY OIL CHANGES, IF NECESSARY. APPARENTLY, THE SAME ISSUE WAS DISCOVERED WITH CERTAIN LEXUS MODELS, BACK THEN, AND THEY DID A RECALL FOR THOSE VEHICLES BUT NOT THE TOYOTA MODELS (CAMRYS, HIGHLANDERS, RAV4S, SIENNAS, AND VENZAS WERE ALL AFFECTED FROM THIS PARTICULAR FACTORY FROM THE YEARS OF 2009-2011). I FILED A CASE WITH TOYOTA'S CORPORATE OFFICE (CASE # 1606011778) AND THEY OFFERED A $400 REFUND AFTER I PAID FOR THE REPAIR. THIS IS JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE, IN MY VIEW. YES, THE VEHICLE IS OUT OF WARRANTY, BUT THIS IS NOT A WARRANTY ISSUE. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL BACK IN 2010 WHEN THEY DISCOVERED IT AND DITRIBUTED THE TSB. I OFFERED TO PAY FOR THE PART (AT TOYOTA'S COST) IF THEY COVERED THE LABOR (THAT IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE COST TO THE REPAIR), BUT THEY WOULD NOT BUDGE. IT IS A TIME SENSITIVE ISSUE, AS WELL, BECAUSE I AM A SINGLE MOTHER. THIS IS MY ONLY VEHICLE AND OPERATING THE VEHICLE WITH A MALFUNTIONING VVT-I GEAR IS CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE. I AM ATTACHING THE TSB WITH THE LISTED AFFECTED VIN #S.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE ATTEMPTING A LEFT TURN, HE CRASHED INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE AT VERY LOW IMPACT. THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENT WERE ON SCENE TO ASSIST AND THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED. THE HOOD AND THE BATTERY WERE MELTED AND THE VEHICLE WAS DEEMED AS DESTROYED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THERE WAS NO INJURIES. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 56,000.

LATE MODEL TOYOTA RAV4'S FROM MY RESEARCH SEEM TO HAVE AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH THE EVAP CHARCOAL CANISTER REQUIRING REPLACEMENT (SEE NHTSB 10033407). MY CAR (ALTHOUGH NOT A 2009) HAS THE SAME EXACT OBD DIAGNOSTIC CODES LISTED IN THE BULLETIN ABOVE YET 2011 RAV4'S HAVEN'T BEEN LISTED WITH THIS PROBLEM. TOYOTA WARRANTS THEM FOR 3 YEARS, 36K MILES BUT MOST SEEM TO FAIL JUST AFTER THE WARRANTY ENDS. MY 2011 RAV4, 4 CYL. WITH 51K MILES EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM 19 MONTHS (AND 46K MILES) AFTER MANUFACTURE (9/10) AND TOYOTA HAS REFUSED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. THE SOLUTION IS A $1000+ REPAIR. ALL OTHER EMISSIONS EQUIPMENT ON MY CAR IS WARRANTED FOR UP TO 80K MILES OR 8 YRS AND IS IN GOOD WORKING ORDER. *TR

STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT. CAR STARTED MOVING FORWARD. THOUGHT SOMEONE WAS PUSHING CAR FROM BEHIND. ENGINE REVVED UP AND WE WERE MOVING INTO THE INTERSECTION AND THE LIGHT WAS STILL RED. PUSHED VERY HARD ON BRAKE AND QUICKLY PUT CAR IN NEUTRAL. ENGINE REVVED TO ABOUT 6,500 RPM IN NEUTRAL, THEN BACK TO NORMAL.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH, THE CONTACT SMELLED A STRONG ODOR OF SULFUR EXHAUST FUMES EMITTING INSIDE OF THE CABIN. THE FAILURE WOULD OCCUR WHEN DRIVING AT HIGH SPEEDS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THEY WERE ABLE TO SMELL THE STRONG ODOR. THERE WAS NOT A REMEDY TO CORRECT THE DEFECT. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 5,200.