Rav4 2AD-FTV Turbo Diesel Excessive Oil Consumption

[JTSA]

Mine is a 2013 RAV4 diesel manual. It was registered in Feb 2013.

[H4RD]

I've had the rebuild done 5 months ago.

Oil light hasn't come on, but I've just been informed that when my Mrs went on a 1000km round trip, halfway thru her father topped up the oil. How much I dont know. But I just checked the oil level now and it's 1/2 way. So I'm guessing that the oil light would have gone on if the in law didn't top up the oil.

So, I'll ring my dealer on Monday and let him know. (I'll say the oil light had come on twice now) He'll want to do an oil consumption test, he'll most likely tell me that it's fail , they'll ring Toyota Australia, they'll put in a brand new turbo diesel engine. Of course they can't guarantee that the new engine isn't free of the oil consumption issue.. Only then, when the replacement engine fails I will be able to use the Lemon law and ask for a full refund

[JTSA]

Hi A,

Is your dealer in Adelaide or country SA? Mine is on West Tce.

John

[lynandbill]

is there such a thing as LEMON LAW where i can get a refund

[lynandbill]

hi John i purchased mine from Sutherland Toyota but I am from Wollongong but I travel to Nowra Toyota as they are very trustworthy & honest, i have always had all my toyota vehicles serviced there

[blacktux]

Sorry hear about your Rav4 issues. I've looked at legal action and spoken to consumer law experts. I've spent good money on this. Its not worth it. Hate to say you have two options; (1) sale the RAV4 or (2) get the rebuild and live with it. Yes there is consumer law about this, but Toyota Australia states this is minor defect not a major. The motor industry experts I've spoken also call this a minor defect. Toyota will also get the engine rebuid done in a week. The cost of testing this in court and the risks associated with losing was too high for me to continue.

I was adding 1ltr of oil every 5000kms and after the rebuild i get 9000kms before the oil light.

[Upsetwithtoyota]

Minor defect? Ha that makes me laugh, they call running out of oil a minor defect? Im still cranky 6 months after trading my rav in as i lost money by doing so and my ute has no where near as much features as the rav had. When i had the rav i had to fight to get any work done and felt like they were trying to fob me off all the time. It was like the raised the hoop every visit and expected me to try jump through it. I miss my rav it was my first brand new car.

[blacktux]

Toyota’s response on running out of oil was, it’s a low pressure indicator light not low on oil light. Same thing to me but not to Toyota.

And yes i still have the RAV, I was lucky that we purchased during the 7 year warranty promotion.

Edited July 8, 2015 by blacktux

[blacktux]

Also major defect according to people i spoke to is; something that keeps the vehicle off the road for extended period of time. Low oil pressure isnt that, just add oil in the next 300kms.

[trentmeyer23]

Toyota’s response on running out of oil was, it’s a low pressure indicator light not low on oil light. Same thing to me but not to Toyota.

A low pressure light is different to a low oil light. Low pressure could be caused by low oil, however it can also be caused by a faulty oil pump. In this case, I would say the oil level has a large part to play in the situation.

[Hazelglow]

HI everyone, I have a late '13 RAV4 diesel, and it seems I might be having the same issue. I've had the car less than a year so obviously I don't know its entire history. All I do know is right before its service back in Jan this year (my first service since the car's been mine) the low oil warning came on. After mentioning this at the service, the Toyota service guy set up a starting point baseline for measuring oil consumption. Fast forward 6 months to today, the car is now obviously due for another service, and the low oil warning came back on again today! The car has done 6500 kms since the last service, with about a 50:50 ratio of highway driving to suburban pootling. Since I am brand new to this issue, I have no idea whether this sort of consumption is good, bad, indifferent or terrible as compared to other RAV4s having similar problems - what do you guys think? I guess it depends on how much oil they put in at the last service. One would like to presume that given they were setting up a baseline for measuring consumption they would have put in exactly the right amount to top it up, as opposed to any overfilling shenanigans...

By complete coincidence another diesel rav4 owner came up to me in a carpark only just a few days ago, making me aware of this as a broader RAV4 issue for the first time. I'm wondering now if he might be active on this forum - if so, can you make yourself known to me? ['twas just a few days ago in the Jamison Centre carpark in Canberra]

As I'm about to have this car serviced again and deliver the news that the oil warning has come back on again after 6500kms, anybody want to give me any advice as to how I should approach this matter with the Toyota dealership? What line of tack to take? Much appreciated!

Edited July 15, 2015 by Hazelglow

[Andrew162]

You might want to raise the point of the TNF (Toyota News Flash) to the service guys, see what they can dig up on their knowledgebase about it. It's a known issue, but a lot will play dumb towards it or just not even know what the problem is. The TNF knowledgebase was created for this purpose.

[lynandbill]

hello, further to my previous posts regarding excessive oil. as I said i have total faith in the honesty in Nowra Toyota & on previous post I was due to take my 2014 rav4 Cruiser into them for the 20,000 kilometre service, & then 2 days before this the oil warning shows.

the service managed was very honest in advising there are some issues with certain vin numbers rav4, toyota are aware of the problem.he has given me a Toyota warning light sheet to take to nearest dealership to fill in when i have the problem again, if i have the problem again.

also he mentioned a customer brought his rav4 from Canberra to Nowra dealership with same problems, rings & pistons were replaced, customer has not been back since.

[blacktux]

HI everyone, I have a late '13 RAV4 diesel, and it seems I might be having the same issue. I've had the car less than a year so obviously I don't know its entire history. All I do know is right before its service back in Jan this year (my first service since the car's been mine) the low oil warning came on. After mentioning this at the service, the Toyota service guy set up a starting point baseline for measuring oil consumption. Fast forward 6 months to today, the car is now obviously due for another service, and the low oil warning came back on again today! The car has done 6500 kms since the last service, with about a 50:50 ratio of highway driving to suburban pootling. Since I am brand new to this issue, I have no idea whether this sort of consumption is good, bad, indifferent or terrible as compared to other RAV4s having similar problems - what do you guys think? I guess it depends on how much oil they put in at the last service. One would like to presume that given they were setting up a baseline for measuring consumption they would have put in exactly the right amount to top it up, as opposed to any overfilling shenanigans...

By complete coincidence another diesel rav4 owner came up to me in a carpark only just a few days ago, making me aware of this as a broader RAV4 issue for the first time. I'm wondering now if he might be active on this forum - if so, can you make yourself known to me? ['twas just a few days ago in the Jamison Centre carpark in Canberra]

As I'm about to have this car serviced again and deliver the news that the oil warning has come back on again after 6500kms, anybody want to give me any advice as to how I should approach this matter with the Toyota dealership? What line of tack to take? Much appreciated!

I've been dealing with Belconnen Toyota, ask for the General Service Manager. He is well aware of this issue. You will have to go through the process of a oil comsumption testing but it should lead to a rebuild.

[Hazelglow]

Thanks James, that is indeed my dealership so it's good to know I'm not the first. My question for you is, does a 'rebuild' actually result in a fixed car?! And what exactly are they rebuilding - modified pistons or rings or both or something else?

[blacktux]

Thanks James, that is indeed my dealership so it's good to know I'm not the first. My question for you is, does a 'rebuild' actually result in a fixed car?! And what exactly are they rebuilding - modified pistons or rings or both or something else?

No the rebuild doesn't fix the problem, however it does reduce the the oil consumption. Before rebuild I was adding oil 5000kms and after its 8000-9000kms. I can live with that.

Request a oil consumption test and the rebuild.

[enforcer]

Hello All,

After experiencing many problems with my 2012 Mazda CX 5 Maxx Sport 2.2 diesel, I've decided to sell my Mazda lemon to buy a RAV4. During my research I stumbled across this thread and I wanted to make sure I wasn't swapping one lemon for another.

For those that are interested, in short the Mazda CX 5 diesels have a problem that causes the engine oil to rise.

Moving forward, I have thread through the thread and the majority of RAV4 posters have specifically commented that their engine oil decreasing problem is with their diesel engine. However, some owners have not specifically mentioned that they have a diesel or petrol engine, only that they too have an engine oil decreasing problem. I know the thread title mentions the engine 2AD-FTV, but I need piece of mind that this does not include the petrol engines.

I have been looking at the RAV4 GXL 2.5 L petrol with engine code 2AR-FE. Is this engine affected by the decreasing engine oil or other major design flaw?

Please be unbiased in your comments. If you have had a problem with your diesel engine, it does not automatically determine that the petrol version is flawed.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

[trentmeyer23]

I believe it is the diesel only.

[Hiro]

Would be a much bigger problem if it included the petrol as that is also used in the Camry.

[Talbit]

Yes it's only the diesel. It's a lemon. I've put in 2 litres in this service period and I'm up to 38,500klm.

Forget about the RAV4 diesel unless Toyota have fixed the problem in the new model but I'd doubt it. Just look at it this way. Toyota don't know how to fix it and will fob you off. I'd be interrested to know what the sales person tells you about the issue. Then walk down to the service section and ask them. If they say "first we've heard about it" then walk out. But the petrol one is probably okay. Check the posts on the crappy speedo.

What do you mean by "causes the engine oil to rise" in your Mazda?

Cheers

Talbit

[enforcer]

Yes it's only the diesel. It's a lemon. I've put in 2 litres in this service period and I'm up to 38,500klm.

Forget about the RAV4 diesel unless Toyota have fixed the problem in the new model but I'd doubt it. Just look at it this way. Toyota don't know how to fix it and will fob you off. I'd be interrested to know what the sales person tells you about the issue. Then walk down to the service section and ask them. If they say "first we've heard about it" then walk out. But the petrol one is probably okay. Check the posts on the crappy speedo.

What do you mean by "causes the engine oil to rise" in your Mazda?

Cheers

Talbit

In short, diesel fuel is forced through the diesel particulate filter to clean it and this fuel ends up in the oil. Over time, if you allow the engine oil to rise too high it will cause damage to the engine.

I'm going to stay away from diesels for mid sized cars for now. I've decided the RAV4 in petrol as the CX 5 petrol engine longevity is still to be proven while the RAV4 uses the same engine as the Camry and apparantly the 2AR-FE engine does not have excess oil use.

[Talbit]

Interestingly, Toyota has give me free 6 months roadside assist after my 40,000 service, but only within 100klm radius of Canberra CBD. No good to me me if I'm interstate but I'd call anyway if I'm stuck. But of course it's only a bandaid solution.

I'd like to know if they've fix the problem in the new 2015/16 diesel and if so what did they do to fix it. Surely they're not still selling the same engine knowing there's a problem. Or are they?

Cheers

Talbit

[Andrew162]

I think I've mentioned this before, but to be honest, Toyota should never have sold the diesel option in Australia. It was only good for the European countries where they've had various iterations of diesel engines from 2001. As an engine choice, it's certainly something I'd never go for; the reliability factor being the primary concern. It's Toyota's hallmark and they're doing themselves no favours by continuing to sell and service it here. Either they know what the issue is with the engine (major mechanical flaw) and patch it up with replacement rings, which has proved to be hit and miss, or they genuinely don't have a clue why some eat oil and others don't. If there's enough complaints then the logical thing to do would be to gather info from VIN's of the affected vehicles to see if there's a pattern of why this issue keeps happening. Personally I think it's a design flaw and Toyota is trying their hardest to minimise the losses from the affected vehicles.

If it were me, I'd remove the turbo diesel from the engine line-up and reinstate the 2GR-FE (3.5L V6).

[Em Vivers]

Hi All, new to the forum but have the diesel Rav and having issues. Have had the rebuild done and continuing oil consumption problems. Has it been fixed in the new models? I'm considering upgrading to the 2015/2016 models? Thanks in advance

[Andrew162]

Welcome.

Personally, if you're looking at upgrading to a newer model then I'd be straying away from the diesels. Stick with petrol, and if you really need diesel then a RAV4 shouldn't be the #1 choice IMO. Look for something bigger if you need towing capacity.