Talbit

Robert, Can you tell me how I can find and view the Toyota technical news flash TNF58/14 you mentioned? Talbit

Robert... 200ml every 1,000klm? No new car - petrol or diesel should use that amoint of oil but that gels with my experience of 1.2L for 5150klms Read on ... My story so far... As you can see from my earlier post, I was asked by Toyota to keep an eye on things and go straight to a Toyota dealer if the oil light came on. I was to get the dealer to enter it on a sheet the home dealer gave me. The car was serviced at the 9,900klm mark. I drove to Queensland from the ACT in July and I noticed that the oil was getting low. So before the oil light actually came on I went into the dealer at the Woolloongabba. He put 1.2 litres in at the 15,050klm mark. So the bottom line is my new Rav4 used 1.2L in 5,150klms! This is not right in anyone's book. The interesting thing is the Gabba dealer said Toyota was aware of it and they had asked the dealers to report each incident as the customer reported it. Also interesting is that my home dealer knew nothing of this when I first reported it. So I'll keep driving and see what happens. It's definitely dropping as I continue to drive. I think we are all going to have to form a united front on this matter. I don't know what we can do but we'll give it a try! My wife spotted a Jeep the other day with a large banner on the rear windscreen which read "I bought a Lemon". I'll have no hesitation doing the same if Toyota don't start talking sense. Regards Talbit

No, I recon the salesman would say that the speedo can be adjusted by them just to get the sale.

Colin, Did Toyota head office respond at all? I suppose you've looked back to the post that talks about the Australian Design rules. 6% is within that range so I don't think we are going to get it adjusted. I think I'll try an experiment. I might go into a dealer and say I want to by a new car and say that I've heard that the speedos read incorrectly. I recon the saleman will say that it can be adjusted. Shows I've go too much time on my hands! I'm also having problems with my new RAV4's oil consumption. Look here.. http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/37242-oil-consumption/?view=getnewpost The local dealer says there is nothing wrong. Might be time do get out the pitch forks and march down the main street! Talbit

Well Toyota are not going to budge. They say it's within specs (which if you go by the design rules, it is). I recon it's an entry in the computer, i.e. it gets a speed pulse from the gearbox or wherever it gets its reading and multiplies it by a set amount - the "K" factor - so if you know where to find it then it would be a matter of changing the "K" factor and all would be okay. So who out there knows how to do it ? As for GPS, I guess if you lose GPS lock then it's a matter of going by the speedo reading and that would keep you below the limit. Then if you wanted to mentally add the "K" factor then you could be spot on. But it's adding the error mentally that is the problem. Talbit

Welshpomie, That's a thought about the pistons glazing up. I know this can be a problem with a large diesel generator. They "like" to be worked hard to alleviant that problem. But there was no mention of that from the Toyota dealer. Besides, I would hope the design of the engine would be such that you could do general driving without this being a problem. The RAV4 is not supposed to be a "workhorse". You would get a Prado or a Landcruiser for serious caravan towing or the like. I'm keeping a log of the level. Again the interesting thing is that Toyota said it's the first they've heard of it. Are they trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I would concede that if it requires an extra litre every 8,000klm then so be it. But if there is something wrong with the car that will show up later - like the day after the warranty runs out - then that's a different matter! Talbit

Thanks John, But if I've got to add stuff to a new car then there's something wrong. As it turns out there is an entry in the manual that says that I should expect to use some oil. But again It's a general statement. I would expect to use oil if it was working hard but it's not. When I got it back from Toyota I checked the dipstick level and it was filled to about 50% over the top mark! I recon they deliberately filled it that far so that the light wouldn't come on before the next service (another 10,000klm).They did say keep an eye on it and to let them know if it does it three times in a row after a top-up. I contacted them re the overfill but they haven't bothered to reply. Everyone always say don't overfill, so today I drained a bit out. Now it's right on the top mark. Interestingly, the amount I took out to get the level right wouldn't have been any more that 600mL, probably more like 400mL. I'll keep an eye on it. Talbit

I've got a 2013 RAV4 GXL 2.2L diesel turbo and it used about 1 litre in the first 8,000klm. It was checked by Toyota at the 1,000klm mark so it lost it in 7,000klm. The oil light came on and I had to put in about a litre. It's just had it's first service today (at 9,900klm). They said they couldn't find anything wrong. They say they are not aware of anyone else reporting this so as far as I'm concerned, there is a problem with my car. The manager said he'd get onto the Toyoata head office and see if they have an alert out and that he'd email me the answer. He showed me a Toyota notice that said that the Landcruiser could lose 1 litre in 10,000klm but that is under towing conditions or when it's working hard. But my RAV4 rarely has more than two people in it and certainly doesn't do any heavy work. This is a new car! I've got a petrol Camry that's 15 years old and it doesn't use any oil at all. To say that this new RAV4 should be expected to lose some oil is nonsense. The fact that it uses a thin synthetic oil might be a clue. I'd be interested to see what other people think.

10 mph over is a big error. Even 4mph over is too high I recon. That's about 6.4 klm high. I recon we should be able to tell the car what the tyre sizes are and they computer should adjust to suit. Anyway, it's no use whinging. We are stuck with it. Again, my 2000 Camry is spot on while the RAV4 is 6klm over. The sooner we go by GPS the better !!! Talbit

Can anyone tell me how the signal gets to the speedo. Is it via a signal wire or is it via CAN bus? Talbit

Thanks gents. But it's damned annoying! Talbit

I started this post a few days ago but it seems to have disappeared. I’ve got a 2.2l diesel GXL RAV4 (built June 2013) and the speedometer reads 6klm/hr higher than the true speed as measured on two independent GPS navigators. It’s 6klm high at 60klm/hr and 80klm/hr so it appears to be an offset not a percentage error. So to travel at a true speed of 80klm/hr I need to go at a speed that shows 86klm/hr on the speedo. I know speedos are set to read higher than the true speed – I don’t know why – but this is too high. What’s the use of a speedo if it doesn’t read the correct speed? Surely these days it shouldn’t be too hard to get it right. Has anyone else noticed or is it just me? Regards Talbit

I've got an Australian December 2000 Gen4 MCV20R V6 Camry sedan. I have two remotes that came with the car. It has a single button to lock/unlock the car. I've replaced the battery myself in both units but to do it you need to be a tech or you need to find a tech who will do it for you. It's a matter of levering the back off the remote and unsoldering the battery. If it's voltage is 3.1 volts or less then chuck it. The battery is a CR2032. The Energizer ones from the normal battery shops need two short thin wires, +ve and -ve soldered to it without heating the battery too much and that is then soldered onto the circuit board. That's all I'll say about how to do it because you need to know what you are doing. Having said all that, if I get a new one how do I program the thing? Toyota has them but I'm blowed if I'll pay a Toyota tech to toggle a few things to program the car. Surely someone knows? I understand that the remote has a unique code already programmed into it and you actually program the car to accept it. It's not the remote you are programming but the security system in the car itself. I think you can link 4 individual remotes with the car. I've trolled through the forums and haven't really found a technique I could rely on. There seems to be many different ways for different Camrys. I tried a new remote from the locksmiths and he assured me that the remote was the correct one. It came with an instruction sheet on how to do it but I couldn't get the car to respond the way it said so I gave it back. Any help would be appreciated. Talbit

Okay that's got it. I actually used a little bit more force. There are two "U" shaped steel thingamees under the front of the seat. You can't see them until the seat is up. They each clip into a plastic thingamee in the floor. This all started because I needed to replace the complete left rear passenger seatbelt. It wasn't retracting correctly. It turned out the drum that the belt rolls up on was cracked and literally falling apart. I managed to get it out without removing the seat (with great difficulty) but I need to get the seat out to put the new belt in. I got the new belt from Toyota today. To my great surprize the whole new belt mechanism cost only $48.05. I thought it would be well over $100 Thanks for your help. Talbit

Thanks Ozzcaddy. I'll try it now. Dammed freezing out there though! Talbit

How can I remove the bench seat in the back of my GEN4 MCV20R Camry? It appears to be held down by something at the front but I can't see. Someone said it is held down by clips and all you have to do is pull the seat upwards. But I'm afraid to force it. I can't find anything in http://www.camrystuff.com/ Talbit

Everything is still going good with clock (in radio) and pre-set stations. The battery has only been in almost 2 weeks, so not expecting any problems. Your problem sounds more internal as you said, seeing you put direct power to the radio from the battery. I haven't seen any circuit diagrams for the radio itself. Maybe a enquiry with a radio installer may add some light to your problem. A friends' here at work has done it at least once. So I'm convinced it's not just my radio. I contacted a tech at Fujitsu Ten and he hadn't heard of it before. I'm in the process of getting a circuit. Talbit Ok, here's an update. I contacted Fujitsu Ten and one of the techs emailed me back saying it's a known problem. He sent me a small portion of the circuit. IC500 needs to be replaced. I'm a tech so will have a look at it today. It's a 5 volt regulator (a special type it seems). But beware that my radio might be a little different to yours because my clock is separate. My guesse is if you've had this problem once then it will happen again. I'll keep you posted. Regards Talbit And another update... I can't find IC500 on the PCB so I've taken some photos and will contact Fujitsu Ten on Monday. I think I have a different radio to what he thinks I've got. If I can be sure of my model number then I'll buy the circuit off him. More later. Regards Talbit Almost there. Should get it going tomorrow and then it's keep the fingers crossed. Talbit My cassette/radio is operational again after replacing several components. Remember my cassette/radio has a separate clock so the internals might be different to yours. My radio model number is 86100-YC260. It’s on the sticker on the back. I replaced the following parts… IC500 was a S81250HG – a 5 volt regulator. This is a very small surface mount device. You can recognise it only by it’s marking ‘RD’. This was supposed to be the main culprit. I replaced it with a HT7550 (Farnell 142-0876) C515 is a 4.7uF/25 volt electro. I replaced it with a Farnell 918-9629 C408 & C513 are both 10uF/16 volt electros. I replaced them with Farnell 945-2192. I also replaced the Supercap C510 .047F/5.5 volt with RS Components 295-895. But you can also get these from Jaycar. All the components are in the same vicinity. Do not try and do this yourself unless you know what you are doing. But if you tell your local radio tech what to do then I’m sure he’ll work it out. But remember I’m not sure if the fault has been fixed. Only time will tell. Good luck. Talbit

Everything is still going good with clock (in radio) and pre-set stations. The battery has only been in almost 2 weeks, so not expecting any problems. Your problem sounds more internal as you said, seeing you put direct power to the radio from the battery. I haven't seen any circuit diagrams for the radio itself. Maybe a enquiry with a radio installer may add some light to your problem. A friends' here at work has done it at least once. So I'm convinced it's not just my radio. I contacted a tech at Fujitsu Ten and he hadn't heard of it before. I'm in the process of getting a circuit. Talbit Ok, here's an update. I contacted Fujitsu Ten and one of the techs emailed me back saying it's a known problem. He sent me a small portion of the circuit. IC500 needs to be replaced. I'm a tech so will have a look at it today. It's a 5 volt regulator (a special type it seems). But beware that my radio might be a little different to yours because my clock is separate. My guesse is if you've had this problem once then it will happen again. I'll keep you posted. Regards Talbit And another update... I can't find IC500 on the PCB so I've taken some photos and will contact Fujitsu Ten on Monday. I think I have a different radio to what he thinks I've got. If I can be sure of my model number then I'll buy the circuit off him. More later. Regards Talbit Almost there. Should get it going tomorrow and then it's keep the fingers crossed. Talbit

Everything is still going good with clock (in radio) and pre-set stations. The battery has only been in almost 2 weeks, so not expecting any problems. Your problem sounds more internal as you said, seeing you put direct power to the radio from the battery. I haven't seen any circuit diagrams for the radio itself. Maybe a enquiry with a radio installer may add some light to your problem. A friends' here at work has done it at least once. So I'm convinced it's not just my radio. I contacted a tech at Fujitsu Ten and he hadn't heard of it before. I'm in the process of getting a circuit. Talbit Ok, here's an update. I contacted Fujitsu Ten and one of the techs emailed me back saying it's a known problem. He sent me a small portion of the circuit. IC500 needs to be replaced. I'm a tech so will have a look at it today. It's a 5 volt regulator (a special type it seems). But beware that my radio might be a little different to yours because my clock is separate. My guesse is if you've had this problem once then it will happen again. I'll keep you posted. Regards Talbit And another update... I can't find IC500 on the PCB so I've taken some photos and will contact Fujitsu Ten on Monday. I think I have a different radio to what he thinks I've got. If I can be sure of my model number then I'll buy the circuit off him. More later. Regards Talbit

I have the same problem. A new battery fixed it as well but after a year or so it started again - even though the battery was in perfect condition. I then got a little more serious and cut the "Constant" (memory) wire at the back of the radio connector then ran a direct wire from the battery positive to the "Constant" wire. I thought it was okay but it still does it. I think there is something more serious with the memory system because having even an average battery shouldn't give you this fault. I might try and get a circuit diagram for the radio and see if I can figure it out from that but having already looked at the radio I noticed it is all surface mount and very difficult to see, let alone fix. I'm keen to know if you still have the problem. Mine doesn't have a clock in the radio but is a separate display. It doesn't lose time. I have a Dec 2000 CSI MCV20R Regards Talbit