chamindaa

180 kmph Toyota Rav4 L Grade, 2001 model. Road - southern expressway What prevented you from going further - Possibility of getting copped.

Sometimes GS does not have the required parts so I had to settle with Pioneer. There is a guy called Saibu who is quite helpful. Once I needed engine mounts and GS did not have them. Pioneer did a decent job in finding OEM parts for me cause the genuine were very expensive. Both these shops have their merits. I would recommend to search in both.

Guys, has anyone replaced the old driver’s license with the new one. If so how should I get about doing it? Almost all the characters on my license are faded and my DL number is barely visible. Thanks.

Once I did a cut and polish at MagCity. They used the machine for polishing and it left swirl marks on my car's bonnet. Did not go there afterwards. I would recommend to hand wax with a good 3m wax using soft linen. Once every 3 weeks or so I get myself a cold beer and take half of Sunday to do this.

Thanks Don, Little or no comments to this thread implies that Rav4s are good. Will keep you guys posted if I comeup with any findings. Cheers.

I too had a similar problem in my cefiro. Turned out to be a faulty ignition coil. Was a little expensive but once replaced the issue went away.

Hi All, I'm planning to buy a Toyota Rav4, 2002 model, automatic transmission, L grade. I read through the consumer reviews in Edmunds (http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/rav4/2002/consumer-reviews.html) and many have commented on issues in the ECM and Transmission. Which is very costly if a replacement is needed. Does any one of you have experiences of similar nature? Cheers, Chaminda

After a bit of looking around in Panchikawatta I found a guy who was willing to lend me a ECU to test and see. Unfortunatly the models were incompatible and we gave up the idea. Luckily he had a set of ignition coils and was willing to lend it to me to test. The performance improved but did not solve the problem. My electrician suggested that I change the MAF sensor and found a place at Keaniya which had a second hand part. Replaced my MAF and the car runs like a beauty. After a few negotiations and persuations I settled for 5 coils and the MAF sensor for 39K. I can now happily say mission accomplished.

All, I drive a Nissan Cefiro A 32 and lately the engine stalls while driving. I got D*MO to do a engine tuneup and for a while it was ok. Then I started getting the problem and I put the car to A*W. They checked the system with the CONSULT and said there is nothing wrong with the system and found a loose connection of the socket which connects to my MAF sensor. Plugged it in and ran for a day. The engine stalled in the middle of the road again. I restarted it and there were no issues and the car would start to move. Took to A*W again the following day and they ran a full electrical system check up. No issues were found and they suggested I change the Ignition Coils all 6 of them. I'm looking at over 60K for all 6 coils. I do not get a miss but at time when I throttle the car takes a moment to kick in and I feel a drag. However after a few seconds the car gives the power and starts to move. Went to my local mechanic and he recommended I change the fuel pump. Took a second hand one and ran for a day with no luck. Now I'm out of options. My mechanic says the Ignition coils cannot be bad as A*W says and he says it might be the ECU. My question to all here is what am I looking at here? If it's the ECU where can i get a second hand one?

Thanks to all for you comments. I took the car to Laughs at Wellawatta today and cleaned the fuel system with 3M. The process took me nearly 1.5 hrs and cost me Rs. 4250. Two separate liquid filled cans were used. One to clean the throttle body and the other which is used instead of the fuel line. I must say after the process I'm a beliver in this product. I can definitely feel a performance improvement in terms of pickup. Sadly my earlier issue still remains but not bad as it was. Perhaps it's too early to tell. As for A*W when they hooked up my car to the consult, 2 chambers out of 6 gave low readings. They re-ran the test and the second time all cylinders were fine. All the sensors were giving the correct readings and hence they came up replace coils answer. They took the easy way out since my problem is hard to diagnose. Therefore I'm not too happy to take the car there. Plus they charge for the hrs and not for the job. So the longer i keep my car there the more it's going to cost. I'm aware of the master air flow sensor and I must say it's indeed a fragile peice of equipment. Given the price i did not want to mess with it. I'm planning to take the car and get all it's sensors cleaned including the MAFS. Hopefully this will resolve the issue. Fingers crossed. In Isuru's City the check engine light lit up. But in my case it only comes when i start the engine and goes out after a while which is "As designed". Therefore this problem is hard to diagnose.

I have a Nissan Cefiro A32 which i bought about 2 yrs ago. About 8 months ago it suddenly started getting a vibration at idle. The car failed to idle at 700 RPM but would either drop or increase but mostly drop. When driving the car did not give any issues. The only catch was when i press the accelerator for sudden pick up there would be a delay but the engine would rev up and give me the power i needed. This i do very rarely and I'm very careful with the accellerator. Driving in Colombo is mostly stop and go and terrible idle is not good. So I took the car to A*W and they cleaned up the injectors and did an engine tuneup. They recommended to change the plugs. I took the car to my local mechanic and changed the plugs to laser platinum which cost me almost 20k (bought from Pioneer). Further they said to replace the coils, since they would have become weak but they failed to give me concrete evidance. I was sceptic to carry this out since the 6 coils would cost me close to 50K. I have been driving with my new plugs for about 4 months now with the issue in idle still persisting. However lately my RPM drops when i'm accelerating as well and i get a sudden jerk similar to a misfire when i press the accelerator. Specially in the morning after a cold start. I can sense the car is not moving as fast as it should and when i put the AC the car gets really slow, but after few mins when the engine warms up it becomes fine. I'm a very conservative driver (for obvious resons when driving a 2L ) and my RPM is usually under 2K or hovering around there. Mostly i'm under 80kmph. I read in a blog somewhere that a power steering belt which is slippery can cause RPM to drop and increase. I checked with my mechanic and he said replacing the power steering belt is not espensive and i plan to do it anyway. My question is what do you guys think will solve this problem? Is there a good mechanic who can fix my car cause i have no faith in A*W. (All they say is replace this, replace that which is rubbish).

I did a quick google search and came up with the common causes of engine overheating. In summary it can be any one of a low coolant level or a coolant leak, poor heat conductivity inside the engine because of accumulated deposits in the water jackets, a defective thermostat, poor airflow through the radiator, a slipping fan clutch, an inoperative electric cooling fan, a collapsed lower radiator hose, an eroded or loose water pump impeller, or even a defective radiator cap. Now my question to the experts here is what happens if the engine gets too cold. Eg. If i replace my cooling fan with a little more powerful one. Will the thermostat go bust. Given the fan is little more powerful than the previous one it need not be switched on as frequently as done previously. What happens when the AC is on, the fans run at this time and will it make the engine colder ? What about the HP gain or loss ? What are the repercussions to the engine? Now for the grand scenario. I drive a Nissan Cefiro A32 petrol version. The engine started to boil but the temperature gauge never went above the middle mark. Hooked the car to the consult and found out my low in the radiator fans were not working and was told to replace it. I found the fans from an equivalent diesel version and I replaced my faulty fans with them. Now the temp gauge is just a notch lower than the middle. The car performs well and the AC is good.

Guys thanks for the feedback. I shall get my sensors checked. BTW, Pethum, you said you changed the sensors. How much did they cost? Did you go for genuine Nissan parts? I'm under a very tight budget now. As for how to stop the car I did apply the hand brake which is operated by the left foot. I could not get the car to stop because I was in a 40 degree inclination going down. And to make matters worse the road was concrete, so not much grip. As for the car I need to pass that downhill every time I take my car out. so I've resorted to shut down AC, no music, 2nd gear, ensure rpm at 1000 and prey when going down.

Guys, I have a Nissan Cefiro A32 and lately the engine shut down for no particular reason. About three weeks ago down on Kinsey road the ABS lights came up and the engine shut down. My mechanic came down with a battery and figured out that the alternator rotor was busted. Then we found out that the chip in there was busted. With 20K and with some local help we managed to get it up and running in a days time. However after that at idle the engine starts to stutter and tries to stop. But when I'm moving the engine works fine. And to make matters worse last week when i was coming downhill the freakin engine stopped and being an automatic I could not stop the damn thing and banged a wall. Front buffer, bonnet, lights all busted. When the recovery vehicle came to pick it up the damn engine started and my mechanic actually drove the car all the way to his garage. I'm speechless. So with a thumping bill and a bit shaken up I'm left with the car again. My question to all the experts here are 1) Why did the engine shut down? 2) In an automatic how do I stop the car with no brake, power steering working? 3) How do I fix this issue?