Toyota Problems

On this series of LandCruiser, the fuse box you need to access is behind a plastic panel just to the side of the steering column, low down on the lower edge of the dashboard. Once you’ve removed the cover, there should be a legend printed on the inside of it that tells you which fuse is which. The fuse you need to check is fuse number 2 which controls all those circuits as well as the number-plate light, the glovebox light and the car’s clock. The replacement fuse you need is a 15Amp of the blade type.

If the fuse continues to blow, then you need to start looking for a short-circuit or other wiring problem that is forcing the fuse to blow to protect the vehicle’s wiring.

The first thing to check is the level of the transmission fluid. If this is incorrect, it can cause all sorts of drive and shifting problems. Also, how long since this vehicle had its automatic transmission serviced? We tend to forget that these hard working components benefit from a periodic change of filter and fluid and a general check-up to make sure there’s nothing that needs adjusting inside the gearbox.

The reason the transmission begins to feel better after it’s warmed up is possibly to do with the temperature of the fluid and the friction surfaces inside the transmission. When the gearbox and fluid are cold, the fluid is thicker (and harder to pump) and can’t lubricate or operate the transmission as effectively. Even so, the gearbox should not shift harshly even when it’s cold. When it does, it’s trying to tell you something.

The most common cause of this sort of vibration is usually an unbalanced front wheel and tyre, especially if the problem began suddenly. When new tyres are fitted, they are balanced at the tyre shop by adding small weights to the rim to literally balance the wheel and tyre assembly. But these little weights can fall off over time (or if you’ve smacked a kerb or pothole) leading to an unbalanced wheel. At which point, a vibration can set in. And since you’re feeling it through the steering, the suspicion would be that it’s a front wheel at fault.

A tyre shop should be able to check this for you and rectify the problem for a reasonable cost. If this is not the problem, then you need to start looking deeper into the suspension and possibly even the brakes. But don’t rule out a bent or damaged rim given the parlous state of this country’s roads right now.

It all sounds a bit counter-intuitive, doesn’t it: That a smaller engine could use more fuel thana larger one? But, in fact, it’s all down to the hybrid driveline in the 2.5-litre version of the RAV4. Because the hybrid version also has an electric motor to help propel the vehicle, the petrol engine has less work to do. So, it uses less fuel, particularly on the official test cycle that determines these numbers.

In fact, in the hybrid RAV4, the petrol engine isn’t even running a lot of the time, especially in stop-start traffic. The electric motor can draw from the batteries on board to get the vehicle rolling, and when it’s slowing down, the electric motor recharges those batteries for the next green light. And when the car is running on electric power, it’s not using any petrol at all.

By contrast, the non-hybrid RAV4 is running its petrol engine the whole time (apart from when it’s at a complete standstill). And that, in a nutshell, is how a bigger engine can use less fuel than a smaller one in the same make and model.

Before you buy more parts that may or may not fix the problem, have the vehicle electronically scanned. This is by far the most cost-effective way of finding out what’s wrong and then being able to tackle the actual problem. You could spend weeks and months, not to mention hundreds and thousands of dollars, replacing random parts that have no relationship to what’s causing the engine to refuse to start.

There are literally thousands of reasons for the symptoms you’ve noted, so try to finding the root cause before committing to more replacement bits and pieces.

The space-saver from a non-hybrid Corolla should fit your car, provided it’s from a model from the same generation of Corolla. Don’t forget, though, you’ll also need the correct jack and wheel brace to change a tyre by the side of the road.

The bigger question perhaps, is where you’d store the spare tyre and tools on a Corolla Hybrid. The reason the hybrid model doesn’t have a spare tyre in the first place is that the hybrid’s batteries take up an awful lot of space under the boot floor, where the tyre would otherwise live. Meantime, having a tyre and tools rattling around loose in the hatch area is not only an inconvenience but, in a crash, could be potentially lethal.

Coolant leaks can be very tricky things, often starting at one point and then running down a hose, bracket or wire to drop on the ground where you’re not looking for them. If you definitely can’t find a leak, however, you need to start looking for another problem which could even be a leaking head gasket which is allowing the coolant to enter the engine’s cylinders.

The first thing I’d do, however, is change the radiator hoses., If they’re flattening out when the engine is running, that suggests they’ve collapsed internally and are unable to cope with the suction created by the engine’s water pump (which circulates the coolant around the engine). Even if the hoses look fine, they can be damaged inside and, left this way, can cause a blockage in the cooling system which can lead to the engine overheating. Perhaps this is already happening, and allowing the boiling coolant to escape the system via the pressurised radiator cap or the overflow system.

The reason your van feels like it’s revving hard is because it is. The demands of being potentially loaded up with gear and relatively low-tech 1.8-litre engine to push along a fairly unaerodynamic shape meant that Toyota deliberately geared the vehicle low to make sure the engine could stay within its comfort zone. The fact that you’re only dealing with 60kW of power only made the requirement for short overall gearing even more critical.

That said, the van should pull smoothly in fifth gear, provided you’re not shifting into fifth prematurely and making the engine labour. With electronic fuel-injection and a very simple mechanical layout, this engine shouldn’t throw up too many problems. Perhaps a decent tune-up is all it requires to be singing again. Don’t forget the basics like the fuel filter, spark plugs and the high-tension leads.

There’s a huge range of towing limits for the RAV4 thanks to the sheer number of model variants. In simple terms, the non-hybrid two-wheel-drive versions can tow a braked trailer of 800kg while a two-wheel-drive hybrid RAV4 can only cope with 480kg. Which means that if you want a RAV4 for towing, you’re best to look at any of the all-wheel-drive versions (hybrid or non-hybrid) which have a braked towing limit of 1500kg.

Of course, those figures are for braked trailers, while your question was for a trailer with no braking of its own. In that case, the two-wheel-drive RAV4’s limit stays at 480kg, while the all-wheel-drive’s limit falls to 750kg.

Gross Combined Mass (the total weight of the vehicle, the trailer and anything being carried including passengers, fuel, luggage and accessories) meantime, is harder to find and you need to resort to the owner’s manual (which is a problem if you haven’t bought the car yet). In any case, the two-wheel-drive RAV4’s GCM is 2665kg, while the all-wheel-drive’s GCM is 3730kg.

I’m unsure why this last piece of the puzzle is so difficult to find, but information like this should be more readily available as it’s a critical safety issue and something that many owners inadvertently get wrong with serious legal and insurance ramifications.