IF YOU are driving Toyota RAV4, or you are a mechanic working on this car this INFO might help you to understand a problem which  may cost you lots of money and aggravations if you miss to address it in timely manner. In our estimation sooner or later every RAV4 2001-2003 model years will have this problem regardless of mileage and service history. Brain of this car is – so called ECM/BRAIN BOX, also known as engine/transmission computer has a design blunder. To make a long story short, ECM/BRAINBOX will eventually lose its ability to control transmission solenoids.



[b]Symptoms could occur any time and quite suddenly, without any warning signs. Shifting of gears will become erratic,your CAR WOULD LOOSE POWER AND FIND IT DIFFICULT CLIMBING HILLS/INCLINES, bumpy, sometime even slipping. Car may start taking off from high gear, reverse engagement often harsh, forward too soft. Check Engine Light might comes on, but not  always. If driver will bring car to transmission shop for checking soon enough, mechanic may not fInd any obvious problem, like burned oil, which usually signal that time for transmission rebuild has come. Further driving with malfunctioning ECM will quickly make transmission rebuild necessary. But even with perfectly fine rebuild transmission will not solve shifting problem if problem with ECM not addressed and in a couple weeks transmission will need repair again. It will be a disaster as for customer as for repair shop which has to give a warranty for its work.

If you are driving 2001-2003 RAV4 with original ECM in it you might damage your transmission before you know it. Be on a safe side, read discussions, look into solutions and make a decision.



nb toyota america recalled cars with this problem and fixed it for free, but alas  , in nigeria we are on our own, i hacalled toyota nigeria when my car developed similar symptoms  and  they feigned ignorance.if your rav4 is having this problem the earlier you stop driving it and send your ecm down to us for repairs, they better for you, 4get about buying a new ecm  or toks ecm  from the local spare parts dealers, it wont solve your problem


C

Ehn hen, contact info such as HomeOffice Address, Phone, Fax, BB pin, Email address, Safe combination, Bank account detail, Stocks and shares certificate, Marital status, networth, etc nko

LMAO! busybody!, my runaway.b**e

bb pin, on nairaland, naah i will pass_{, psychos full here}
i will be watching the thread for responses from peeps whos cars hv developed the same prob, nigeria being the way it is, ur average mechanic wont blv it when u tell him that ur ecm/brainbox is causing the harsh gear shifts and sluggish response of ur auto

earthrealm,
that was a very useful piece of info.although i don't drive a rav4 i know friends who do and this will definitely be a lifesaver for them.

i have attached the TSB - techincal service bulletine from toyota worldwide, informing its clients of the problem an d possible solution.i called toyota place nigeria and also sent them a copy of this TSB, yet they feigned ignorance,
i was able to solve the problem tru a contact in the US.

note the problem affects only rav4 2001 to 2003 model.

so if ur rav4 enters reverse with a thump/thunk sound, its obviously this problem, or ur gear slips and enters with a thunp , its this problem, the earlier u repair ur ecm, the beta, cos the avergae mechanic will tell u 'oga NO BE SERIOUS PROBLEM, DEY DRIVE AM LIKE THAT,, UNTIL UR TRANSMISSION/GEAR BOX GOES KAPUT, THEN HE WILL SAY OGA U NEED TO BUY NEW GEAR BOX!, but like i said that still wont solve ur prob permamnently

Hi, I have similar probs, how can I solve this?

Hi, I have similar probs, how can I solve this? Kindly email sola@automerchanting.com

ok, hv u gone to the mechanic first?, what are they saying?
is ur car showing a check engine light?, it sometimes throws a chk engine light [solenoid erroe p0750 or so].

download the toyota TSB, and check if ur ecm serial nos is among the ones listed and the nos of the new ecm u can use to change it.

u can then go to the market and source for the ecm with the new/improved serial nos, or u send urs for repairs/upgrade, i hv a contact in the US who does all dat.

remeber the earlier u stop driving the car the better!!!, if u continue driving it with the bad ecm.u will damage ur transmission/gear box beyound repair, n u will have to change both the gear box and ecm!

will shoot u a mail later

pls send me your number, I need to talk to you.

earthrealm,
you are doing a good job. we need more of you here in the auto section.

Hi
i need your address/phone no. My rav4 has same issue. My email is mikeol3@yahoo.com.
Thanks

hv sent u mail.with my fone nos, call me.
buying a toks ecm will not completely solve the problem, unless u buy a brand new ecm from toyota with a serial nos which was predesigned to rectify this problem.
u can download the attached tsb from toyota and check the serial nos against urs.

my rav 4 2001 has the same issue . I had to change my car brain box 2 months ago . now my mechanic said it the gear box brain box that has an issue. does Rav 4 2001 have gear brain box?

very funny!, gear box brain box indeed!!!
naah ur mechanic is just clueless or a friggin thief, or both!.

the rav 4 doesnt hv a gearbox brain box, neither does any car i know of.

changing the brainbox with a toks brainbox wont solve ur problem, i said that initially.seems u didnt bother to read the whole thread?

only 2 things can save ur car,
1. download the attached toyota tsb i attached in my first post and chk the nos of the new/improved brain box that toyota manufactured to solve this prob, [the chances that u wud see those brainboxes in the salvage/junk market places in naija is dim, very very dim!].or you shell out good dough and go to a toyota service center, they might hv the new ecms


or


2. u send ur brainbox to my contact in the US who will rebuild it and remove the defective components of the circuit board.

let me break it down, the brainbox in the 2001 to 2003 was built with some defective elctronics parts with get bad after yrs of use, being exposed to heat and shocks,that is the reason toyota recalled the brainboxes in the first place.so my contact in the us simply takes out those items and replaces them with better ones.
though from what you are saying, i think ur gear box might hv been affected by now, so simply changing the brainbox wudnt solve ur problem, u also need to change the gear box.,dont waste ur money trying a cheap fix, and changing only one of those, u gotta change both of them for the problem to disappear

Thanks . Finally the issue has started again, my car has stopped working again and its the same symptoms it exhibited when i change the brain box 2months ago  how do i get the brain box to your address in the USA

am presently in ph, for now, i dont hv any modified brainbox in stock now.will place an order as soon as we conclude. note shipping takes abt 2wks through courier.

but i wud advice you to first confirm that ur gearbox/transmission is still ok, i fear for ur gearbox, cos you hv driven the car for extendeds periods of time, even after the symptom developed.

a transmission fluid flush might give you a clue abt the state of ur transmission, chk if its burnt or filled with metal chippings in the drain pan of the transmission fluid .
the transmission fluid shud be reddish in colour.

note do not use visco 2000 to change your tansmission fluid, use toyota type T IV fluid, or even ur original fluid, if its still in good shape.
post ur email so i can mail my nos to you, so we can talk more

olaideo1@hotmail.com

Please send me your address and phone numbers to

mynetstuff@ymail.com

Thanks

Hi earth realm, my Toyota rav4 2001 is having the same problem. Pls send me your phone number, Email address and bb pin,so I can reach you, I need a solution. My email is rafiyatrahim@yahoo.com

my email is on my profile
skyhigh0455 at yahoo dot com
dont hv a bb pin hv mailed you  my cell phone number

do you have office in Lagos?

nope am in portharcourt

I'm currently having similar problem with my rav 4 2003 model.I've changed d gear box no way.even d mech says I should change d gear box .I'm tired o.pls how Do I contact u to do d job for me as contract. My e mail is -- Ogaolopa@gmail.com

what u need to do is to change the brainbox to a modified one either from toyota place or from my contact in the US.read tru the whole thread and the tsb i attached from toyota worldwide, check my profile for my email

DONT LET IGNORANCE WRECK UR CAR, SOLVE UR RAV4 HARSH SHIFTING PROBLEMS TODAY!!!

We can take care of well known problem cure for which according to Toyota service bulletin TC002-06 http://rav4faq.kerkerinck.de/xa2/tsb/files/TC002-06.pdf is to replace ECM (Engine Control Module, SAE - PCM) with modified factory unit. The original ECM installed on 2001-2003 Toyotas RAV4 have a design flaws which develops after years of usage into nasty habit of improper transmission shifts, false solenoid codes P0750, P0753, P0755, P0758, P1760. Keep in mind it is a hardware, no software problem, just reprogramming will not solve this issue. Driving a car with malfunctioned ECM for a long time might leads to internal failure of transmission. But even it happened and transmission was rebuild you only return to square one, shifting will not improve to original state and you will burn repaired unit shortly.




How our service works?

Before sending your unit to us for repair you should do your homework. Somebody, you or a repair shop which can perform diagnostic procedure according to Toyota’s repair manual, should check your car thoroughly and confirm no other electrical problem related to transmission control present in your car. This should be done regardless which way you want to go buying new unit or let us to repair yours. Pay attention to the fact that failed ECM might burn you transmission already. But even in this case as we stated earlier you still need to repair/replace electronic control module. Actually there is no way to test properly you transmission operation when ECM (ECU) is malfunctioning. The only feasible way is to substitute known good unit and to do an extensive road test. It is easy if you have a similar car and can swap ECM. So far we did not see 2001-2003 RAV4 intended for NA market equipped with an immobilizer option. So swapping is easy. The only problem you can have with used ECM when swapped from another car is that transmission adaptation tables need to be reset to achieve smooth shifting. If it not done you might have kind of hard upshifts and downshifts problem, but otherwise your transmission should operate properly. Adaptation reset can be performed with OEM scan tools and your ECM will adapt to another transmission during few hard acceleration. Disconnecting battery will not reset adaptation tables in ECM as it written in non-volatile EPROM memory.

All repaired units are warranted for one (1) year.

Repaired units will have adaptation reset by us, all you have to do is just to install and perform a few accelerations. Reset adaptation might lead to unusual low idle, but if your car idle system performs properly in few minutes it will restore appropriate idle level.





On a side of your car ECM there are the numbers you have to check and compare to following table applicable to North American market.

89661-42650

89661-42651

89661-42652

89661-42660

89661-42661

89661-42662

89661-42810

89661-42820

89661-42880

89661-42890

89661-42653

89661-42663

89661-42811

89661-42821

changing ur gearbox/transmission wont solve ur problem

My 2003 Rav4 has a simiar problem. My mechanic scanned my car and told me its a brainbox problem. How do I go about it?

@ earthrealm
Pls send me your number or mail address I need to talk you so u can explain to me how to go about it. My email address is prettytonia20@yahoo.com

DorisAnn:

@ earthrealm
Pls send me your number or mail address I need to talk you so u can explain to me how to go about it. My email address is prettytonia20@yahoo.com

u hv mail, hv sent you my contact details.

@earthrealm- my rav4 2002 model has same issues with transmission. had earlier changed it in May but have same recurring problem. my email is funholy2000@yahoo.com, please forward ur contact details to c how u can help fix this issue.
thanks.

the ECU number is 89661-42811.
thanks.

SilkenLuks:

the ECU number is 89661-42811.
thanks.

hv sent u a mail