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RAV issue?

By cirrus, July 9, 2018 in Toyotas that aren’t Corollas



Hi....I have a 2015 RAV4 (72K) that I really like. I know this is a long shot but figured let me ask anyway....some good experts on this board. When it sits for a while...and I shift into reverse...it makes a clunk sound...or sometimes a click sound. It never does it in D.....just going into reverse. It doesnt do it all the time...and seldom does it more than once. It drives fine....no noises. Back at 60K miles we did the AWD/Tranny fluid changes....and we THINK it might have started after that but then again with all the tragedy going on then (and some still today) my mind wasnt on the RAV....so maybe it was always doing it.  Any ideas....something I should be concerned about or is this normal with AWD RAV's?

Thanks!

Jim

PS....thanks Dave for the ultra fast fixing of the forum!  And our 2005 Rolla is at 190K and still running great! (knock on wood)

My first thought is it might just be a worn transmission mount. If it was at the same time as the trans fluid change, might be good to re-change the fluid in case they put the wrong stuff in, but that's a long shot. The other thing it could be is the brakes shifting when the car lurches back slightly. 

I thought of all of the same things D....esp with how tricky doing the tranny fluid is. And the mount, I thought could be something but I'd think I'd hear it a lot more if it was a mount. For sure I thought it was the brakes shifting around and it very well could be that....today the dealer said this noise is pretty normal and many times its just the pads slapping around. I've seen that on other sites too. The noise does sound like that some times....but not sure I can say that all of the time. Also one other 2016 RAV owner said their has this clunking sound too. Have to keep an eye on it and maybe next time I get the tires rotated I'll have them go over the mounts and whatever else it might be. Thanks!

No problem. It's almost certainly the brake pads or calipers. 

My wife's 2016 RAV4 makes this clunk sound/feel only moving into reverse, none of the forward gears - even what it was brand new.  This 6-speed transaxle is super sensitive, especially if you park on any sort of grade, short of being perfectly level.  Much worse when you go from park to reverse, feels like something is hung up in the transaxle.  

Trick we found was to make sure to set the parking brake, let the car settle, then shift it into park - that took any load off the parking pawl.  The next day, when reversing, still has that clunk - but greatly reduced.  

Normally, I'd just do a drain and refill just to see what the fluid is doing - but with the required SST to get it refilled, too much of a pain to do myself.

I was pretty convinced it was the pads slapping around....does sound like that.....and it might be....hope it is. But tonight I noticed it did it when slowing down even though I had yet to touch the brakes.  Some times I hear it more than a few times....other days not much at all. The dealer is saying its the pads. I really cant say for sure if it happened when the AWD fluid changes took place. For sure it sounds more like a clicking sound....like you said the pawl sound is close to it most times....or pads sliding around.

I told a Toy rep I wish they didnt have the tranny oil change like it is. As if someone brings it to the quickie lube places and they do their up-sell....they might think a drain and fill is all it needs when in fact its a lot more complex. I'm not sure they would know to not offer to do these type of trannies. As I told Toy the issue is if the previous owners did use a Quickie lube....the damage might not show up for a few more years. I had most of the records and they took it to a dealership but there is a section of miles where I have no info. I really like it (other than does Toy use 4ft tall testers for the pedal/seat layout?!!!) ...I was very impressed how it went in a massive blizzard I had to drive in....and as impressed with the gas mileage I get with it. So I want to keep it for 200K+ miles like we are doing with our 2005 Rolla. 

  • 320 posts

Everyone these days has similar transmissions and procedures, and pretty much everyone requires their own special fluids. I'd never take a modern car to a lube place for transmission fluid, and I am pretty sure the manufacturers would love it if no customer did that... not just because of the guaranteed profits but also because it would increase transmission longevity. Putting the wrong fluid in has killed many transmission, as has not going through the right post-refill procedures, and putting in too much or too little.

I agree 100%.....I always have let the dealer do my tranny oil changes after a quickie lube place wrecked my brothers Accord which needed special oil. But I was worried with this RAV they might have done that. OTOH....just last weekend I was having our local indie shop fix a slow tire leak....and a guy came in asking to do the tranny oil on his RAV. They said....no...thats a dealer only thing now....we dont have the equipment to do it. And I asked a quickie oil place near where the car was owned in NH and they said the same thing. So I felt better about it. I now believe this noise is the brakes as if I park it with the nose facing abit downhill it never makes the sound. And on a RAV message board this seems to be a common noise even with 2018's. 

  • 320 posts

I would never let a quick lube place do my trans fluid, heck, I've found one that didn't use the right oil and another that “holed” my filter... to be fair I know of one dealer (not Toyota) that didn't even stock the right oil for the company's most popular engines. 

So how does this story end?

For now I guess its the pads slapping around. It does sound like that now that I'm really listening to it. And it comes from the back sometimes....other times the front. Plus on other Rav sites they are saying it about 2015-18's so I dont think its an issue with the AWD unit. But I guess time will tell. I'm putting on a lot of miles on mine and nothing else seems off with it. 



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