Featured bZ4X already recalled for wheels coming loose

For how Toyota treats customers, google "cablegate"

 

Humm just did that... I don't see any relevance to Toyota customer treatments for any of the hit sites. Can you elaborate on your comment?

 

In states or countries which use salt on their roads in winter to melt snow and ice (the kind of places 4wd/Awd car are handy for) the main drive cable between the motor generator and the rear drive motor in '19-'21 Rav4s corrodes because salt is trapped inside a protective cover where the cable connects rendering the car undriveable. The point of connection is different from most other Toyota hybrids possibly to allow for a spare tire and gas tank to co-exist with the rear drive motor. The connection is on the side of the drive motor. for '22 models Toyota has redesigned the connector cover and perhaps changed the material used in a clamp.

Toyota is claiming repairs are not covered by the original car warranty or any purchased extended car warranty (VSA). The quotes to fix are from $5k to $7k, parts are not available (hundreds back ordered) and loaners are not available. The issue is commonly referred to on Rav4 forums as "cablegate".

 

You want the crush washer to be soft as it helps to prevent stripping of the oil pan threads. In my '99 Porsche, every oil change used a new pure aluminum crush washer. The pan was aluminum. You didn't want that pan stripped.

 

So, this corrosion is occurring in '19-'21 Rav4s? Yeah, that is very early for salt to cause any major damage to most cars I know. Not saying it does not rust in that span of time, but causing functional or structural problems is unheard of. The car driven in the salt belt gets rusted within the first year, but most rust-related problem aside from cosmetic issues does not happen until ~8 years old. Certainly, by then original warranty has expired, and I doubt that any extended warranty would cover such rust-related repairs.

If there are enough affected parties, I see a class action... or maybe one started already? I was one of the class members on our 2005 Toyota Sienna for OEM run-flat tires alleged to be "defective" by the class action lawsuit.

 

Things that look impressive in the engineering lab don't always function as intended in the real world environment. Untortunately, cannot cover damage from all environments. They will cover some issues and not others. That happens often with new models and early adopters/

 

I prefer the Nissan formed copper crush washer to the solid aluminum used in Porsches and Toyotas.

UTSAUTO 12 Pcs Copper Oil Drain Plug Gaskets M12 Oil Crush Washers Seal F4XY-6734-A 11026-01M02 11026-JA00A Replacement for Ford Rogue Sentra Xterra Altima Frontier Armada Jukes 350Z Infiniti G35 G37

A Viton o-ring is another good option, but only if you install it yourself. Another service technician might overtighten it and cause it to leave the seal area.

 

Still, it requires 28 ft. lbs. to seal. That's a lot of pressure. The seal is very thin and requires a lot of pressure to compress.

 

Not my experience with the Toyota oil pan washer. It lwaks when tightened to 20 ft. lbs.

At 18, the Nissan washer physically crushes and seals without leaking.

 

i've had my oil changed 10 times at the local mobil station, never had a leak or stripped threads.

no idea what they use

 

There is a class action in Canada. And it isn't like a door edge is rusting. There is corrosion which causes electrical changes and a sensor sends a signal to essentially shut down the car. Think of a driveshaft failure only electronic. It isn't a function of miles driven but the environment in which the car has been driven. As few as 22k miles.

The root cause is a plastic part whose design kept salt spray from dropping relatively harmlessly to the ground. The newer cars just leave the bottom of the connector protector open. But for older cars where corrosion has altered the ability to transmit electricity, the cable replacement is the only solution.

Poking around among Toyota documents I found one diagram that showed the hybrid components shown in red with the cable being one of them but the hybrid power train warranty does not apply. It as if, again, they would claim the driveshaft isn't part of an ICE vehicle's propulsion system.

 

If corrosion caused the car to be undrivable at 22k miles, unless the person is driving the car in a way the car is not designed to do, such as off-road driving or driving in water, I must think Toyota has to honor the original car warranty (3yrs/36K bumper to bumper coverage). I don't know the details of the incident. Certainly, this is the first time I have read about such a problem on RAV4 Hybrid. I have read about the fueling problem, but not this. I suspect, it must be relatively small numbers of cars being affected, and/or the incidents are still being investigated?

 

It is well known for at least a century or more that water collected at the bottom of a car door will rust through or rot the wood frame in earlier years if it is not drained through the clogged weep holes.

Some engineer at Toyota evidently failed to understand that there is nothing such as a completely perfect seal around a cable. Water vapor and air makes a gaseous mixture that can pass any seal.

The only real world solution is to provide drainage at the bottom of any closed space that can be penetrated by water.

 

Intriguing how these little issues can become Giant ones. Our plug-in minivan has such an issue. The traction pack is heated/cooled. The low voltage modular plug connected to it had no seal for a couple years. Sensors detect and send a fault signal when water intrudes and then it shuts down the heating/cooling appliance. We bought the replacement $5 plug ourself - as part shirtages can cause big delays once something goes out. The manufacturer doesn't allow dealerships to replace unless the fault is active. They are sneaky in that they've recently programmed the fault to clear automatically - so the manufacturer can delay or forgo replacement. It's not the part that costs them, rather the labor - as the modular plug & all the liquid temp control appliance are on top of the traction pack - which cost a lot to drop out of the minivan.
.

 

As I recall, from inspecting aircraft accidents and failures, it's almost always a minor design flaw, a poorly installed bolt or fastener or a poorly made minor repair.

Those who say, "Don't sweat the small stuff." are doomed to failure.

The loose bolts on the wheel can be thought as "small stuff" by the casual individual also commonly called "the man on the street."

 

son has a couple year old rav4h. lots of salt here, will be interesting to watch. i'll try to remember this thread if he breaks down.