Toyota Rav 4-check engine light disables 4WD and Traction control. WHY? B.S.!
Asked by GuruC55MH Feb 05, 2019 at 11:42 PM about the 2011 Toyota RAV4 Sport 4WD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have NEVER owned a vehicle where the check engine light disables important functions of your vehicle, just because it decides to come on. Especially now, in winter severe weather where I need my 4WD and traction control the most, and cruise doesn't work either....Now we can no longer ignore the check engine light, but must take it to dealer and pay big bucks to have the F'er turned off...I may be turned off on Toyota, check engine lights generally mean nothing and vehicle can be driven for years with it on...guess they have made it so you can't just ignore it.
4 Answers
BTW, It was my gas cap, had a kid pump my gas because it was below zero, and I checked it and tightened it to "click" several days ago, per dealership. But it took 4 days for lights to come on after getting gas, and now a week later they are still on.....So now I guess I need to sit at the dealership for several hours to figure out just what is wrong. More severe weather will come for sure, and I need my 4WD and Traction control....This is my second RAV4, and I loved them and wanted to buy another, till this shit....We'll see how much wasted time and money this costs me...was gonna trade for a 2019 RAV4, probably going to buy something else now....
This happened to our 2012 Rav4 a few days ago - all three lights came on at the same time. Thanks to this discussion site, we checked and tightened the gas cap, and it took care of the issue.
Jackhole42 answered 4 years ago
How sure are you that it disables 4wd? With the 4wd light on I just took our Rav4 on a couple trails and 4wd was absolutely working, despite the light being on. Traction control may have been off as there were a few spots where one or 2 wheels would spin, but on loose rock and sand all 4 were definitely driving. Still stinks a lot of people have this issue and Toyota hasn't addressed it. It does disable cruise control and the lights on your dash are quite annoying.
I have been fixing the "check engine, 4WD + Trac. lights" coming on by re-tightening the gas cap to the suggested "1 click", sometimes after several attempts, for several years. Recently, this has been occurring more frequently. Also, I have an minor exhaust leak which I think may be contributing to the increase. Some reports I have read suggest the O² sensor but some also say its replacement didn't help. My last bout with the 3 indicators coming on (2 weeks ago) was resolved after numerous stops to open and close the gas cap and driving until the indicators went out.
