Hello Scotty,
I have a 4cyl 2008 Toyota Rav4 2WD with 189K miles. It's been a great reliable car since new and after Toyota took care of the engine oil burning issue at 90K it hasn't burned a drop of oil. A couple days ago while driving at highway speed, I depressed the accelerator and felt a noticeable lag and felt (and heard) a clunk/bang. The forward drives don't engage (I can hear the engine rev with some slight grinding- reverse drive engages, but when when the brake is released slips out of gear and you can hear spinning. I noticed on start up the motor moves/shakes considerably- esp. at the drivers side. Your thoughts? Anything that I can do to confirm the severity of the problem? Also- no check engine light is on. I don't have a scan tool. Appreciate any help you can give me. I enjoy your show and watch it daily!
I'll check that- thanks.
Check your drive axles for broken u-joints.
In this case, that would be the same as the cv joint and axle? What test would I do to determine if one was bad? Thanks.
Look under there, you'll quickly see if a joint is broken.
Appreciate the photo. No, unfortunately they both look perfect. Put the car up on stands today with both wheels off- When I try turning them there is only minimal play/movement. Feels like the gears at the ends are aligned and mated properly where they attach- which seems to indicate the problem is "before" power gets to those locations. Yikes! I hope I'm missing something, as I don't know too much about drive trains, etc. I'm blown away that it could be the trans. as the issue just came out of the blue. Car has never been beat on either.
I think you're at the point where you really need to take it to be checked out by a good independent mechanic. (Not a dealer and not a Pep Boys or Firestone type chain shop.)
Was the transmission fluid ever changed in this vehicle?
Regrettably no. I thought about it a lot though! But seriously, I was a little leery about doing it at this point with so many miles. Honestly, I can accept the trans going out with almost 190k on it with no maintenance- (will not let that happen again). Just expected more of a “warning “ before complete failure. So I could at least prepare myself psychologically.
FYI- With the car still on stands I started it and put it into drive gear- axels and wheels turn- but a god awful grinding noise (like metal parts bouncing around) can be heard inside the trans. Very slight pressure on the brakes results in an increase in noise. Reverse gear doesn’t engage at all
Definitely a hard lesson learned- especially as my wife wants to replace it with a new Lexus. Scotty help me!!
Yeah, unfortunately, like @doc mentioned, it sounds like curtains for your transmission. I recommend you first have it looked at by a reputed transmission shop in your area. If you love the vehicle, if the tranny is done for, consider getting a remanufactured (with warranty) tranny, or try your luck with one from a junkyard. And in future, periodically CHANGE YOUR TRANSMISSION FLUID (in all your vehicles).
Clearly a serious transmission problem. So much for those regularly scheduled fluid changes.
Thanks everyone for the comments and interest. A wise man said it best- oil is cheap- engines (in this case transmissions) are expensive.