How did you fix this problem?
May want to quote OP for your question since he may receive a notification. He has not been here in 3 weeks.
How did you fix it?
Tell me the year and model of your Rav and ICE or hybrid. Tell me the circumstances when the AWD malfunctioned and you got the warning notice. I will try to help you.
This has happened several times to people in both 4th generation and 5th generation RAV4s. Believe it or not, the AWD notice can occur if your gas cap is not tightened properly. This would account for it going away for a few weeks. A gas station attendant improperly tightened it at one fill up and at the next fill up it was tightened correctly and the notice went away. I would check this first. Unscrew the cap--look at its inner surface and see if there is any debris or anything unusual looking--then screw it in until it clicks. If the cap seems loose or does not click you may need a new cap. If the cap is defective and loose or wobbly this would also account for the notice appearing and disappearing. Only buy gas caps at the Toyota dealers--the aftermarket ones are junk. Technically, what is happening is that a fault that has nothing to do with the AWD can cause the warning notice--a vacuum leak in the EVAP system. Now you could also have a much more complicated EVAP problem. Some posters got the AWD notice when the purge valve failed and that is an expensive part and repair. You report your car feels "normal" so I don't think you have a serious EVAP problem--also you don't have a MIL check engine light lit. A second thing that can cause the AWD notice to pop up also has nothing to do with the AWD system. People have gotten the notice if their 12V batteries are weak or dead. They will jump start the RAV or put it on a charger and the notice pops up when they start the car. The RAV computers (41 in all) are very sensitive to battery voltage and any transient lows or surges cause the AWD and other warnings to come on. Some have successfully got the AWD notice to go away by completely disconnecting the battery. If you have an OBD2 or a more serious scanner I would suggest first scanning for any codes and noting them. I suggest disconnecting the positive AND negative cables for an hour and pumping the brake pedal a couple of times to get any remaining charge out of capacitors. I would also recommend you go to a car parts store like Autozone and get a free battery check for voltage and condition--your battery may be getting weak and you may need a new one. I would lastly suggest you test the AWD to see if it is really working by turning your MID screen (where the warning notice appears between tach and speedo) to the display that shows the power distribution to each wheel). When you drive and accelerate hard or corner you will see the rear wheels light up and this means your AWD is actually working despite the notice. Now I would be remiss if I did not strongly advise you to go to the dealer and get them to examine your RAV and scan for all DTC codes and freeze frame data. Your car is still under warranty so if the battery, the gas cap, or any part of the EVAP system has failed they should fix it free. Needless to say, if my DIY fixes don't help then you MUST go to the dealer. Take a look at the following 3 page thread in this forum where others had your identical problem with the AWD warning notice.
Thank you so much for your thorough reply
So update, my snow mode, sport mode, eco and normal work. My mud and sand and rock and dirt buttons don’t show to work.
When the Rav has a mechanical fault and sets DTC codes the computer may automatically turn off many functions such as the AWD. These faults don't necessarily have anything to do with the AWD and you won't always get a MIL check engine light. At the very least check your gas cap as I suggested above. It may be best in your case if you are not mechanically experienced to make an appointment at the dealer. Tell the service writer all the symptoms you have experienced and have them scan for codes and diagnose the problem. It will probably be a free warranty repair.
2017 rav4 limited. occured after buying gas. car wasn't starting and light came on. had to jumpstart battery
If it has the original battery it's probably time to replace it.
This isn't really the correct forum-- you may get better advice for your 2017 in the 4th generation forum. If you mean you bought gas and the Rav immediately failed to start at the gas station then I agree with Dr. Dyno post #13 above--I would think your battery died and you need a new one. If you mean that after a period of time after filling up with gas the Rav was failing to start and you ran down the battery trying to start the car--then I would think the gasoline is to blame. It may have been contaminated or adulterated. I see you have a non-US flag on your poster ID. If you are in a third world or Eastern European country (Romania?) I would never trust the gas quality unless purchased in a large city at a top of the line gas station (not at a rural village cross roads.) If this is indeed what happened then you are going to have to get the contaminated bad gas out of the fuel system. If you can get the RAV to run then run that old, bad out until empty--if the RAV won't run you will have to drain the tank and fuel lines. Once the fuel system is rid of the bad gas refill with some new gas you are sure is pure.
Ok, will buy a new battery today and hopefully that works
Readers should remember this. A weak and failing battery will give all sorts of weird notices on the MID screen about AWD, or PCS or EPB malfunctions that are totally bogus-- but the one thing you will not get is any kind of notice that the battery is malfunctioning! This has been reported repeatedly on this forum and also for other makes of recent cars. A new battery solves the issue and clears the notices many times.
Underline added to emphasize an important observation. This same thing ran thru the 4.3 forums like a virus in the past but since very few could possibly be on their original batteries by now it has faded away.
