[jfwatson]

Hi, last Monday I leave my car on dealer premise for the 10000KM warranty review. The car is running great, no issue. But I have one concern, is there a protective cap over ECU connector?
Yesterday I open the engine hood, and some wires with different colors catch my attention, I never see those before, so i assume that during the revision they remove a cap and didn't reinstalled. See pictures bellow and let me know if that is OK or is if there a missing cap?

 

[Francesco]

I just checked mine and it is just like yours. My build date is Jan-2015. I agree with you that there should be one.

Frank 2015 Rav4 XLE AWD with 8K miles

 

[jfwatson]

Thanks Frank for your reply, will be nice if some one else can share a photo with the cap installed, just to figure up how it is and try to request one from the dealer. The problem is what will happens if some water get over the ECU connector, maybe during a engine wash.

 

[FixIt]

My wife's 2010 does not have a cap. Of all the RAV4s that I have worked on, none had a cap.


That is just a channel you are looking at. The wires are sealed at the connector, which is down lower.


Leave well enough alone.

 

[jfwatson]

Thanks Fixlt, so what are saying is that cap do not exist, so those ECU's wires are sealed and there is no problem if some water runs over that connector. I an not a mechanic, but for me some times Toyota spend time and money trying to keep doing some cosmetic changes to their cars models but some time they do not protect electrical parts or engine part correctly, is a nice car and I'm more that happy with it. But after owned this car for more than a year I start finding details, details that maybe are not important for most of the people, but for me it does.

 

[Carguy33]

The wires are sealed into the connector. You should never EVER wash a modern engine unless you want to replace it.

 

[Octane]

The wires are sealed into the connector. You should never EVER wash a modern engine unless you want to replace it.

always washed all my car engines, and never had any problems, care to elaborate on why such a blanket statement?

 

[jfwatson]

So wash or not wash the engine, mi concern still the same electrical parts exposed. By the way is there any guide to wash or keep the engine clean without damage it? I just try to remove any dust carefully but to be honest some times I feel the temptation to wash all over with water. The reason why I did not do that is because in the past I had a Toyota corolla and after I keep the car to a car wash for washing the engine, the Corolla engine stops working, after two hours using a vacuum machine, the engine start again.

 

[RobertN]

It's tacky and generally a no-no that bundles of individual wires show and the connector seals are not protected from direct water contact. The Camry's engine control is rotated 180 degrees so the connectors face downward, like they should to shed water and dirt. It looks like they saved a few cents on the harness length by having the connectors facing up. There is another place where the wires show and run downward, just to the drivers side of the engine block. I covered both places with some heavy sealer tape, 2" wide by ~1/8" thick to seal the transgressions. In general the wiring harnesses on the RAV4 look cheap compared to the Camry.

 

[jfwatson]

Totally agree Robert, I will try to protect those parts with tape like you do. Thanks for you reply.

 

[dlsotoe]

http://www.rav4world.com/forums/123...ngine-compartment-wiring-harness-battery.html

 

[penderwheels]

I put clear packing tape over the connector a few weeks after I bought my 13 Limited. Like the OP, I was not happy with the original design.

 

[Carguy33]

Because in today's engines you have a wide array of engine mounted sensors and wiring that, if drenched will most likely fail prematurely. I had a buddy that had his engine washed at a detailer. Next week he was replacing a $250 MAP sensor that was seeping water.

 

[raddboy]

I had some self-adhesive pipe insulation around so I covered the top of the wiring harness. That and a little 3m 77 tape took care of it.

Kevin
2013 Rav4 Limited (Black/Black)
2002 Sequoia SR5
2000 BMW K1200RS
1994 Yamaha GTS1000

 

[pico]

Funny how at this time of the year I have a lot of that heat-wrap and tape. In fact, I'm doing another section of heat cord for the basement plumbing today. Crazy cold weather!

...and they play Football in this stuff!

Minnesota - come for the football game; stay because your car won't start!