Just a heads up to everyone. I have a 2020 Rav4 Hybrid LE. The high voltage wires were replaced under warranty after 40,000kms and while they didn't say anything at the time it was due to the wires rusting out. It just happened again, two years later and I'm a FEW kms over the warranty and Toyota won't step up and fix the issue. $7,000 bill. There is clearly a design flaw with the wires under the car that get exposed to salt. The parts have been upgraded 5 times over 3 years so no idea if the problem will be solved but I wish I had known this as I would have bought the plain gas Rav. Just know, if you drive on roads that get salted you WILL have this issue and pray you are within warranty!!!!!!!
Rav 2020
Amen! ICE models are ultimately more bullet proof and reliable. Hybrids have less parts (no starting motor, no alternator). Hybrids may need less maintenance (regen brakes don't wear out as soon as gas models normal ABS brakes). It's easier to do maintenance on some hybrid parts (eCVT trans easier to drain and refill than the 8 speed.) Hybrids are slightly faster than ICE models. Hybrids are quieter than ICE models. However, all those hybrid advantages are worth NOTHING if the hybrid craps out and won't run because of the "cable gate" wire corrosion issue. What's going to happen to salt belt hybrids when they are completely out of warranty and the customer support program wire replacement repair has already been done once and then the replacement wire corrodes and fails a second time? Yeah--I'm waiting for all you guys chiming in to say you spray anti-corrosives on the wire connection to prevent failure...you think all hybrid owners are also doing this?
I saturated my cable with ACF50 last week. It took longer to remove the plastic underbody cover than it took to spray it down. There's no need to disconnect anything unless you plan on unbolting the connector plug. I'll check it again next spring after it's gone through it's first Iowa winter.
My 2023 XLE Premium was delivered in mid July from Japan. I’m hoping that by then the improved clamshell cover might have been installed. Will have my dealer inspect during the initial free tire rotation - but in the meantime, I’m not too worried about this, as our roads are not salted here.
Is there a guide on how to remove the black cover that's blocking access to the cable? Is it held on by bolts or is it just plastic clips? Wouldn't want to break any clips if that's the case.
Everyone 100% has the right to do whatever they want to their vehicles.
I personally believe:
A. The percentage of vehicles that have been and will be rendered unusable by corrosion of version 1 (clamshell not open, no plastic cover) is very low relative to total vehicle sales.
B. The percentage of vehicles that have been and will be rendered unusable by corrosion of version 2 (clamshell open, no plastic cover) is and will be even lower than (A).
C. The percentage of vehicles that have been and will be rendered unusable by corrosion of version 3 (clamshell open, with plastic cover) is and will be even lower than (B).
D. The percentage of vehicles that have been and will be rendered unusable by corrosion of version 4 (clamshell open, with plastic cover, new connector w/foam) is and will be even lower than (C).
And finally:
E. Like many components under the vehicle, some corrosion simply being visible does not imply that a failure will definitely occur that renders the vehicle unusable. I don't believe that many of the customers that are treating their own cables even understand the actual specific failure mode. They assume that corrosion anywhere on the cable will brick the vehicle, which isn't true.
Given that I have "version 4" as described above and live in an area of the PNW with minimal snow (and therefore road treatment), I personally feel zero need to mess with the cable and am not paranoid about it looking pristine if I go check it out in 5 years. I highly suspect my vehicle will be rendered unusable by some other $5k+ failure long before cablegate gets me.
I personally believe:
A. The percentage of vehicles that have been and will be rendered unusable by corrosion of version 1 (clamshell not open, no plastic cover) is very low relative to total vehicle sales.
B. The percentage of vehicles that have been and will be rendered unusable by corrosion of version 2 (clamshell open, no plastic cover) is and will be even lower than (A).
C. The percentage of vehicles that have been and will be rendered unusable by corrosion of version 3 (clamshell open, with plastic cover) is and will be even lower than (B).
D. The percentage of vehicles that have been and will be rendered unusable by corrosion of version 4 (clamshell open, with plastic cover, new connector w/foam) is and will be even lower than (C).
And finally:
E. Like many components under the vehicle, some corrosion simply being visible does not imply that a failure will definitely occur that renders the vehicle unusable. I don't believe that many of the customers that are treating their own cables even understand the actual specific failure mode. They assume that corrosion anywhere on the cable will brick the vehicle, which isn't true.
Given that I have "version 4" as described above and live in an area of the PNW with minimal snow (and therefore road treatment), I personally feel zero need to mess with the cable and am not paranoid about it looking pristine if I go check it out in 5 years. I highly suspect my vehicle will be rendered unusable by some other $5k+ failure long before cablegate gets me.
Who wants to have to argue with Toyota (if that’s what happens) if you can do something to your car to prevent that? I had something as provable as a left turn signal that didn’t work as soon as I drove my car off the dealer’s lot. They kept saying they couldn’t reproduce the problem while clearly it was happening when I drove the car with them in it. They implied it was the way I was driving it. Then asked me if I had ever driven a Toyota before. Yes, can you believe it? My response, yes, been driving Toyotas for 28 years. Conclusion? They fixed it. They had to replace the steering column. After speaking to the Toyota engineers. I will do anything to avoid that sort of nonsense again.
I don’t know how I am just hearing of this. Does anyone know what years this affects? I’m seeing conflicting reports, some sites say 19-20, some up to 21 and some 22… I have a 2022 manufactured in June of 22. Even with the warranty extension, I’ll hit 100k after about four years (from new), this is highly concerning to me. I live in New England, so we do have high salt usage here.
I've owned a 2023 Rav4 Hybrid since October. I inquired about the infamous cablegate situation before the purchase and was told by the dealer that the problem, isn't a problem anymore. I'm not convinced though and sent a message to Toyota Canada's FB page. I got a response right away asking me to call their number and speak with a representative. I'll do that in the next few days to find out EXACTLY what they want me to do, if anything. I'm worried that if I try to prevent the problem myself, I may jeopardize any warranty they offer. Once I get their opinion and or direction, I'll report back here.
PS.....my brother in law works at a Toyota dealership as a technician. I'll get the real story from him soon....
PS.....my brother in law works at a Toyota dealership as a technician. I'll get the real story from him soon....
Oh, I forgot one! and this is somewhat laughable! When the enclosure around the side of the wire harness was cut out, opening up one side, people started saying " Hey, something is missing here". Toyota then issued T-TT-0690-22 "Under Floor Wire Harness for Motor Generator - Cover has Missing or Damaged Appearance" which says "This appearance is normal and is part of the connector cover design."
Yes, it was really a ridiculous statement. The left turn signal would turn on, but it wouldn’t shut off when I straightened the car again. When the service rep called me back to say the left turn signal was working fine, the next question out of his mouth was did I ever drive a Toyota before. That was going to be his excuse. “Toyota turn signals are different.” I didn’t volunteer my Toyota history information without being asked. I’ve driven many different rental vehicle over my lifetime, and I’ve never had a car with a turn signal that didn’t work the same as all of the others. To me, the brand of car should make no difference.
Before I had bought the car, I drove it with the salesman and he told me what path to take. Since it was all right turns, I didn’t know about the left turn signal since I hadn’t made any left turns. It wouldn’t shut off after making a left turn every time I made a sharp 90 degree left turn. It happened within a few minutes after driving off the lot after the sale was final. I’d turn the signal on, but it wouldn’t shut off. When I drove with the supervisor of the service department, I found out later that he told everyone I was making “sweeping turns.“ Yeah. I was “the bad guy.“ I had made a left turn at a stoplight next to the double yellow line another another street with a double yellow line. Both streets had two lanes. I drove from the left lane into another left lane. A perfect right angle turn. Not sure how I could have made a “sweeping turn” with traffic all around me And in the lanes beside me. When their employees made left turns while driving the car on side streets (I wasn’t in the car), the signal did shut off. As it did for me On side streets. Only after the sales manager sat with me in my car while it was standing still and turned the steering wheel left and saw it didn’t shut off when he returned the steering wheel to the forward position did he agree to call the Toyota engineers regarding it. But this was only after three days of trying to tell them it wasn’t working, even getting yelled at on the phone like I was a dog by the service manager. After I had calmly reminded him that I had just spent a lot of money on one of their vehicles and I couldn’t believe he was being so condescending to me (really…I was SO shocked at his attitude), I had noticed a change in his demeanor. Women‘s statements are not always taken at face value at car dealerships because “we don’t know anything.“
Before I had bought the car, I drove it with the salesman and he told me what path to take. Since it was all right turns, I didn’t know about the left turn signal since I hadn’t made any left turns. It wouldn’t shut off after making a left turn every time I made a sharp 90 degree left turn. It happened within a few minutes after driving off the lot after the sale was final. I’d turn the signal on, but it wouldn’t shut off. When I drove with the supervisor of the service department, I found out later that he told everyone I was making “sweeping turns.“ Yeah. I was “the bad guy.“ I had made a left turn at a stoplight next to the double yellow line another another street with a double yellow line. Both streets had two lanes. I drove from the left lane into another left lane. A perfect right angle turn. Not sure how I could have made a “sweeping turn” with traffic all around me And in the lanes beside me. When their employees made left turns while driving the car on side streets (I wasn’t in the car), the signal did shut off. As it did for me On side streets. Only after the sales manager sat with me in my car while it was standing still and turned the steering wheel left and saw it didn’t shut off when he returned the steering wheel to the forward position did he agree to call the Toyota engineers regarding it. But this was only after three days of trying to tell them it wasn’t working, even getting yelled at on the phone like I was a dog by the service manager. After I had calmly reminded him that I had just spent a lot of money on one of their vehicles and I couldn’t believe he was being so condescending to me (really…I was SO shocked at his attitude), I had noticed a change in his demeanor. Women‘s statements are not always taken at face value at car dealerships because “we don’t know anything.“
i would love to see the cam and finger setup to see what was up.
yea a new whole unit would fix it.
and toyota could have the whole thing to take a look at the engineering section to see what went wrong.
it could to have been as easy at the finger was warped or not formed right.
to just broken or bad design on the finger.
i would say the latter might be true.
or the cam could have the same issue as bad formed material.
back in the good old days the parts were metal. (1950's 1960's)
modern times they are plastics or mixed composite materials.
injection molded parts can be a real challenge unless they check every part with an indexer or laser scan.
or check for cracks or voids etc.
the joy of a new car or truck is gone when you have to deal with a bad part.
been there done that!
lol
Merry Christmas!
yea a new whole unit would fix it.
and toyota could have the whole thing to take a look at the engineering section to see what went wrong.
it could to have been as easy at the finger was warped or not formed right.
to just broken or bad design on the finger.
i would say the latter might be true.
or the cam could have the same issue as bad formed material.
back in the good old days the parts were metal. (1950's 1960's)
modern times they are plastics or mixed composite materials.
injection molded parts can be a real challenge unless they check every part with an indexer or laser scan.
or check for cracks or voids etc.
the joy of a new car or truck is gone when you have to deal with a bad part.
been there done that!
lol
Merry Christmas!
What you say makes sense…that perhaps Toyota engineers wanted to inspect the bad part. From the disbelief I encountered from the service department, I surmised my car’s situation was not one they likely had seen before. Bravo to the Toyota mechanics for wanting to inspect the bad part, if that is in fact what they did.
yea working with GM on issues like this and electrical issues as a 3rd party engineering group.
back in the day (1980's to 2000) they would ship us the whole car or a structure to take a look.
a fresh set of eyes on the project is a good thing.
some issues were rare and some were in the 100k range on the affected cars and trucks.
back in the day (1980's to 2000) they would ship us the whole car or a structure to take a look.
a fresh set of eyes on the project is a good thing.
some issues were rare and some were in the 100k range on the affected cars and trucks.
cablegate is the rav4 mgr cable corrosion problem -BEFORE- Toyota started to cover these cables with additional warranty
and before the cable clamshell design change. the whole mgr cable dilemma can be lumped under 'rav4 cablegate'
specifically the closed connector shell allowed dirt to remain and pack in, and provide
physical external pressure (the packed dirt) and physical continual wet electrolyte
to allow corrosion to invade under the braid clamp and into the 3-phase wiring.
the open clamshell will still allow some corrosion and dirt, but without the added continual wetness
and continual physical pressure from packed dirt. it cannot pack in, it will build up to some
point and just fall out...
this version should have no electrical problems but may allow braid to corrode,
hence those if us with the new design and open clamshell...we still want to avoid all
corrosion on this braid if we can.
there is no evidence thus far the open clamshell design ever had any hybrid system fault....
but there is evidence of some surface corrosion on the open clamshell design.
---
if you have old fully closed design, risky. needs anti-corrosion work on it in many peeps opinions
but is now covered by additional warranty if this cable fails at MGR ...so you don't need to do anything
and if/when it faults, toyota covers it, if it falls under the additional warranty
if you have the new open design, no where near as risky. but some of us
want to go above and beyond toyota design and add anti-corrosion measures
likely to never fault if you leave it alone, but also worth a little bit of shade-tree
mechanic work to add anti-corrosion measures
and before the cable clamshell design change. the whole mgr cable dilemma can be lumped under 'rav4 cablegate'
specifically the closed connector shell allowed dirt to remain and pack in, and provide
physical external pressure (the packed dirt) and physical continual wet electrolyte
to allow corrosion to invade under the braid clamp and into the 3-phase wiring.
the open clamshell will still allow some corrosion and dirt, but without the added continual wetness
and continual physical pressure from packed dirt. it cannot pack in, it will build up to some
point and just fall out...
this version should have no electrical problems but may allow braid to corrode,
hence those if us with the new design and open clamshell...we still want to avoid all
corrosion on this braid if we can.
there is no evidence thus far the open clamshell design ever had any hybrid system fault....
but there is evidence of some surface corrosion on the open clamshell design.
---
if you have old fully closed design, risky. needs anti-corrosion work on it in many peeps opinions
but is now covered by additional warranty if this cable fails at MGR ...so you don't need to do anything
and if/when it faults, toyota covers it, if it falls under the additional warranty
if you have the new open design, no where near as risky. but some of us
want to go above and beyond toyota design and add anti-corrosion measures
likely to never fault if you leave it alone, but also worth a little bit of shade-tree
mechanic work to add anti-corrosion measures
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