Check EV System warning message

[miimura]

I think, generally, automotive computers don't respond the same way to removing power as other consumer devices. The system detected an error and will keep telling you about it regardless of whether it lost power in between. If the problem that caused the error message does not re-occur, it will go away after 4 or 5 ON(Ready)/OFF cycles. I suggested this earlier as a way to determine how persistent the error is in a particular vehicle. However, others pointed out that you may not want to do that so the dealer will have more opportunities to see the error and the fact that you should not just clear the error and keep driving like nothing happened. You should take it in for repair at the earliest opportunity. My cynical side says that if the problem is not persistent, the dealer will just clear the error for you, update the firmware (that fixes unrelated issues) and give the car back to you anyway. Obviously I don't feel that's a sufficient "repair", if you can even call it that, but that's what people have reported.

 

[cjp767]

The Check EV System problem is the reason I have not pulled the trigger and bought the Rav4 EV. I am not satisfied with the way Toyota is handling the problem(s)-- there is no reason any Rav EV should been approaching California's "lemon" criteria. Way too slow response time. And I haven't seen a decisive fix either.

I live in WA and though there are other Rav4 EV's in the area (I think about 5 in the state so far), I'm not convinced that the WA Toyota dealers would be any more responsive than the CA dealers have been with this problem, likely less. For us out-of-state guys, warranty work could be tough. It is a warranty fight that I'd likely win, but I'm not sure it's worth the pain, especially if I'd need to ship the Rav to Sacramento!

I wonder how Toyota would handle the issue if a Rav EV had a problem on the BC to BC Rally this weekend.

 

[gary2020]

To Avlegends,
yes, i bought the car there.
that is the exact reason why i took it back to them even though there is a closer toyota dealer to me.
I figure they should own up to their own problem/vehicle.
THey left a message with me yesterday trying to reproduce the problem. But what is the point.
I could tell they have done 2 full charges with emails i have received so that is atleast 160 miles they have driven it.
I specificallly told the service rep i don't want that many miles racked up on my car.
I could understand 20 or 30 miles at most but what is the point?

they said the computer log did not record the problem.
my guess is they are trying to reproduce it to see why it did not record.
or they don't believe me.
like i want to leave my car there and have them drive it.
i even took pics of the dash once.
i wish my wife took pics of the dash when the powersteering light came on.
or shoot a little video ...her phone can do all that stuff like most.

time to chew them up a bit tomorrow

 

[AvLegends]

To Avlegends,
yes, i bought the car there.
that is the exact reason why i took it back to them even though there is a closer toyota dealer to me.
I figure they should own up to their own problem/vehicle.
THey left a message with me yesterday trying to reproduce the problem. But what is the point.
I could tell they have done 2 full charges with emails i have received so that is atleast 160 miles they have driven it.
I specificallly told the service rep i don't want that many miles racked up on my car.
I could understand 20 or 30 miles at most but what is the point?

they said the computer log did not record the problem.
my guess is they are trying to reproduce it to see why it did not record.
or they don't believe me.
like i want to leave my car there and have them drive it.
i even took pics of the dash once.
i wish my wife took pics of the dash when the powersteering light came on.
or shoot a little video ...her phone can do all that stuff like most.

time to chew them up a bit tomorrow

Good luck. Who is your service advisor? Chris Case is the service manager. Steve Chapman is the general manager. Give either/both a call. Both were very attentive to my concerns and I believe they were doing their best to get my problems resolved. They can only do so much. Again... good luck!

 

[TonyWilliams]

I wonder how Toyota would handle the issue if a Rav EV had a problem on the BC to BC Rally this weekend.

Free towing to nearest Toyota dealer!!!

 

[madcow]

Wow. I just found this thread on the website. I'm in the process of buying this car. I will be an out of state owner with an ocean between me and the nearest "EV certified" dealer. One way shipping cost is $1200.

Hopefully not all the cars have this problem.

 

[Joe_EV]

Wow. I just found this thread on the website. I'm in the process of buying this car. I will be an out of state owner with an ocean between me and the nearest "EV certified" dealer. One way shipping cost is $1200.

Hopefully not all the cars have this problem.

You may want to ensure the latest firmware is flashed in before it ships. They updated mine to 1.3.57. It's too soon to say it fixed the problem, but so far so good. Personally I would at least talk to a local dealer about what type of service is possible before buying from so far away. The California dealers have special equipment to read error codes and flash in the updates, and in my case they had to try a few different versions of that equipment before they found one that would do the update. The service techs have received special training, but it's all still new and they are in regular contact with both Toyota and Tesla when one of these cars comes in for service. They haven't manufactured very many, and still haven't worked out all the bugs. (We still don't know if these are bugs or defects.) Having said that, I'm happy to be part of this big experiment.

 

[madcow]

Joe,

Thanks for your suggestion. When did you have your firmware updated? I called and asked to make sure that my car has the latest firmware and they said they would make sure and that they also updated all the cars on the lot about 2 weeks ago. Not sure if that is more recent or less recent than your firmware update. I'll ask them to verify the version number.

 

[Joe_EV]

When did you have your firmware updated?

On the 23rd. Good luck, let us know what happens.

 

[Philly RAV4 EV]

I think I know what is causing the screen of death to pop up. I have had this problem for a while now, it has happened to me about 10 times. The rav seems to be experiencing a stall. When I start the rav and put it in drive and give it gas to quickly it acts like it stalls, but when I put it in drive and wait 2 to 3 seconds for everything to engage I have no problems. I did it this way for about a month and had no problems. Then when i did it fast again it stalled out. I think that if you give it gas to fast before the system is engaged this problem comes up. After restarting it 4 or 5 times the screen of death goes away. Anyone else experience this?

 

[SeaMonster]

I think I know what is causing the screen of death to pop up. I have had this problem for a while now, it has happened to me about 10 times. The rav seems to be experiencing a stall. When I start the rav and put it in drive and give it gas to quickly it acts like it stalls, but when I put it in drive and wait 2 to 3 seconds for everything to engage I have no problems. I did it this way for about a month and had no problems. Then when i did it fast again it stalled out. I think that if you give it gas to fast before the system is engaged this problem comes up. After restarting it 4 or 5 times the screen of death goes away. Anyone else experience this?

For me, the SoD prevented me from going into Drive, so I never even got to the "gas" pedal. No stall for me.

 

[Philly RAV4 EV]

Sorry for using the wrong terminology, I meant the excelerator pedal not gas pedal!

 

[Joe_EV]

Me too: the SoD and all other errors happened before I put the vehicle in gear.

Today one of the more minor annoyances returned: I unplugged the car, got in, and was greeted with a message stating that charging had been interrupted by unplugging, even though the charge was completed as scheduled many hours before, and zero minutes of charging time remained on the display. Can't imagine we have that many power outages just before dawn here.

 

[Philly RAV4 EV]

My screen of death has only happened after I put it in gear, no other times. Maybe there is more than one problem happening with the ravs?

 

[Joe_EV]

My screen of death has only happened after I put it in gear, no other times. Maybe there is more than one problem happening with the ravs?

Very likely. Do you know your firmware version?

 

[Philly RAV4 EV]

No I don't know that.

 

[Joe_EV]

Until we're all on the same firmware, we're just comparing Apples to Oranges here. (Well, Grannies to Goldens anyway.) Mine is 1.3.57.

 

[madcow]

How does one determine which version of firmware is on the car? Is there any way to do it remotely? I don't have my car yet, but I do have Entune setup and can see the range of the car.

 

[the2bobs]

After over 30 days in the shop I finally have my EV back. The apparent cause of my "Check EV System" light was a bad connector to the high voltage water heater. The part was back ordered but after it got in and they replaced it there have been no more error codes. Hopefully that resolves the problem although only time will tell. Apparently not all the errors are a result of the Gateway ECU at least (or maybe I just haven't been bitten by that particular one yet since my car is only a few months old and has spent almost as much time in the shop as out of it). I don't know if anyone else is having this problem but it could be worth checking.

 

[jspearman]

After over 30 days in the shop I finally have my EV back. The apparent cause of my "Check EV System" light was a bad connector to the high voltage water heater. The part was back ordered but after it got in and they replaced it there have been no more error codes. Hopefully that resolves the problem although only time will tell. Apparently not all the errors are a result of the Gateway ECU at least (or maybe I just haven't been bitten by that particular one yet since my car is only a few months old and has spent almost as much time in the shop as out of it). I don't know if anyone else is having this problem but it could be worth checking.

30 days!?! I hope they made your car payment for the month. I've never heard of a car being in the shop that long. Glad they got to the bottom of the problem, though, and thanks for posting the info.