ALL POSTS - Heater Failed - Service Bulletin TSB 0111-14

[reeler]

I would tell them the car is not operable without heat and they need to provide a loaner until it's fixed. Also, open a case with Toyota corporate. Another person in the same situation had the lead time miraculously reduced from a month plus down to a week by doing that.

I agree. If this is how Toyota treats it's buyers while they are still trying to sell this model, imagine what it will be like in a few months when they are no longer needing new buyers. Better yet, imagine what it will be like once the warranty has run? Also, I hope you don't plan on moving or driving out of state.

Don't cut them slack!

 

[waidy]

So, the EV has been at dealer since last Friday for a broken heater. Supposedly the heating unit has been replaced, but the "circuit board" (?) is back ordered until February, so no heat until then. Dealer wants me to pick it up. If it was April, no problem, but I am not happy about having no heat for January and February.

I would tell them the car is not operable without heat and they need to provide a loaner until it's fixed. Also, open a case with Toyota corporate. Another person in the same situation had the lead time miraculously reduced from a month plus down to a week by doing that.

Yes, that was me. I took it in on Dec 6 and got it back December 10 when they originally told me that the part won't arrive until January 6. I just took my 2nd Rav there Dec 16 and they told me the same that that part won't arrive until middle of January. I called Toyota and filed a claim (2nd claim) right a way. The claim manager called me yesterday and told me that my Rav was waiting for Tesla Engineers, not part. I called my service adviser at Toyota of Palo Alto and found out my service adviser was out sick and that another service adviser told the Claim Manager the wrong information. I think they were confused and gave the wrong information to the Claim Manager (there is another Rav4EV that has EV check error message that was waiting for Tesla Engineers). I called the Claim Manager and left a message. I hope to hear back from him today of when my part for my 2nd Rav should arrive at the dealer.

I demanded for an EV loaner. They don't have it but they were able to get an EV (Chevy Spark) from their rental company. The rental AND juice is free to me (there is a ChargePoint card attached to the key.

 

[waidy]

Hi all, I am very happy to let the group knows that my heater on my 2nd Rav4EV has been replaced. They are now checking on the rest of the stuffs (coolant and such), and will call me today when it is ready for pick up. Therefore, the 800# number to file a claim worked again for me for the 2nd time. If I didn't file a claim, I would have to wait until January 15 for parts.

The first one took one week and the 2nd Rav also takes one week. Both were dropped off Monday and pick up Friday. With a rental EV (paid by Toyota) while both were in service.

 

[shade]

I have my case # for my heater, but am waiting for Toyota corporate rep to call me back.

 

[waidy]

I have my 2nd Rav back. My 2nd Rav doesn't have the DC/DC problem. Only heater. @Shade: if your case manager calls you back and tell you that there is no part for you until 2014, tell them to take the part out from a new (2014 Rav4EV). The case manager will tell you that the 2014 vehicle will have different part. Tell them the 2014 Rav4EV is the same as the 2012 except for the VIN because Toyota make 2600 units of the SAME EV for 2012, 2013, 2014. [This is what I tell them and I got my car back with a heater from a new car]. My case number is 131 217 1730 and my case manager is Nicole if you want to use this as a reference.

Here is the repair note:

13935 verified heater inop. Has code B14C4 (Electric Water Heater Circuit). Inspected connecters at heater & A/C amplifier, OK. Inspected resistance BON DC/DC converter fuses for in cabin heater + & - sides, has continuity. Inspected resistance of in cabin heater, has 1.2 megaohms + to -, & 321 ohms - to +.10 amp A/C-IGCT fuse OK. Has B= at connector D15 terminal 2. No can codes. Cleared code, performed active test on heater, data list does not show heater on & code resets. Need to replace cabin heater & recheck. Called TAS case#TA133500200. Due to back ordered parts for heater. As per FTS, installed heater from new car (VIN#2T3YL4DV0EW002339). Bled heater system, operation OK at this time

 

[shade]

Great information Waidy. Toyota corporate approved loaner car for now. Part due on 2/14/14. I will call with part swap idea.

 

[Braxus]

I think they were confused and gave the wrong information to the Claim Manager (there is another Rav4EV that has EV check error message that was waiting for Tesla Engineers).

If it is a white one @ Toyota Palo Alto, that's most likely mine as I am waiting for the Tesla Engineers. Whatever issue I'm having has even the Tesla folks stumped last update I got from them.

 

[waidy]

If it is a white one @ Toyota Palo Alto, that's most likely mine as I am waiting for the Tesla Engineers. Whatever issue I'm having has even the Tesla folks stumped last update I got from them.

The Tesla engineers were at Toyota Palo Alto when I picked up my 2nd Rav. I don't know which car they were looking at. The service department open today (Saturday). You should call your service adviser to see whether they were looking at your EV.

 

[Sun2Drive]

I have a dead heater, too. It was easy to tell by looking at the accessories power draw (<1kw). The dealer said the parts would be 2-4 weeks and they would be happy to give me a gas burning loaner car. I'd have to pay for gas and would not be able to use the HOV lane, so I said "No thank you." I'm fine bundling up to survive the cold.

Question to you all is how do I tell if my DC-DC converter is working? The dealer said they "...found short in the heater and open in the DC/DC converter." I just checked my battery and it is 12.6V after 200 miles of driving with radio, map, and some headlights. I'm hoping to keep driving my RAV4, check the battery periodically, and hook up a battery charger if/as needed. If I remember right, someone said it is OK to charge the battery without disconnecting it.

 

[waidy]

I have a dead heater, too. It was easy to tell by looking at the accessories power draw (<1kw). The dealer said the parts would be 2-4 weeks and they would be happy to give me a gas burning loaner car. I'd have to pay for gas and would not be able to use the HOV lane, so I said "No thank you." I'm fine bundling up to survive the cold.

I feel the same. Except they already took my Rav apart and did not want to put it back. They classified it "UN-driveable". Therefore, I was forced to take a loaner EV. If you are taking it to Toyota Palo Alto, they should have a Chevy Spark EV for you.

Question to you all is how do I tell if my DC-DC converter is working? The dealer said they "...found short in the heater and open in the DC/DC converter." I just checked my battery and it is 12.6V after 200 miles of driving with radio, map, and some headlights. I'm hoping to keep driving my RAV4, check the battery periodically, and hook up a battery charger if/as needed. If I remember right, someone said it is OK to charge the battery without disconnecting it.

I did not encounter any problem with charging nor driving in re-gen mode. I was shock to hear that the DC DC unit failed and needed to be replaced. There was no sign what so ever.

 

[psangani]

Car at dealer (2012 RAV 4 EV). Heater component and DC converter need to be replaced. Part en route from Japan. Its on back order. No ETA.

 

[cwerdna]

Existing thread at http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=823 on this.

 

[cossie1600]

add me to the dead heater list. I specifically told them to not take the car apart if it was going to take more than a day or two to do it. I am schedule to go back the week after new years. I don't want the car to sit as they aren't even going to work on it anyway.

 

[Dianne]

I thought mine was also malfunctioning and brought it in. My head tech said "it's fine, no problem" so I decided to try harder.
Here's what you gotta do. And, some of the button pressing has to be done twice because it likes to bounce back or default to other settings.

Net end of things, here's where you get quick heat... and quick heat for this car is gonna take ya 2 minutes.
Make sure you end up here:

Econ = NORMAL
AC = OFF
Fan HIGH
Air at top vents and feet.

No other settings work well enough... this is my personal suggestion! Make sure those are the 4 main settings and see what happens. Like I said, once you put it in A/C off, and switch something else, go nack and check you're still AC off and on Normal. Damn car's got a mind of her own, I tell ya!
I have had folks call me about heaters and I have said "try this" and in most cases it's working fine, but I am also told this is a well known issue with EVs and they have a fix for it.

 

[miimura]

Also, crank the temperature for both sides (Sync) to 72 to 75 F when it is below 45 F outside. That will help get it going in addition to the settings suggested by Dianne above. I also recommend activating the Recirculate, but it has sensors that will set it back to Fresh in many situations, making it seem like it has a mind of its own. ECO LO also works (if you bump the fan speed up) and has the added benefit of automatically turning on the seat heaters. The passenger seat detection also avoids turning on that seat heater if nobody is sitting there.

 

[waidy]

My Rav, after the fix, warm the cabin in two minutes in ECO HI mode. Aux power shows only 200-300 Watts used when the ECO HI heater is on.

 

[cwerdna]

I thought mine was also malfunctioning and brought it in. My head tech said "it's fine, no problem" so I decided to try harder.
Here's what you gotta do. And, some of the button pressing has to be done twice because it likes to bounce back or default to other settings.

Net end of things, here's where you get quick heat... and quick heat for this car is gonna take ya 2 minutes.
...
I have had folks call me about heaters and I have said "try this" and in most cases it's working fine, but I am also told this is a well known issue with EVs and they have a fix for it.

FWIW, on the '13 Leaf SV and SL trims (not the new base S trim), they changed to a hybrid heater (http://sfbayleafs.org/news/2013/01/2013-nissan-leaf-product-highlights/), which has a heat pump and resistive (PTC I believe) portion.

I have a '13 Leaf SV and for me, if I turn on my car, turn on the heat and back out of my garage, by the time I'm on the driveway, I have heat from the vents.

People w/'11-'12 Leafs (supposedly the same crappy heater as the Rav4 EV) have complained its heater is slow and a power hog. The latter makes a big difference on an EV w/half the usable battery capacity of a Rav4 EV.

 

[cossie1600]

There is no heat. It blows room temperture

 

[Charlestonleafer]

It is getting fairly annoying with no heat. I wonder if I would be able to talk the dealer into not taking the car all the way apart to diagnose. What's really holding me back from taking it in is being without the Rav. If I could get them to order the parts quickly, I wouldn't be stuck in a gas burner for 2 months.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I have had folks call me about heaters and I have said "try this" and in most cases it's working fine, but I am also told this is a well known issue with EVs and they have a fix for it.

Heaters not working are not an EV thing... My two Nissan LEAFs had awesome heaters (and it is the exact same 6kW DENSO unit that's on the Rav4 EV).