2010 Toyota RAV 4 Starting Phenomena

[G-Man]

Car has an aftermarket remote starter.

Wife calls and says her car won't start.  Says it's the battery.  I throw the cables in the car and I'm there in minutes, thank goodness cause it was really cold. 

Turned the key, heard a few ticks, then nothing.  Nothing after that, not even ticks.

Attached the cables to the supposedly dead battery and the car started up all by itself.  Made sure the other end of the cables weren't touching and pulled the cables off of the battery.  Drove it home to the house.  Started a few times without problems. 

(As an FYI:  If the Rav4 isn't running, you can't take it out of park to roll in neutral to a more advantageous place to work on the car if needed.)

[Michvalk]

Remove and clean the battery posts and clamps.

[Jersey mike]

Remove and clean the battery posts and clamps.

I have to agree w/ Michvalk but also say you should go an extra couple steps. Check your cables from the battery to ground and the power cable to starter. Replace either if any wire is exposed from the casing and clean/wire brush your ground location and give a shot of WD40.

Also the relay for the remote start may be bad (it could be the key fob for the remote start) or going bad or have a loose connection somewhere in the system. My neighbor had a similar problem with their remote alarm/door locks. Every time they clicked the key fob for the door lock it activated the alarm too. I forget what they found out was the problem but the end result was they deactivated the alarm. Once or twice the car would not start because of the alarm issue.

[Firefighter]

Wish I could help! I have worked as a mechanic years ago, and still try to do my on repairs, but these newer vehicles are very difficult to diagnose. So much integrated circuitry, and of coarse you have to scan everything and in some cases use a phone line to communicate with the car. Have to be careful how you probe electrics or you might burn up a computer or two.

Quite a few cars need battery power to shift out of park now days. I think the remote start could be dangerous, be careful doing car maintenance. Also seen a lot of shoddy work with aftermarket alarm installation. Best of luck!

[PAVALKER]

Car has an aftermarket remote starter.

Attached the cables to the supposedly dead battery and the car started up all by itself.  Made sure the other end of the cables weren't touching and pulled the cables off of the battery.

.  I recommend you clean and tighten battery and possibly starter connections, charge then test battery at Advance Auto or the like.  I'd also recommend you change the battery in the remote start fob just for grins....

And you did mean it started by itself just by connecting the cables right?

[hukmut]

Bad connection at the battery. A "better" connection was made simply by the pressure from the cables. Don't make a "simple" problem complicated.
Ride safe.

[Firefighter]

He said it started by itself with only one end of the cables attached, don't think it should have done that, even with bad connections.

[Karen]

Agree with clean the terminals and cable connections.

[WintrSol]

Yes, most likely loose or dirty cable ends, but it could also be a battery terminal that is cracked inside the battery. Not common, but it does happen, even in new batteries. Turn the lights on, and try moving the cables, one at a time, and listen for any sparking noise (not often heard), or any flickering in the lights.

[Ricky-D]

I think that starting episode can be simply explained due to the fact that there is an aftermarket remote starter.

When you activate the remote starter, you energize a relay. There may not be enough power in the battery

to turn over the engine or even activate the starter solenoid but there is enough power to keep the remote

starter relay activated. Then when you add enough power with a good battery and power cables, the remote starter

system carries on as it's supposed to, oblivious to the pause.

***

[G-Man]

Bad connection at the battery. A "better" connection was made simply by the pressure from the cables. Don't make a "simple" problem complicated.
Ride safe.

I'm gonna agree with you, and everyone else on this one.  Thanks to all.

Last evening, I checked the battery terminal connections.  They were nice and clean, but loose.  So, by attaching the sprung loaded clips to the outside of the battery cables, a better connection was made, and since the remote starter button on the fob was pressed about a hundred times trying to start the thing, the car started right up. 

This is the 2nd "issue" with this remote start thingy.  Last time, the car would start all by itself and couldn't be shut down.  Had to remove battery to shut it down.  When the battery was reconnected, it would start right back up.  Turns out, the other fob was in the house being squeezed between a pile of things in a box.    

[hukmut]

To be filed under"MODERN PROBLEMS"

[Robert]

Car has an aftermarket remote starter.

Wife calls and says her car won't start.  Says it's the battery.  I throw the cables in the car and I'm there in minutes, thank goodness cause it was really cold. 

Turned the key, heard a few ticks, then nothing.  Nothing after that, not even ticks.

Attached the cables to the supposedly dead battery and the car started up all by itself.  Made sure the other end of the cables weren't touching and pulled the cables off of the battery.  Drove it home to the house.  Started a few times without problems. 

(As an FYI:  If the Rav4 isn't running, you can't take it out of park to roll in neutral to a more advantageous place to work on the car if needed.)

After market remote starter is just like an alarm that sometimes if the battery drops dead when power returns may be in the start position. Some alarms if the battery drops dead and you jump it the alarm will go off.

  As for the cause of the dead battery I would take it to a place that can load test the battery appropriately and check the charging system. Sometimes when batteries go bad they charge really quickly and drop dead really fast. A load test is the only way to truly test a battery. I doubt connections but its possible. If you listen and hear a slight lag when you first hit the key it may be one indication of a weak battery. Batteries can go from good to bad but sometimes they become weak before they actually die and don't give much of a warning.

[mark81]

some remote starts have a battery monitoring feature and will start your car to charge the battery if the voltage gets low however all properly installed remote starters have a switch that disables the system when the hood is open. I would check that out, safety feature so it doesn't start while working on the car. make sure that the pin switch is not rusty and grounds the wire when hood opens

[Firefighter]

Again! No matter what the features, you had better take extra precautions working around a vehicle with a remote start system. If the car should remote start in your garage because of mistake, or to charge the battery, then better have a automatic vent system installed or you could die of carbon monoxide poisoning. This has already happened by the way.

[G-Man]

Again! No matter what the features, you had better take extra precautions working around a vehicle with a remote start system. If the car should remote start in your garage because of mistake, or to charge the battery, then better have a automatic vent system installed or you could die of carbon monoxide poisoning. This has already happened by the way.

This was my biggest fear of having the remote starter put in, she actually had my father-in-law take the car to have it installed after I voiced my objections.   

I've heard the horror stories about the elderly couple who died due to CO poisoning because one of them forgot the car was running in the attached garage, or the husband who remotely started one car in the garage, then took the car in the driveway to work only to come home and find his wife and the dogs dead.

But, she HAD to have it, and now it's jammed her up twice so far.  I hate being proven right when it comes to these "disagreements", mainly because I'm the one who has to deal the issues that arise.

[Patrick]

I have not read all the responses, so, this may be repetitious.

It sounds to me like an issue with the remote starter. I'd talk to the installer as it sounds like it is an aftermarket. If it isn't, then its off to Toyota for a chat.

I would imagine you have the newer style battery terminal clamps which are more trouble-free than the old lead ends. If you want to clean them then just attach a small light jumper lead between the post and terminal while removing them to save all settings [ if you have any settings to save]. Use a wire brush/sandpaper to clean the terminals contact surfaces.

[chrise2469]

Gman.  All modern automatics have a shift lock release.  In the owners manual it shows where it is and how to use. 

On the Mrs's corrola its under a cover at the top of the shifter base.  You pop the cover, press down and hold the button while you shift and it moves out of park.

Hope this will help you in the future if necessary.