Cleaning 2007 RAV4 battery posts.

HAROLDH

MEMBER
2007 TOYOTA RAV4
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
63,000 MILES

I have a 2007 Toyota Rav4. I recently disconnected the negative and positive battery cables to clean corrosion deposits from the posts. After this was done, the car has trouble starting the first 2-3 tries. Seems as if you need to press the accelerator to make the car start. After the car start and stablizes it runs normal. This only happens on a cold start. The battery has a full charge and was not having this problem before clean the battery posts with a battery wire brush. Anti corrosion pads were added before reconnecting the cables.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,873 POSTS

It appears you got lucky. A lot of things can go wrong when you disconnect the battery or run it dead on these newer cars. Some cars will start and idle but the engine won't speed up when you press the gas pedal and they won't come out of park.

If the engine will stay running when you hold the gas pedal down a little, it sounds like the Engine Computer has to relearn "minimum throttle" before it will know when it must be in control of idle speed. The procedure is different for every manufacturer. I only know for sure what it takes for Chryslers to meet the conditions for the relearn to take place. That is to drive at highway speed with the engine warmed up, then coast for at least seven seconds without touching the brake or gas pedals. If the problem doesn't resolve itself in a day or two, a call to the dealer might be all it takes to find out the conditions that must be met for the relearn to occur.