Two problems related to manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe have been reported for the 2002 Toyota 4Runner. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2002 Toyota 4Runner based on all problems reported for the 2002 4Runner.
The contact owns a 2002 Toyota 4runner. While driving 60 mph, the contact heard the piston connecting rod pop when he switched lanes. As a result, oil leaked out of the engine manifold and caused a fire. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that there was catastrophic failure to the engine. The dealer notified the manufacturer to repair the engine. The current and failure mileages were 127,000.
2002 Toyota 4 runner - the oil is getting thick and gelling. The vehicle is using a lot of oil, and blowing black smoke came from the tail pipe. The dealer said this was a common problem for some Toyota of this year, make and models, and Toyota did have the highest amount of complaints on the consumer complaint website. It started to blow the black smoke driving. Took vehicle to dealer, and the dealership said it was a oil gelling problem. Dealership stated that the motor would have to be torn to find out what caused this problem. This would be at the consumer's expense. Manufacturer said they would not be able to help the consumer with this problem. There was an extended warranty on this vehicle, and the manufacturer stated that this would not be covered due to the maintenance that had done on the vehicle.