Engine Problems of Toyota Highlander

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander. While stopped a stop sign and the rpms begin to increase excessively. When the contact attempted to pull off she was unable to drive forward or in reverse. A mechanic came and was able to drive the vehicle to the contact's residence. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer who stated that the transmission dropped out of the vehicle because the front axle had broken. The vehicle was being repaired when the complaint was filed. The failure and current mileages were 12000. Updated 01/24/11 the dealer stated the driver side axle broke in half and half of the axle became stuck in the transmission. Also the camshaft position needed to be replaced. Updated 03/16/11.

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2003 Toyota Highlander with 110,000 miles started to overheat and lose coolant. Took it to dealership and learned that the cylinder head bolts had come loose due to the holes in the block being stripped. Toyota estimated $3000 to take the block out to a machinist to bore new holes, but if that didn't work it would cost $6000 to replace the block. I then took the car to a private mechanic who said it would cost $9600 to take out the block and send to machinist or buy a re-manufactured engine for $8200. The private mechanic stated this problem is due to faulty manufacturing of the engine and also stated that he sees this problem all the time in these types of vehicles. On the internet I have found consumers sharing the same stories about similar vehicles by Toyota with similar engines that have the same problem; some only lasting 70,000 miles. I put in a call with Toyota headquarters and they gave me a reference number in case any recalls should arise. Toyota said that there was nothing they could do out of "good faith" since it is passed the warranty mileage and since I did not do all my servicing at Toyota. I changed the oil every 3,000 miles and took very good care of this vehicle as it was my first purchase of a new vehicle and I thought it would last me a long time.

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The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Highlander. While the vehicle was being inspected the inspector informed the contact the catalytic converter was clogged up and that it would not pass inspection. The dealer stated that the repair cost would not be covered by warranty. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the technicians stated the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The contact stated that prior to having the vehicle inspected that the oxygen sensor was replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 53,000.

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I have a 2010 Toyota Highlander 4 cylinder that has an engine which is accelerating and surging despite that it has received the recall "fix" for the recent gas pedal recall. Even after the recall modification to the gas pedal, the engine's tachometer jumps (often up to 5000 rpm) while traveling at a steady speed or not accelerating. The problem occurs every time it is driven and is easily duplicated. My local dealer service had the car for over 3 weeks and was working closely with Toyota corp technicians. They were able to reproduce and observe the problem and acknowledged it. But the vehicle was not producing any diagnostic "error codes" and they were unable to diagnose or repair this vehicle. In a strange twist they returned the vehicle to me and "changed their tune". The dealer then said Toyota tech's stated it was a normal gear change function and that there was nothing they could do about the surging. The problem has gotten progressively worse and I am about to take it back to the dealer and go another round. Problem occurs at both high and low speeds, with and without use of cruise control. The vehicle is less than 1 year old and the engine behavior is quite scary. I do not want to have my wife and children get into an accident. Please get involved. In my opinion, this problem seems to be related to the vehicles electronic engine controls. A. S. I.

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Toyota Highlander 2003 2. 4 liter, blown head gasket due to stripped threads on the short block engine.

My 2002 Toyota Highlander v6 broke down on the side of the road. I had it towed to the Toyota dealership where they informed me that oil sludge has clogged my engine and I would have to have it replaced to the tune of $6000. I was shocked because I always got my oil changed well before the suggested 7500 mile mark. I did some research online and found out my car was part of a recall and class action suit. They never sent a recall notice. We purchased the car when it was 2 years old. I contacted Toyota USA and they confirmed that it was oil sludge but since a was a couple months beyond the class action suit of 8 years. I argued that they never sent us a recall notice. They pretty much said tough luck. I was lucky I was able to get my car to the side of the road safely ( my 5 year old daughter was in the back). I don't feel Toyota made enough of an effort to let the customer know of these issues. . I feel they were interested in protecting their reputation above their customers safety. I would have certainly gotten the car fix if they had sent the recall notice. I will not pay $6000 for something that Toyota should. These cars are dangerous and this company is wreck-less.

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2001 Toyota Highlander purchased new. About once a year it accelerates on its own. Reported problem to Toyota dealer in 2002 or 2003 - have receipt. We can stop the car with firm pressure on the brake. In most cases when we put the transmission into park the engine continued to race at high rpm. I can't remember all incidents, but believe that in some cases was able to slow the engine down by keeping my foot on the brake and putting the car back into drive. Other times I turned off the ignition. When I restart the car it is fine. Most recent occurrence was Sunday 4/18/2010 in parking lot of a&p on south avenue in clark or westfield, NJ. My wife was in the car with me. I had been driving the car for about an hour. The last half hour was on the garden state parkway at 55+ miles per hour. Was off the parkway for less than 5 minutes when I made left turn into a&p parking lot and another left in the parking lot. Driving less than 15 miles per hour. Then was almost stopped as I was about to turn left into parking space. Noticed the engine rpm seemed a little higher than normal and I became more cautious and made sure my foot was firmly on the brake pedal. The engine rpm began to increase rapidly. I pressed on the brake pedal as hard as possible and was able to keep the car from moving forward, but the engine would not stop racing. I put the transmission in park and the engine continued to race at full throttle. I turned off the ignition and the engine stopped. Restarted the car after a minute and it was fine. Don't believe I was pressing on the gas at the same time as the brake because the two pedals are far enough apart that to do so my foot could only be halfway on the brake pedal. In that case when I press hard my ankle starts to twist. I am sure my foot was centered on the brake in this incident because I had time to prepare and it felt firmly in the center. I don't think the gas pedal was stuck because I had been driving very slowly immediately before the incident.

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On numerous occasions this vehicle stutters when merging on to traffic. On this specific instance I was merging from turn in lane. The throttle was slow to respond after depressing the accelerator pedal 3/4 of the way. Then it jumped/lurched forward. I was nearly hit but the traffic coming up from behind. This has occurred on multiple occassions in the past, beginning with 20000 miles on the car. Had brought it to the dealers attention in the past and was told that this is a "design feature" of the electronic throttle. They seemed to be aware of the problem but could not offer any solution. The ecm was reprogrammed once under warranty but that also did not solve the problem.

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2005 Toyota Highlander, car will accelerate from a dead stop on its own. Change transmission from park to drive and let off brake and car will accelerate without touching gas pedal fast enough to change gears and continue. Have reached a speed of 30 mph before braking. The tachometer does not show that the engine is revving higher than a normal idle when in park changing into drive so it seems like an electronic problem, etc. Issue is intermittent. The car has been to 2 dealers over the time it has been owned and we were told the issue could not be duplicated so nothing could be done. I called the same day this email was sent and was told the same thing by the local Toyota dealership. Well, the recalled gas pedals don't stick all the time so they are intermittent problems so where is the difference between their cars and ours! I have tried every contact number for Toyota and cannot get anywhere!!!!!!.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Highlander hybrid. When applying pressure to the brake pedal, the engine would occasionally rev making braking more forceful. He speculated that the engine control system failed. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. The technician stated there was no diagnostic testing equipment available to detect the malfunction. The failure mileage was 40,000. The current mileage is 42,000. Updated 02/1710 updated 02/19/10 updated 03/02/10 the consumer believed the problem was engine idle, not accelerating or braking. Updated 03/22/10. The consumer stated the problem he experienced was not due to a stuck accelerator, because the accelerator pedal also runs the hybrid motor. The hybrid motor is not accelerating the vehicle like the gas engine. If the gas pedal was the problem, the vehicle would still run away in electric motor. Therefore, it is definitely an engine problem, not an electric motor or electric generator. And it is something that controls the engine and the hybrid electric motor. Updated 04/09/10. The consumer stated he experienced sudden acceleration again. Updated 05/03/10.

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My 2008 Toyota Highlander consumes a little over half quart of oil for every 1,000 miles driven and I took it to longo Toyota for more than three times and the mechanic there told me that it's normal. This is the first brand new car that I ever had wherein I have to add oil in between oil changes (3,000 miles). Had they told me before I bought this car, maybe I will not have bought it and won't end up having this problem.

4 cylinder engine blocked warped where head meets block. Head bolts were stripped and could not be tightened down. Following link describes the problem we encountered with our 2002 Highlander which has the same 2. 4 ltr 4 cylinder engine as the camry. . Read more...

In June 2008, I was driving when my engine apparently melted down. It went completely hot. I pulled over and there was what appeared to be coolant pooled under the car. Prior to this all scheduled maintenance had been done and there was no indication of any trouble with the car earlier that day. I later took it to my mechanic who said he had never seen anything like that in his life. The engine had literally melted. He then tried to call Toyota and got in contact with someone but they couldn't figure out what happened either and was unwilling to deal with it. He said it obviously had to be a factory defect. It cost me a whole new engine.

Past couple of months have seen smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Sludge has built up and clogged the pvc system and inside of the valve cover causing oil to sit inside and damaged the valve seals. Dealer wants to clean the sludge under the valve covers and replace the valve seals - cost of 3,900. 00.

My 2004 Toyota Highlander hesitates for a couple of seconds when I accelerate from about 40 to 50 mph such as getting onto a freeway. I have never experienced this in any other vehicle. I find this hesitation to be very disconcerting and makes me worry about merging into traffic.

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Toyota Highlander hybrid-I have lost abs brakes, stability control and power steering along with the hybrid engine on two occasions with my 2 week old 2006 Highlander. I have brought it to the dealer twice-the first time they found "malfunction codes" and "rebooted" the computer and told me it was operating as "designed," only to happen again 2 days later. Currently, they are replacing a computer. Date of incident and purchase of vehicle is actually 2006 but is not an option below. I am concerned it will happen again and result in an accident in the future.

Consumer 2005 Highlander has experienced hesitation during accelerations and sometimes deceleration. The dealer recalibrated the ecm which improved the hesitation problem while shifting but also reduced the gas mileage. The vehicle was taken to another dealer and their computer indicated that everything was fine.

Excessive sulfur dioxide in 2004 v6 Toyota Highlander, there is already a TSB on the v4, but I own a v6 and have had this problem for almost a year now (stop and go and acceleration, there is a rotten-egg smell). I've been told by 2 Toyota service stations that it is the gas. This is definitely not the case. I've tried every type of gas available.

Intermittent problem: while traveling approx 30 mph (or cruising speed), attempted to pass another vehicle. The accelerator was pressed to the floor and the vehicle refused to accelerate for a period of approximately 2 seconds. Acceleration resumed after this period. Contacted Toyota. Toyota said this is a normal phenomenon in their drive-by-wire systems.

Engine hesitation and delayed acceleration.

While researching another matter concerning my 2004 Toyota Highlander on your site, I read complaint #10161055 concerning a hesitation problem the owner was having and wanted to say that I have experienced the same problem. It is not constant, however it does happen frequently.

A few months after the purchase of my new 2003 Toyota Highlander, it has developed a pronounced "ticking" sound within the engine. I am concerned that this could mean that a problem is developing, and it is also an annoying sound in an otherwise quiet vehicle. I am going to report this to Toyota via their web site. This vehicle cost me almost $35k and I do not feel that this problem is insignificant nor should be ignored by the dealer. Should I choose to sell the vehicle, I would suspect this will significantly lower the price I could ask and may even prevent me from unloading it altogether.

My 2001 Toyota Highlander is burning approximately 1. 5 quarts of oil every 3,000 miles. Toyota USA says that the allowable limit is 1 quart every 1,000 miles and will not look at my vehicle even though it is still under warranty.

Oil sledging problem in my 2001 Toyota Highlander. I am concerned that Toyota's csp policy will not go far enough to rectify this problem. The dealership and Toyota's customer service line both blame faulty maintenance for this issue, but the oil was changed every 7500 miles as indicated in the owner's manual. Toyota's csp will only repair the issue once in 8 years, and neither will address what will happen should this arise again. The dealer maintained this was our fault until we presented receipts to show the vehicle had been maintained appropriately. It was at this time that the dealer suggested that it was possible the mechanics that changed our oil never actually changed it. Based on the numerous complaints and forums I monitored online, I feel this is Toyota's attempt to avoid taking responsibility for a larger problem. I also own a Lexus gs300, and the oil was changed at the same time as the Highlander and I do not have any issues with it.