2008 Toyota Highlander Engine Problems
- 41
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 41 stored complaint records:
- 0 indicate a crash
- 0 indicate injury
- 1 indicate fire
What owners report
- cooler hose · 8 records
- engine cooler · 5 records
- cooler pipe · 5 records
- loss engine · 4 records
- known issue · 4 records
- under hood · 4 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 100–150k mi | 19 |
| 60–100k mi | 14 |
| 30–60k mi | 3 |
| 150–400k mi | 2 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Engine
Toyota's t-sb-0201-1 should trigger a recall!! My wife was driving her '08 highlander, with 2 co-worker passengers, to a funeral. On 95n in danvers, ma, a motor biker pulled alongside & flagged my wife to pull over asap as there was smoke coming from the engine compartment and under the car. After stopping the car & waiting for the smoke to dissipate,he checked & found there was no longer any oil in the engine, the…
ODI 10593150
Engine
The oil line has degraded, causing total loss of engine oil and possible engine damage. *tr
ODI 10587715
Engine
Driving in parking lot at approximately 5mph when smelled burning oil. Parked car and noticed smoke from under the hood. Turned off car and checked under the hood and noticed oil over engine. Searched online and saw issue with oil-cooler line "toyota: on some vehicles, the engine oil cooler pipes may exhibit an oil seepage. Information has been provided regarding this issue". This did turn out to be the issue.…
ODI 10574587
Engine
High pressure oil cooler line failure of rubber hose section dumped 5 qts of engine oil soaking undercarriage and spraying onto nearby hot exhaust pipe and right rear tire. No indication of loss of oil pressure on vehicle monitoring system. Noticed a faint smell of burnt oil when vehicle was parked. Returned later to start vehicle and heard audible engine noise and turned of engine to investigate under hood, a…
ODI 10573890
Engine
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. The contact stated that while driving 10 mph, she began to her a knocking noise in the engine. The contact parked the vehicle and had it towed to a certified mechanic which stated that the engine cooler hose had a hole and cause the engine oil to leak out of the vehicle and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the…
ODI 10565662
Engine
Oil pressure warning light went on almost immediately pulled over found no oil on dipstick had rapid oil leak, dealer replaced oil cooler hose with oil cooler pipe. *tr
ODI 10559272
Engine
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. The contact was driving 55 mph when the vehicle began to emit a burning oil smell. The check engine lamp illuminated so the contact added oil to the vehicle. The contact stated that the burning oil smell still lingered and the check engine warning lamp illuminated again. In addition, a hose from the engine failed and spilled motor oil on the exterior of the vehicle. The…
Fire reported
ODI 10551969
Engine
The vvt-i oil cooler hose burst resulting in a major engine oil spill in a residential driveway. The toyota dealership and toyota corporate headquarters refuse to assume responsibility for the defective part because the vehicle is outside the warranty period and because they claim there is no recall for this part on the highlander. This same vvt-i oil cooler hose has been recalled on 1.6 million us rav4's, camry's…
ODI 10547073
Engine
2008 toyota highlander was taken to toyota dealer in november 2011 after receiving notice to have defective oil cooler hose checked. In september 2013 replacement oil cooler hose failed while on highway traveling at seventy miles per hour. Oil was observed covering bottom of vehicle and film of oil on back of vehicle. The oil gauge indicated no oil in engine. I believe this resulted in a safety hazard from both…
ODI 10544453
Engine
Low oil notice came on. Drive 1/4 mile to oil change facility. Was told almost no oil on dipstick. Oil refilled and drove appro 5 miles to dealership- star toyota , league city, tx. Have researched and noted tsb issued on 3/11/2011- nhtsa reference # 10033553 with this exact repair problem inclusive of my vehicles exact failure was not notified by star toyota dealership of this defect while under warranty. Vehicle…
ODI 10531854
Engine
Engine began revving upon acceleration from a stop light. Engine warning light came on indicating low oil pressure. Pulled into auto repair shop who found dipstick was dry. Poured oil into engine only to see it leaking out from below passenger side. Car was then towed to local toyota dealer. Dealer replaced oil cooler hose 15767-31010 which had failed with 15767-31020 (all metal assembly). Replaced oil and restarted…
ODI 10522145
Engine
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle, he noticed a large amount of oil in the driveway. The contact checked the oil level and it showed that there was no oil in the vehicle. He then added oil and found a steady stream leak from a rubber hose. The contact purchased an after market metal hose and replaced the defective hose. He then drained the oil and found…
ODI 10522031
Engine
I just became award of this: "t-sb-0201-11 from toyota that states "some vehicles equipped with 2gr-fe/fxe towing package engines may exhibit an oil seep from the engine oil cooler pipes." *tr this tsb affects my model year and i believe it also affects toyota and lexus vehicles going back to at least 2008-present. To me this is a major safety issue and this should be handled as a recall instead of a tsb due to the…
ODI 10507486
Engine
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. The contact stated that while driving 10 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was restarted and taken to the dealer for inspection. The dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000.
ODI 10544257
Engine
My wife started the car in the morning to drop the kid to school which in within 2 miles of our home. It was cold day of winter. She heard a loud noise from the front part of hood when she drove about 1/2 a mile and was worried with the kids what is that noise. Any how after that the car had start making squishing noise from the front of the hood. We took to toyota and they said water pump needs to be replaced. I…
ODI 10504314
Engine
Oil leak from backside of engine. Toyota has acknowledge the issue with a service bulletin tsb-0321-08 but did not perform a recall. Therefore, you may experience this problem and you may find the issue after your warranty expired. This is a very expensive repair - estimated to be more than $2k. Toyota continue to experience quality problems and should honor their products within or outside their warranty when it is…
ODI 10496756