2008 Toyota Highlander Engine Problems

Which parts fail

• Engine
  5
• Cooling system
  1

Components named in complaints (engine, cooling system, oil leaks, timing chain, exhaust).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  23%
• 25k–50k
  58%
• 50k–75k
  813%
• 75k–100k
  1422%
• 100k–150k
  3047%
• 150k+
  58%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2008 Toyota Highlander owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The contact owned a 2008 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 20 MPH, an abnormal, booming sound was emitted from the vehicle as heavy, black smoke entered her vehicle. Due to the smoke, the contact's vision became obstructed, and the contact immediately shifted into park and jumped out of her vehicle for safety. It was unknown if there were any warning lights. As a result, the contact injured her right hip and strained her vocal cords. The vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames as authorities were called to the scene. The fire department extinguished the flames as both a fire and a police report were filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was deemed a total loss. There was no property damage. The origin of the fire was unknown, and an investigation was opened by the insurance company. …

On January 19, 2021, after driving for about two hours, I suddenly started to hear an unusual knocking noise from the engine. I slowed down, but I was unable to pull over immediately because I was driving on a very dark two lane highway, with no safe shoulder. After the same noise continued for about five to ten minutes, a light began to flash indicating extremely low oil pressure, and warning that the car should stop immediately. At that point, fortunately, I was able to pull over at a gas station, where I discovered that oil was gushing from my engine onto the ground. I checked my oil dipstick and noted that the car had no oil, and was thus inoperable. I was extremely concerned that the engine had been damaged while being driven with little to no oil. …

On September 25, 2021, my husband was driving our 2008 Highlander locally to the store. The low pressure light came on and said pull over immediately. He pulled over and and checked the oil dip stick and our car was totally out of oil. He also notice oil under our car and a line of oil going up the street. The following day, I contacted Toyota Experience Center and was informed their were no service campaigns on my Highlander. I had the car towed to my local mechanic and he verified that the car had no oil and replaced the failed oil cooler hose. My concern is that the oil cooler hose failed, draining all of the oil in minutes. I feel this is a safety issue because of how rapidly it occurred and If we couldn't immediately stop the car our engine could have seized up and made the car stop.

The engine burns Coolant and yet doesn't overheat. The engine on cyl 4 misfires. Changing the head gasket didn't repair the issue, replacing all fuel Injectors and ignition parts didn't either. Heads inspected and passed. Compression testing passed. Always misfires on cyl 4. No repair aside from an ecu reflash or replacement seems to be possible. 4 shops looks at it and couldn't find any reason why it was misfiring and no traces of water were found in the interior, on the floor, in the oil or exhaust in the cooling system.

2008 Highlander, engine oil cooler pipe failed, dropped 4 qts of oil on the highway, which LED to a slippery situation, I pulled over but a car behind me skidded through the oil and rear ended the car in front of them due to the oil left on the road impacting their safe stopping distance. This failed part was a rubber hose holding hot motor oil next to the catatlytic converter, terrible design, Toyota replaced this original rubber hose with part 04004-29131 that was metal pipes not hoses. This part was eligible for a Toyota extended warranty coverage (Toyota warranty enhancement ze2) till 2016 or so, but I was never notified via mail of the issue, therefore did not know about it until after my car broke down. …

I had an engine oil cooler hose rupture at 131000 miles. I left an oil slick a mile long on the street causing a hazard in the road and a mess in my garage. Engine oil had sprayed all over the lower half of the engine and onto the catalytic converter which was heavily smoking and I noticed a small fire down in the lower half of the engine compartment so I had to pour water on the fire. Toyota has known about this issue for a good 7 years because I received a "warranty enhancement notice" (ze2) in 2014 stating that the oil cooler hose could spring a "leak" and they were extending the warranty for said part to 10 years or 150,000 miles. But Toyota played down the severity of the issue stating that a majority of vehicles with this known defective part wouldn't fail. …

While driving on i40 near texas/nm state line, oil cooler line failed resulting in the Highlander dumping oil on the roadway for over a mile before it was noticed. Pulled off immediately, saw oil pouring out from bottom passenger side of engine cover. Exterior lower passenger side and rear of vehicle were also covered in oil. No dash indicator lights ever warned of issue. This left us stranded on side of busy interstate with heavy semi traffic for hours while waiting for a tow to a shop for repairs, where we had to wait a day for the part. Completely unacceptable Toyota knew of a defective design that could lead to accidents and death, and chose not to issue a recall! Will be seeking legal action.

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, smoke was suddenly present coming from under the passenger side of the front hood before the engine stalled. After stopping and examining under the hood it was discovered no oil was present in the engine and oil had spilled onto the engine. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine oil cooler line had burst causing oil to leak from the engine. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 82,652.

I recently noticed a rattling sound out of the engine area that occurs intermittently. It typically occurs after the vehicle sits for a couple hours after it has been driven up to operating temperature. The sound happens for less than 2 seconds. The Toyota dealer in our area diagnosed the issue as a failure of the intake cam gear per Toyota technical service bulletin 0094-09. The service advisor stated that if the issue is left unaddressed, it could lead to complete engine failure. He also stated that the updated cam gear made by Toyota does not fit the existing camshaft. This means that all 4 cam gears and two camshafts would have to be replaced which dramatically increases the labor and parts costs. …

The car was traveling approx. 65 MPH on the freeway when suddenly I noticed smoke coming up from under the hood. I immediately pulled off the freeway and in the process noticed the engine sounding different and performance level quickly dropping. I then noticed the oil light come on, so I continued to find the first safe spot available to pull over. I then called aaa and they had to tow the vehicle because the car had evidently drained all of its oil, leaving a puddle. The car was then towed to neighborhood car care in mission viejo. It was noticed at the shop that the engine and compartment were covered in oil. I was told the engine oil cooler line had failed and would need to be replaced with an upgraded part. I was also informed that having the engine coated in oil is a fire hazard, and he told me I was lucky my engine didn't catch fire while on the freeway. …

Engine complaints in other Highlander years