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Toyota Highlander Maintenance and Repair

5314 messages,  Last post on May 18, 2013 at 5:41 AM

You are in the Toyota Highlander Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Highlander, SUV

Messages Page 510 of 533

#5082 of 5314 Re: 2008 Toyota Highlander - Water Pump [slade1] by herzogtum71

Apr 06, 2011 (3:31 pm)

Replying to: slade1 (Mar 23, 2011 9:35 am)
4-cylinder 2004 fwd -- I had the water pump replaced at the dealer in a small town an hour from where I live with 101,218 miles on the odometer. I had taken it in for recall work with the brake seal and asked them to do a 5K maintenance including tire rotation and oil change. They also replaced the cabin air filter, turned rotors and freed up a sticking brake caliper. The total was $512.00 and it looks like the water pump portion was $247.00.

#5083 of 5314 Brake wear indicators by tsotsi

Apr 08, 2011 (2:52 pm)

Okay, by actual experience, I now know that the Highlander does have wear indicators and what they sound like. When the local Toyota dealer told me at 40,000 miles that my brakes were completely worn out and that my car did not have wear indicators, I took a look for myself and found out that he was wrong on both counts.
 
Now, at 65,000 miles, I finally heard a wear indicator on the left rear wheel and replaced the pads on both rear wheels. The wear indicators on my old Honda Accord made a sweet tone, almost like a tuning fork, but don't wait for that on the Toyota. The indicators make a plain scraping sound that can not easily be heard inside the car. On my car, it made the scraping sound even when I wasn't pushing on the brake pedal.
 
This is important because the Honda's indicators were easily heard inside the car, unlike the Highlander's. Have somebody outside the car listen when you drive past with the brakes gently applied or drive past a fence or wall with the window open. The sound is distinct and obviously not normal so don't ignore it. I estimate that even though the pads were badly worn, they still had at least 1,000 miles left on them.
 
I found that the brake pad job is easy, but probably not for somebody with no mechanical experience. Also, it is best to do one pad at a time because the thin metal plates on the two pads on one corner are not the same. I used brake grease between the plates and the pad backing to reduce the chance of brake noise, but there was a thin plastic spacer that may make the grease unnecessary. I used grease anyway.
 
My rotors were not thin enough or scored enough to need any work. The dealer said I needed new ones. So I reckon I can do a complete brake job, including changing the brake fluid, in three hours or so and for just over the $100 I paid for genuine Toyota pads (not at the dealer, who quoted me over $200).

#5084 of 5314 Re: Brake wear indicators [tsotsi] by mdhutton

Apr 09, 2011 (2:44 am)

Replying to: tsotsi (Apr 08, 2011 2:52 pm)
Brake wear indicators are actually mandated by federal law, and have been since 1968. You were wise not to believe the dealer!

#5085 of 5314 Re: Brake wear indicators [tsotsi] by tsotsi

Apr 09, 2011 (6:47 am)

Replying to: tsotsi (Apr 08, 2011 2:52 pm)
I would like to modify what I posted about waiting for the wear indicators to kick in on the Highlander before doing a brake job. That was based on actual experience with my previous car, a Honda Accord, which had much more intrusive warnings and gave those warnings when there was a little more pad left.
 
My Highlander's wear indicators could easily be ignored by somebody who drives primarily with the windows closed. Also, the pads were still safe when the indicators sounded the alarm, but pretty darn thin.
 
If I had it to do over again, I would still ignore the dealer's advice at 40,000 miles, but would have checked the thickness myself every 5,000 miles and probably do the brake job at 60,000 miles instead of 65,000.
 
The brakes were safe, but I wouldn't advise anybody to wait quite so long. Of course many people will get more than 65,000 miles on their brakes if they drive conservatively.

#5086 of 5314 2.4-liter engine power increase in 2004 model by ch1133

Apr 09, 2011 (4:12 pm)

Does anyone know what part of the engine increased power for 2004 2.4 liter 4 cylinder?
 
link here http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/review.aspx?year=2003&make=Toyota&model=Highla- nder&cp-documentid=435102
 
The 2004 Highlander's base, 2.4-liter four cylinder also gets a bit more power, going from 155 horses a year ago to 160 and from 163 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm to 165 lb-ft at 4000 rpm. Fuel economy ratings are increased only in the four-wheel-drive Highlander with four cylinder.

#5087 of 5314 Re: Toyota Highlander Electrical Short [phrosut] by fbuchman

May 17, 2011 (12:27 pm)

Replying to: phrosut (Apr 06, 2011 11:30 am)
Thanks for the suggestions. I checked the trailer hitch wiring at the back of the car and everything looked fine. I replaced the fuse for the trailer lights/blinkers and the problem went away.
 
Now I have another issue. The VSC, oil temperature and traction control lights on the dash panel are all light up. Car seems to be running fine. Any suggestions as to why this would be happening and how I can fix it. Manual says any time one of the lights comes on to take it to the dealer but I refuse to get hosed on a repair.

#5088 of 5314 Re: Toyota Highlander Electrical Short [fbuchman] by phrosut

May 18, 2011 (9:51 am)

Replying to: fbuchman (May 17, 2011 12:27 pm)
I've got a similar problem but not identical.
 
Our check engine and VSC lights are on. I bought a scanner and, tho I can't tell you the exact codes at the moment, some Google searching of those codes provided some answers
 
The 2 codes are for emissions. It seems that the problem is the charcoal canister assembly, according to many people that have posted the same problems, sometimes with other Toyota models. It CAN be the little hose that comes loose when the air filter on the HL is inspected or changed (I've not only double checked it, but I've removed it to make sure IT didn't leak). Another problem that can cause the codes is a faulty gas cap... I tried a new one with no change. The most common problem after those is the canister. Typically with mileage over 100,000. Some say overfilling the gas tank causes the charcoal to break apart and clog the valves on the assembly.
 
The HL has a complicated (compared to most cars) evap canister. There are valves and a solenoid and a few little hoses. $600 seems to be the going part cost at the dealer with 3 - 400 for labor.
 
I took the cover off of the canister just to check for an obvious problem, but didn't see any. It's directly under the spare tire well and the cover has only 4 bolts and can be removed in 5 minutes. The canister has another 4 bolts plus 4 hoses. Looks to be a 15 minute job although I'm sure I can turn it into a half-hour.
 
The best price I've found so far is $338 + shipping at parts.com. I haven't ordered it yet only for financial reasons. My next smog inspection isn't until the fall so I'll have to replace it before then. In the meantime, the car drives and performs normally and mileage isn't any different.
 
You have more lights than me so it may not be the same problem. Buy a scanner or have it scanned at an auto parts store. Google the codes.
 
I wasn't going to post this UNTIL I bought the canister and had no more warning lights but it seemed appropiate to mention it now.
 
Phil

#5089 of 5314 Re: Toyota Highlander Electrical Short [fbuchman] by wwest

May 18, 2011 (11:49 am)

Replying to: fbuchman (May 17, 2011 12:27 pm)
Oil temperature..??
 
Oil pressure maybe, in which case the VSC and TC would likely be disable by default.
 
Transaxle ATF oil temperature maybe...??
 
In which case you have an ATF sensor problem.

#5090 of 5314 Re: Toyota Highlander Electrical Short [phrosut] by mrgrld

May 18, 2011 (3:18 pm)

Replying to: phrosut (May 18, 2011 9:51 am)
I had a similar problem but it turns out it was just a vacuum tube that was accidentally disconnected while replacing the air filter. Right after it was reconnected and the codes erased the engine light didn't come back on again.
 
The tube was located connected to the air filter.
 
Goodluck.

#5091 of 5314 Re: Toyota Highlander Electrical Short [mrgrld] by phrosut

May 19, 2011 (9:29 am)

Replying to: mrgrld (May 18, 2011 3:18 pm)
I thought I'd mentioned that tube in my post. Reread the second paragraph. I've had it come off after an air filter change, got the two lights, found and reconnected the hose, lights gone.
 
THIS time it's not that tube, guaranteed, and it's not the gas cap. Same indications, tho, so the problem is in the evap system.
 
I WILL explore all the things attached to the evap canister when I replace it in hopes of finding the particular component that causes this problem.
 
Phil

Messages Page 510 of 533

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