Hi! My 2002 Highlander has been with the family since 2001. It currently has 233K+ miles on it. I love my Highlander, especially because whenever we have an outing, there's enough room for our stuff and our dogs.
This is the problem: when my mom gave me the Highlander, it had 64K miles on it and was already burning oil. It still burns oil and I'm about to take it to the mechanic to rebuild the engine and take care of an exhaust leak. When I took it in to the dealership years ago, they fought tooth and nail so they wouldn't have to fix the oil burning problem and I read somewhere the oil burning is caused by a bad head design. If I take it in to get the engine rebuilt, will it still leak oil if the problem is due to a bad head design? I hope that made sense.
Easiest solution: buy another vehicle, but really, this crossover has been good to me and I don't want to have payments loom over my head every month.
Thanks in advance =]
Linz
@linz
Did you ever replace the PCV valve?
It was. Still burns oil.
Did you check the PCV hoses as well? PCV valve and PCV system hoses, that's coming first.
Also older Toyota's are known for bad valve stem seals, which leads to oil burning.
@mascot15
Thank you, I don't think I looked at the hoses closely. I will have to double check. It's also been a while since the PCV valve was changed, so I'll try changing it again although the Highlander still burns oil.
Initially, when my mom initially it to a Toyota dealership, they said they inspected everything (opening up the head cover in the process) but didn't find any issues. Then I found a recall letter on specific Highlander models burning oil and possible sludging so I took it to another Toyota dealership (different state than my where my mom lives) and they wouldn't do any work because my Highlander wasn't one of the models included in the letter. =/
Check the recalls using the Vin number. There is no expiration time for the recalls since they are related to safety, although I think the oil burning is a TSB and that's completely a different ball game.
Rebuilding that engine costs a lot and the other thing is finding a good mechanic to do it correctly. You can add oil to it and continue driving it until the wheels fall off (Which I don't think it will ever happen).
Good luck.
@yaser
I've checked the VIN number, and unfortunately it doesn't qualify for an engine rebuild. I believe Scotty did a video on the type of Toyota engine and oil burning, he mentioned that although Toyota should have recalled all of the engines they only recalled some so the company could say they did something.
Until I find a good mechanic -- I will keep adding oil and continue driving it. You're right -- I don't think the wheels will ever fall off. =]
Thank you for the help.