2007 V6 Highlander slow to warm up

I have a '07 V6 Highlander that seems to take a long time for the temp
guage to come up to normal and even when it does, it is not in the 3:00
position. It is closer to the 'tick' mark that is below 3:00. In
addition, it spends a very long time below that tick mark, actually, in
between that tick mark and the one below and this is when the outside
temp is in the 40's, nothing super cold. If the heat is turned on, it
spends even longer in that range before it comes up. Dealer says it is
probably ok or I would get a check engine light. I had a V6 Camry and
2 V6 Lexus cars and they all came up to the exact middle in a very
linear, and timely way. When I follow the hoses back from the
radiator, I don't even see a housing that looks like it would house a
thermostat, at least not the old style housing that I am used to. Does
anyone know where it is? Does this warm-up sound normal for the
Highlander? If so, that's pretty bad. Also, my mileage really stinks
so far with 1200 miles on the car. I wonder if it is not quite getting
up to normal and taking extra long to warm up, if this could be making
the fuel mixture to run rich further worsening mileage.

Thanks for any help.

<thomas.dometios@pb.com> wrote in message
news:1168350155.642443.54270@s80g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I have a '07 V6 Highlander that seems to take a long time for the temp
> guage to come up to normal and even when it does, it is not in the 3:00
> position. It is closer to the 'tick' mark that is below 3:00. In
> addition, it spends a very long time below that tick mark, actually, in
> between that tick mark and the one below and this is when the outside
> temp is in the 40's, nothing super cold. If the heat is turned on, it
> spends even longer in that range before it comes up. Dealer says it is
> probably ok or I would get a check engine light. I had a V6 Camry and
> 2 V6 Lexus cars and they all came up to the exact middle in a very
> linear, and timely way. When I follow the hoses back from the
> radiator, I don't even see a housing that looks like it would house a
> thermostat, at least not the old style housing that I am used to. Does
> anyone know where it is? Does this warm-up sound normal for the
> Highlander? If so, that's pretty bad. Also, my mileage really stinks
> so far with 1200 miles on the car. I wonder if it is not quite getting
> up to normal and taking extra long to warm up, if this could be making
> the fuel mixture to run rich further worsening mileage.
>
> Thanks for any help.
>[/color]


If you can get it to another dealer, I'd have it checked again. Or, pay a
few bucks to a reliable independent mechanic.

<thomas.dometios@pb.com> wrote in message
news:1168350155.642443.54270@s80g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I have a '07 V6 Highlander that seems to take a long time for the temp
> guage to come up to normal and even when it does, it is not in the 3:00
> position. It is closer to the 'tick' mark that is below 3:00. In
> addition, it spends a very long time below that tick mark, actually, in
> between that tick mark and the one below and this is when the outside
> temp is in the 40's, nothing super cold. If the heat is turned on, it
> spends even longer in that range before it comes up. Dealer says it is
> probably ok or I would get a check engine light. I had a V6 Camry and
> 2 V6 Lexus cars and they all came up to the exact middle in a very
> linear, and timely way. When I follow the hoses back from the
> radiator, I don't even see a housing that looks like it would house a
> thermostat, at least not the old style housing that I am used to. Does
> anyone know where it is? Does this warm-up sound normal for the
> Highlander? If so, that's pretty bad. Also, my mileage really stinks
> so far with 1200 miles on the car. I wonder if it is not quite getting
> up to normal and taking extra long to warm up, if this could be making
> the fuel mixture to run rich further worsening mileage.
>
> Thanks for any help.[/color]

How long is "long?" When you say that your mileage "really stinks," how
does that translate to MPG and under what types of driving conditions?

Temperature gauges vary on the "normal" warmed up reading, so unless the
gauge is marked with temperature readings, the position is relative.

Make sure the electric cooling fans behind the radiator are not coming up
while the engine is warming up.

The heater core acts like a radiator, transferring heat from the coolant to
the air in the passenger compartment, so it is normal to take a little
longer to warm up if the heater is on.

If the vehicle is equipped with the towing prep package, the larger capacity
radiator will mean that the coolant will take longer to warm up.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

If the temperature is so cold that the computer isn't going into closed
loop it's not good for the catalytic converter either ($$$$$). If
others don't have this problem also try contacting the Toyota 1-800
service line in the manual.


[email]thomas.dometios@pb.com[/email] wrote:[color=blue]
> I have a '07 V6 Highlander that seems to take a long time for the temp
> guage to come up to normal and even when it does, it is not in the 3:00
> position. It is closer to the 'tick' mark that is below 3:00. In
> addition, it spends a very long time below that tick mark, actually, in
> between that tick mark and the one below and this is when the outside
> temp is in the 40's, nothing super cold. If the heat is turned on, it
> spends even longer in that range before it comes up. Dealer says it is
> probably ok or I would get a check engine light. I had a V6 Camry and
> 2 V6 Lexus cars and they all came up to the exact middle in a very
> linear, and timely way. When I follow the hoses back from the
> radiator, I don't even see a housing that looks like it would house a
> thermostat, at least not the old style housing that I am used to. Does
> anyone know where it is? Does this warm-up sound normal for the
> Highlander? If so, that's pretty bad. Also, my mileage really stinks
> so far with 1200 miles on the car. I wonder if it is not quite getting
> up to normal and taking extra long to warm up, if this could be making
> the fuel mixture to run rich further worsening mileage.
>
> Thanks for any help.[/color]

Ray O wrote:[color=blue]
> <thomas.dometios@pb.com> wrote in message
> news:1168350155.642443.54270@s80g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=green]
> >I have a '07 V6 Highlander that seems to take a long time for the temp
> > guage to come up to normal and even when it does, it is not in the 3:00
> > position. It is closer to the 'tick' mark that is below 3:00. In
> > addition, it spends a very long time below that tick mark, actually, in
> > between that tick mark and the one below and this is when the outside
> > temp is in the 40's, nothing super cold. If the heat is turned on, it
> > spends even longer in that range before it comes up. Dealer says it is
> > probably ok or I would get a check engine light. I had a V6 Camry and
> > 2 V6 Lexus cars and they all came up to the exact middle in a very
> > linear, and timely way. When I follow the hoses back from the
> > radiator, I don't even see a housing that looks like it would house a
> > thermostat, at least not the old style housing that I am used to. Does
> > anyone know where it is? Does this warm-up sound normal for the
> > Highlander? If so, that's pretty bad. Also, my mileage really stinks
> > so far with 1200 miles on the car. I wonder if it is not quite getting
> > up to normal and taking extra long to warm up, if this could be making
> > the fuel mixture to run rich further worsening mileage.
> >
> > Thanks for any help.[/color]
>
> How long is "long?" When you say that your mileage "really stinks," how
> does that translate to MPG and under what types of driving conditions?
>
> Temperature gauges vary on the "normal" warmed up reading, so unless the
> gauge is marked with temperature readings, the position is relative.
>
> Make sure the electric cooling fans behind the radiator are not coming up
> while the engine is warming up.
>
> The heater core acts like a radiator, transferring heat from the coolant to
> the air in the passenger compartment, so it is normal to take a little
> longer to warm up if the heater is on.
>
> If the vehicle is equipped with the towing prep package, the larger capacity
> radiator will mean that the coolant will take longer to warm up.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]

I've been barely able to get 18 mph combined highway/city. Dealer said
it could take up to 10K miles before I get the best mileage. I can see
it getting better after initial break in but I can't buy 10K miles.
That seems extreme.

As far as warm up, my wife's Mazda Tribute with 3.0L comes up to normal
in almost half the time. My HL takes almost 5 miles of city driving,
roughly 5 minutes or more. Today the outside temp was 28 degrees and
when it came up to normal, it was even closer to the tick mark that is
just below 3:00. We are supposed to have some teens next week so it
will be interesting to see how that goes. Thanks for the feedback.

<thomas.dometios@pb.com> wrote in message
news:1168435606.693993.239930@77g2000hsv.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>
> Ray O wrote:[color=green]
>> <thomas.dometios@pb.com> wrote in message
>> news:1168350155.642443.54270@s80g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=darkred]
>> >I have a '07 V6 Highlander that seems to take a long time for the temp
>> > guage to come up to normal and even when it does, it is not in the 3:00
>> > position. It is closer to the 'tick' mark that is below 3:00. In
>> > addition, it spends a very long time below that tick mark, actually, in
>> > between that tick mark and the one below and this is when the outside
>> > temp is in the 40's, nothing super cold. If the heat is turned on, it
>> > spends even longer in that range before it comes up. Dealer says it is
>> > probably ok or I would get a check engine light. I had a V6 Camry and
>> > 2 V6 Lexus cars and they all came up to the exact middle in a very
>> > linear, and timely way. When I follow the hoses back from the
>> > radiator, I don't even see a housing that looks like it would house a
>> > thermostat, at least not the old style housing that I am used to. Does
>> > anyone know where it is? Does this warm-up sound normal for the
>> > Highlander? If so, that's pretty bad. Also, my mileage really stinks
>> > so far with 1200 miles on the car. I wonder if it is not quite getting
>> > up to normal and taking extra long to warm up, if this could be making
>> > the fuel mixture to run rich further worsening mileage.
>> >
>> > Thanks for any help.[/color]
>>
>> How long is "long?" When you say that your mileage "really stinks," how
>> does that translate to MPG and under what types of driving conditions?
>>
>> Temperature gauges vary on the "normal" warmed up reading, so unless the
>> gauge is marked with temperature readings, the position is relative.
>>
>> Make sure the electric cooling fans behind the radiator are not coming up
>> while the engine is warming up.
>>
>> The heater core acts like a radiator, transferring heat from the coolant
>> to
>> the air in the passenger compartment, so it is normal to take a little
>> longer to warm up if the heater is on.
>>
>> If the vehicle is equipped with the towing prep package, the larger
>> capacity
>> radiator will mean that the coolant will take longer to warm up.
>> --
>>
>> Ray O
>> (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]
>
> I've been barely able to get 18 mph combined highway/city. Dealer said
> it could take up to 10K miles before I get the best mileage. I can see
> it getting better after initial break in but I can't buy 10K miles.
> That seems extreme.[/color]

The EPA mileage for the V6 front wheel drive Highlander is 19 city, 26
highway and for the 4WD version it is 18 city, 24 highway. Both have an EPA
combined 21 MPG. I couldn't find how the EPA comes up with the combined
figure so I do not know what the mix is. For the EPA's annual fuel cost
estimate, they use 45% city and 55% highway miles.

Frequent short trips will have a pretty big effect on fuel economy.[color=blue]
>
> As far as warm up, my wife's Mazda Tribute with 3.0L comes up to normal
> in almost half the time. My HL takes almost 5 miles of city driving,
> roughly 5 minutes or more. Today the outside temp was 28 degrees and
> when it came up to normal, it was even closer to the tick mark that is
> just below 3:00. We are supposed to have some teens next week so it
> will be interesting to see how that goes. Thanks for the feedback.
>[/color]

If your vehicle has the tow prep package, then 3 to 5 minutes is about what
I would expect for the vehicle to warm up at around 32 degrees outside temp.
I've noticed that with Toyotas, the bigger the engine, the longer it takes
to warm up because Toyota installs more cooling capacity on vehicles with
bigger engines.

As far as closed loop operation, the temperature gauge does not have to go
all the way to normal operating temp for the ECM to enter closed loop. The
O2 sensors have heaters so that they warm up more quickly.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

[hoytoyota]

you might be overthinking things....it could just be a bad thermostat..
and an open thermostat will lead to bad gas milage for sure.