Happens on my '08 when it's cold and when cold takes about 2 minutes of driving and it slowly goes away. Now that it's warmed up some here, I barely notice it on startup and so it's quiet when I get rolling right off the bat.

 

does it happen everytime it’s cold? Mine seems intermittent. Vehicle has been started in -20 to -30 and it didn’t do it.
I wonder if seafoam or some type of oil cleaner would help

 

Have you done an oil change since getting it. (was it changed by the dealer in advance). If not get a Toyota oil filter and have it changed using the specific oil (5W30 I believe but marked on the oil fill cap). Synthetic is going to be the best especially in the cold weather. Go from there.

 

mine does it occasionally. As stated above change the oil every 5K miles and don't worry about it. These engines last forever if maintained properly. As with any engine, baby it until it warms up.

 

Mine does it at random, hot or cold. I was worried but my buddy, a tech at the Toyota dealer said not to worry about it, so I don't.

Chris

 

Mine does not do it. It's a 2011 and spec's 0w20 oil. I wonder if going to the 0w20 was the remedy for this as opposed to the heavier weight oils spec'd in the older models of the same engine.

 

The remedy was in the TSB for the older engine, covered here a decade ago. The TSB cost more than what the vehicle is worth.

You either have wear, out of spec parts, non-parking VVT controllers, poor oil flow, clogged VVT screens, and/or VVT stiction. Keep oil level full always.

My only other recommendation is the 5k/6mo, whichever comes 1st, full synthetic oil change and preferably a full synthetic filer. You can play with grades and additives. My '08 liked thicker oils. My '11 adn 16 was silent on any oil.

If you content with conventional oil, you will have or already have some of the issues I listed above.

 

I tried synthetic in my 2005 with 150,000 and went back to conventional. Got more engine noise on the thinner synthetic and didn't like that.

4runner runs like when it was new still. No shakes rattles or rolls!

And no rust on the upper body anywhere. Our 1996 GMC Jimmy rusted to junk in 10 years

Sold it for $800 to get rid of it. Ran and started fine..

 

Hi all - thank you for All the replies. I took vehicle to dealership. I will post what their verdict is. Thanks!

 

Put Lucas motor oil additive in. Stop those hard starts. It made mine a A lot quieter. I put the LOW viscosity can in with every oil change. It's 7 dollar if you don't go to AutoZone.

 

Additives are the worst thing you can do to this engine!

 

May it as it be, but it's 13 year old car and it's not worth a $5,000 rebuild. And I'm not using the thick Lucas it's a different Low viscosity. All I can say is it runs a lot smoother and I've had less issues. I know Toyota doesn't recommend any additives it's just a suggestion! Thanks for the input as I will use it in my persuasion to direct my car's problems.

 

All those oil additive are typically thickeners which alter the oil. Running a 10W40 or heavier oil may result in the same thing.

 

Hello all.

I did find a solution, however it is not a cheap one. Dealer replaced all the vvti gears. It was about 4 grand in parts + labour.
Hopefully we don’t have anymore issues with the highlander going forward

thanks all

 

That would imply something had worn out enough for the noise. You don't have a signature yet. Create one...

What year is it and how many miles on it.

 

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