My 2011 toyota highlander v6 awd suffered a sudden oil cooler pipe failure/rupture leading to catastrophic engine failure/damage at approximately 85,000 miles. this is a known defect with certain 2008-2011 highlanders and was the subject of a service bulletin and eventually a warranty enhancement (ze2) starting in 2014, but we were never notified of this issue via mail or by the toyota dealer at which the vehicle is regularly serviced. the vehicle was traveling on the highway when the problem occurred. the vehicle was then towed to the dealership where it was found that the sudden loss of oil had caused catastrophic engine damage due to a bent rod from running without oil. as this problem can lead to major safety issues due to sudden loss of power (not to mention the potential for several thousand dollars in damage if a complete engine replacement is needed) a mandatory recall should be performed.
The oil cooler hose leaked...lost all oil and oil pressure in less than a few minutes...lucky the engine didn;t blow. there should be a recall on this as it appears it has happened to thousands of people.
T-sb-0201-11 from toyota states "some vehicles equipped with 2gr-fe/fxe towing package engines may exhibit an oil seep from the engine oil cooler pipes." this tsb affects toyota and lexus vehicles going back to at least 2008-present. this is a major issue, and i feel this should be handled as a recall instead of a tsb due to the severity of the issue if/when the pipe breaks. i recently elected to have my vehicle repaired on my own just so i wouldn't have to worry about this issue happening to me or my wife, and thus blowing up my highlander's engine causing thousands of dollars in damages. seems pretty bad that a recall can be issued for floor mats and accelerator issues, but no recall is issued for this issue which can drain the oil from your engine in a minute, blow up your engine, and then possibly wreck your vehicle. consumer's engines are now being destroyed, and this is showing up in different online forums. i feel that the nhtsa needs to force toyota to replace all of the defective engine oil cooler pipes with the newer metal ones that the tsb addresses. they should also be forced to reimburse all costs to those individuals that either needed to have the repair done, or decided to preventatively have the repair done on their own before those pipes burst on their own. *tr
Can you please give me an email address where i can send a detailed report of issue. too large for space provided. thank you *tr