Toyota 4RUNNER warning lights comes on

Filed Jun 22, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · MN

We were traveling north on hwy 23 in southern Minnesota pulling a 5000 lb trailer in the rain and it was windy. When the road split to 4 lane I stepped on the gas to speed up from 55 to 65 and the vehicle studderd and lost all power. Many warning lights cam on and I think it said stop within .3 miles. We pulled to the side of the road and basically coasted to a stop. It was on hybrid power. We called the nearest Toyota dealership and they suggested restarting the vehicle and see if we could make it to them. The engine did restart still with all the warnings on and we were able to drive it to the dealer being really gentle with the throttle. They pulled codes and it was intake related. They removed the air filter and it was dripping wet. The raised intake ingests water when it's raining and if it's working hard enough it pulls it through the filter into the intake and causes the vehicle to suddenly lose power which could possibly cause a accident. I am also concerned about water pulling dirt with it into the motor and causing damage. I have driven the vehicle in the rain since this happened but not pulling a trailer and really working it and so far it hasn't shut down on me yet but I've pulled the filter and it was wet. I have brought this issue to my dealer but they said they are not aware of a problem. I will attach a video of the wet filter I pulled from the air box after driving in a rain storm and a video of the warning lights that appeared. I don't think the dealership I took it too has any records of it because it was just after closing and they used a handheld scanner. They just dried our filter off and cleared the codes.

Filed Mar 6, 2024 · Lights, Transmission · MD

As the vehicle was traveling on a highway at 35 mph the vehicle shut off electronically three times and powered itself back on after 15 seconds or so of continuous cruising on the highway. Unable to accelerate or control the vehicle while the electronic component shut off in the vehicle. Three days later, a series of warning lights and check engine lights turned on, which has occurred 6 other times, and has been brought to local Toyota dealer multiple times (over six times) and no fix has been conducted to repair the vehicle other than resetting the vehicles ECU. When all of the warning lights turn on, the vehicle loses 2nd gear and juts itself forward and becomes extremely difficult to control to the point where I have almost gotten into life threatening accidents over 4 times. Toyota has acknowledged that they do not know what is wrong with the vehicle and is unsure how to fix it. This is a safety concern that is not getting enough attention and needs to be rectified before someone or myself ends up killing ourselves

Filed May 2, 2020 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 68,000 miles · IN

Multiple times now while driving under normal conditions we have experienced the instrument panel going rogue. Abs, vsc, gas, check engine, all lights will randomly come on. The scary part is this most recent time it jumped the speedometer way up as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Filed Feb 1, 2019 · Electrical, Lights · 76,000 miles · CA

The 4runner's electrical system shuts down completely while driving; as if someone was suddently turned the car off while driving then turned it back on. All dash lights, instrumentation, headlights, radio, etc... Shut down and then it restarts automatically shortly thereafter. This happens multiple times daily. It occurs both while the car is in park or reverse or driving usually below 555mph since much of my commute is city vs. Highway. It started with the radio head unit only then the issue has progressed to the entire electrical system. This should be investigated as this is a major safety issue and could lead to injury.

Filed Dec 9, 2017 · Engine · 112,000 miles · CA

Head gaskets leaking anti -freeze into piston cylinder. Dashboard lit up , all lights on.

Filed Feb 23, 2016 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 79,000 miles · MD

I have an ongoing problem with our 2004 toyota 4runner. It started about 4 years ago when the maryland state emmission test facility plugged into my odbi2 port. All the dash lights were on and I went in to the office and complained. I filed a form with emissions. I work out of town, my wife is a teacher and we have two small kids. Going to the dealer was not an option until school was our. In the mean time the truck drove fine other than no four wheel drive and the tires spinning if you hit the peddle to hard (no traction control or stability control. Took the truck to the dealer over the summer and they had to reset the values for $110.00 the four wheel drive would no longer engage. Toyota dealer said all the values being erased was a common problem with that year and mva cheep scanners. Maryland said they called toyota and no one had ever had that problem. Have had this happen again last emission test. Biggest problem is that the 4 wheel drive no longer functions. The actuator doesn't engage the 4 wheel drive. This was apparent when my wife lost control and nearly flipped the trick over after picking up the kids in a snow storm. I climbed under the truck in the snow and pulled the cover off the actuator, pulled out the plastic gears and manually shifted it into 4 wheel drive to get it home. The four wheel drive system was always used at least every month until the emission test problems just to keep it lubericated. The 4 wheel drive or lack there of, could have caused death or serious injury to my wife and kids. This actuator is a serious problem, if they can't design a actuator that operates when you need four wheel drive, especially in an emergency than go back to the old stick and linkage. 55 people died in the blizzard of 2016 and there could have been 3 more just because of a design flaw! P.s. My wife and I bought it new, never off road!

Filed Aug 19, 2015 · Brakes · 174,000 miles · LA

When I returned to my home and pulled into my garage, an alarm sound went off in the dashboard and all of the dashboard warning lights came on. The car was driving fine just prior. The next morning I went to try to drive it to drive it to the dealer and noticed that my brake pedal was very hard to push and had virtually no braking ability. After getting the car towed to the dealership, they said it needed a new ABS actuator assembly (aka an ABS module). The brakes themselves were replaced within 2 years prior to this incident. On the day that the incident happened, I did some research online to see what the alarm and warning lights were indicative of. I saw that this had happened to other people most of which had it happen while driving and were therefore left with the inability to brake. I feel fortunate that this did not happen while I was driving, possibly leading to a serious, if not fatal, accident.

Filed Apr 16, 2015 · Driver assistance, Engine · 118,000 miles · CT

Traction control light came on, check engine light came on and vehicle would move only slowly. Turned car off and on several times, tried engaging 4 wheel drive and other drive functions, tried accelerating, but vehicle would only move slowly. After turning off and on one more time the vehicle drove as normal but all the warning lights stayed on. This happened in a parking lot while going slowly. Mechanic has indicated that this resulted from a failure of the air injection pump and air valve, which apparently for some reason turns off traction control. This is a common enough problem on tundras and sequoias that there is an "extended warranty" offered on these vehicles. I do not know if the air injection pump and air valves on 4 runners are the same design or same model, but there are numerous complaints on the internet of the same problem for 4 runners as for tundras.

Filed Feb 26, 2014 · Electrical · 38,000 miles · NC

Vehicle just cut off and all lights at instrument panel came on. Tried to start vehicle and engine turned over but wouldn't start. I had vehicle towed to nearest dealer:bobby murray toyota of rocky mount, nc and they couldn't find a problem, vehicle started for them the next morning. They said it had a crankability code but didn't set a hard code. My concern is this happening again, who knows when or where with me by myself or with my grandchildren in the vehicle, and having to pay a tow again!!!!

Filed Jul 23, 2013 · Suspension, Transmission · 158,000 miles · NY

Driving down the highway in 2001 toyota 4-runner going about 60 and all of a sudden the rear end/tires locked up and got it to the side of highway barely and then it started smoking really bad. Very lucky that it didn't cause a wreck or no one got hurt. Can't drive it or nothing, makes a loud knocking noise in the rear end and also when you turn the key on inside the vehicle all lights are on and its making a terrible buzzing noise. So had to have it towed and that cost me also and I need the whole rear differential and that's a lot of money. I've seen other problems/complaints about the same thing that happened to mine. I really think something should be done about it, toyota should be fixing the problem and we shouldn't have to pay for it. Hopefully something gets done about this.