Toyota Sienna Maintenance and Repair (2003 earlier)

mhendrix

In reading through posts on this board, I am beginning to get a little leary about buying a new Sienna XLE. The list of significant problems I've seen are (1) torque converter, (2) Brake adjustments, (3) Sludge, (4) AC condnsate collection, and (5) Sticking Door Latches. Just how significant are these problems and has Toyota acted to resolve any of them? Everything I've read (Consumer Reports, Car Mags., etc.) seem to think that the Odyssey and Sienna rank 1-2 in minivans. Any help here would be appreciated.

jelhz43n

I have 2001 LE bought in April 2001. I have visited dealrship for just routine oil change and tire rotation.
I just fillup and drive ! Not a single problem you have mentioned (touch wood !!)

John

mconover

When coming to a slow stop, my 2001 Sienna XLE's brakes squeal. It has 22,000 miles. The dealer has cleaned out the drum dust and resurfaced the rotors to no avail. Does anyone know of the ultimate solution? Thanks.

Pekes

Finally (after 100M km) our '99 Sienna has developed a creak/rattle/noise - seems to be coming from the inside door handle of left sliding door.

Has anyone ever experienced this or tried taking the plastic cover off the door handle mechanism? Better yet, has anyone had this problem and fixed it themselves?

Sounds to me like something is loose and kind-of floating around in there. I've tried adjusting the door jambs a bit but that hasn't helped.

Any feedback welcome.

jeprox

my personal opinion is that even though with all these problems you see on this board or on the internet, the sienna is still one of the best minivans (if not the best) around. don't base your decision on the things you read.

next time you're in a parking lot and see a sienna van, ask the driver what his/her opinion is on the van. do this for about 20 vans plus the info you get on the internet and you'll be able to get a good idea and hopefully decide whether to buy a new sienna or not.

just remember that each car manufacturer have their own problems. no such thing as the perfect car/vehicle.

goodluck

yaman

we've had our xle for 26 months and 33k miles with no problems (other than squeeky brakes and a CD that skips).Like Jeprox suggested just ask people you see that have them.I would guess that most owners will speak pretty highly of it.Good luck with whatever you decide to purchase.

christoyota

While going on vacation, our 2000 Sienna with 24K miles had a complete transmission failure. We bought this vehicle based on our experience with two other toyota vehicles that we still own, a 92 Camry with 170K miles and a 96 Avalon with 140k - both great cars.
Unfortunatlly the Sienna has proved to be a disappointment. A new trans was put in under warranty and the dealer would not comment on the problems Sienna owners experienced with the transmissions. By the way, there was another 2000 Sienna with 34K miles at the same dealarship with a trans failure.
Does anyone know what Toyota is saying about trans failures? What is wrong with these beasts?

jeprox

there were some units manufactured sometime in 1999 or 2000 that had tranny problems. if you search through this thread, i believe you can find it.

it's good that the dealer replaced your tranny and it's still under warranty. you may be able to find out more about it on www.yotarepair.com

phillipm

at 7,000 miles. Driving on the hwy. and suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, it was like in neutral. No pulling power at all. Towed in to dealer, and a week later, a new transmission and torque converter was installed under warranty. Dealer said "you just get a bad one sometimes". Now have 43,000 miles and the new transmission has worked well except for a little clunking and rough shifting on occassion. Just drained the ATF last week and installed synthetic Mobil I ATF. Hope this smooths things out. What symptons did yours have when it failed?

jasdmw

I too had that issue. During the most recent dealer oil change, I had them look at the rears once again. Like you, they had serviced the brakes, which meant they turned the drums and roughed up the surface of the shoes. However, the squeal returned. This time, they did another service. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to hang around and ask what was done, but the fix worked. No more squeal. Keep on your dealer, they will fix it if you are persistent

jeprox

my brakes squeal started when i changed my steel rims to mags. when i removed my mags and went back to steel rims a few weeks ago, the brake squeal stopped!

so my question to people who have brake squeal is: do you have steel rims on the van or OEM mags? just wondering if the squeal have anything to do with the weight of the rims. i doubt it but i thought i'd ask anyways as to how many people have steel rims and how many with mags.

davedave1

My 2000 Sienna had the same issue as deepan (#1904); right after the oil change at the Dealer it seemed as if the oil had not been changed at all! It was dark; too dark for fresh oil.
As I do my own oil changes on the other family cars, I changed the oil again at about 1000 miles(not the filter). It stayed clean. When I asked the dealer the next time, he said that it could be residual discoloring from the old oil left in the car.
My take: dark oil color is 'bad' and it's possible the oil wasn't changed (I was cheated).

If the oil goes prematurely dark, get it changed immediately by a place you trust. If it's clean when you drive out, and darkens quickly (<1000 mi)get a dealer to check the engine for other problems.
I watch my dealer very carefully now and other oil change places too; I scratch the filter to be sure it is changed and check the oil before I leave to be sure it's clean and at the correct level.

christoyota

When this happend, my experience was like yours, the transmission had no pulling power and it seemed like the car was thrown out of gear. We were going about 75 mph on Interstate 10, headed out on spring vacation - not a great experience when you have large trucks around you. There were 5 of us in the van, my wife and three teenage kids and lots of luggage - we spent an 1 hour on the side of the hwy before AAA came to the rescue.

The dealer(100 miles from home) who put in the new trans said he only seen trans failures when these vans are fully loaded. My local dealer(one we bought car from) says there is a bearing that does not get enough lubrication and cause the whole thing to fail - he claims my trans has been redesigned to correct this problem.

This van is my wife's and I sold her on how reliable Toyota's are - needless to say when all five of us were sitting on the side of the hwy in the dessert she reminded me of why she should dive a toyota. She has lost all faith in this vehicle. I must admit, I'm starting to have doubts about Toyota products - oil sludge, trans failures ...

mayerofrf

As for the sqealing, I have heard or read somewhere before that Toyota used some kind of organic brake shoe that was lacking the ever so popular ingredient of asbestos. Without the asbestos, the shoes couldn't handle the heat and glazing of the shoe's surface as well like the not-so-enviromentally safe shoes we're all used to. Once the shoes were swapped out for the over the counter brand, the squeal went away for good.

That's just what I heard, I could be off on this one.

strager

are built to looser quality tolerances, that's my understanding. Example: the Sienna. If the Sienna were selling in volume in Japan, it would face tough competition on quality from other Japanese makes.

In general, it's unrealistic to expect the same fit/finish and quality for any Japanese product exclusively manufactured for the US market, when comparing with a Japanese vehicle assembled in Japan.

nygreg

I have the brake squeak and I have the OEM mags. New drum and scuffing shoes did not impact the noise.

Greg

pjksr

Took delivery in January. No squeaks or squeals. No tranny problems--very smooth shifting. Nothing to fix. Brakes are very good for a minivan, and the A/C cools very well...

jeprox

i just receive in the mail (today) a letter from toyota canada explaining the importance of routine maintenance and that some customers have experienced sludge and its caused by lack of maintenance. then it went on to say about toyota paying for the damage if customer can provide reasonable proof of proper maintenance. just thought i'd share this info.

earlier tonight, i installed my k&n filter in the van and went for a drive. didnt really notice anything different or heard anything different. some people claimed that the engine growls a bit more with the k&n. i didnt hear anything different. after driving for about 5 mins., i dont know if i'm just imagining things or its really happening but the van did feel like it accelerates faster. maybe its just my imagination! i would imagine though that i would get an increase of about 2-3 horses, maximum. i'll try to monitor my fuel consumption and see if anything changes.

i paid C$84.00 for the filter (taxes included). ouch!
but it's supposed to last a million miles or more so it's worth it.

wayne06

First, thanks to all of you who post your experiences and especially to those who post great suggestions and helpful comments.

I have a 2002 LE (mfg 04/2002) which I picked up last week. I really like it so far but my wife is afraid to drive it (she likes it too, but it's the first new vehicle either of us ever owned and she can't stand the thought of getting that first scratch).

Anyway, I have two problems which I have brought up to the dealer and they are going to take care of them. They are:

Power Sliding Door -
When activated (opened) by pulling the door handle, the cable "pops" out the door track for for a split second, hitting the body (paint). the door works otherwise. The cable seems to bow down below the track about 1 to 1 1/2 inches. Always happens when opening via the door handle, only once or twice when activating electronically.

Dealer said the motor timing needs to be adjusted and was caused by pulling the door open (manually) faster than the motor (automatically).

Does this make sense? Has anyone had the same problem and does the timing adjustment cure it?

Body Side Molding -
The driver door panel is not flush with the body like the rest of the panels. There is a 1/8 inch gap along the door edge and it is noticeable when the door is closed because it comes out farther than the panel on the slider. The dealer said they will order a new panel and call me when it comes in (and fix the power slider then, as well).
My concern is that excess water, dirt, salt, etc. will get behind the panel and cause problems.

Does anyone know what is involved in removing / replacing this panel? Should I not worry about it and stay with the factory installed panel?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Wayne

nygreg

You paid a lot of money for that van. Have the dealer fix it to your satisfaction. While you are waiting for the panel, check everything else out so you can have them fix everything in one shot. Minor issues though - nothing to worry about. BTW, that first scratch/ding really hurts, especially if it is because someone else doesn't have the same respect for cars.

Greg

deg856

I feel the pain whenever I see a nasty dent on a new car, even when it's not mine; it's just not right. The images of a nice new Mercedes S Class and a shiny new Jaguar, each with a single, deep dent on its door, came back to me as I wrote this. How can people be so disrespectful to other's properties?

Regarding your power sliding door problem - cable popping out and hitting the body - I've never experienced it. My question and observation:

a) Open the door by pulling on the handle (manually) - Do you actually pull the door back hard enough to move it manually, as the dealer seems to have suggested (that the door is being pulled faster than the motor)? To open the power sliding door by the handle, merely pulling the handle out, and maybe just a tiny bit of force toward the back, should be enough to activate the power mechanism to take over and open the sliding door. To close, you want to pull with just enough force to get the power mechanism activated. In either direction, you shouldn't have to pull hard enough to actually move the door manually yourself.

b) Open the door electronically (key fob or switch) - You wrote that it happened once or twice even when you activated the door electrically - the reason that the dealer gave you obviously doesn't apply to this situation. It seems like the cable may be hung up somewhere momentarily or has a slack (a stuck spring-loaded tensioner for the cable?) somehow. I'm just guessing on this part.

San Jose, CA

wayne06

Thanks for responding.

The dealer will take care of the door and panel. They didn't hesitate for a second saying they will order the panel and they'll address the power door when the part arrives.

One of the reasons I bought the Sienna - it was a close call between this and the Ody - was because I have had great response from my dealership with regards to my '99 Camry. The Camry has been great to us so far (bought used in Nov. 2000) but the few things it has needed addressed - front strut mounts, check engine light (twice) - the service rep at the dealer never hesitates to order what's needed and get me on my way (loaner car while in the shop).

The service rep I got to know moved from one local Toyota dealer to another and I moved with him, buying the van at his current dealer. It really helps to be on friendly terms with the person who can make your life heck by quibbling over or denying warranty coverage for the little things, let alone the major repairs. And he makes sure what he says needs to be done gets done. I've seen him follow up on the mechanic (for other people's vehicles) to make sure all the items on the work order were completed.

Anyway, long winded way of saying that even with the couple of minor things wrong with the new Sienna, I really am happy with the Toyota experience. I know not everyone has had good experiences, but there are good dealerships out there.

TTFN,
Wayne

p.s. I did a spell check of my message and Toyota, Camry and Sienna came up as misspellings (so did 'heck' but I'll stay with it). Maybe the Hosts can get these added to the dictionary?

stever

hmmm, Camry come up in the spell check for me, but not Toyota or Sienna. I'll report it - thanks!

Steve
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jeprox

i do know that premium gas will help in emissions test. lots of people in my area fills up with 91+ octane before heading to emissions test. depending on the condition of your car, in some cases 91+ octane won't help you at all.

as far as mixing up the gas to get 89 octane, i'm not really sure. sorry.

dchen1

I have a 2002 Seinna LE, which current has 7600 miles on it. From the day one I own it, I noticed the transmission shifted very harsh. I took it to the dealer, and they said there was nothing wrong, and it was normal. Typical dealer response!!! However, I tried other 2002 Siennas and found mine shifted the worst.

The fluid level and color are OK, which are as expected.

I then decided to play around with the throttle cable adjustment, and found out at certain spots I could make it shift very smooth under certain driving conditions, but not all.

Can any of you, who happen to have the repair manual, tell me what's the "spec" location for the throttle cable?

Also, by doing this, am I expecting to see any damage to the tranny? OR, there is something else going on with the tranny?

Thanks for your time.

DON

jeprox

summer's around the corner. turn on your a/c and u got this bad smell! why do you have a bad smell?

read the following article. hope it helps.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jk/020424.htm

deg856

I tried it last night and found that my description in post #1925 on the operation of the power slider by the handle was a little bit off. Corrections:

1. To open - Pulling the handle out alone will activate the power mechanism. No rearward force is needed.

2. To close - It seems that you do need to manually pull the door forward a few inches by the handle to activate the power mechanism. I got this part wrong since I almost never close the power slider this way. I've always used the button or the remote to close the power slider.

San Jose, CA

babsgo

Ugh! I am so disappointed in Toyota--I will never buy one again! My Sienna just turned four and it is slowly disintegrating, I've lost two armrests, one of the back seatbelts broke and just yesterday the handle broke off of one of the sliding doors, not to mention it shows every single scratch and ding it has received. I've been driving around with the "check engine" light on for years since I paid $400 and had it re-repaired twice after that and it goes on again after about ten minutes of driving. I know most of this is cosmetic, it's really running okay, but I thought Toyotas were supposed to be good quality. Can't wait to get rid of mine!!

sienna01

2001xle,15k, I have mag rims and the squeal. Have not had it fixed yet. interesting theory, (1915)

rward99

>are built to looser quality tolerances, that's
>my understanding. Example: the Sienna. If the
>Sienna were selling in volume in Japan, it would
>face tough competition on quality from other
>Japanese makes.

The build quality is the same. Transmissions and engines are produced in Japan and West Virginia (and soon in Alabama), and I believe that all of the Sienna transmissions come from Japan. The quality of the parts is high, whether the part comes from Japan or locally, since that same part can go into a unit that is shipped out. For example, engines that are produced in West Virginia are sent to Japan for cars assembled there. Do you think they build special parts to go in those engines, or that they put less quality in engines / transmissions made in Japan than for the U.S. market? That doesn't make sense.

Toyota has the highest quality cars on the road.
If you have a problem with the Toyota product you bought, take it to a dealership, or to a second dealership if you aren't satisfied with the results. Keep all records of maintenance, and maintain your car properly.

tomeboy

We've got an 02 van that when we use the heater or Ac we now get a musty smell.I read the post from canadian driver. Is there any way we can avoid tearing into the van? Maybe running heater after using the ac to "dry " out the heat , ac exchanger.
There was a post on April 18th #1816 with this same problem, I was wondering what outcome they had. I've seen no reply to their post.
This is too nice of a vehicle to have such a goofy problem.

jeprox

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jk/020424.htm

refer to the above article. it may help you a bit

pjksr

Have you tried running your unit on any long trips? Hopefully, your problem is minor on a new van. Or maybe if you shut off the A/C when turning into your driveway (the a/c will "sweat" like a cold drink until it is no longer cold), at least you won't get any worse. And if you are garaged, try leaving your windows open a few inches for air circulation.

barbz

Thank youfor the response about the retrofit part for the sludge problem. What i'm actually looking for is when the new part will be available at the dealership. If anyone knows when it will be available, please post.

bocklee

My power door is starting to stick in the open position. I had read postings about that in Town Hall in the past, but they related to the 2000 model of the Sienna. Mine is a 2001. Is this a common problem in the 2001s as well? I am worried that I will have to drive with the door open!!! Does anyone know how they fix this? It sticks every fifth time or so. Thanks!!!!

sienna01

I had the same problem with my 2001. Look at # 1219, # 1246 and # 1367. It was a real pain for us, but the door has been working great since they replaced the door computer. I have the part number in the other posts. Let me know if that was the problem.

stanleyko

I have a 2000 Sienna LE. It has only 64000km on it but I already had the transmission replaced twice this year. Both of them are under warranty but still I cannot believe that happened to Toyota. Other than transmission, 3 out of 6 seatbelts did not retract back to normal position after release.

Anyone experience these kind of problem?

jeprox

mine is a 1999 with over 65,000kms. no tranny problems.

one of the rear belt is slow (sometimes) to retract.

salzo

2000 Sienna - when I come to a stop or otherwise brake hard, the next time I give it gas the front left has a 'clunk' sound of sorts. There's no vibration or "feeling" associated with it - just a sound. 50K miles on the van. Original brakes. 2nd transmission. :-(

Thanks!
Tom

drbgd

I bought a new Sienna CE in late March. After few weeks I noticed that windshield gasket on the bottom corner does not cover the edge of the glass on the driver side. The service tried to replace the gasket but it looks the same. The whole windshield looks like it is shifted 0.5 inch or more toward the passenger side. They also found that one of the front bars at the left wheel has white paint on it (same as the car). I am now very suspicious that the car was repaired and sold as new to me. The service is not the same place I bought the car.
Anybody else had any problems with the windshield. I just can not believe that the car would come out of the factory like this.

jeprox

sounds strange.
i looked at mine and i do see small gap at each corner. kind of hard to say if we're both looking at the same thing.

you can always check out the VIN # to see if it was registered before.
as far as the white paint goes, i have some parts on my van that have paint markings on them. some parts do come with markings on them from the factory. don't know what the markings mean.

deepan

We have a 2000 sienna CE with rear a/c. Does this mean it has two separate compressors. Do you have to turn on the front a/c for the rear one to kick in. Is the rear a/c just a fan?. The other day the rear a/c was turned on and i thought i didnt get cold air until i turned on the front a/c switch at which time i got cold air from the rear vents.

jeprox

the rear a/c only works when you turn on the rear switch at the front (just above the radio). you have a separate lever at the front marked "off, rear, low, med. etc." when you set it to "rear" you can turn on/off the rear a/c independently. if you turn on your front a/c and set the lever to low,med,high - the cold air in the rear vents are coming from the front a/c.

also, it takes a while for the rear a/c to get cool air when you turn it on. lot of people het confused with the front/rear a/c. took me a while to figure it out myself.

kw6

I had the same type of clunk. It felt like it was right under my feet. The mechanic found that the windshield washer bottle was loose and was clunking around under the hood. Have your van checked, hopefully this will solve your problem.

gopackers

Our 98 Sienna is great except that the passenger side sliding door is sometimes very hard to open. It's almost like it is glued shut. If you yank on it really hard repeatedly it will finally open. And it is seemingly random, sometimes it works without problem. I have tried spraying WD-40 everywhere I can see that might be causing it to stick, but without any affect on the problem. It is not a power sliding door. Anyone have any suggestions?

barb23

I logged on to this message board because my 2001 Sienna is due for its 30,000 mile service and I wanted to question other owners about what things they had done at 30,000 miles. When I had a Honda Accord, they pretty much told you what to do at various intervals and charged you a flat rate for that service. Apparently Toyota lets you choose which things to have done (and prices them individually) so I was wondering if I should do everything they say to do in the Scheduled Maintenance Guide or if I should pick and choose (I really don't feel qualified; I'm not a mechanic). Anyway, after reading this board for awhile, I am starting to feel paranoid: sludge, power doors that stick, unevenly wearing tires... so my first question is: What is sludge and how do you know if it's a problem? I get the impression it has to do with not changing your oil regularly. Mine is changed every 3000-3500 miles. My other questions have to do with scheduled maintenance. There are certain things listed that add up to $260 at my dealership (too long to list here). Additionally, the dealership recommends the following: HEPA filter replacement, fuel induction service, and replacement of the fuel filter. This brings the total up to $487. I'd appreciate any comments/insights. And by the way... I LOVE my van. It runs great. We thought we made an informed decision and haven't been sorry. Hopefully the people who aren't happy are the exception. After all, this is the PROBLEMS board, so I guess I should expect to see problems posted. Thanks in advance.

yaman

We had ours done recently.The service book outlines what Toyota recommends that you have done.The dealer we bought the car from has a supplemental brochure on maintenance that adds some stuff.We had the service done recommended by the dealer and it came to a bit less than 300.I do not believe that this included the three items you mentioned (HEPA filter replacement etc).As far as the sludge-i think if you change your oil like you mentioned you need not worry about it.Toyota is giving an 8 year unlimited mile warranty on sludge-(assuming you can show you have done basic maintenance).Hope this helps

pjksr

Not sure if you meant fuel "injection" service or not. This may be of questionable necessity; find out what they do; if you use high quality fuel you may not need this, or you may be able to run some Chevron Techron fuel injector cleaner ($6) and accomplish the same goal.

Go for the fuel filter (tough to get at); make certain of air filter change; do a coolant drain/fill or flush; and consider a transmission and differential (done together) drain/fill or flush. People will say that the drain/fills aren't as good as a powered flush, but they're better than leaving all old fluid in...

These round-number services can be good if they're more than just "inspections." And don't feel pressured into additional services without first understanding why they're recommended; you can always come back later (tell them you need your van back)!

dsattler

Many dealers add their own "extra" servicees to the manufacurers' recommended services. Edmunds has an article or two on whether the 'extra" services are worth it. Generally, if you just ask for the 30,000 mile service without specifying you want only the services the manufacturer recommends, you get the extras (and pay for them).

stever

The Edmunds Maintenance Guide will tell you what the minimum requirements are (just like your owner's manual) and what we think it should cost you.

That said, I do listen to and often take the recommendation of my service writer.

Steve
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