Toyota Sienna Maintenance and Repair (2003 earlier)

lwendt · January 2002

Have a 2002. Notice at about 30-35 MPH, there is a very slight wiggle in the drive. It is not in the steering wheel, however. Sometimes it is imperceptible. However, it does happen on smooth road surfaces as I drive around. The car has <1000 miles on it. Anyone with this problem? Alignment? Wheel balance?

ttdo · January 2002

Hi, I need someone's expert advice for the big problem we recently experienced with our minivan this past weekend. We were on our drive back from Christmas vacation from Southern California when our minivan's transmission gave up on us. We had it towed to the nearest Toyota dealer and was advised that we need a new transmission and torque converter, totalling 5,400 dollars parts and labor. Since we only had close to 34,000 miles on the car, we thought that the problem would be covered under the Powertrain Warranty but the dealer said the warranty will not work if we did not replace transmission fluid at 30,000 miles. I am furious, it doesn't make sense for a relatively new and well-maintained car (2 yr. old) to have transmission breakdown. I checked under the website from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and found out there are other Sienna 2000 owners having the same problem, in one case the transmission has been replaced twice only to have the breakdown again.

I paid a little more than $30K for the minivan with the assurance of Toyota quality and customer service, surely did not expect to be faced with such problem! Please advise on what I should do to have this problem corrected as the van has been sitting at the dealer since 12/30/01. Thanks in advance for any advice. Regards.

fischda · January 2002

Yes, I'll try that. I have a heat gun - much hotter than hair dryer to warm the bumper with (I'll be carefull not to scorch the paint). How do you "work" the dent out - with a rubber hammer? Your hands? The dent is pretty large and deep, but it's worth a try...

ttdo · January 2002

Hi,

Due to a recent problem with my van's transmission problem I became a member of Town Hall, I saw some posts relating to this issue and find them to be very helpful. Can someone who is familiar with this problem advise on what I should do to solve our big problem? On 12/30/01, as we were driving back from our Christmas vacation visit to our parents in Southern California, our 2 yr. old Sienna 2000 XLE van with close to 34,000 miles broke down on us right in the middle of the highway. Luckily we were not involved in a car accident, but the incident (the loud noise, car jolting as if we were rear-ended, and breakdown in the middle of the highway) scared our 2 daughters. We had to tow it to the nearest Toyota dealer and was advised a day later that we need to replace our transmission and torque converter, totalling $5,400 parts and labor! They also said the Powertrain Warranty doesn't apply in this case unless we offer proof of transmission oil change at 30,000 miles. I am outraged! we did not expect this problem when we pay premium for the name, quality, dependability, customer service that Toyota supposedly had! I checked under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website and found that there are other Sienna 2000 owners having the same problem, in one case, the transmission was replaced twice!!

Please offer some advice on what I can do to solve this problem, our van has been sitting at this dealership since 12/30/01 and no work has been done on it yet. My husband takes really good care of our cars and we never had any problem like this before, at least not with Toyota cars.
He did 90% of the maintenance on his 1991 Celica and ran it pass 120K miles without any problems before selling it to another buyer. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

P.S. I would especially like to contact mmeskal and bamfordl !!!
Regards,

jasdmw · January 2002

It was 9 years ago and I can't exactly remember what I did, but didn't use a hammer. The dent was about 4" or so in diamater, right on the corner of the cover. Just warmed it up and pushed it out a bit with a blunt object. You're right on about scorching., Remember this stuff is plastic (RIM I believe) and probably won't take much heat. You just want to warm it up to make it pliable enough to work without cracking.

cp4h · January 2002

The oily pcv connection problem in my wife's van has not come back (knock on wood) since they 'fixed' the problem. The van has performed perfectly with on other issues. I changed the oil every 4K with toyota syn and the oil is golden colour on the dip stick even at the end of the 4K cycle.

The van is still one of the best vehicle we have ever owned. Will keep you updated.

jeprox · January 2002

sorry to hear about your tranny problems.
just want to say that unless you can provide them proof of changing your tranny fluid, you will have a tough time with the dealer. tranny issues are usually tough to deal with.

consult a lawyer before try going to the top (toyota usa) and hopefully you can get some action.

don't know how often you change your tranny fluid but some tranny do fail even after a year or so regardless of mileage. sometimes we may have bought a vehicle that perhaps wasn't assembled properly and in the end - we, the owners would suffer! it applies to every car manufacturer and not just GM, FORD or CHRYSLER.

just my $0.02. goodluck with your sienna

kendall69 · January 2002

Regarding post 1418
Before you do ANYTHING contact Bob Brennan at brennanlaw.com
This lawyer is the toughest as far as Auto Laws etc. I'm not associated with him he just nailed the largest Dealer in L.A. and one of the Largest Big three for me with GREAT results..

carleton1 · January 2002

.....Unfortunately you are the victim of a rotten, slimy dealer which would not be common with Toyota. The dealership is just too lazy and arrogant to do the paperwork to get Toyota to pay.
Sadly, your experience is similar to one we had with a Volkswagen dealer. We got a used 1977 VW Bus with a written 30 day, 1000 mile warranty. When it had to be refueled 3 times to go 200 miles (11.1 MPG on freeway driving at 50 MPH) we knew we had a problem.
We took it back 3 days and just over 200 miles stating we had a major problem. The dealer would do NOTHING to honor the warranty.
Contrast this to a 1980 Chevrolet Citation we got new. The 2nd gear in a 4 speed manual would not stay engaged after the warranty had expired. We took it to the closest Chevy dealer which was not where we got it. When asked, we told them the warranty had expired.
Imagine our pleasant surprise when we picked it up after they rebuilt the transmission and said there would be "No Charge" to us.
A decent dealership will fix a major problem and bill the manufacturer. A sleezy dealership will give the customer the run around since warranty work is not as lucrative as to bill the customer.

cliffy1 · January 2002

This member contacted me by e-mail and I gave him some advise on how to proceed. It looks like he is making progress on getting the transmission covered. The issue is not settled yet, but it is premature to get a lawyer involved. I'm sure he'll keep us all updated.

davemm · January 2002

We have a new 2002 Sienna with power door locks and have noticed a problem once in awhile. When you press unlock on the key fob twice (to unlock all other doors) you'll hear a noise like the doors are unlocking but they don't. If you repeat this several times they all doors will unlock. They have been working fine for over a month but as of a few weeks they have been giv'n us trouble.

Just wondering if this is a common problem before going to dealer.

Thanks

jeprox · January 2002

if you press your remote too many times - sometimes, the system will get confused and you will end up re-setting the whole system!

if this keep happening to you, take it back to the dealer. you may have a defective remote or it's not programmed properly.

davemm · January 2002

I know about pushing the unlock button too much. I press the button once, the van beeps and the driver's door is unlocked.
I press the unlock button again (within 3 seconds) the van beeps (it has received the second press) but the doors (all rear and drivers) do not unlock.
Again this happens every so often.

jasdmw · January 2002

Dave;

Have a look at your owners manual for detailed instructions. I believe the "beep" sound only occurs when the doors are locked. The beep does not sound when the doors unlock. Press the button once and you hear the drivers door unlock. Press the button a second time, within a prescribed period, and you should hear the rest of the doors unlock.

yufengtsui · January 2002

I just took the whole family to orlando disney for the holidays. After adding 2600 miles to my 2001 sienna le (bought in June 2001), this morning my nanny told me all three lights came up when she stopped at a grocery store and restarted the engine. The service department at the dealer told me to check the gas cap and I did notice it seemed a bit loose. Now since at the end the florida trip I did fill up gas in NJ (I live in CT) and they only allow full-service in NJ, I think it is very likely the gas station guy did not do a good job tightening the cap. Does anyone else have any experience having all three lights come on when a cap is loose? The guy said VSC and TRACOFF are probably all related to the loose cap. Does anyone know how many days it take for the computer to reset itself after such incident? The dealer's service dept is booked solid for today and tomorrow, is there a easier way of reset it myself (like remove the car battery for a while?) since he also mentioned if it is indeed the gas cap loose problem he will charge 40$. I thought NJ has cheap gas but it looked like to be the most expensive gas for me this time.

cliffy1 · January 2002

The VSC/trac off and check engine lights are tied together. It is likely the gas cap, but if it doesn't go off soon, get it checked. There are other, more serious reasons for this to happen.

autolover3 · January 2002

If you buy an exended warranty for a brand new vehicle, do you have to get it serviced through the dealer for scheduled service (ie. oil changes, transmission fluid, etc) for the warranty to be upheld? I have never bought an extended warranty on a car before. I usually have my mechanic-dad help out on those things, but was wondering whether I would be facing more $$ for maintenance. I have been reading through several posts with folks who have "been burned" when they do not have the reciepts to show when something goes wrong. I currently have a Japanese compact car and like Japanese engineering. I have; however, noticed that many minivans (GM, Chrysler, Ford, etc) have had transmission problems. I was just wondering what the consensus is of this group. Thanks, (p.s. I had a Saturn before and was not pleased with it's engineering in certain aspects. I did LOVE their service! That is important to me).

cliffy1 · January 2002

Service requirements are the same for extended warranties as it is for the basic warranty. If you don't have the dealership perform the service and something goes wrong, you need to be able to prove that the maintenance was actually done. This does not mean prove that you paid for service, but that it was actually done.

sienna01 · January 2002

According to the Toyota web site, replace transmission and differential oil changed fell under Special Operating Conditions. Also, I could not find "Replace transmission and differential oil" under normal maintenance. It always fell under Special Operating Conditions. This may help your case. good luck. keep us posted

http://www.toyota.com/html/owners/maintenance/index.html

30,000 Miles or 24 Months
Additional maintenance items for Special Operating Conditions:
Replace transmission and differential oil

sgergen · January 2002

How do you go about proving that maintenance was actually done for certain items (Differential fluid change, cooling system flushes, auto transmission flush, etc)?

Yes, you'll have your receipt but how do you "prove" that the maintenance was actually done? Video? Bucket of used AT Fluid?

Seems like a tough standard to set...but I'm interested in your insight.

Scott

exdodger · January 2002

Bought a new 2001 Sienna last April. I like the car a great deal, but have one bad problem--My wife won't let me drive it. She takes it everywhere and makes me drive the 1996 Plymouth.

Anyone had a similiar problem? Any ideas?

jeprox · January 2002

tell your wife the van needs servicing and you will take it to the dealer!!
wait 2 days, tell her it needs to be checked again by another dealer!! by the end of the week, tell her the van needs weekly check-ups!! :-)

cliffy1 · January 2002

Well, when I made that post, I was addressing some of the concerns from the Sludge topic. Many warranty claims have been rejected on this because of a lack of proof of oil changes. Sludge has no other cause than poor maintenance. Sludge is "de-facto" proof of a failure to perform oil changes and all the receipts in the world will not change that. That is one of the reasons I suggest using your dealership for routine maintenance. If you ever have a warranty claim, they have the records on hand. If you sludge up anyway, you can only blame them for not doing what they charged you for.

stealth1969 · January 2002

You said "Sludge is "de-facto" proof of a failure to perform oil changes and all the receipts in the world will not change that." Sorry, but there are other factors that can cause sludge. Yes, failure to perform oil changes is probably the most common, but not "de-facto".

cliffy1 · January 2002

Name one.

stever · January 2002

1. Ventilation design flaw (on certain Dodge engines, per Junior Damato, Autodoc at Newsday).

2. During a routine valve cover gasket replacement, antifreeze could accidentally run or drip into the oil. (http://www.universitycarwash.com/faq.htm)

Ok, I'll agree that #2 is even more far fetched than #1, not to mention that a short oil change interval would probably keep the sludge at bay if it did happen.

Here's a message outlining the Toyota oil change schedule, with a link to the Toyota maintenance page that may be of interest.

stkgator "Toyota Sienna" Jan 9, 2002 8:40am

Steve
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cliffy1 · January 2002

Both of those are pretty far fetched, which brings us back to my point. If you have the dealership change the oil, you have proven the service was done. If it wasn't, the dealer would have to take responsibility. If you bring receipts from other shops who don't perform warranty work, you'll need to be able to prove that the oil changes were done. All evidence I have seen suggests the only folks with sludge issues had at least some of their oil changes done outside the dealership, which suggests maintenance paid for, was not done.

stever · January 2002

I've been following the Engine Sludge? discussion since we asked youknowwho to take her posts there, and I have to agree with you that sludge is almost always related to improper or nonexistent oil changes.

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cliffy1 · January 2002

Unfortunately, the question asked didn't relate specifically to sludge but my response did. All further discussions on this by me will take place in the appropriate forum.

jeprox · January 2002

i've been reading up on this sludge problem as well as other problems with sienna's and that the dealer won't accept responsibility coz' there's no proof from owners that such and such service was done - even though in some cases they were honestly done by the owner himself/herself or by another shop.

SO, for those of us who perform work on our own and the van breaks down - does this mean we are basically screwed coz we can't prove we did the work ourselves unless we have receipts to show for oil filters, etc.? even with receipts, some dealers still won't accept resposibility and will blame the owner. basically, owners have no choice but to take their vehicles to the dealer to perform such services called "Lubrication" (in my sienna manual) and such service changes oil/filter and check lights, horn, lubricate doors, check wipers, check tire pressure, etc. and get charged something like over C$35! yeah it is so hard to check your horn, lights and so on! to me, this is absolute crap!

does this mean then, that any new cars should not be serviced by its owner - regardless if its only oil change or rotating tires, etc. until it has passed the stated warranty period to avoid these problems with the dealers/manufacturers?

if we are going to service our own vehicles, do we have to start videotaping ourselves for each service, date, things done, videotape the mileage and have it signed/sealed by the notary public in case the dealer asks for proof!?!?!?! seems to me like this is the best way to provide proof to those !@$#%^*&^% dealers!

stever · January 2002

This link sheds a little light on warranty requirements and what the manufacturer can require:

Understanding the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

And this is a good summary too:

Steps to Take if Your Vehicle Warranty Claim is Denied

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clnelson · January 2002

I can't believe what I am seeing. I bought a new 1999 toyota sienna in march of 1999. It had about 5000 miles on it, as it had been a demo driven by the north east florida toyota president (so I was told). Immediately I was having poblems with rear tires going flat. It had firestone tires on it, but not those being recalled. During the first year I had the vehicle I was woking with the dealership about the tires and low gas mileage, oil problems- where when toyota changed it they said it was darker than usual. The oil problems increased to that it was smoking when starting and oil light always on and aways needing oil. Finally at the 1 year point they said it was sludged and not covered. My husband being a jet mechanic had to see this to believe it. To his surprise they were right it was sludged. But the oil changes had been done. We could prove 3 at the dealership and 1 elsewhere. One of the oil change toyota did was to have cleaned the engine. There had been more but receipts not available. There was disagreement as to when the oil changes should be done. Service mgr says 3000, Dealer says 5000, book said differently(7500) . This was between the service mgr, the dealership mgr and the owners booklet. When the service mgr said oil had to be changed at 3000 due to siennas being different and needing them sooner, I asked why the dealership had waited to do the 1st oil change at over 5400 miles (when i purchased it). I CAN ONLY TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES THE STORY CHANGED. So they said it would be 1600 to desludge the engine and to bring in the receipts and they would as a goodwill jesture cover half of the cost. then after the work was done, my vehicle was held for full payment. I paid the full amount on the condition that when the service mgr got back i would be refunded half. It didnt happen and per some advise I stopped payment on my check. Well I ended up paying the full amount with a guarentee that if it happened again (sludge). Guess what???? 20 months later i have an engine that blew with no warnings. And the mehanic says it has plenty of oil... well of course it does. My husband started 20 months ago changing the oil and filter him self with premium stuff. (ex: synthetic oil and premium filters) So in the almost three years I have had this sienna we are out 1800 for the sludge and looking at 5500 for a new engine. By the way the tire problem is that the axle has them wearing uevenly. New tires all the time. For those of you who love toyotas and think I am bashing them......wrong. I love toyotas. This was our 3rd toyota from the same dealorship. It was to be our van to the end ( we pictured 12 years and 300,000 miles like the old commercial and our last one). So I am not bashing toyotas but bashing the problem and lack of concern by toyota. How can so many people with receipts for oil changes be at fault. This is so sad, I really wanted to be jumping in the air with pride like I did with my last toyota when it had over 300,000 miles on it and still running so well that I sold it for 1000.00 ( the body had rusted but the engine was still strong)

stealth1969 · January 2002

here is a copy of a post from Alcan from the Engine Sludge thread, " #116 of 2836 Stealth1969 by alcan Jan 24, 2001 (06:38 pm)

Since this has become an empassioned topic, I'll try to keep this as brief and objective as possible.

Several factors, alone or in concert, can cause engine sludging. The most common is water in the oil, usually from internal condensation resulting from cold startup, or occasionally from a seeping head gasket. This is especially true during short trip winter driving, where the engine doesn't have time to fully normalize and gas off any condensate. At least one auto manufacturer has determined that 10 - 15 miles of freeway operation are required to bring everything up to full operating temperature. Richer fuel mixtures required for cold engine startup combined with high sulphur content fuel can also contribute to sludging. Hence the recommendation for more frequent oil change intervals in the winter, especially for short trip drivers. An often overlooked possible contributing factor is a hot running engine, which can promote oil oxidation and breakdown. So, on the surface it would appear that operator negligence re servicing would be the primary cause of sludge buildup.

However, the engine's positive crankcase ventilation system is designed to purge combustion blowby gases, water vapour, and any other gaseous contaminants from the crankcase. This system should reduce or at least delay the rate of oil contamination. If the PCV system is inoperative or compromised, or poorly designed (inadequate or localized crankcase vacuum), then the rate of sludge buildup could accelerate despite oil changes in accordance with manufacturers' specified intervals. Could engine design be at least partly responsible? Chrysler, for example, currently has an issue with some of their V8 engine oil fillers which don't heat at the same rate as the rest of the engine due in part to placement directly in the cooling fan air stream, allowing condensation to build up and sludge to form in the filler tube and underside of the filler cap.

I'm not sure if this is the answer you were looking for, but it's the collective opinion of 2 other automotive technical professors and myself (I teach emission control systems, among other disciplines), with a current combined trade and research experience of 109 years.

Here is a link woth some good info:

Http://boatside.net/what_causes_engine_sludge.htm

There are other causes of sludge. But I know you work for Toyota and their only response is Lack of mainteance.

autolover3 · January 2002

Thanks for the response on the warranty info. I like to hear all of the good advice. Thanks again.

kendall69 · January 2002

With all these sludge problems WHY do you not all get together and force Toyota to wake up. Ford denied the bad engine head gaskets for years till they lost a class action suit and then and ONLY then repaired the engines.

exdodger · January 2002

"With all these sludge problems WHY do you not all get together and force Toyota to wake up?"

Me suspects that is because all these postings come from a single source--I don't know a class action suit can be filed on behalf of someone's multiple alia's.

That being said "She-who-must-not-be-named" must have been hurt really bad by a Toyota dealer somewhere.

bob57 · January 2002

I trolled the "Sludge" site yesterday. Wow! I think if you put all these people in a room you would have a brawl. There is a lot of vulgar innuendo's happening there. Entertaining (to a degree) but I'm surprised Edmunds is letting certain ones get away with that.
Since I don't have a sludge problem on my '00 I will just watch...

sludged10k · January 2002

This is my first -- and probably last -- post about my sludged 2001 toyota sienna engine.

My engine sludged after 10200 miles and 10 months. I had changed the oil at 5000 miles. I did not even know what sludge meant until my oil light came on after a 500 mile trip.... and I started checking the web.

Sure enough, looking into the oil fill area I can see a lake of black 'ointment' that I can stick my finger into. The car runs, but puffs smoke.

There seem to be a lot of 'Japan Inc' defenders on the sites rebutting the possibility that there is a problem with the Sienna engine. They often take the position that owners cause this problem themselves by not changing oil every 3000 miles, rather than the 7500 miles recommended by Toyota manuals.

Actually, I'm the type that does 3000 mi changes. But when I took delivery I was specifically told (unprompted) NOT to change the oil early, since they were filled with a special break-in oil that should be used for at least 5000 miles. Maybe this was gratuitous post-sales hype (or it may be the basis of the Toyota-Pennzoil suit) but it was presented very emphatically.

Now that I have a ruined engine, I recall an occasion when the car was only a few months old when my wife was driving off and I saw a puff of oil smoke. The car was so new I sort of just dismissed it.

Based on my experience and what I read here, Toyota has a big problem on its its hands and it's defensive posture is serving loyal customers poorly.

The preponderance of data and my personal experience leave me convinced that the Company Men who frequent edmonds and this site trashing complaint makers may be misleading other Sienna owners that do not YET have sludged engines.

Taking their advice and changing oil on these engines twice as often as the manual suggests may simply postpone the problem until the warranty miles are over, thus lowering the complaint profile.

Since this engine is sludge prone I'm dumping my Sienna with an early trade for a non-Toyota and advise anyone who can afford it to do the same now, before it sludges and you lose $6000.

Be aware, however, that the trade-value of your Sienna has already been affected by this problem, and dealers are carefully inspecting these cars before accepting them, if they accept them at all.
_
Well, since this is my last Toyota, I may as well lodge a complete complaint and include info on my two prior Toyotas.

1999 Sienna van. Transmission failed suddenly on trip 400 miles from home at 34000 miles. Dealer quizzed me about recommended 30000 mi maintenance, and I showed him the receipt of the transmission fluid service at 30000 miles. After his obligotory defamation of jiffy lube, and a rental car and a return visit to the area a week later, I drove off with my new transmission. Two days later, after driving home, the transmission failed and my local dealer replaced it with ANOTHER new one. Seems the other dealer forgot to put the plug in. So much for dissing jiffy lube (but see below)

1988 Camry. Transmission failed the first year and was replaced under warranty. They called with a quality survey the next day. I said we were happy with the repair and the service. They asked me if I was displeased with any aspect of the service. I said well, since you asked, I wish they had called me to let me know the status of the repair, since they had a few days delay in getting a part, but no big deal. Two days later my wife gets a call from the 'service' tech saying he was called into his bosses office and reprimanded and was shown a copy of our 'complaint' . He told my wife never to do that again or he 'would come over and take care of her' (exact quote). Since we were moving to a different city within a few days and had been threatened by this nutso employee, we dropped it. However, we had an oil change at jiffy lube a day later and the tech pulled us over to show us that there was NO transmission fluid in our week old transmission. Saved by the luck of an oil change at jiffy lube (not they are perfect) -- of course we dared not tell Toyota.

(note... I will crosspost this to other sites)

jeprox · January 2002

just wondering here - anyone with a canadian model sienna w/sludge problem or even a camry?

all the sludge problems i read seems to be on u.s. models.

zakaria2 · January 2002

Just bought Sienna 2002 CE in central VA. Never had Toyota before. Two of my colleagues own Siennas. One has 60.000+ and the other one approx. 30.000 miles on it and I haven't heard from their owners anything similar to those horror stories about sludge etc. I read on this forum. Personally, I am not a big fan of Toyota, as well as Japanese car industry at all but we need space of minivan because we have three small children and Sienna seemed best choice. In the part of the world I come from, I owned one Mercedes and VW Golf I with 54 hp Diesel engine. It is 21 years old now and is still operated by my brother in law. Nothing can come even close to German cars. It is much more than just transportation from point A to point B. It is pleasure. However, in the US German cars are beyond my financial capability. I wish I could buy VW Eurovan with manual transmission and Diesel Engine and not a piece of kitchen appliance on wheels with all kinds of power stuff. Anyway, what I want to say is that some people have no clue how to treat new car. First 1000 miles are critical for the rest of the life of engine. Never put excess load on cold engine, accelerate slowly, never drive faster then 50 mph, never tow anything and change oil after 1000 miles no matter what manuals or dealers say and you wont have sludge or anything like that.

dardson1 · January 2002

I hurried down to my dealer to get my fourth oil change by the dealer @ just over 12k miles. There is just too much talk about sludge for there not to be some truth to it. There's another site devoted to minivans (not Edmunds). It's basically a message board for questions concerning problems with various brands. The Sienna board is 90% sludge related topics. If this is a conspiracy by a few Toyota haters, they must have nothing else to do all day. Too much smoke (no pun intended) for there to be no fire. I can well imagine in this less than perfect world that Toyota just might have made an engine that is prone to sludge if not religiously maintained.

dardson1 · January 2002

check this out...www.minivanreview.com/MiniVans/

jeprox · January 2002

anyone have problem(s) with loosing these little rubber stops on the driver side/passenger side door? there's 2 on each door - one just above the door latch mechanism and another one down at the bottom.

i keep loosing the one on top! real annoying! finally stopped replacing them coz they cost C$8+ a piece! what a rip-off! i tried to glue them on but still came off!

i plan to just stick a piece of tape over the hole unless i can find a way to make it stay in place.

jelhz43n · January 2002

Jeprox, try putting rubber band(s) on the rubber stops to act as inner washer inside the hole. Wrap the rubber band ( I think the small ones will be better) and then insert the stop inside the hole and push the wrapped rubber band inside also so that it acts like a washer inside. I have not tried it as mine is OK. Just a thought may be it will work.

jeprox · January 2002

thanks, will try the rubber band approach.
if all else fails, i'm sticking a piece of tape over the hole!!

fguo · January 2002

We just bought a 1999 Sienna, when I drive the car over 50 mph, I can hear a constant noise like whistle. After driving 15 minute, the noise is minimal. When I accelerate, the noise is more obvious. Is there anybody who can tell me if this is a serious problem, or it is common on used Sienna. The car has 40k+ miles. Thanks

jeprox · January 2002

you have to be more specific about the whistle noise you are referring to.
is it coming from your engine, windows, doors, etc. does the whistle go away at all or is it there all the time? does it happen only when the engine is cold?

i have a 99 sienna with 51,000+kms. and during cold mornings, i will get this squeak/whistle type of sound during warm-up and then it goes away once the engine is warm. i believe it's got to do with the belt. it happened for about a month and so far, i havent heard it again.

master_tech · January 2002

Has anybody heard any more about the Sienna engine fires?

thewolverine · January 2002

My guess is alternator.

Mine on my 2001 whistles a little - the wife's 1998 does not - goes away after a while - doesn't really bother me but others have had it replaced (assuming you have a dealer willing to care - many would consider it a minor problem).

Good luck!

jeprox · January 2002

yes, i've heard of the sienna fires. last number i heard was 2 sienna's out of (i don't know) how many thousand sienna.

i believe there were some post about this earlier this month or last december.

Toyota Sienna Maintenance and Repair (2003 earlier)

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