Toyota Sienna Maintenance and Repair (2004+)

tonyclin · October 2006

I newly purchased a 2006 Sienna LE, mileage is only 70 mi now. I am very satisfied with its performance and quietness during drive. However I found out one small issue - very often I fully stop my car at the traffic light, I will then hear a few very low clunking sounds (very similar to brake's grinding noise)from the back. Since I don't turn on Air conditioner, fan, and radio, and the car is fully stopped, it should be noise free at that moment I don't understand why there is such funny noise. Please kindly advise.

loucapri · October 2006

I notice all 3 head rests in 3rd row are hard to pull out.
Especially after unfolding from the floor. There is no way a normal person can pull the head rest in and out.
I am not sure if WD-40 will help?

just want to see if anyone has the same problem.

hypnosis44 · October 2006

This is one of the many problems that the 2005 XLE Limited AWD I had for five weeks had when I made the Dealer eat the car or face a law suit. They denied that the head rests were difficult to move even when their own people could not move them without exerting extreme force. I believe this is a know safety problem to Toyota. The IIHS gave the post 2004 Sienna's a Poor rating (the lowest) in rear crash protection head rest performance. If you can't easily place the head rests at an appropriate height for the occupant it virtually guarantees an injury in the event of a rear crash of even the slowest speeds. I have been a lifetime fan of Toyota and am very dissapointed in their neglect. IIHS is showing the same results for the 2007. Does anyone know if Toyota plans on addressing the rear crash protection on these and other Toyota vehicles?

Thanks

loucapri · October 2006

I agree with you 100%. If we can't easily place the head rests to a protective position, what safety can it provides?

All sienna owners should check their head rests because most of them might not use the 3rd row in order to notice the problem.

sienna2005 · October 2006

I have a 05 with an automatic sliding door. Every so often, it closes about 3/4 and re-opens. Is there an ovverride to close the door if it won't close on its own?

hypnosis44 · October 2006

This is a potentially dangerous situation and should be brought to the dealer for repair. A 2005 should still be under warranty unless you have exceeded the mileage limit.

Best wishes

sienna2005 · October 2006

How can it be a dangerous situation?????

hypnosis44 · October 2006

The automatic opening, sliding and latching mechanisms are all integrated here and even when the door is apparently sometimes closing automatically it may not be latching completely. Or stated differently; any failure of one automatic function may indicate other related function failures.

It is too precarious a situation to override indefinitely, or to trust to anyone other than the factory trained who have probably seen this in the course of their work. This is one of the very few times I would reccommed the dealer over a reputable independent repair facility.

If you have children or unwitting adults as passengers there could well be an unintentional opening of the door when least wanted.

Be safe.

wwest · October 2006

Impossible to believe...

Ford has the answer.....!

From the new 2007 Ford Edge PR..

"The electronically shift controlled transmission also features a variable displacement pump, which matches the amount of fluid that gets pushed through the transmission to driver demand, making it more efficient."

At full lift-throttle all of the FWD Toyota/lexus vehicles begin an upshift just as the engine RPM drops to idle. With the engine at idle the upshift will exhaust/use most, or possibly all, of the pressurized ATF.

Now if you happen to re-apply foot pressure to the accelerator pedal just as the upshift begins the engine/transaxle ECU will "know" to delay the onset of engine until the low engine "idle" RPM can build enough ATF pressure to complete the corresponding downshift.

The most obvious answer would be to increase the volume of the fixed volume ATF pump so enough pressure/flow could be provided for two sequential QUICK shifts with the engine at idle. But then most of that added volume would be bypassed, disapated as heat, as the engine RPM rises above idle.

Ford's answer, apparently, is to have a variable displacement ATF pump so it can be switched to high volume when quick/SOLID shifting is required with the engine at idle. Makes me wonder if that allowed them to eliminate the ATF pressure bypass relief spring/valve also.

That would REALLY increase transaxle efficiency.

A second option would havre been to have an ATF pressure storage accumulator (like the ABS pumpmotor asembly). But putting one of those in an already "crowded" six-speed transaxle is probably out of the question.

Anyone know if any of the newer Toyota/Lexus transaxles have either? Absent one or the other the delay/hesitation issue will undoubtedly continue.

ohres · October 2006

wwest,

Thanks for the information. Having Mechanical Engineering background, I also was remotely suspecting such design issues as a possible cause of the hesitation problem but without solid understanding. I am wondering if you can provide the source of the information, particularly on the Toyota related information. I would like to get some more in-depth technical information if possible. Thanks for your help.

wwest · October 2006

The fact that the 2001 AWD RX300 will always upshift upon closed throttle coastdown entry is in the Lexus repair/shop manual itself.

But I only discovered that after realizing that was what my RX300 was doing that resulted in a somewhat odd seat of the pants feeling at times.

linea · October 2006

My Van experience intermittent complete brake failure 3 times within 18,000 miles, one outside mechanic thinks it's due to ABS issue. The dealership unable to locate problem since its transient. Has anyone else experience similar problem or suggestings?

wheels13 · October 2006

2006 Le How do you remove the cross bars? I will never use the rack and want to take the cross bars off and store. Thank you

ohres · October 2006

I will see if my Sienna repair manual has similar info.
Thanks.

loucapri · October 2006

so actually what happened? Did you mean the car will not response when you brake or it will fish tail when you step on it that make you believe the ABS is not working?

loucapri · October 2006

can you losen the thumb screw on the side of the bar to get it out? I know that's how you move it forward and back but not sure you can actually take it out. But I guess it should.

loucapri · October 2006

I notice my AWD sienna has a leak from the rear "gear box?"
it's kind of a clear fluid.
I used to own a AWD Town and country and I had the same problem. Not sure if it is common to AWD

linea · October 2006

Thanks for response.
The brakes totally fails, the pedal goes to the floor and it does not slow down, so I coast until I stop. However, when I release the brake pedal and then reapply the brake it works fine. The dealership is unable to finds error codes and brakes work fine when it is their hands. It has happen 3 times in 18,000 miles, I scared that the brakes will not work the next time I reapply the brakes.

loucapri · October 2006

You should document all the complaint and concern you have with your local toyota dealer. In case of an accident, you can always prove that you did contact toyota and you did try to address the issue with them. You may able to SUE them. Hey, we are in America :-)

linea · October 2006

Thanks for your response. I prefer not to be DEAD right regarding the failure of the ABS system. The reason I posted the problem was two fold: first see if other owners had similar problem and how they solved it: second to let other owners beware of the issue, if their brake petal goes to the floor, it might be the malfunction of ABS system so try releasing the brake and re-appling the brakes again.

alanstone · October 2006

This sounds like a problem that was previously posted so you should search back a bit.

I was badly injured by a defective hatch on my 2005. The dealership and local reps denied problems. I filed an incident report to nhtsa and engaged them in some dialog. As it turned out, Toyota had issued a technical service bulletin for the problem 1 year before my accident. I would encourage you to file an incident report as it may help keep the automakers honest and us safer.

linea · October 2006

Thanks for your response. I was able to find that owners of Sienna 2004 had similar complaints, but no resolution was posted. Please other owners with intermittent ABS failure such that the brake pedals goes to the floor and you do not slow down, but when you reapply the brakes they work fine: let me know, since my dealership finds nothing wrong.

Claires · October 2006

You may have noticed that we're moving toward smaller, more focused discussions, and a number of those have already been created for this vehicle. Please go to the top level of the board here and look for an existing discussion that fits your question or issue. If you don't see a suitable topic, please feel free to create one by clicking "Add a Discussion". Here's a link: Toyota Sienna

Clicking "Track This Group" will make sure that you don't miss any new posts or discussions. When you come back the next time, just click on "Read New Posts" and you'll be able to click through all new posts and topics in this board.

mtatech · August 2007

I just got back from my local Toyota dealer since I'm looking for a Sienna. The other day a salesperson called me about demo cars, so I stopped in.

I brought my data from Edmunds and my laptop. The salesperson said that they had a 2007 XLE Limited AWD demo and asked whether I was interested. I answered, "depends."

The car had 4,000 miles on it. While I was looking at the car I noticed a nine inch by one inch scrape (like a side-swipe) on the panel before the rear tire. I pointed it out to the saleman.

During the negotiation portion the salesman quoting MSRP and I said 'any Demo car with damage we don't talk discounts from MSRP, we talk discounts from invoice price.' We settled on $30,780 minus the current $1,500 rebate - which I thought was great.

However, once I returned to the dealer with the bank check I noticed the invoice said "FWD" not "AWD." Upon further inspection, I noticed it said "XLE" not "XLE Limited." I then checked the car itself and sure enough, it was an XLE with the #3 package not a Limited.

Essentially, the dealer was giving me the car for a few hundred off invoice cost, which may be an OK deal but not a great deal. The manager wouldn't go any lower. I voided the transaction.

Did I do the right thing?

mtatech · August 2007

I wanted to add that I don't think this was an intential 'bait and switch.' The saleman was new and I believe wasn't familiar with all the models.

However, the issue is if a car has 4,000 miles on it and has body work damage invoice price is still too high.

caravan2 · August 2007

I think you did the right thing. I'm not sure "XLE & FWD" could be mistaken for "XLE Limited and AWD", the back of Sienna has XLE Limited and AWD pasted.

I'm not sure about your area, but in most areas you should be able to get 2007 below invoice or at invoice.

jipster · August 2007

Did I do the right thing?

Yes.

That this dealership tried to sell you a 6,000 mile 2007 "demo", with body damage at MSRP is laughable. ha ha ha. Run away!

ateixeira · August 2007

I agree. 4000 miles means it's now a used car. That should put it at about 5-10% below invoice by itself.

The damage knocks another $800 (at least) off of that.

The dealer was DREAMING, no way it's worth that much. It's used and abused, literally. :sick:

gclemm · September 2007

If nobody bought the car, it would be even cheaper! All you sheep that jump on a $30k "deal" on a car that's not significantly better than a Chrysler minivan or Chevy Uplander, should have your heads examined!

mtatech · September 2007

mtatech · September 2007

"on a car that's not significantly better than a Chrysler minivan or Chevy Uplander, should have your heads examined!"

I must disagree. Siennas are significantly better than Chrysler minivans or Chevy Uplanders.

According to Consumer Reports' survey of owners, 79% of Sienna owners would buy the car again compared to 49% of Chrysler Town & Country owners and 36% of Chevrolet Uplander owners.

In terms of reliabilty, only the Sienna ranked "better than average." Honda and Kia ranked "average" and Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Caravan (V6), Ford Freestar, Nissan Quest, Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander and Saturn Relay all ranked "below average."

Whether $30K is a good deal or not for THIS CAR is the subject of this topic. Obviously, Siennas in general are worth $30K because Toyota doesn't seem to have trouble selling brand new ones. In fact, the easiest sells seem to be XLE Limits that sell close to $40K.

bnfrgvn · March 2008

I have an 04 Sienna Le that is all of a sudden turning really hard, at random times. We checked the power steering fluid and that is full. Any suggestions as to what could be causing this? Thanks for your help.

snimos · March 2008

did you check the steering pump ?
run the engine check the fluid see if the fluid cerculate if not then the pump not working

ateixeira · March 2008

If you haven't already checked, the air pressure in the tires should be at least 35psi. This is higher than normal, so I thought I'd point that out.

rahrae · March 2008

Did you ever find out what this is? Mine is doing the same thing.

bearcrkrd · March 2008

I had that problem on my '06 CE. At low speed. Had my 30,000 mile service and it went away. Did not mention it before the service, either. It was a cheap service compared to most dealerships. $185 + Tax. They asked me how it ran, I said trouble-free, I got this 30,000 service from a Toyota Dealer. They didn't drain/fill the tranny fluid or change the wipers. Who knows what else differed compared to the $500 + phone estimates I got. So I don't know what exactly helped. Tighten a belt? Vacumn (I'm old) hose? The checkoff sheet from the service didn't help at all to pinpoint anything . Like always, just shows adding washer fluid, change air filter and cabin filter, and everything else 'checks out' fine.
Stopped turning hard. Will see how long it lasts.

bnfrgvn · March 2008

No, I haven't. I'm taking it in hopefully this week to get it looked at. The guys at Auto Zone said it probably wasn't the steering pump since it's not doing it all the time.

bnfrgvn · March 2008

Toyota Sienna Maintenance and Repair (2004+)

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