Toyota Sienna Maintenance and Repair (2003 earlier)

nygreg

Anyone know the torque spec for the oil pan plug? Last oil change I torqued it at 35 ft-lbs and when I went to change the oil this weekend, it was loose. It's now at 40 ft-lbs.

Greg

priest1

Regarding the thumping brake issue, we had it too! I have a 99 xls which is leased and we had the thump for a year and half before someone at toyota agreed it is not normal. The whole rear passenger side brake (drum & internal components) and I believe some of the suspension was replaced quite some time ago and it stopped since. Just want to say the thump is not normal. Mike

jeprox

according to the OEM sienna repair manual - here's what it says:

No.2 oil pan x Drain plug
N.m 45
kgf.cm 460
ft.lbf 33

dont know what the "x" means.

there's another that says No.2 oil pan x No.1 oil pan.
i dont think this is the one u want though.

lewelling

Well, after driving a Dodge with a Mitsubushi (Japanese for "piece of sh**!") for 5 oil-leaking years, I don't think it matters where your engine is made--what matters is how your engine is made.

That being said, my new Sienna smells as if it is burning whenever I drive it. No sign of any problem, just a smell like I've been riding the brakes (which I have not.) Any ideas? Is it possible that the emergency brake is not releasing completely?

jeprox

i believe the section you read about is dealing with the SRS only. when you work with the SRS, once you disconnect the SRS and your negative battery battery cable - you have 90 seconds to start work on the SRS or the back-up power for the SRS will kick in and it may deploy the SRS!!!
yes, there is a back-up power for the SRS!

this is all stated in the OEM sienna shop manual.
so unless u disconnected or worked on any SRS parts, it would be safe to say that you need not worry about what you read. but to be safe, you can always call your dealer and ask.

jeprox

if your sienna is brand new - as in you only have a few miles (less than 300 or so) on it... the smell you have could be coming from different parts of your van that have been coated with a special film of oil and is now drying up everytime u drive the van. sounds strange but its true.

i had this too when my van was brand new and same with my other cars when i got them brand new.

if you have had your van for a while now, check your oil filter area. you may have some excess oil sitting there from previous oil changes and its drying up when u drive around and thus giving u this burning smell.

if it's your E-brakes, you will definitely notice it. the smell is more like burning rubber. to check, touch your rims to see if they are super hot! be careful! u can also try and smell your rims. if your brakes are overheating due to not releasing properly, you may also notice your braking power decrease.

cindymae

I have a 2001 Sienna with approximately 13,000 miles. The mileage is mostly from a cross-country trip. Last month, the Sienna began to make a horrendous metal grinding sound when coming to a quick stop. It sounded as if the grinding noise was coming from beneath the floorboard between the driver and passenger seats. The floor vibrates as well.

The dealer insisted it’s the anti-lock brakes. Knowing it couldn’t possible be the ABS, we insisted on taking out other Sienna's (on their lot) out for a drive to test the brakes. Well, as least that got the mechanic in the van for a test drive.

The diagnosis is hot spots on the rotors. We do not commute in this vehicle nor do we ride the brakes.

Does anyone have any similar stories and/or a permanent fix?

inky

For those of you in Gulf States Toyota region-AR, LA, TX and OK I have another reason to boycott these dealers. the mandatory vehicle protection package that is shoved on every Toyota sold in the region has a fabric and paint sealant. Big deal. When I was buying van, salesaman talked up big that if soiled badly you will get new mats or new carpeting with this warranty. Well, I have a nice orange jello stain in my rear. Nothing will get it out. So I referred to warranty. small print--you must send us a copy of your warranty via registered mail. Then we will inspect it. They we may do something about it. It is bad enough to be ripped off but worse to not even get what you paid for. Buy in a non gulf state area!
INKY

inky

This is odd. Let me ask a few questions
1. Do you ride with a full load in a very mountainous area?
2. Did you rotors ever get wet while under these conditions?
3. Did the dealer not suggest "turning the rotors"?
4. Either way my 01 Sienna has 11,000 miles and has been trouble free.
Is this not a defect in materials?
INKY

cindymae

You're right - it is odd. To answer your questions, we do not do mountainous driving other than a few good hills on our trip - which really don't constitute "very" mountainous. At that time, the van had two young children, two adults and suitcase.

The mechanic at the dealership was very helpful. The van has an appointment on Monday to have the rotors turned. The mechanic told us that Toyota had experimented with brake pad materials in the past, but was unsure if our van was included. I didn't ask for any further details about that.

Anyway, we love our van and are thankful we have not encountered any other problems.

jeprox

time and time again, people have asked whether sienna's should use regular unleaded or premium unleaded.

i found this article that's quite informative, hope you folks will find this helpful.

http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caranddriver/features/2001/november/200111_feature_gasoline.xml

smfran

Thanks for the link. Very interesting.

yaman

thanks for taking the time to post this

jeprox

you're welcome.
personally, i use premium unleaded.

fyy

I have 21000 total miles on my 3rd set of tires.

Original Dunlaps were replaced with Michelins and were replaced by Firestone Affinitys sp? all by the Toyota dealership. All were replaced due to a right pull in the steering. I went to an independent Firestone shop and they said I will probably get another 10k out of the last set (firestones that were put on at 5k, 80000 mile tires) Fronts have heavy edge wear mostly on the left front. Van has been aligned twice in the last 6 months.

Anyone else have this kind of wear? Sport ute tires have been recommended (per firestone dealer) due to their supposed better weight carrying and wear specs. The van is usually used to take the kids to school 5-7 miles a day. Only 1 300 mile trip a couple of months ago.

What gives?

imo

My 1998 25000 mile Sienna's transmission had been working flawlessly until recently (2 months). The transmission has been reluctant to shift to a higher gear after a "cold" start. The air temp is around 75 degree F, so it's not that cold.
During the first 0.5 mile after a cold start, the RPM is between 2800 to 3000 at 30 miles/hour and it would stay there. Previously, it would have shifted to a higher gear and the RPM would be 2000.
After driving it for maybe 0.5 mile or by stepping a little harder on the gas pedal, I can force the shift to higher gear.
I don't know whether this is the beginning of a problem or not, but I find the symptom unusual since it only occurs recently.

Does anyone have the experience with your Sienna ?
Thanks

jeprox

your tranny shifting sounds normal to me. my sienna only have the speedo so i cant tell at what RPM it shifts BUT i can tell that when the weather is cold (around 8 degrees C. or lower), it would shift into 3rd gear around 55-60kmh. this only happens when i start it first thing in the morning.

once the engine warms up, it would shift normally. i beleive all cars with automatic tranny are like this.

you don't have to speed up so much just to force your tranny to shift. just drive normally and let your engine/tranny warm up slowly.

smfran

After reading your link I confirmed that the 87 octane we have been using in our 2000 LE is the right way to go. Why are you using premium?

bobsmith3

My '99 36,000 mile Sienna has started to make a grinding noise only at the end of braking, especially if I brake firmly or hard. If I brake gently, they make no noise. The brakes "feel" okay, and there is no noise or pulsation except at the very end of the firm braking. I had the pads checked at an independent brake shop recently, they tell me that they looked good with plenty of material on them, that I really don't need new pads. Any suggestions?

lamm9733

My 2000 Sienna is the same way (believe they all are). Immediately following a "cold" start, the upshift from 2nd to 3rd gear is delayed. Cold is a very relative term in this case... more related to how far below normal engine operating temps rather than actual temp.

wheels4me

I have a sienna w/the same mileage and we started
to experience the same thing this summer. took
it to a mechanic who said the pads etc. were fine
If you find out what it is, please let me know.

jeprox

on the sienna manual and also in camry manuals with v6 (1997-up), it states that it will run ok with regular unleaded but 91 is recommended. it's not mandatory, but recommended. yes sienna's have a knock sensor so using regular unleaded is ok.

i bought my vehicle brand new and paid over C$31,000 for it. my personal opinion is that if i can afford to spend that much money on a vehicle, i will not cheap-out on the type of fuel! i've seen numbers of drivers with C$70,000+ lexus or bmw at the gas station filling up with regular unleaded! correct me if i'm wrong but i believe that those cars all require 91-up octane. i don't understand why people buy expensive cars or cars that require premium gas and then they get cheap and use regular grade gas!

read this posting under Toyota Sienna.
"1209 of 1210 Reg vs premium fuel"

there's a reason why toyota put the word "recommended" in the manual. they didn't put the word in there just for fun.

cindymae

We had the exact same problem with our 2001 Sienna - at approximately 12,000 miles. In a hard brake (not an abs situation) we would hear a terrible grinding noise. We had to take a mechanic for a ride in the van to hear the noise - the dealership kept telling us the grinding was normal abs noise. They found hot spots on the rotors. The dealership resurfaced the rotors and replaced the brake pads. No more noise! I would be interested to hear if your van has the same problem.

rudy1000

If this doesn't convince you to buy an Odyssey,nothing will

WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. government has opened an investigation after two owners reported fires in the engine compartments of their 2002 Toyota Sienna minivans.

No one was injured, but investigators say small children had to be evacuated from the vans in both cases.

The vans were built this summer at Toyota’s Kentucky assembly plant. The fires reportedly occurred with no warning, shortly after the owners took the vehicles home from dealerships.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed the investigation Friday in a monthly report of defect investigations. The agency’s investigations can lead to a recall, but many are dropped

cliffy1

Care to back that story up with a link? I just searched MSNBC and CNN and found no such article. I also did a google search and the closest thing I could find was a story from an Ody owner who had it burst into flames. Here is that link: http://www.epinions.com/auto-review-1E71-9A62FC9-3900DD04-prod1

I'm not saying the story isn't real, I just can't find it.

cliffy1

Now, you've really got me suspicious. I checked three different news sites and two different search engines and could not find anything even remotely similar to what you posted.

rudy1000

Here's the link

http://www.autonet.ca/AutonetStories/stories.cfm?storyID=3808

cliffy1

Thanks for that. I'll not argue it. I just get suspicious when I see things like this without links.

cliffy1

I just went to nhtsa.gov and was unable to find the information referenced in this article. Very odd.

cliffy1

The NHTSA site that the AP article referenced has information on cars under investigation. This site allows you to search all investigations since 11/20 and the Sienna is not listed at all. I'll check it again on Monday to see if it has been update. Call me paranoid, but just because it is on the net, does not mean it is real.

pilot13

I checked everywhere on the NHSTA site, including the one you mentioned. Also checked the Associated Press Wire Services site.
Nothing on either one, yet according to the article, the press release was today.
Really curious.

smfran

Nice to see you back posting. I thought maybe you left us.

pilot13

There is only one (not two) "Engine Compartment Fire" Report and Defect Investigation in the NHTSA site. It was apparently opened today, and no findings as yet.
Also no details given on circumstances.
Sorry--I missed it first time around.

cliffy1

That one must have posted after I checked it at 6 PM this evening. I checked the customer complaints and did find a Camry that burned, but no Sienna.

And smfran, I still participate heavily at some other topics, but lurk here as nothing has really caught my attention lately. I am no longer in sales but have moved to finance so I don't have the hands on stuff that I used to.

mds2500

CNN did say the goverment was investigating fires in the toyota sienna.

rudy2000

I just found the complaint and investigation at nhtsa.gov: Year: 2002

Make: TOYOTA TRUCK

Model: SIENNA

Defect Investigations

1 Record(s) found

NHTSA Action Number: PE01036 Make: TOYOTA TRUCK Model: SIENNA Year: 2002

Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING SYSTEM

Manufacturer: TOYOTA MOTOR CO., LTD.

Date Investigation Opened: Fri, October 19, 2001 Date Investigation Closed:

NHTSA Recall Campaign Number:

Summary:

ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE

URL: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/defect/central2.cfm

rudy1000

you the man rudy2000.Now are you gonna keep your Sienna or do the smart thing?

cliffy1

The smart thing? Are you implying that it would be smart to get rid of a new vehicle based on the experiences of one other owner without even knowing why or how this happened? It seems to me that this would be the definition of "not smart." I posted a link of a story by one lady why had her Ody burn up at a gas station. Are you going to sell your Ody because of that?

pilot13

Please refer to my post entitled "Whoa--Hold On There" in the Sienna Problems topic.
The Detroit News article is a reprint of an Associated Press article referred to earlier in this thread. It mentions TWO instances of engine fires.
The NHTSA site only reports ONE incident, gives no details, and simply says it's under investigation.
Before this thing gets run up the flagpole, let's keep it in perspective. One instance is not indicative of a problem--especially when details are unknown, and a conclusion hasn't been reached.

rlhermes1

Greetings,
I have a '98 Sienna and problems with the doors and windows are driving me nuts.

The sliding passenger doors still malfunction, and creak after many trips to the dealer. The power windows are failing after 42,000 miles, and the door stop/retainer on the drivers door broke.

Any body else have these problems? I wonder if anybody knows if Toyota has a hidden warranty on the power windows, the $400+ charge to fix one is hard to swallow.

Thanks for any feedback.

RickH

pilot13

Please see my post with the same title in the Toyota Sienna thread.

dardson1

the sky is definately falling...

dardson1

women and children first.....discard anything not absolutely necessary.........these cars are death traps. I hate the new world order.....where two Siennas with engine fires (and no deaths) are cause for panic. Relax folks, and wait to see what this is all about. I promise to eat what's left of my Sienna if it catches fire....lol!

zman21

I donated my $33k Sienna to our local Fire Department. It was either that or buy a smoke detector and install it under the hood LOL :-)

jj35

There are at least 30 complaints of engine sludge on the NHTSA site for 1998 - 2001 Sienna and other models with same engine and NHTSA has not reported that they are starting a defect investigation yet. The engine fire issue in the 2002's must be very serious to start an investigation with only 2 reports. (For more info on engine sludge, see the Town Hall discussion on Engine Sludge under Maintenance and Repair on this site).

jeprox

2 out of how many siennas?
i suppose if it happened to me, i'd be upset too.

this is why you buy those 5 year new vehicle replacement insurance!
if your car gets totalled for whatever reason (regardless of who's at fault), you get a brand new vehicle!

stealth1969

How do you remove the rear drums on the 98 Sienna? I saw a rubber plug and behind it was a number of nuts. I am guessing the nuts have to be removed, but I wanted to make sure first. Thanks.

jeprox

i've removed my drums and mine is a 1999.
i think u are referring to this rubber plug on the drum. you dont need to remove any nuts to remove your drum!

if your drum won't come off, make sure your parking brake is disengaged. do this:
- tap the drum with a hammer. do it lightly until it's loose.
- if that doesnt work, there are two small holes on the drum where u need to find bolts/screws to fit the holes. start screwing in the bolts and the drum will "pop" out.
- remember how the drum was and install it the same way.

stealth1969

Thanks. I tried the hammer and my drums did not loosen up. I will have to try the your next step.

jeprox

your hammer didnt work coz your drums are probably stuck coz of rust.

thats why they have the two holes for you to screw in the bolts and it will pop out. the holes may look all plugged up but they are actually threaded.