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are you saying that when you stop, no air is coming out of your vents or there is air coming out but just that it's not cold enough or warm enough? you said your fan keeps blowing so your heat and a/c must be working.
when you're stuck in traffic, the thermostat maintains your cold or hot temp. i find that the sienna a/c is not that cool during hot summer days.
when you're using the a/c, make sure you set your air flow to recirculate - this helps a lot in keeping your interior cool.
Let me try to be clearer with my explanation. I have two separate problems, one with the a/c, the other with the heat.
The problem with the a/c is that when sitting idling (or in slow moving traffic) the cold air turns warm. The flow of air through the vents does not change. As long as the car remains stationary, the air remains warm. A couple of minutes after the car starts moving again, the air gets cool again.
A local mechanic seems to think the problem may be with a fan inside the engine which blows on the coils when there is too much heat. He believes that it may not be working correctly.
My other problem, with the heat system, seems to have been corrected. This problem appeared to be exactly the same issue as the a/c in that warm air turned to cold when sitting idle. We were advised that this problem was due to a low coolant level. Once the fluid level was topped up, the problem went away.
It is also normal, I believe, for A/C temp to rise a little bit at idle, then to get cooler after your RPMs go up.
I'm thinking of changing to synthetic oil. First, using Amsoil Engine flush, then going to Mobil 1, changing oil every 5K miles or 6 months, which ever comes first.
After reading about the engine sludge issues, I'm worried about the sludge breaking loose and blocking those ports during the flush process.
Does anyone have an opinion?
Thx
If I were to do a "flush," I'd probably just go with a high-detergent/dispersant oil, like a Delo or Delvac, which are tricky to find in multigrades...
Running actual, true synthetic oil (PAO) like Mobil-1 is a good idea if you don't wish to change your oil within 3000 miles or less.
You, of course, will also like to update things in the engine comparment like the air filter, pcv valve, hoses, ATF, coolant, themostat, fuel filter (on the fuel "rail"), etc.
Come to think of it...why not just buy a 2003? There are some great deals going--and the headlamp assemblies are more cool!
It appears that I made an assumption (dangerous, I know) that with the regular "dino" oil, that there would be some build up of sludge on the gaskets in the engine, maybe drying up the gaskets which is another issue that I think may come up if I go to synthetic. With the engine flush, I was thinking that this would "remove" this build up from the gaskets, thereby blocking the oil ports. Also, do these engine flushes really work?
Maybe I'm being paranoid.
As for buying a new Sienna, the boss (wife) would rather go for the Odyssey if that was the case....
Thx
MoMo
I am not sure if the engine flushes really work, but they are well touted, and lots of questions about oil are answered, on www.bobistheoilguy.com . It is cautioned there, though, that really dirty engines could have problems with clogged oil passages....!
About "oil gel," if you are not aware, Toyota is backing their engines for 8 years if they do show this problem.
If you try an Ody, make sure both of you sit in the passenger seat and decide if you have enough leg room. Although it's the biggest mini-van, the glove box protrudes toward your shins. We also found the Sienna quieter. But both are great vehicles.
My boss and I really like our Sienna, having zero complaints over about 1 year and 18,000 miles. I use conventional oil and have been changing it at home about each 1700 miles (I am a home-Dad), but might be able to go double that on Mobil-1. )
Just beware that many "synthetic" oils are not synthetic in the traditional definition. That's a long story...Mobil-1, Exxon Superflo, Amsoil, and Redline are, BTW (Valvoline Synpower too?).
I bought a used '98 Sienna, too. It has none of the problems you mention above, but part of the reason i bought the silly thing was the toyota sludge policy. 1st owner no changee oil, they fixee for free. no other engine on the road with THAT feature.
brake groan? maybe the abs at work?
mine had serious electrical trouble (or so I thought), blew fuses left and right for a week. when the cause was determined, it turned out that a $1 light bulb had melted solder out the bottom, causing a short. coulda happened in any vehice.
one thing, though: the instructions in the user's manual on removing the rr corner lamps are suicidal... it does NOT work like that, and i spent $160 proving it. had a tech at the dealership show me how to do it right...
-Mathias
East Lansing, MI
Momo - I have two Sienna's (98 LE & a 2001 XLE) both using Mobil 1 - both run great - around 24 MPG with plenty of acceleration (for a Minivan) although I tend to keep it under 70 MPH.
I do drains around 5K and could probably go higher but want to test with Blackstone first.
I definitely recommend the Mobil 1 5w-30 for the Sienna as well as the Sythetic ATF.
Also, I didn't start with Mobil 1 - went to it around 15K on both vans.
Never had a sludge problem and expect you won't as long as the Sienna has been properly maintained.
Good luck
I'm buying the 98 (with 65k miles on it) from my sister-in-law and her husband. He is pretty thorough and by the book (Oil changes every 3k miles since 20k. Prior to 20k, every 5k) He said he spoke to the master mechanic at the dealer he had his last oil change at (2 weeks ago), and the person said that he saw no problem with the car right now. The mechanic didn't open up the valve covers, which doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy about his opinion. But from what I'm hearing/reading, as long as the oil changes were done at 3k mile intervals with dino oil, it should be just fine.
Still, just not sure about the engine flush. I may just buy 2 bottles of the stuff and give it a whirl. Hopefully with 2 bottles of this stuff, I won't have any problems.
Regarding 5k miles, between oil changes with synthetic, I figured that this would be a very reasonable mileage. I have been running all our cars in the past 8 years with Mobil 1 and never had a problem, changing at 7500 miles/6 mos. With this car, I'm reducing the mileage to 5k/6 mos, just to be on the safe side.
From what I can find so far, the flushes have a lot of detergent/solvents in them. So, as long as there isn't much (if any) sludge in the engine since oil was changed every 3k, the flushes should not (I sure hope not!) cause something to clog an oil passage.
I'm aware of the Toyota 8 year warranty, but their wording, paraphrasing here, "as long as an effort is made to do oil changes", makes me wonder what is an effort is in there eyes.
As for the "synthetic oils", you're right in that the definition of "synthetic" subject to debate. However, I figure that as long as Mobil 1 is used in Porsche's, M-B's, it can't be that bad..
Just waiting for the day to get that flush going.
In terms of your maintenance, Toyota recommends checking/adjusting valve clearance at 60,000 miles. This is one way to get that valve cover pulled. Note that checking valve lash on this engine is routine, but any adjustments are intricate and probably better done at a dealer or reputable shop.
Keep us posted as to your success in this regard.
i don't know of any toyota vehicle that have this feature.
BUT, if you have an alarm system installed then it's a different story!
you can program the alarm so that when you get in the vehicle, close all entry points (including trunk) and start the vehicle - all locks will lock automatically. you can also program it so that when you press to disarm the alarm, it will unlock the driver's door only. press one more time and it will unlock the rest of the doors.
not all sienna's have power windows/locks (for canadian version anyways). the very first model 1998 have the power windows/locks as option. i'm not sure if this is still the case for current models. i know mine (1999 model) was an option as well.
Thanks
I have purchased two other Toyotas from the repairing dealership (one a 99 Camry) but they tell me while I am a "valued toyota customer" it is not their decision to make regarding the warranty and no one from Toyota is willing to discuss directly with me.
I've learned the Toyota quality and service I thought I was buying is only marketing hype. The transmission warranty did not get me 5 years of service nor 60,000 miles. It's all a matter of chance.
Yes, you can go longer than 5K with M1 oil but I just want to have an analysis done by Blackstone before moving beyond 5K - just being cautious although if I went a little long I wouldn't be sweating bullets.
However, with the Sienna allegedly having higher running temps and people complaining about sludge (in the past), 5k miles is just a conservative figure that I chose. Between spending $4-$5 per quart of oil or going through the aggrevation of having to prove that the oil changes were done and then having to wait for an engine replacement or rebuild, it is just cheap insurance.
San Jose, CA
In addition I have an extended warranty that Toyota refuses to honor saying they don't cover spark plugs. However, all the research I've done says that engine problems with fuel ratios, pre-ignition or detonation lead to spark plug failure. If that's the case then the engine caused the spark plug to brake and then caused the damage. Any advice on how to deal with Toyota would be appreciated. By the way my Toyota is a 98 with only 60K miles.
In case you are wondering, the symptoms of this problem are very similar to a warped rotor, as this is usually the result of the caliper not moving freely.
I too have noticed cars with damaged covers, but these are not restricted to Toyota. It's not a design flaw. The cause of it is more in line with the vehicle operator. I had a similar occurance with my '92 Caravan. Just came a little too close to a curb. Easiest way to remedy the dent is to heat it slightly with a hair dryer and push it out from behind. Easiest way to prevent the dent is to avoid the curbs. You can install an aftermarket sensor system to warn you of impending obstacles when backing up. I'm sure it will be available on the '04's. Ford is putting them in the front bumper covers on their next model year vans in addition to the rears.
The bumper has a 2 inch cut in it from the steel support underneath;
With some patience you can take the cover off (i did it in about 15 minutes). It is held on by a bunch of plactic fasteners that are reusable (push the center of each fastener in about 1/4 inch to release the fastener, pry out the fastener from the edge; install: reset the center to be 1/4 inch ABOVE the surface of the fastener, press fastener into the mounting hole, then tap the center flush to attach the fastener), and 4 10mm bolts ( two under the lift gate, and one under each rear wheel well - use a 12" extention to get to these under the back edge of the wheelwell liner)
I popped it off, and in a soft grassy area to avoid scratches, stepped onto it from the inside and popped it out) Reinstallation was easy.
The cut in the plastic and some scratches are still there; just got a bumper sticker.
good luck
I have seen this result in other vehicles but in a much higher percentage of Toyotas; particularly Siennas.
Of course damage is avoided if the "vehicle operator" doesn't hit something. Unfortunately these things do happen but the bumper should absorb the impact.