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Toyota Sienna Maintenance and Repair (2003 earlier) - READ ONLY

3687 messages,  Last post on Jul 18, 2007 at 11:32 AM

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What is this discussion about? Toyota Sienna, Van

    

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#3637 of 3687 Toyota Sienna 1999 by carolynk

Oct 21, 2006 (1:49 pm)

My husband and I bought a 1999 Toyota Sienna two months ago. We felt that we got a super deal on it at $6,800. It was in pristine condition, looked like it had never been used. We have gone on a couple nice trips. No problem, drives like a dream. The people we bought it from had serviced it very regularly and had in fact, just done the extensive tune up that covered everything and cost $1300. Yesterday in the early am I left for an all day shopping trip 180 miles away. The icon of the dripping oil can appeared before I left town. I pulled into a station and checked the oil. It was full so, the attendant suggested that I check it a little further down the road and maybe stop at a jiffy lube place in case that was the problem. I made it 30 miles before it started making a knocking noise which rapidly grew louder and then it died. I coasted down the very steep hill I had just climbed and muscled it into the parking lot of a towing company. The attendant remarked "it's toast". We were towed back to town and find that the engine is a goner. The bill to fix is estimated at $4800. Any suggestions out there or are we "just toasted"
Carolyn K

#3638 of 3687 Toyota Sienna: Problems & Solutions (2003 earlier) by claires HOST

Oct 23, 2006 (2:47 am)

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.

#3639 of 3687 2000 Sienna makes noise when turn on the key by hellofromcali

Sep 26, 2007 (6:54 am)

#3640 of 3687 2000 Sienna makes noise when turn on the key by hellofromcali

Sep 25, 2007 (11:05 am)

I have a 2000 Sienna with almost 80K mi, running great and everything. But there is this sound and that drives me crazy. When I turn the key to ON position (without start), it makes a loud "CATUMMM" noise. it also makes this noise after I start the engine.
I had some else turn on the key while i was at the engine compartment, and I found out that the noise comes from a solenoid/relay mounted on the ABS unit (just right behind the air filter unit). Anyone has any experience with this? is it the this relay/solenoid or something else that causes this to make noise? how much to get it replaced? can it be DYI (I am capable of doing a lot of replacing/reparing car things)?

#3641 of 3687 sienna noise by jjoseph2

Sep 26, 2007 (6:30 am)

i have a 2002 model with same problem. I thought it is normal . please let me know if you find anything about this.Also when i shift the transmission to reverse i could hear a noise from underneeth the van. i suspect it could be some thing with the transmission.If any one experience similar problem please post
                           joseph

#3642 of 3687 SWAG by ateixeira

Sep 26, 2007 (6:54 am)

Maybe it's priming the pressure for the VSC system?

#3643 of 3687 2004 camry Service Manual by jjoseph2

Sep 26, 2007 (6:54 am)

I need the service manual for 2004 camry (LE).If you got one please post a message.
                          Joseph

#3644 of 3687 1998 Sienna trans is a mess, Toyota takes no responsibility! by lgodiva

May 27, 2008 (9:03 am)

#3645 of 3687 1998 Sienna trans is a mess, Toyota takes no responsibility! by lgodiva

May 27, 2008 (8:06 am)

I am having a transmission problem with a used Sienna that is absolutely frustrating. Below is my story (I have sent this letter to Toyota arbitration, to no avail). Please read it in its entirety - there's a lot to say - and if you can help at all, please post a reply. Is there any other form of recourse other than to shell out $2500 to replace a transmission that Toyota is unwilling to stand behind?:
 
I purchased my 1998 Toyota Sienna minivan from Sloane Toyota in Devon, PA, in the summer of 2003. I also purchased a 3-year extended warranty. Within the timeframe of the warranty, in the winter of 2004-2005, the transmission started making an odd noise and was replaced under warranty by Sloane in June 2005.
 
Within the one-year warranty on that new transmission, my car started experiencing unusual behavior: on the coldest mornings, it would not automatically shift out of first gear into second gear for one to two miles, or about five to ten minutes, even if I pressed the accelerator down quite far. I contacted Sloane’s service department and described the problem in detail to one of the service people. They told me definitively that this behavior was “normal” and nothing to worry about. I questioned this, but was assured that everything was ok with my car. I even called one more time and received the same reassurance, plus the suggestion that I might check the transmission fluid level (I did, and it was full). They did NOT recommend that I bring the car in to be checked, or that there was any reason for concern, or that I should even check the color of the transmission fluid (I will refer to this later).
 
Over the next two winters, there were few truly frigid mornings during which this behavior exhibited itself. Thus, trusting the advice of Toyota’s service department, I ignored it on the few mornings it occurred. (This only happened in the morning when the car was completely cold, never at the end of the day.) Additionally, the car exhibited no other unusual behavior during this time.
 
Then this past winter, my car started exhibiting other odd behaviors that seemed to point to the transmission. The gear slippage worsened - it would occasionally be slow in switching between gears, typically from second to third. I started hearing a high-pitched whine that rose in pitch as I accelerated. I finally brought my car into Sloane Toyota to have it checked; they said my transmission was shot, and that it would cost $5000 to replace it. Sloane said they would not cover the replacement because my new transmission’s warranty had expired. I pointed out that I had experienced and reported unusual behavior earlier on, and that they never told me to bring it in. I also pointed out that it seemed quite clear that my more recent gear slippage was a worsening of the original problem on cold mornings, and thus an inherent problem in the new transmission they had installed in 2005. I said that this all could have been avoided if they had advised me to bring it in rather than assuring me that the symptoms I had experienced were “normal”. I pointed out that I did not bring it in because I was not advised to do so by their own service department – I had relied on their advice. I spoke with the service manager, Jim Nagle, on several occasions, trying to convince him of this, and thus that Toyota had some responsibility in the matter due to their poor advice of his own service department, but he remained firm on this position.
 
I also issued a complaint through Toyota Customer Service and spoke with a regional service manager, Larry Roberts. He indicated that the original problem of not switching from first to second gear on cold mornings was a “safety feature” to prevent stressing the transmission, and that the new problems I was experiencing were completely separate and unrelated.
 
For a second expert opinion, I then took my car to a very reputable and highly-recommended local transmission shop near me, who indicated that the transmission was a mess, that whatever was wrong had been building up for several years (i.e., since before the warranty expired). They said they found many “chunks of metal” in the transmission fluid and that the filter was completely clogged. The fluid was black rather than the usual clear color. They didn’t think it would last more than a few months. I explained the entire history of my transmission and my dealings with Toyota. They pointed out that Sienna minivans have a history of bad transmissions from the late 1990s through the early 2000s, and that my initial transmission replacement was one of many that Toyota quietly did under warranty. I described the “safety feature” concept, and he said it was complete and utter nonsense - that in all his years of transmission repair of Toyotas other cars, there was no such safety feature. Obviously, Mr. Roberts was lying in order to get me off his back, something I seriously resent and am deeply offended by as a Toyota customer. I called Mr. Roberts back to tell him this, and asked him for proof of such a safety feature. He ignored my request and became very gruff, hostile, and non-responsive.
  
My trans shop replaced my clogged transmission filter and refilled the fluid, to at least give my car some short-term life. Their cost to replace the transmission is *only* $2500 (not surprisingly half of the dealer’s price).
 
It surprises and distresses me that Toyota will not stand by their cars in this situation. Certainly, a new transmission should last more than a couple of years, especially on a Toyota!
 
Here are the points I was hoping would convince Toyota to take responsibility in this matter:
· Pat’s Transmissions expertly diagnosed how badly my transmission was damaged, compared to how relatively new it was.
· The extent of damage points to the certainty that problems started very early on, related to my original problem of gear shifting on cold mornings. I would even suggest that the ‘new’ transmission Sloane Toyota installed was a ‘lemon’, i.e., faulty right from the start.
· Sloane Toyota’s service department gave me poor and erroneous advice that the original symptoms I was experiencing were “normal”; moreover, they did *not* recommend that I bring my car in to have it checked while it was still under warranty.
· There is a known history of Sienna transmission problems in the timeframe of when my car was manufactured. I have had two bad transmissions in my car over the span of only five years!
· As a manufacturer of high-quality cars, Toyota should be expected to stand behind their products. Transmissions should not fail after such a short time, regardless of the arbitrary one-year warranty.
 

#3646 of 3687 Re: 1998 Sienna trans is a mess, Toyota takes no responsibility! [lgodiva] by ateixeira

May 27, 2008 (8:39 am)

Replying to: lgodiva (May 27, 2008 8:06 am)
I think you had a stronger case a while back, maybe in 2004. But in 2008? 5 years after you bought it? I wish you luck. The van is 10+ years old now.

Messages Page 365 of 369

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