Ask the Car People.SM


Toyota Sienna Maintenance and Repair (2004+) - READ ONLY

2209 messages,  Last post on Mar 15, 2008 at 6:55 AM

You are in the Toyota Sienna Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Sienna, Auto Repair, Scheduled Maintenance, Van

    

Messages Page 45 of 222

#436 of 2209 It's small consolation, by dako_tian

Jan 16, 2004 (8:43 am)

but when the newly-redesigned Honda Odyssey came out in 1999, it was as wildly popular as the Sienna is now (maybe more). They had exactly the same problem in supplying parts for damaged or defective cases. I remember one guy who wrecked the vehicle and couldn't get body panels for months.
 
It seems this is a nasty side-effect of Toyota building a vehicle that turns out as perhaps more of a success than they planned on it being.

#437 of 2209 To gregali119: by lalalalala

Jan 16, 2004 (8:47 am)

Sorry to hear your experience, do you mind sharing with us which model you have & what the symptoms are when you decide to take it back to the dealer? I bought mine in early December too & after hearing the TSB related to the transmission here, I took my van back to the dealer to have a look. They said that the TSB does not apply to my VIN & everything is within spec. My previous car was a Camry & I'm used to light touches on the gas pedal/brake, with this Sienna, I find myself having to push the gas pedal down quite a bit more if I need acceleration after coming to a stop.

#438 of 2209 To lalalalala by gregali119

Jan 16, 2004 (9:25 am)

Sounds like you may have a similar problem!
I purchased a seven passenger Sienne LE with a #7 package which included all around disk brakes,vehicle skid control and TRAC.
All went well when, after 700 miles the engine warning light on the dash went on and indicated there was a problem with the VSC and TRAC components. The dealer's service department diagnosed the problem as a solenoid malfunction in the transmission. As it turned out, the diagnosing procedures evidently were incorrect and the problem was traced to the ECU (electric control unit) which is a small computer that regulates shifting.
Once the warning lights came on, I noticed that I had the same situation as you describe, i. e. in order to get the car moving, I had to race the engine to do so. The service people explained that the reason was the transmission was not shifting into first gear as the car reduced speed. Upon re acceleration, the transmisson was in second gear thereby calling for more enging power to move it. Once the car got going again it seems to shift into other higher gears OK.
In any event, I would suggest you see your service people for a check. My service people also told me that the TSB cited in this forum did not apply to my van.
Evidently, there seems to be a problem with the diagnosing procedure which is the reason for the error in the first place.

#439 of 2209 Towing performance??? by stubborn1

Jan 16, 2004 (12:42 pm)

Hi all,
I'm considering purchasing a new Sienna for our next vehicle and wanted to hear how well the engine/trans combo works for towing. I've read all the threads about hitch problems, so i'm aware of that one.
 
Specifically, we have a 2000# popup camper that we like to use a lot in summer. Does anyone have some towing experiences to report? Will the van be strained at 70mph (fastest speed i ever go when towing) on the freeway?
 
Thanks

#440 of 2209 to gregali119 by lalalalala

Jan 17, 2004 (8:21 am)

thanks for responding, I took mine to the dealer at around 900 miles, other than that hesitation (1 or 2 seconds)in low speed acceleration I have no other complaints at this time, I'll keep all records of correspondence with the dealer regarding this & definitely keep my eyes on the dash for any signs of warning lights & the rpm gauge. The reason I bought this Sienna was because of my very good experience with the 95 Camry. I had the 1st brake job done at around 90K miles, it was a boring car but very reliable & quiet (a must) compared to Honda. I hope this Sienna will be trouble free as well.

#441 of 2209 Hitch and towing by dplachta

Jan 17, 2004 (4:02 pm)

We don't have a regular hitch scraping problem nor any towing problems.
 
Our hitch is a class II and fits snug under the bumper. The ground clearance is not great, but still, we rarely ever scrape the hitch on the ground. We do go slow when exiting parking lots with a dip. Perhaps we've scraped it a half dozen times since we got it, which was 9 months ago. The van tows the camper great and we have tons of power. Hope that helps.

#442 of 2209 CE Major electrical failure by bogwoppit

Jan 18, 2004 (8:40 am)

I picked up my Sienna CE 8 seater on Friday, I drove 40 km home, all very nice, the next morning I drove about 17km stopped did some errands, drove a further 10km stopped for an hour. When I came out to the van it started bu none of the electrical components would work, that is I could not put it in gear, I had no lights, indicators, odometer, no raido, no electrical windows or locking. My hubby came to rescue me from the, we started the van whilst we checked the battery, all seemed fine, after running for 15 minutes all the electrical equipment came on, without us touching anything. We drove it to the dealership and abandoned it there.
 
What do you think, a major lemon, scared the heck out of me, could happen anytime and I drive a lot with 3 kids, no lights etc is a bit much.
 
Ever heard of this before, I have to call thedealership at 8am tomorrow, I need some input on this isuue....

#443 of 2209 Re: Sienna Leaks ...Car Wash by bosco9

Jan 18, 2004 (10:23 am)

Have any of you tried to wash your Sienna at the car wash? I was shocked when I opened the doors and found water had leaked onto the inside frames on all 5 doors.Gee, I expected more from Toyota.

#444 of 2209 X-M Satellite Roady I installed in '04 Sienna - see picture! by lovemyaccords

Jan 19, 2004 (3:34 am)

Best way to do this, is to do what I did - I didn't want to remove the new radio that came with the car and worked fine. I wanted to install an X-M product and there are 2 that work if you have a cassette player - I chose the ROADY as it is VERY SMALL and fits nicely in a spot I found in the Sienna. It does mean foregoing one cubbyhole for storage, but I wanted to put it nearby and not off on the dash somewhere which would be ugly. I installed it with just the bracket, and not the swivel. The bracket is stuck on with tape they supply, and the Roady fits into the bracket so it can pop out easily.
 
 I did a quick 'n dirty install of the antenna - didn't even bother to put it on the roof - I just threw it up on the center of the dash and ran the wire along the well under the inside of the windshield, down and around some cracks in the dash fitting, and down to the radio. There is a little wiring showing at the unit, but it doesn't bother me. Reception is fine with the antenna on the dash! You can spend the $95 and have it professionally installed, but if you want to get going fast with a good solution right out of the box, this works great.
 
I had Sirius for over a year because of their being commercial-free, but their playlists were getting too repetetive and the sound quality wasn't good. X-M has much more variety, the sound was better, and this little Roady gem was just so easy to install, that dumped Sirius and have not regretted it - sound quality and programming is excellent. NOW THE GREAT NEWS! X-M will go commercial-free starting Feb. 1 2004 - so there's no longer any competition (unless you HAVE to have NPR which only Sirius has!)
 
See the pictures below for the placement of my Roady in the 2004 Sienna.
 
http://204.50.24.183/roady1.jpg
 
http://204.50.24.183/roady-close.jpg
 
http://204.50.24.183/roady-antenna.jpg
 
Wendy

#445 of 2209 Re: leaks by xdivision

Jan 19, 2004 (7:10 am)

I noticed a leak on my Sienna last weak while the rear was in the up position. I inspected the rubber seals and found a puncture hole in it. I am not sure if it is a factory defect or that somthing got between the door and body to cause this. I have 7k on my 2004 and so far no problems.

Messages Page 45 of 222

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement