Toyota Sienna Sliding Door Problems

756 messages,  Last post on May 21, 2013 at 12:42 AM

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What is this discussion about? Toyota Sienna, Car Safety, Van


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#415 of 756 Re: Sliding door going for the second time [minivanmommy1] by macdukep

May 19, 2010 (4:18 am)

Replying to: minivanmommy1 (May 18, 2010 3:18 pm)
I will be VERY interested to hear what the excuse is this time! I have one door down and the other one is starting to go. I have a 2005 Sienna with non electric doors and Toyota is to their story that it is OUR problem.... Well it will become THEIR problem when prior owners do not recommend their car. I won't buy another one. Every time they send me a satisfaction survey I tell them the same thing over and over yet they don't move to correct the problem or satisfy the customer.

#416 of 756 Re: Sliding door going for the second time [minivanmommy1] by minivanmommy1

May 19, 2010 (4:45 am)

Replying to: minivanmommy1 (May 18, 2010 3:18 pm)
Note that is not the other door but the very same door that they repaired less than a year ago (driver's side sliding door). We like to keep our cars for 8 years or so, but I am wondering if we should sell before the other door goes and costs us another 2 grand. PS we have also had problems with the fuses involving power steering and gear shifts, and the power locks have failed. And don't get me started on the run flat tires....

#417 of 756 Re: Sliding door going for the second time [minivanmommy1] by jjllcal

May 19, 2010 (8:29 am)

Replying to: minivanmommy1 (May 19, 2010 4:45 am)
My mechanic told me even you replace the entire assembly, it will give you
the same problem( it is a matter of time), because it is the design and the
material that they use in this assembly that screw up. I heard that the
new sienna use entirely different design. Why change it, if it does not hav
e problem right...... there got to be problem with the old design... I was
thinking to keep the sienna for least 8 years, but i might have to
turn it in early because lately there are noises from the front when I bre
ak on a down hill road. It is not the break. I can not reproduce it execpt
in a 45 degree down hill road. Maybe something is loose or broke again
I would not be surprise it is another washer cushion or something
as worn off again. Small stuff that cost a lot of money to fix with this van. Another money pit.

#418 of 756 Test drove Toyota with door porblems by inspectoring

May 19, 2010 (11:06 pm)

Just wanted to give an insight into my experience - I was about to buy the car and we realized that one of the doors was not working - it could be opened from inside manually but when using the automatic button located on the driver's side and the key - it would just stutter and not opened. Dealer called me and told me they had fixed the problem but my wife would not approve. I just discovered this thread and am rethinking our purchase. Given the door problems and the company's image - I am really not certain !

#419 of 756 Re: Test drove Toyota with door porblems [inspectoring] by ateixeira

May 20, 2010 (6:43 am)

Replying to: inspectoring (May 19, 2010 11:06 pm)
I would not get that particular van by any means, but...
 
To put this in perspective, the prices paid thread has 10,413 posts, and this thread has 418. So it's not like every van purchased has this problem.
 
Knocking on wood.
 
PS the power doors are my favorite feature

#421 of 756 I fixed the door... by scottm23

Jun 07, 2010 (5:13 am)

I have a 2004 that thankfully only has (had) one power sliding door. Great feature when dropping kids off at elementary school. Not so necessary now that they are older. Anyways, I used the TSB referenced in post #146 (give or take a couple posts) as a guide. Here is the link:
 
http://toyota.justanswer.com/uploads/snd27613/2008-07-17_221901_sienna_door_inop- _tsib.pdf
 
Because the motor still worked a little, I thought it may be the hinge so I ordered the hinge and bracket ($124 with tax) and installed them on Saturday. Still had the same problem. The cost of the motor is listed online at $840. I made the decision to turn it into a manual door which took about 20 minutes and saved me $840. If you want to go this route (while you decide whether you want to spend the money to get the motor replaced) here is what you need to do. I am referencing steps in the TSB
 
1. Follow step 4 - Remove end rail moulding (this is at the end of the track at the rear of the van under the back windows.
 
2. Follow step 5 - Remove center bracket No. 2. which is under the moulding you just removed.
 
3. Follow step 6 - Remove center bracket No. 1 which is at the other end of the track almost inside the van.
 
At this point you should have two cable dangling in front of you. They are attached to the van at the hinge and go into the upper clutch assembly for the door. you can see the full picture in step 9 of the TSB.
 
4. I took wire cutters and cut the two ends of the cable right at the door hinge.
 
5. Replace the rear bracket (it holds the moulding too.)
 
6. Replace the moulding.
 
The front hinge is optional. Save it somewhere in case you want to replace the motor.
 
I had a fully functioning manual door. you may want to remove the fuse for the door motor just in case somebody pushes the button. not sure what would happen then.
 
This may or may not work for you and I make no claim that this is a good idea. But it is an alternative to a costly repair if you can live without the power feature and seems to be working for me. Good luck!

#422 of 756 Power lift gate malfunction by liaison

Jun 11, 2010 (2:42 pm)

I have read many of the posts on the passenger doors but have not seen anything on the power lift gate. My problem is the rear lift gate will start going down but then will reverse itself as is something is impeding the process. I wonder if anyone else has encountered this problem. I have a 2004 XLE.

#423 of 756 Re: Power lift gate malfunction [liaison] by bvmurphy

Jun 14, 2010 (7:08 am)

Replying to: liaison (Jun 11, 2010 2:42 pm)
There's a recall on the liftgate. The Toyota dealer should fix it for you for free.

#424 of 756 Re: I fixed the door... [scottm23] by zone10

Jun 15, 2010 (2:48 pm)

Replying to: scottm23 (Jun 07, 2010 5:13 am)
Do you think it's hard to replace a new motor($840)? Is this something I can do at home? Where can I buy the new motor? One seller won't sell it to me because he said it's hard to install. He only sells to the dealership. Any advice would be greatly appreciate.
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