Toyota Sienna AWD Problems/Questions

I drove a Ford Explorer right off the side of the mountain in low 4WD 1st gear, at 5 mph, at the hairpin directly below our house. My neighbor did the same in her AWD Outback. In addition to verifying our life insurance and building a retaining fence with locust logs, metal posts and anchored cable, we did a survey and I believe WWEst is exactly corect. When you are in a steep descent and have ABS and VSC, the best thing you can do when descending a steep grade on a low traction surface, in addition to not letting your speed get too high to start with, is put the tranny in neutral and let the computer adjust your brake effort.
Juice, great to see another guy with a Sienna/Subaru family!

Replies to this message:

ateixeira (Sep 17, 2007 10:44 am)

#30 of 34 Re: AWD real experience [subewannabe] by ateixeira

Sep 17, 2007 (10:44 am)

Replying to: subewannabe (Sep 16, 2007 5:42 pm)

Yep, the van has served us well.

We liked the Tribeca but it just isn't big enough for what we wanted. This weekend we took another family with us to our beach condo, 3 hours each way, and everyone was comfortable, with room for their luggage.

When it snows, we have the Legacy. My wife stays home, so we really don't need 2 AWD vehicles.

#31 of 34 In AWD 2005 Sienna, is the transfer case oil needs to be changed? by automan12

Sep 20, 2007 (2:10 pm)

Is the transfer case required a separate oil or is it a part of transmission?

Replies to this message:

ateixeira (Sep 21, 2007 7:39 am)
- wwest (Sep 21, 2007 9:57 am)
  - ateixeira (Sep 21, 2007 12:05 pm)

#32 of 34 Re: In AWD 2005 Sienna, is the transfer case oil needs to be changed? [automan12] by ateixeira

Sep 21, 2007 (7:39 am)

Replying to: automan12 (Sep 20, 2007 2:10 pm)

I'm not sure, but I imagine the system is sealed. You'll probably have to change the gear oil in the rear differential, though.

On my Subaru it was fairly simple, remove two bolts, drain, replace one bolt, fill, replace the 2nd bolt. The "fill" part is a little tougher than it seems because if you are under the van you have to pump oil up into it, but I got a $7 hand pump that did the job.

Synthetic gear oil was $4 for the one quart required, so we're talking about an investment of a whopping $11.

Gear oil stinks to the high heavens, so take a shower before you come in contact with your significant other.

Replies to this message:

wwest (Sep 21, 2007 9:57 am)
- ateixeira (Sep 21, 2007 12:05 pm)

#33 of 34 Re: In AWD 2005 Sienna, is the transfer case oil needs to be changed? [ateixeira] by wwest

Sep 21, 2007 (9:57 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Sep 21, 2007 7:39 am)

No "transfer" case in the traditional sense, but a PTO, Power Take Off, case. And yes, it is separately lubed, with fairly heavyweight gear oil, but I doubt if it needs to be serviced EVER. At ~65,000 miles the gear oil in my 2001 AWD RX300 PTO case (includes VC, Viscous Clutch) remained clear and non-odorous. Yes, I said CLEAR.

Silicon gear oil..??

And gear oil doesn't STINK unless it has been subjected to extreme HEAT, which is not the normal case.

Replies to this message:

ateixeira (Sep 21, 2007 12:05 pm)

#34 of 34 Re: In AWD 2005 Sienna, is the transfer case oil needs to be changed? [wwest] by ateixeira

Sep 21, 2007 (12:05 pm)

Replying to: wwest (Sep 21, 2007 9:57 am)

Oh, man. You should have seen the stuff that I drained out of my Miata. Just 26k miles, too. To be fair, it was 8 years old. It has a viscous limited-slip rear diff, FWIW.

It looked like melted chocolate, too, coming out.

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