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Toyota Sienna Electrical Problems

102 messages,  Last post on Feb 11, 2013 at 3:59 PM

You are in the Toyota Sienna Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Sienna, Electrical, Lights, Van

Messages Page 4 of 11

#31 of 102 Re: corner, braking [mom2boys07] by wwest

Jul 15, 2008 (9:25 am)

Replying to: mom2boys07 (Oct 02, 2007 7:58 pm)
It could be that the dealer service personel are not as "brave" as you regarding how fast they will enter a somewhat tight (my assumption) turn...45-48 mph. You may be encountering the rollover prevention aspects of the Sienna's VSC/Trac "nanny".
 
But you seem to be describing a circumstance wherein a small level of "plowing"/understearing is almost a given. Braking and turning (tightly..??) at a fairly high speed. Remember that your front brakes will be responsible for 70-80% of the braking effort and "here" you have the front wheels turned at an angle, thereby maybe asking of the front tires' traction coefficient a bit more than they have to "give".
 
So of course the VSC will sometimes activate in that circumstance.
 
Throw in a bit of slipperiness to the roadbed and VSC will ALWAYS activate.
 
The VSC in my '01 RX300 seems to be a bit more prone to activate VSC in "your" circumstance when there is also a slight, but definite, rise in the roadbed as I turn.
 
Are you, by any chance, applying the brakes because you recognize your entry speed into the (tight) turn is too high...?? In that case the VSC is simply being helpful.

#32 of 102 Re: Radio Display blank [retiredcat] by hershg

Jul 18, 2008 (8:11 am)

Replying to: retiredcat (Mar 21, 2008 6:41 pm)
Having exact same problem on our 2007 Sienna LE.
Wondering if you've made any progress in getting it fixed.
Thanks.

#33 of 102 Re: Radio Display blank [hershg] by mom2boys07

Jul 18, 2008 (5:55 pm)

Replying to: hershg (Jul 18, 2008 8:11 am)
Sorry we have finally given up. After numerous trips to the dealership and they could not "reproduce" the problem the only thing they could tell us was that they would note it in our records. If you find someone that can give you an answer please let me know. My husband has made a video on his camera phone showing the dashboard lights but the mechanics still have no explaination. Good luck!

#34 of 102 Re: toyota sienna problem!! [hello6] by install4you

Oct 22, 2008 (11:45 am)

Replying to: hello6 (May 31, 2008 8:18 pm)
I had similar problem. Driver window on 2000 Sienna--intermittent stopping. Use suggestion at your own risk. I bought spray can of electrical contacts cleaner--check trade stores that cater to electronics technicians. I removed window control assembly and (can't remember exactly how far) disassembled until I could see actual contacts. Sprayed clean & reassembled. Be really careful with dis- & reassembly. Don't try unless you're willing to replace if you mess it up.
 
Worked fine for a while (months) then had another failure. Haven't tried cleaning yet, but only failed a couple of times. This last time it would go for an inch or 2 and stop. Then I cut off engine, restarted car, got a couple more inches. After several tries got the window up. Don't know why! Only failed a few times over several days, now ok again...BUT
 
Now problem others have developed--all dome lights and electric locks failed. Replaced fuses--no help. This seems to be a rare but repeated problem, per internet search. Only solution I've read about was replacing the ECM. Seems drastic! And expensive!

#35 of 102 Electrical Problem with 2000 Sienna - Alarm/Door Locks by sponge1

Nov 24, 2008 (10:48 am)

Whenever I try to unlock the door (either using the keyless entry or by hand manually) the alarm system goes off. You must then turn on the veh. to get it to turn off. This just started the last two days (got quite cold suddenly). Also noticed that the door locks are behaving a bit strange. One other thing my wife noticed was that twice now when you try to turn on the veh (with the alarm going off) it won't turn in the iginition (like its locked). When you play with the locks (push lock unlock etc.) the iginition will usually then work. This does not happen every time! In fact, only my wife has had this experience (twice). Any Ideas?

#36 of 102 Re: Electrical Problem with 2000 Sienna - Alarm/Door Locks [sponge1] by wwest

Nov 24, 2008 (10:38 pm)

Replying to: sponge1 (Nov 24, 2008 10:48 am)
Tell your wife to remove the other "chipped" key from her key ring.

#37 of 102 99 Sienna Dash Light by dylbrena99

Nov 24, 2008 (2:47 pm)

#38 of 102 99 Sienna Dash Light by dylbrena99

Nov 08, 2008 (7:41 pm)

I have a 99 Sienna and the dash board light (the one that illuminates the speedometer, tach, etc.) went out. Also the backlight that illuminates the heating & A/C controls is also out. Makes driving in the dark difficult when you can't see how fast you're going.
 
I've checked the owners manual, and every single small fuse in the vehicle (actually removed each one and looked at it, and put them back). I can't believe it's a bulb that would control both the dash light and heating and A/C controls back light. I've checked both fuse boxes under the hood and the one behind the small change box near the left knee. Thanks!

#39 of 102 Re: 99 Sienna Dash Light [dylbrena99] by ateixeira

Nov 24, 2008 (2:47 pm)

Replying to: dylbrena99 (Nov 08, 2008 7:41 pm)
Replace the actual fuse. Some times they look OK but they are not. A hairline crack may not be visible. Try it - they cost pennies.

#40 of 102 Re: 99 Sienna Dash Light [dylbrena99] by cassiejane

Jan 24, 2009 (2:31 pm)

Replying to: dylbrena99 (Nov 08, 2008 7:41 pm)
DON'T LET THE AUTO DEALERSHIP/MECHANIC DO A COSTLY REPAIR YET!
 
This exact same thing happened to me. Ask yourself: did I use the "odometer/trip meter" recently? That little twisty knob under the odometer (for some reason) doubles as a dimmer switch for all of the Indiglo dashboard panel lights (which includes the blue back light on the radio/middle display), although it isn't marked as such and although you already have another dimmer dial to the left of the steering wheel. You might have accidentally twisted the trip meter instead of pushed it and therefore dimmed your display panel and radio backlight to zero. If you do this, the OTHER dimmer switch won't work, which led me to believe it was a fuse or something worse.
 
A mechanic was going to charge me $1600 to replace the power supply unit! So apparently it is not widely known that this happens, even among mechanics, or else my mechanic was going to keep my Sienna for a few days, then walk out to the van, twist the little trip meter clockwise to make the blue lights come back up, and charge me nearly two thousand dollars for the service.
 
I'll always Google a problem I'm having with my car from now on. I saved a lot of money!

Messages Page 4 of 11

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