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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 10 of 11

#82 of 102 worn contacts by bobsurfshop

Oct 30, 2012 (9:03 am)

replace the starter contacts, no need to remove the complete starter, just the head.

#83 of 102 Re: Help! The Mechanics can't figure this one out!! [jlewelling1] by szinkie

Dec 12, 2012 (10:08 am)

Replying to: jlewelling1 (Aug 22, 2007 12:37 pm)
Did you happen to get your Sienna Van left turn issue resolved?? I have a 1998 Toyota Sienna van also and when I turn left the map lights come on, the panel shows door ajar (LED) and if the doors were locked, they become unlocked (click noise). Once you straighten wheel and go straight all becomes normal and map lights turn off, etc. This NEVER happens when turning RIGHT.
 
Any ideas for fixes out there ??????
 
THanks,
 
Z

#84 of 102 Re: Help! The Mechanics can't figure this one out!! [martin152] by szinkie

Dec 12, 2012 (10:10 am)

Replying to: martin152 (Jan 18, 2008 6:13 pm)
Did you happen to get your Sienna Van left turn issue resolved?? I have a 1998 Toyota Sienna van also and when I turn left the map lights come on, the panel shows door ajar (LED) and if the doors were locked, they become unlocked (click noise). Once you straighten wheel and go straight all becomes normal and map lights turn off, etc. This NEVER happens when turning RIGHT.
 
Any ideas for fixes out there ??????
 
THanks,
 
Z

#86 of 102 Re: Help! The Mechanics can't figure this one out!! [szinkie] by martin152

Dec 13, 2012 (4:53 pm)

Replying to: szinkie (Dec 12, 2012 10:10 am)
I solved my electrical mystery, perhaps this will help someone else.
 I have a 2000 Sienna XLE. Whenever I turned left my dome lights/map lights would turn on and the door ajar light would come on. After I completed the turn, all would go back to normal.
 The solution was really too simple. On the inside of the passenger door there is "bump" or protrusion that makes contact with the rubber covered switch that turns the map lights on. At some point in time, someone must have slammed the door on the metal seat belt latch and dented the protrusion. When the door closes it still makes contact with the switch to turn of the lights and the "open door" warning, but when turning left the centripetal force of gravity allows just enough pressure to be removed from the contact of the switch to turn the lights on.
   
 I fixed it by taking a small piece of cardboard and folding it over a couple of times to thicken it up, then I took a piece of "Gorrilla Tape" and taped the piece of cardboard on top of the "protrusion" on the door.
   
 It sounds silly, I know, but I've never had the problem since.
 At some point in time I might screw a thick washer onto the "Bump", but for now cardboard and gorilla tape seems to work just fine.
   
 I hope this helps someone.

#87 of 102 Re: Help! The Mechanics can't figure this one out!! [martin152] by szinkie

Dec 13, 2012 (6:57 pm)

Replying to: martin152 (Dec 13, 2012 4:53 pm)
Hey Martin152..
 
Thank you very much for your reply. I just went out to our van to look at the doors (driver/passenger) and i see the 1/2" protrusion of the metal on the doors.. One of the protrusions I think "may" be slightly dented in. I will also take a look at the sliding doors.
 
From another posting, since my issue is on the left turns, the other poster seemed to think the issue may be on the passenger side to the centrifical force .. He thought with the left turn, the driver side would probably not be the problem as this side would have more force on the door itself.
 
I guess for all that matters I could do your solution on every door just to see if this fixes the problem. If it does i could start to take off cardboard from one door at a time..
 
Thanks for the time man..
 
Z

#88 of 102 2011 Sienna Battery being drained by northbrook4

Jan 19, 2013 (1:51 pm)

We've had issues with our 2011 Sienna and the battery being drained. Problems have ocurred for over a year. The first battery went bad at 10K miles. The dealer said it was just a bad cell but even since then we've had to have the van jumped 5 times. We are conscious to not leave anything on after the engine is turned off but it seems like it takes very little to drain the battery (Opened the back hatch and side doors to load the van for an hour and it wouldn't start this week). Took it to the dealer and they checked the battery and alternator and both were fine. They hooked a voltage meter to see if any of the electrical systems were not shutting down properly and that was not the issue. Dealer states you can't leave the doors open for any length of time (Even to pack the van for a vacation) or even run the radio for 30 minutes with out the engine on. This seems rediculous. The 2 year old van with 20K miles has proven to be very unreliable and the dealer has no solutions.
 
Has anyone run into similar problems or solutions?

#89 of 102 Re: 2011 Sienna Battery being drained [northbrook4] by honyoker

Jan 20, 2013 (6:44 pm)

Replying to: northbrook4 (Jan 19, 2013 1:51 pm)
Hey Northbrook4...I just started searching on behalf of my son, he has an '11 Sienna and the battery's getting drained, so I thought I'd do some online searching for others with the same problem. Caveat...they got an after-market remote start system installed and I suspect the problem MAY lay therein, but they've got an appt. at the Toyota dealership this week to get it diagnosed/fixed. I'll post here any solutions they discover.

#90 of 102 Re: 2011 Sienna Battery being drained [honyoker] by northbrook4

Jan 22, 2013 (8:11 pm)

Replying to: honyoker (Jan 20, 2013 6:44 pm)
Thanks honyoker, we don't have an engine starter. We have the van back and the dealer couldn't find any issues. We even had them keep it over the weekend to see if it would drain. Even with zero degrees overnight it started. The service manager did admit that this was not the first complaint on this issue with newer loaded sienna's......good luck!

#91 of 102 Re: 2011 Sienna Battery being drained [northbrook4] by jkozachek

Jan 23, 2013 (4:22 pm)

Replying to: northbrook4 (Jan 19, 2013 1:51 pm)
We have also had similar problems with our 2008 Toyota Sienna. I would certainly appreciate hearing any ideas anyone may have. We've been through 4 or 5 batteries and the car is so unreliable that my wife will no longer drive it.

Messages Page 10 of 11

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