2002 Toyota Sequoia: hesitation when accelerating

6 of the 666 complaints about the 2002 Toyota Sequoia describe hesitation when accelerating.

owner complaints: 6
of this car's complaints: 1%
typical mileage: 159,432
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 7 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Hesitation when accelerating by model year

2007
2
2006
2
2005
4
2004
4
2003
4
2002
6
2001
3

What owners say

Filed Jul 18, 2023 · Brakes · 222,715 miles · SC

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Sequoia. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle made an abnormal grinding sound and hesitated to respond. The contact depressed the brake pedal a second time, and the vehicle stopped. The ABS warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while driving and depressing the brake pedal. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Oct 11, 2019 · Driver assistance · 159,432 miles · NY

Just bought a used 2002 toyota sequoia and quickly found that I can not pull out into heavy traffic without plenty of gap in said traffic.I had unhooked the battery to do some work on it and now it will hesitate for 1.5 to 3 seconds when you ease from a stop.I have seen on other sites that it is called the hesitation of death.I notice on the dash the (car with the slipping) light comes on and there are some relay noises under the dash.I don't see the vsc light come on or the ABS light come on.I did call my local toyota dealership to explain my experince and they claim to have never heard of this issue.they told me just to drive it and it should within a few days it should relearn itself.I told them I just drove a 650 mile trip with it and its been a week or two since I unhooed the battery with no change.she simply just wished me luck and that was it.as a update I changed the front brake calipers in witch lowered the brake fluid level in the master cylnder witch turned on all the vsc warning lights and brake light and the hesitation went away as long as the lights were on.unfortuntaly I turned it off and filled the brake fluid to max level and the hesitation came right back and the vsc warning lights went off.nothing to indicate or give a direction to a repair.I see the reports about the 2003 sequioa having a recall but not the 2002.if they are the same part numbers I think for all safty factors on both years they shoud be honering the 2002 under a safty recall.not really sure what to do at this point.do I sell it,trade it in, the dearship didnt offer any true help or even mention the recall on the 2003 sequioa. They were not to forth coming with info on this problem that seems to be well known on a toyota forum page.

Filed Dec 13, 2016 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 150,000 miles · TX

Abs engages, hesitation from dead stop, stability control lights flicker.

Filed Dec 3, 2014 · Brakes, Engine · 196,000 miles · TN

At stop and starting to accelerate vehicle hesitates while trying to go into intersection. Stalls for a few seconds vsc light comes on and once system gains control it lets me actually accelerate and proceed. Dangerous due to oncoming traffic and the hesitation time of not knowing how long until I regain control.

Filed May 25, 2010 · Driver assistance · 107,000 miles · AL

First occurrence on 8/7/2009 while driving on interstate at approx 75 MPH on a clear day and smooth road: single loud warning beep coming from dashboard, trac off/vsc off lights lit up on instrument panel, accompanied by slight hesitation from front tires. Trac off lights/vsc off indicators turned off after turning engine off. Second occurrence on 9/26/2009 while accelerating up a small hill at approx 40 MPH: loud warning beep, trac off/vsc off lights were lit and was unable to control front tires for a few seconds (felt vehicle shift left and right). Trac off/vsc off indicators stayed lit up even after restarting vehicle. Took vehicle to dealership and was informed that traction control sensor needed to be replaced - yaw rate sensor. After repairs, the trac off/vsc off indicators continue to light up periodically while driving over smooth dry roads. Updated 06/22/10 *bf updated 06/25/10.*jb

Filed May 18, 2010 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 65,000 miles · TN

Gas pedal hesitates and won't pick up speed when applied. This causes me to have to pull over to the side of the road and slowly drive until the speed picks up. This almost cause an accident when I was trying to merge on to the interstate in heavy traffic.