2004 Toyota Sienna problems

What is wrong

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2004-2011 Sienna vehicles originally sold in, or currently registered in, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The affected vehicles have a spare tire carrier assembly mounted under the vehicle whose attachment cable may corrode due to high concentrations of road salt splashing onto the spare tire carrier.

Risk

If the carrier cable is corroded due to road salt, the spare tire may separate from the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Toyota sent owners in August 2014 an interim notification to advise owners of the recall and that dealers will perform an interim remedy to remove the spare tire and relocate it to the luggage compartment, free of charge. Owners are being mailed a second letter as parts become available and dealers will replace the spare tire carrier assembly with an improved one, free of charge. The remedy campaign is being performed in phases. The first phase of the recall began July 7, 2015. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331. NOTE: 2004-2010 Siennas subject to this recall were subject to recall campaign 10V‑160 initiated in 2010. Those owners are advised that they must have their vehicles remedied again under this campaign and that having the earlier recall completed did not remedy their vehicles. Additionally, model year 1998-2003 Siennas were recalled as part of safety recall 10V‑160. Owners of those vehicles that have not had not the remedy performed on their vehicles, should contact their Toyota dealer to schedule a free repair.

Recall number 14V273000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2004-2005 Sienna vehicles manufactured January 10, 2003, through August 10, 2005; and model year 2007-2009 Sienna vehicles manufactured February 20, 2007, through December 12, 2008. In the affected vehicles, due to a problem within the shift lock solenoid, there is a possibility that the shift lever could be moved out of Park position without depressing the brake pedal.

Risk

If the shift lever is moved out of the Park position without the brake applied, the transmission will either engage a drive gear or Neutral, increasing the risk of a backover or roll away crash.

Remedy

Toyota will mail interim notifications to owners beginning in late October 2013. When parts are available, owners will be sent a second notice and dealers will replace the shift lock solenoid, free of charge. Owners may contact Toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 13V429000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2004 avalon vehicles; 2004 and 2005 camry, camry solara, highlander, and sienna vehicles, 2006 highlander hybrid; 2004 and 2005 lexus es330 and rx330; and 2006 lexus rx400h vehicles manufactured from june 1, 2004 through march 31, 2005, equipped with the 1mz-fe or 3mz-fe engine. The amount of adhesive agent applied between the outer ring and the torsional rubber damper (inner ring) in the crankshaft pulley may be inadequate. If the adhesive is insufficient, there is a possibility that the outer ring may become misaligned and it may not properly rotate with the inner ring, causing noise and/or illumination of the battery discharge indicator light.

Risk

In some cases, the belt for the power steering pump may become detached from the pulley which could result in a loss of power steering and a sudden increase in steering effort, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will check the crankshaft pulley to identify whether it was produced by the u.s. Supplier. If so, the dealer will replace the pulley with a new one at no charge. The safety recall is expected to begin during early january 2012. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 11V539000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota is recalling certain model year 1998 through 2010 sienna passenger vehicles manufactured between august 7, 1997 and january 4, 2010, currently registered in or originally sold in connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, kentucky, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, washington district of columbia, virginia, west virginia, and wisconsin. The subject vehicles are equipped with the spare tire stowed under the vehicle. If the vehicle is operated in the cold climate regions of the united states where road salt is frequently used, water splashed backwards with high concentrations of road salt can reach the spare tire carrier and corrode the spare tire carrier assembly cable.

Risk

The cable may break due to excessive corrosion and the spare tire may separate from the vehicle, possibly resulting in a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Toyota will notify owners with an interim letter initially instructing them to bring their vehicle to authorized dealers to inspect for corrosion. A second notice will be sent when the permanent remedy is available. For more information, please see toyota's amended recall report of july 19, 2010. The safety recall is expected to begin on october 12, 2010. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 10V160000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Southeast toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2011 passenger vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, "tire selection and rims." these vehicles were sold without the requisite load carrying capacity modification labels.

Risk

A driver may overload a vehicle which may increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will mail to consumers the corrected label or the customer will have the option for dealers to install the label free of charge. The safety recall began on may 27, 2010. Owners may contact southeast toyota at 1‑800‑301‑6859.

Recall number 10V036000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2006 through 2009 sienna and 2009 lexus gx passenger vehicles. The vehicle capacity weight on the tire and loading information label and the gvwr on the certification label is insufficient for certain vehicles. Some vehicles were accessorized through vehicle processing centers and had accessories installed that caused the vehicle to exceed the gvwr value. These vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no 110, "tire selection and rims," and 49 cfr part 567.

Risk

The gvwr is insufficient for the load carrying capacity of the vehicles.

Remedy

Toyota will notify owners instructing them to return their vehicle to a toyota or lexus dealer for an exchange of the certification label and the tire and loading information label, an installation of the load carrying capacity modification label, if necessary, and a correction to the owner's manual. This remedy will be performed free of charge. The safety recall began on december 10, 2009. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑888‑270‑9371.

Recall number 09V234000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota is conducting a safety improvement campaign involving 26,501 early 2004 my sienna vehicles. In the event the retention clip used to secure the floor carpet cover is missing, the cover can interfere with the operation of the accelerator pedal if the acceleration pedal is depressed to nearly the full throttle position.

Risk

If this occurs, the accelerator pedal can become stuck which could result in a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the retention clip and floor carpet cover at no charge. The campaign began on january 26, 2009. Owner notification is expected to be completed by early april 2009. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑888‑270‑9371, if they have any further questions.

Recall number 09V023000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota is conducting a safety improvement campaign involving 196,222 my 2004-2006 toyota sienna vehicles equipped with power rear liftgate struts. The gas struts used to help lift and support the rear power liftgate could wear out sooner than expected. As the gas struts deteriorate, the performance of the liftgate will begin to degrade and the power rear liftgate will operate more slowly than when the gas struts were new.

Risk

If not repaired, the gas struts may not be able to support the weight of the liftgate when it is open eventually, the gas struts could deteriorate to the point that the liftgate will fall about ten inches after it reaches the fully open position, at which point the power motor will engage and power the liftgate to the fully closed position. This condition may cause injury to a person who is struck by the liftgate when it falls or when it is closing.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the gas struts with newly designed gas struts that have a longer service life. The campaign began on august 8, 2008, and will be mailed in three phases ending in late december 2008. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑888‑270‑9371.

Recall number 08V244000 · Recall details

What is wrong

On certain mini vans, in the middle row seating position, the shoulder portion of the seat belt may bind in the bezel trim piece. The affected seat belt bezel is located on the shoulder portion of the seat in the right side seat of the seven passenger models and the center seating position in the eight passenger models.

Risk

If the seat belt binds in the bezel, that extra webbing may exist in the seat belt which could result in an improperly fitted seat belt on a passenger. In the event of a crash, a seat occupant may not be properly restrained increasing the risk of personal injury.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the seat belt bezel and clip. The recall began august 5, 2005. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 05V327000 · Recall details

What is wrong

On certain sport utility vehicles, a part of the fuel tank may become damaged when crashed in the insurance institute for highway safety's (iihs) 40 MPH frontal offset crash test conditions, due to the severe impact forces generated.

Risk

If the fuel tank becomes damaged and fuel leakage occurs, a fire may result in the presence of an ignition source.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the fuel tank. Owner notification began august 1, 2003. Owners should contact toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 03V291000 · Recall details

Please see the attached closing resume summary.It has been attached to this document as a PDF.

EQ12010

Odi's analysis of warranty data shows that the alleged defect has occurred in just 0.2 percent of the subject vehicle population.when the analysis is limited to salt-belt states, the rate is still well below one percent of the population (0.4 percent).in addition, tests conducted by odi and toyota have shown that the alleged defect has a minimal affect on steering efforts.odi interviews of owners who experienced the alleged defect indicated that in most cases the problem was preceded by months or years of noise or a gradual increase in steering efforts in the initial steering maneuvers after first starting a cold vehicle.the subject vehicles have been in service for 4 to 5 years with no crashes or injuries associated with the alleged defect.toyota's technical service bulletin provides assistance to service technicians in the early diagnosis and repair of the alleged defect condition. Accordingly, this investigation has been closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will continue to monitor complaints and other information relating to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles and take further action in the future if warranted.for additional information regarding this engineering analysis refer to the ea08-024 closing report.

EA08024

In a june 25, 2008, letter responding to an information request from odi, toyota provided information about an accelerator pedal interference incident that occurred during production dynamometer testing at the assembly plant for an early production my 2004 sienna minivan.the incident was caused by a missing retaining clip that allowed the center console trim panel to interfere with (trap) the accelerator pedal after it had been depressed.toyota subsequently implemented an 100% inspection requirement for the retaining clip.in june 2003, toyota changed the original design of the trim panel to eliminate the potential for pedal interference in the event the retaining clip is not present.analysis of complaints and warranty data show that a few (4) incidents of interference by the trim panel have occurred in service.in at least three of the incidents, the interference occurred after service was performed that required removal and reinstallation of the subject trim panel and retaining clip. On january 14, 2009, toyota notified odi that they would recall subject vehicles built between january 10, 2003 and june 11, 2003, when the original design floor carpet cover was used in production (the federal safety agency recall no. 09v‑023).toyota's recall will instruct dealers to replace the original floor carpet cover with the newer design floor carpet (and retention clip) at no charge to the owner.the repair will reduce the potential for trim panel interference with the accelerator pedal travel should the retaining clips become missing because of improper service or other reasons.the recall will be conducted as a safety improvement campaign.

EA08014

The office of defects investigation (odi) opened a preliminary evaluation, pe08-041, to investigate allegations of steering binding or increased steering effort caused by corrosion of steering intermediate universal joints in model year (my) 2004 toyota sienna vehicles.toyota's response to odi's request for information in pe08-041 indicated that toyota has been investigating reports of increased steering effort in my 2004 through 2006 sienna vehicles since 2005. Toyota determined that a combination of thermal damage and subsequent water intrusion could lead to corrosion of the lowermost universal joint installed on the steering intermediate shaft of the subject vehicles. Toyota has made production changes since september 2006 to address these concerns and has issued two technical service bulletins to its dealerships to provide instructions on diagnosing and repairing complaints related to corrosion of the intermediate shaft. Toyota has not determined that a safety defect exists in the steering system of the toyota sienna vehicles and provided test data showing that the effect on steering effort is minimal, even for parts with relatively severe corrosion. Odi analyzed complaint and warranty data relating to the following symptoms: (1) steering intermediate shaft binding or locking; (2) corrosion of the steering intermediate shaft universal joint; (3) complaints of increased effort to turn the steering wheel from neutral or return to neutral after turning (e.g., hard steering or steering binding); or (4) noise while steering.these analyses revealed that the subject vehicles have experienced a total complaint rate of 81.0 per 100,000 vehicles and a total warranty claim rate of 3.0 percent.odi's analysis found that approximately two-thirds of complaints were for noise only.similar analysis of the warranty data showed that 91 percent were related to noise concerns. Odi has upgraded this investigation to an engineering analysis (ea08-024) to conduct testing to assess the effect of the alleged defect on steering effort in the subject vehicles.

PE08041

In a june 25, 2008, letter responding to an information request from odi, toyota reported an april 2003 unwanted acceleration incident that occurred during production dynamometer testing.according to the letter the incident was caused by a missing retaining clip that allowed the center console trim panel to interfere with (trap) the accelerator pedal after it had been depressed.in the aftermath, toyota reviewed their manufacturing processes and other data and concluded this was an isolated incident.as a secondary measure in june 2003, toyota changed the design of the trim panel to eliminate the potential for pedal interference in the event the retaining clip is not present. During a july 2008 meeting with odi, toyota demonstrated how an unrestrained early design level trim panel interacts with the accelerator after pedal depression.toyota also advised that they were conducting a field survey to examine panel retention and that preliminarily one vehicle had been identified with a concern. The federal safety agency's vehicle research and test center is also conducting a survey of subject vehicles; preliminarily two responses allege a concern.before opening pe08-025, odi staff also found a subject vehicle with a missing retaining clip during a field evaluation.note that odi is no longer counting the single complaint that was in the opening resume for pe08-025 as it was determined that the vehicle involved was not equipped with the subject trim panel. Pe08-025 has been upgraded to an engineering analysis (ea08-014) to gather additional information about how many subject vehicles may currently have issues with the retaining clip and assess the future risk of pedal interference incidents due to missing clips.

PE08025

On may 30, 2008, toyota initiated a safety recall to replace the liftgate struts in approximately 196,000 model year 2004-2006 toyota sienna vehicles equipped with power liftgates (recall 08v‑244).the recall will provide the opportunity for vehicle owners to obtain new struts that are more robust.based on these actions, the agency has decided to close the investigation.while toyota has not made a decision that the recalled vehicles contain a safety-related defect, in view of the recall, further use of the agency's resources does not appear to be warranted.the closing of this investigation does not constitute any finding by the federal safety agency.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.additional information can be found in the engineering analysis report.

EA06020

The liftgate gas struts for the subject vehicles may have damaged gas seals that allow the liftgate to drop unexpectedly.the rates for complaints, alleged injuries and warranty claims are higher for vehicles with the power liftgate option.the power liftgate may automatically power-close at the completion of a power-open command without input from the operator.some owners are caught unaware of the power-close operation while under the rear liftgate door.odi has upgraded the investigation to an engineering analysis (ea06-020) and modified the scope to include only the subject vehicles with the power liftgate option.

PE06029

Odi opened pe06-010 based on 12 reports of alleged tire pressure warning system (tpws) failure on the subject vehicles.all reports alleged that the tpws warning light did not illuminate on the driver information panel when the tire pressure was low or the tire was flat.in some incidents, the consumer reported that tpws light did not illuminate when the tire pressure in 1 tire was at 15-20 psi and the other tires were at or near the recommended tire pressure.during pe06-010, additional failure data was identified as noted in the failure report summary above.as of july 25, 2006, odi was not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a crash, an injury, or a fatality in the subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where a tire was reported to have caught on fire during the incident.in both incidents, fire damage was limited to the rear passenger tire and tire well and/or smoke damage to items in the vehicle.odi's analysis showed the following:(1) the subject vehicles use an indirect tpws system with p225/60r17bridgestone b380 or dunlop sp sport 4000 dsst run flat tires(rfts). (2) there is a large variability in the pressure and driving time atwhich the tpws will trigger the tpws warning light toilluminate. (3) the tpws may not make an accurate judgment under a variety ofroad or driving conditions, including if the vehicle is drivenover 62 MPH, the outside temperature is below 32 degreesfahrenheit, the tread wear is uneven, the loading is overthe limit, or the pressure of 2 or more tires drops at the sametime. (see toyota's april 10, 2006 information request responsefor more details.) (4) some consumers reported that their tire pressure was below 15psi or even as low as 0 psi before they realized that they had atire pressure issue and as a result had to replace the tire. Note: toyota states that if the tire pressure drops to below 15psi, the tire can not be repaired. (5) in april 2006, in response to reports of premature or uneven tirewear, toyota issued a customer support program to providesupplemental tire warranty coverage for 2004-early 2006 mysienna vehicles with rfts. (6) field data and the federal safety agency testing showed that the tpws on the 2004-2005 my toyota sienna 2wd vehicles, which use the same tpws as the subject vehicles, but have standard tires, performed betterthan tpws on the subject vehicles.due to the following reasons, odi has decided that further expenditure of agency resources on this investigation is not warranted at this time: (1) only a very small percentage of tpws and tire related complaints and warranty claims cited that the tpws did not illuminate on the subject vehicle during the incident.in the remaining tire related incidents, it was not possible to determine if the tpws contributed to the tire related failure. (2) odi is not aware of any incidents that were reported thatresulted in the driver losing vehicle control. (3) the field data did not establish a relationship between poortpws performance and tire incidents with safety consequencesaccordingly, this investigation is closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will continue to monitor complaints and other information relating to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles and take further action in the future if warranted.

PE06010

The shoulder portion of the middle-row seatbelt webbing feeds through an opening in the seatbelt bezel located at the top of the seat.the bezel also contains a clip that covers a narrow slot in the bezel.the clip may become dislodged from use and allow the seat belt to become stuck in the narrow slot exposed by the dislodged clip. In addition to odi's 10 consumer complaints, toyota's letter response to the agency identifies 40 other consumer and field reports and 3,089 warranty repairs that required the replacement of the seatbelt bezel and/or clip.a stuck or jammed seatbelt does not offer proper occupant protection in the event of a vehicle crash.toyota has notified the agency by letter dated july 19, 2005 (amended in letter dated july 22, 2005), that it will recall 345,443 my 2004-2005 7-passenger and 8-passenger sienna vehicles built from the start of production up to may 18, 2005.toyota dealers will replace the seatbelt bezel and clip with an improved design on all vehicles.vehicles produced beginning may 18 already have the improved seatbelt bezel and clip.this investigation is closed.

EA05010

Odi received ten consumer complaints alleging that the middle-row passenger seatbelt webbing frequently jams in the integrated seatbelt guide housing slot.during normal body movement of the occupant, the webbing jams in the slot due to a dislodged cover plate, thus causing excess slack in the seatbelt assembly.toyota?s letter response to the agency identifies 40 other consumer and field reports and 3,073 warranty repairs that require the replacement of the seatbelt guide assembly.in addition, there are another 16 warranty claims on my 2005 sienna vehicles.complainants expressed concern for children occupying the middle-row seats.they may not recognize the potential safety risk or be able to remedy a slack seatbelt.a slack or jammed seatbelt does not offer proper occupant protection in the event of a crash.toyota has implemented a recent design change to correct the problem.toyota will apply the design change to new production vehicles and although the design can be applied to earlier my 2004 and 2005 vehicles, toyota has not announced a safety recall for those vehicles.this investigation is upgraded to an engineering analysis (ea05-010) and will include my 2005 vehicles.

PE05008