2004 Toyota Sienna transmission problems

Filed Oct 16, 2025 · Transmission · GA

Shifter not shifting into park even when in park causing it to roll even when you think it’s in park

Filed Jan 9, 2025 · Acceleration, Fuel system · CA

Was driving on highway at 60-65 mph. The car continued to accelerate. Pressed on brake and wasn't slowing the vehicle. The driver was weaving in and out of cars as the van started to creek up to 92 mph. The driver and passengers thought they were going to crash and possible die. The driver tried the brake multiple times and nothing. The driver said the accelerator pedal wasn't pressed all the way down to the floor. It was half way and driver had to go down and pull up on the pedal while driving. The van then started to slow and driver was able to pull over to have the van evaluated . The throttle body was reached and cleaned of carbon because it said that this may have been part of the issue. Never has this van taken off like this. The throttle body cable wasnt loose or disconnected either. So far we havent been able to recreate but 3 people could have been killed.

Filed Sep 2, 2019 · Transmission · MI

Transmission made a noise when I was slowing down off the highway. Now I lost reverse in transmission

Filed Jun 12, 2019 · Transmission · 160,000 miles · TN · crash

Three year old child was able to put the car into neutral without depressing the break pedal and car rolled away. Car was parked in a flat driveway, and went across the street and hit a speed limit sign and did damage to the front bumper. I do have a photo unable to upload of bumper. Not covered under the 2005 shift lock solonoid recall by toyota.

Filed Feb 4, 2019 · Transmission · 168,000 miles · CA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. While driving, there was an abnormal grinding noise coming from underneath the vehicle. There was no warning indicator illuminated. The contact coasted the vehicle over to the side of the road and powered off the engine. The contact noticed smoke coming through the vents and from underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted, but the gear shifter failed to move out of park. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and later towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 168,000.

Filed Aug 12, 2018 · Transmission · 165,000 miles · UT

The shifter lever made a sound and behaved as if plastic was breaking inside of it. This happened when shifting out of "park", and into gear when the car was stationary. After this, the shifting lever became loose and does not seem to have the tension to "spring" the lever into the appropriate position naturally. For example, normally the shift lever will have tension pushing toward the left so that the shift lever engages park without having to manually press it into place. Now it will float to the right and may not engage into "park" without the driver specifically concentrating on pressing it to the left. This vehicle is current with all of its recalls with the exception of the latest spare tire carrier cable inspection issued in 2014. The specific part that has broken is unknown, but I suspect there is probably a tension spring associated with the shift lever which helps keep it in the desired location which has broken. There are threads on the internet talking about a part that may be related as described in this thread: https://www.siennachat.com/forum/66-problems-maintenance-repair-gen-2/679-broken-shifter-05-xle.html this is a safety concern because I believe the shift lever may not engage or stay in the desired position causing the vehicle to behave in unpredictable ways. First, the driver may believe that the shifter is in "park", but it may not have engaged and may instead be in neutral causing the the vehicle to roll away. Second, while driving, the shift lever could move out of position or slip into a different gear or "neutral" causing the vehicle to behave in unexpected ways and cause the driver to become distracted (such as when trying to accelerate), leading to unsafe driving. Third, the vehicle may change speeds abruptly which may confuse other drivers when driving by the vehicle. All of these things could lead to an accident.

Filed May 4, 2018 · Transmission · 160,000 miles · FL

On april 18, 2018, I parked the car in garage, shifted to park, turned the key off, and removed key. While getting out I noticed that car began to roll. While in park, locked with key out, I noticed that the vehicle could be rolled forward or backwards. After inspection I found that the transmission shift cable had become detached from the shifter. (see first photos) apparently, toyota secures it with some type of plastic grommet which deteriorates with age, disintegrates, and causes the detachment. (second photos) even though the vehicle appears to be locked and in park, it is actually in whatever gear it was in when the detachment occurred. Our driveway is on an incline, and had I parked on the driveway when this occurred instead of the garage, the vehicle would have rolled into the street creating a serious risk of injury or death. This design defect in the toyota sienna is inexcusable, and creates an unreasonable risk of injury or death to the owners of these vehicles and the public, and toyota should be required to recall them and correct this dangerous defect.

Filed Jul 20, 2017 · Transmission · 96,000 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. While the vehicle was turned off and in park, it started to roll backwards. The contact applied the emergency brake and stopped the vehicle. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was called, but the associates were in a meeting. The failure was not diagnosed. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.

Filed Jun 7, 2017 · Driver assistance, Transmission · 150,000 miles · PA

Traction-control malfunction during speeds over 40. Vehicle traction control engages, at any time and suddenly. Abrupt braking and warning light.

Filed Dec 1, 2016 · Transmission · 81,000 miles · FL

On may 2, 2016, the driver suddenly lost all ability to shift the 2004 toyota sienna minivan's automatic transmission, and therefore operate the vehicle, upon attempting to shift from *d* to *r*, I.e., drive to reverse. The vehicle was stationary at the time, while preparing to pull into a space in a parking lot. The root cause of the event was the vehicle's shift cable had broken at the cable's termination with either the shift lever or the transmission. Repair required replacement of the defective cable, toyota part number 33820-08020. The sudden inability to shift the transmission caused the driver to be stranded, obstructing other vehicle traffic. If this event had occurred in traffic, such as when attempting to parallel park, the disabled vehicle would have presented a collision danger to the driver as well as to other vehicles.