2004 Toyota Sienna: hesitation when accelerating

Filed May 25, 2021 · Fuel system, Seat belts · CA

Drivers side seat belt broke and was replaced. Fuel sensor not replaced causes vehicle to hesitate at times at freeway speed

Filed Mar 6, 2012 · Acceleration · 100,000 miles · IL

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle speed control warning light illuminated and the front driver side wheel hesitated. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle lost power abnormally. The failure was experienced numerous times. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and the current mileage was 100,000.

Filed Apr 13, 2011 · Electrical · 8,000 miles · AL

Item 1-- this is an awd model with run flats and no space for a spare tire. The low pressure warning for the tires is revolution based, and therefore doesn't activate due to the stiff wall run flat tires. I have had numerous occasions where the tires were very low with no warning, and two occasions where the tires had zero air and were ruined with no warning, and the first indication was a roar and sudden very bumpy ride. These 2 events happened at city speeds, but I fear this event at interstate speeds. The later models were equipped with pressure sensing devices (not revolution sensing). The vehicle has only 38k miles, perfect condition, and I just renewed my extended warranty for 6 more years, so would like a recall retrofit to pressure sensing for safety and peace of mind. I had thought toyota would develop a fix, but to no avail. I have this documented on toyota service invoices and the factory rep has reported there is nothing toyota can do. Item 2--- when pulling out from behind a vehicle to pass and flooring the accelerator, there is a full second of hesitation before the down shifting/acceleration begins. This has caused two near misses. This is documented with toyota, but all I've been told is that it is caused by "drive-by-wire" (?), which I assume is an electrical signal as opposed to a mechanical throttle cable, but again, toyota says there is nothing they can do.

Filed Aug 10, 2010 · Transmission · 140,000 miles · IL

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna .the contact stated while driving 10 MPH or more the transmission would hesitate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. The current mileage was 140,000. Updated 11/05/10.

Filed Mar 4, 2010 · Transmission · CA

Toyota 2004 sienna. It's the most dangerous car I ever had, whenever I slow down and tend to accelerate, the car hesitate to go for about 1 to 3 seconds delay. I took it twice to the dealer but did not fix the problem, the third time I went back they denied that it is a problem. It is dangerous specially when you tend to pass a car on a two way road and the car wont accelerate at desired timing. My complain was toyota denies that there is a problem. This problem is an ongoing since I purchased it in 2004 to present.

Filed Feb 24, 2010 · Acceleration · 30 miles · 00

Our family purchased a brand new 2004 toyota sienna awd and had countless issues with it . The most serious issue was - random unpredictable acceleration responses. We contacted toyota canada & japan in 2003. There is absolutely 100% no doubt in my mind, or my wife's mind, that the toyota product line has something wrong electronically in their accelerator pedal or transmission sensors - or the software that interfaces with them. We did not have sticky gas pedals or floor mat issues - we had a vehicle that didn't operate the way we were asking it to. The vehicle never consistently responded to the actual pressure being placed on the accelerator pedal. A light press in parking lot driving would sometimes result in what felt like full throttle acceleration and when trying to turn across traffic at an intersection, or during merging - the vehicle would hesitate and then move the vehicle when it was no longer safe to do so.. Toyota said " they did not consider this behavior a safety issue " it was only " a nuisance problem " . First our dealership ignored the problem. Then they said " my wife didn't teach the vehicle to drive properly - it had a smart learning transmission you know " . They finally admitted there was a problem after we continued to voice our concern over several near miss incidents with the vehicle . In one incidence , while on the highway using cruise control - the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated full throttle into a corner at over 140 kph forcing us onto the shoulder and almost off the road . It was a nerve shattering experience. Our toyota dealer finally admitted a similar acceleration problem existed in the camry / corolla lines and that it was transmission software related . After several months of the run around from toyota with no fix in sight - being told by the owner of the dealership to drive the vehicle in 3rd gear to minimize the surges until a software fix was created - we walked away from the vehicle.

Filed Feb 3, 2010 · Transmission · 96,000 miles · MI

2004 toyota sienna xle . When accelerating the van hesitates. Have to press the accelerator harder to force a hard downshift. This is very dangerous when a predictable acceleration is needed specially merging highway.

Filed Aug 7, 2009 · Body · 70,000 miles · WA

Initial note: this is a dangerous defect. Toyota should be ordered to recall this vehicle to fix this problem. We have a 2004 sienna le, with about 70,000 miles on it. A few weeks ago, we noticed some difficulty with the passenger side power door. The problems began with the door not opening when we used the remote control or the button in the front of the car. The door seemed to function normally when pulling the handle, so we thought the problem was limited to the remote controls. When we were away at a camping trip from july 24 - 26, I noticed the problem had started to affect the handle as well. The door would hesitate, but would open normally if I pulled it a second time. When we returned home, after my family exited the vehicle, I tried to open the door to unload the car. It did not open, so I pulled the handle a second time. The door began to open. I then heard a "pop" as the rear side window, next to the third row of seats, shattered. There was a plastic strip lying on the driveway along with shattered glass. Shattered glass covered the interior as well. The door was hanging down slightly. The internal "wheels" for the door had come off their track; the internal cables were frayed. I could not close the door completely. We found numerous complaints about this door malfunctioning on 2004 siennas. We reported our problem to toyota, referring to the other complaints, but toyota has done nothing. We are thankful that our children were not in the car when this happened, as they could have been severely injured! We are also thankful that this did not happen while we were away on our camping trip, as we were at a remote location with no mechanics for many, many miles!

Filed Jun 6, 2009 · Engine · 10,500 miles · HI

While attempting to accelerate by pressing the gas pedal to approximately 3/4 of it's travel, I experienced no throttle response for 1-2 seconds with cars coming towards me. The engine then proceeded to rev to the proper level I was expecting. This type of situation also happens while attempting to pass a car on the freeway by pressing the gas pedal quickly. The car once again hesitates and then responds in 1 -2 seconds. The vehicle is a toyota sienna 2004 xle fwd. I've tried to use different fuel grades, AC on/off, tires properly inflated, no one in car/car full, day and night, all with the same result.

Filed Aug 5, 2008 · Steering · 78,000 miles · NH

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. While driving and attempting to turn the vehicle at approximately 35-45 MPH, the steering would tighten and hesitate to the point where it felt like it would not turn. The dealer believed that the u joint needed to be replaced and had lots of "play". The estimated repair cost was $523.71. The failure mileage was 78,000 and current mileage was 84,208.

Filed Aug 22, 2007 · Engine · CA

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. When turning a corner at approximately 5-10 MPH the vehicle would hesitate and lose power. The dealer stated that the vehicle needed a computer update, however; the system was unavailable. The dealer stated that the failure was not normal. The current mileage was 100,000. The failure mileage was unavailable.

Filed Aug 6, 2007 · Locks · 75,000 miles · TX

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The contact stated that the rear lift gate fails to remain open at the appropriate times. When the lift gate is opened automatically, it rapidly falls and closes. When opened manually, the lift gate closes automatically and without hesitation. He emailed the manufacturer, but has not yet received a response. The contact stated that there is a the federal safety agency defect investigation (pe06029) in regards to this failure. The current and failure mileages were 75,000. Updated 08/29/07