2005 Toyota Sienna steering problems

Filed Sep 29, 2023 · Brakes, Steering · MO

When driving on the highway, the van will suddenly brake and the steering will lock up for about 10 seconds. It is truly frightening. It has happened many times, even with the anti-lock button off. I love this vehicle otherwise, but cannot drive it for safety reasons. And I feel bad selling it to anyone else because I don't want anyone to die! The scariest part when it's on a windy 2 lane road. It really becomes non responsive and also the brakes come on when you are going 60+ miles an hour! HELP! I DONT WANT TO DIE

Filed Apr 22, 2023 · Acceleration, Brakes · UT

I was driving on a dry road, going 70mph when my car began flashing the abs indicator and it began breaking and controlling my steering taking me into another lane. The car slowed my vehicle suddenly down to 60 mph and then went off like it never happened. I then had control. There was no reason for the car to do this. There was nothing in the road and luckily no one was to close to me or there would have been an accident. I almost over corrected due to the pulling of the steering and the breaking of the vehicle.

Filed Aug 31, 2021 · Electrical, Steering · DE

Stability light comes on, decelerates independently, vehicle shakes and steering is somewhat compromised. This has happened rounding curves between 40-50 MPH. Has happened twice on straight road, 8/24 and 8/25/2021, traveling at 70MPH, vehicle decelerated 2-5 miles independently. I put signal on and did smooth lane change to the right to get out of fast lane, and stability light came on, vehicle shook and steering was somewhat compromised. Neither local mechanic or dealership can retrieve any codes with diagnostic equipment. Dealership told me today the light has to stay on for them to retrieve code. This has happened irregularly over the last 6-8 months but always on curves. It has occurred 4 times in 6 days last week, twice on curves, 8/23 & 8/28/2021, and the 2 lane changes above. I am concerned with the increased frequency. There is a great deal of information on the web at https://www.siennachat.com/threads/traction-control-malfunctioning.44474/ so this is not an unknown issue.

Filed Aug 21, 2021 · Brakes, Steering · NC

When driving the speed limit, going downhill, uphill, straight, around a curve, in the rain or dry weather, the vsc and slip/trac lights up, the abs system is activated / brakes engage. I loose complete control of the van. I can no longer steer or break. The breaks engage, but it causes the car to veer to the right. I have taken the car to the mechanic 5 times now and no codes show, even after he is able to the vehicle to repeat this behavior. It seems to happen a lot on off/on ramps. It happens mostly on highways, but it has happened on two lane roads. The vehicle is completely dangerous to drive. It has almost caused several accidents. I have replaced the Yaw sensors and had several alignments and this still happens. After a lot of research, we have found that this is actually really common in Toyota Sienna. People are saying that the bushings in the rack in pinion wear out and the entire rack and pinion system needs to be replaced. Some people have replaced the rack and pinion and claim that there is still a problem. But the majority say after the rack and pinion is replaced there is not further problems.

Filed Feb 22, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 130 miles · CA

A couple of years ago, my 2005 sienna's vsc warning lights, alarms and braking would come on while going around turns. My car had new tires, wheels were balanced and aligned. It's scary and dangerous when the brakes engage. I'm not going around sharp turns at high rates of speed. Dozens of other people have exactly the same experience, and when the brakes engage, it yanks the car hard, and has almost caused accidents to me and others. This happens to me on a regular basis. The only way to avoid it is to slow down to less than 40mph on some turns, which is dangerous when the speed limit is 65. Here's a link to the many other people's experience with this exact same thing. This is a liability and toyota really needs to take action here. Https://www.cargurus.com/cars/discussion-c9152_ds656326?sntemlid=4322597535#msg1051125

Filed Sep 9, 2019 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 157,000 miles · NC

When driving at any speed above 25 MPH, the traction control light on the dashboard will come on, it will beep and the brake will engage without the driver pressing the brake pedal (these all happen at the same time). This in turn locks the brakes at times and the car veers to the right. There is no reason that we can figure out that this happens. It has happened many times and three days ago, it happened twice in one day. We have taken our vehicle to hendrick toyota in wilmington nc and provided them a video where two owners took videos each time it happened in their vehicle. I also provided them with email discussions from two different web sites where owners were discussing the issue. We believe this should be a recall for toyotas.

Filed May 7, 2019 · Steering · 36,000 miles · MD

Steering becomes stiff and makes it hard to turn the steering wheel while driving. The steering knuckle outside of the fire wall is exposed to the elements and becomes stiff and requires frequent lubrication to maintain the function of the power steering. This is a concern we have dealt with for a number of years and we have recently become aware that it is a common problem with this van.

Filed Apr 23, 2018 · Driver assistance, Steering · 143,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota sienna. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the stability control warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle decelerated and the rear end swerved sideways. The contact stated that the failure occurred for approximately 30 days and only when driving above 30 MPH. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 143,000.

Filed Jun 13, 2017 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 86,000 miles · CA

Takata inflators - when driving in city 30mph or freeway 50-60mph in curvy path, the unti-skid lock turns off even if the road was dry. When it happened frequently and a motorcycle almost slammed from behind, I brought my van to the dealer and it shows no record of the unti-skid lock being on. I insisted to take precautions and they did a zero calibration, changed new tires and realignment but problem persist. I brought it back with the same complaint but they claimed the they never had any other customer with the same problem. I reached online yet there were many others. I hope you can help me on this. The dealer can't figure out this problem and just washed their hands. This happened multiple times already and afraid to drive my van.

Filed Apr 3, 2017 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 125,000 miles · CT

While driving around curves with dry pavement on highways and exit/entrance ramps at highway rates of speed (55-65 miles per hour or less) the anti-lock brake system engage,s causing the van to pulse and slow down unexpectedly. It disengages once the wheel straightens. We first tried to trouble shoot with our local mechanic with no success, prompting us to have our local toyota service department attempt to diagnosis. Initially they said they were not able to diagnosis the problem or replicate it on a local highway (as it does not occur on every curve encountered) and were ready to send us home without any remedy. This was unacceptable. With our persistence they hooked it up to a computer and determined(without guaranteeing) it was the steering angel sensor and replaced it. Now without returning the van to us, they want us to replace the rack and pinion system for even more cost, again, without guaranteeing this will alleviate the problem. Per our reading up on this problem, we have found that this appears to be problem for other 2005 toyota sienna minivans.