2008 Toyota Sienna: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Mar 25, 2026 · 107,000 miles · MA · fire

The contact owned a 2008 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while he was away, the fire department called to notify him that his vehicle had caught fire while parked in the driveway. The contact's neighbor was alerted to the fire by the vehicle's alarm system and called the fire department. The fire department extinguished the fire but was unable to determine the cause of the fire. A fire department report was filed. The fire destroyed the interior of the vehicle. The insurance company was made aware of the failure, but had not yet deemed the vehicle totaled. The vehicle remained in the driveway. The contact stated that the vehicle was an equipped BraunAbility handicap wheelchair ramp van. The contact also stated that prior to the fire, the vehicle had no failure and no warning light was illuminated. In addition, The fire wall of the engine performed as designed and protected the engine, although the interior of the vehicle was severely damaged as a result of the fire. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000.

Filed Jul 26, 2017 · Engine, Fuel system · TX

My 2008 toyota sienna began to create a smoke screen impairing me from having a clear visual of the road. I had to immediately pull to the side of the freeway and check if my vehicle was on fire. Once I inspected the outside and open the hood to make sure nothing was on fire I notice a puddle of oil under the vehicle an upon further look my engine motor oil cooling hose had burst, spraying the motor and everything inside with motor oil. This was the 3rd time this vehicle has done the same problem.

Filed May 19, 2015 · Engine · 112,496 miles · SC

Upon exiting the interstate, we began to smell a burning smell and the light for the A/C started flashing and wouldn't turn back on. We drove about a mile thinking that the smell was roadwork, but then we decided to stop and check it under the hood. Once we opened the hood, we were hit with a plume of smoke, and realized there was a pool of oil under the van. We began to look on the internet for causes, where we came across several instances of the oil hose blowing and the vehicle catching fire. We called the dealership the next day to see if there was a recall. They didn't know of one, but stated that they'd fixed several vehicles for the same issue. This is very alarming since the check engine light, oil light, etc didn't even turn on. Had we driven another mile, would the van have caught fire? We have a van full of children, and it's frightening to think that this could have ended much worse.

Filed Aug 22, 2013 · Engine · 88,923 miles · OR

While driving home the oil line running from the oil cooler on the radiator exploded. Oil was sent over the entire engine compartment and dripped over the road leaving a trail the block left going to my house. The hot oil spraying over the hot engine was a danger to catching the van and the garage it was parked in on fire. This is an extremely dangerous problem that toyota is aware of yet has not issued a recall for these vehicles. I was lucky that this happened so close to my home.

Filed Aug 10, 2013 · Engine · 60,000 miles · OK · fire

While driving my sienna AC quit & few miles later I saw white smoke come from under the van in my mirror. I tried to slow down & brakes were not working. I tried to pull over & power steering was not working. Without any warning lights. After I pulled over, I walked to the back to see what the white smoke was. I noticed that the bumper cover had motor oil dripping down from the bumper & tail pipe. I noticed the white smoke was actually coming out from the front right side of the van. I ran to shut the engine off but I could not open the driver side doors. Luckily windows were opened due to the AC not working. I took the key out through the window & pulled the hood latch. By the time I got to the hood flames was coming from the right side. I could not open the hood, it was too hot. This happened in matter of seconds. Be aware that all this happened without any warning sound?s or light?s. I called 911. Just in minutes, the van was engulfed in flames & I had no chance to save anything out of the vehicle. The fire trucks arrived about 9 minutes, but by that time there was nothing left of my van. The fireman pointed out to me that there was an oil trail behind the van. The oil trace was visible for few miles. After they finished putting out the fire they showed me where the fire started on the van. It was the area on the left side of the engine around the belt. They said that the fire started from an oil leak on the engine and was started by the burst of oil spraying down on the and catalytic converter. Only two seconds of searching on google, I found out that toyota is well informed of the hazardous defect. The rubber oil supply line unexpectedly burst open and spray?s the engine oil out in less than few minutes. I never received any recalls or notification about this serious defect from toyota. Luckily none of my three kids was not in the van when this happened.

Filed Mar 23, 2013 · Engine · 61,080 miles · LA

While driving alot of smoke coming out from engine, pulled over and turn off and all came out of car and oil started leaking. Next day took van to the toyota dealer and they checked everything was fine but there was a part( oil hose no.1 ) that was been recall and it been fix by toyota dealer but same hose was blow which is dangerous that toyota dealer told us and he was surprised that could not happen after replace part that mean they still have that same problem and we was on I-10 , we stop the van on time otherwise we wont able to move van and we might lost our life so please investigate and save others life .

Filed Jul 19, 2010 · Body · AR

I have had problems with my 2008 toyota sienna van pretty much the whole time of ownership. (bought new feb 2008). The passenger side sliding pwr door sticks closed. I would take it to the dealer, and it wouldn't do it, and they couldn't find a problem. They just kept telling me it was because I live down a dirt rd. I have had it in the shop numerous times. My car now has 46,000 miles on it, and they are finally acknowledging there is an issue other than my dirt road. When you turn the pwr switch for the doors off on the dash, a strong grown man cannot even get the door open, and the driver's side opens easily with just a finger. It makes horrible sounds when it does open. I had 5 kids in my van the other day, and I was an hour from home. My door opened that day, and then it would not close back. That is the fourth time I have had to drive with my door open! I took it back to the dealer, and they sent me home, saying it was the dirt road, and they cleaned the tracks. They instructed me to clean and grease the tracks at least once a week! I went up the rd and tried it, and it did not work. I am supposed to take it in tomorrow, but have read thousands of complaints. Just google, "sienna power sliding door problems". You will be astonished like I was! It is awful that they are not taking responsibility for this problem! I don't feel I should have to pay to repair this, especially since I have had it in the shop many times before my warranty went out. I feel it is a safety hazard. The other day my son was sick, and I could not get the door open, so he ended up puking all over my car. I worry about my car being on fire and me not being able to get the kids out of their carseats! It is also a danger when you are in a busy parking lot or something and cannot get your car door open so your kids can get in. It is a huge problem that needs to be addressed by toyota immediately! Thank you for your time and consideration. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Jun 13, 2010 · Engine · 10,000 miles · CA · fire

Early am on 6/1/10 I was driving to my cabin in the country and heard a soft popping sound, stopped my car and smoke began flowing out all opening around the hood, when I looked under the car I saw fire falling to the road. I went to the passenger side and opened the door only to find that area filled with toxic fumes, shutting the door I realized all was hopeless except to get away from the vehicle. Within seconds my car was engulfed in flames. I ran as fast as I could to get help. Had I been less alert, inactive, less proactive I would have probably died. The car was purchased new in nov, 2008 and had a little over 10,000 miles. There was no smell of fuel or another strange odor. The car was burned totally, with nothing remaining except the steel frame.

Filed Dec 5, 2007 · Electrical · 200 miles · MA

I was programming a new sienna van homelink to my garage door opener. It started the sequence as one would expect.(.small house icon blinking )but never apparently moved on to the step of retrieving the signal. As required one must hold the garage door opener remote on to try to accept signal. After attempting this several times I stopped and was just in time to notice the motor of garage door opener was overheating and near fire! Fire dept was called and it was all checked out. In fear of faulty equipment I took steps to replace both garage door motors. After new openers were installed professional installers attempted to program the homelink. It failed once again. We tried several times and even tried to program other buttons. End result was button 1 and 2 of homelink are faulty and 3 finally programmed. So after replacing my own equipment which I assumed was faulty ...we determined the homelink system in the car was at fault and malfunctioning. This was determined after we tried on new motors ...so in the end my original equipment was not the cause of the fire but merely a result of a faulty program chip in the homelink. I was fortunate that my house had not caught fire as my garage is under the family room. I spoke with my dealership as well as toyota customer care center and home link and non of the 3 sources will assume responsibility of the faulty equipment. The car was only a week old brand new 2008. I feel had the homelink worked properly the 1st and 2nd button would of programmed as easily as the 3rd and my garage openers would not of overheated and near caught fire and place my home and pets in jeopardy. Not to mention I had a cost of $700.00 to replace equipment that wasn't faulty. I would like toyota to acknowledge that this may perhaps be the first of several homelinks to have a issue and to make consumers aware that there is a potential malfunction so they too don't overheat and possibly lead to fire in the motors in garage.