Brake Sensor problems of the 2004 Toyota Sienna

When driving in dry conditions at various speeds over 25 mph, the vsc warning light comes on, an alarm sounds and the antilock brakes engage for no reason. This is a terrifying and extremely dangerous issue that is well documented by so many Toyota Sienna owners but to date has not been addressed or acknowledged by Toyota. When taken to a dealership, they claim (as other owners have also stated) that they cannot replicate the problem and it does not register through the obd2 sensor so there is no record of it happening. With as many people as this is happening with, it is not a question of whether there will be accidents, injuries and ultimately deaths caused by this issue. The only question is when and how many have to occur before Toyota acknowledges this is a problem. Driving down the road, in traffic at 65 miles an hour when for no reason, the car slams on the brakes without warning. It is happening all the time at this point making the car completely unsafe to drive for the owner, the vehicle's occupants and any unsuspecting vehicle in the vicinity. I am begging you. Please get Toyota to issue a recall before tragedy strikes. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I am submitting the date below as today's date as the car is now sitting in my driveway until I can figure out what needs to be done. It has happened over the past 6 months every time I drive it and the $750 steering position sensor that Toyota replaced did nothing to address the problem.

When I drive my van the vsc and trac off lights come on intermittently and cause the vehicle to bog down and pull towards oncoming traffic. I took my van to the dealership and they suggested replacing the steering sensor. We replaced the sensor and the problem persists. With no codes coming up they say they can't fix my van. It happens while driving around corners at 35 mph mostly but has also happened a few times on the freeway at 70. All times it has happened so far has been on dry pavement. Toyota doesn't seem to think that there is really a problem since no codes are coming up on their code reader. Due to the frequency of the issue I am having it could be disastrous and end up in a head-on collision. How come this vehicle hasn't been recalled. I have included a photo of my service report from the dealership. Also there are multiple complaints in different forums regarding this same issue and as far as I have read there is really no resolving it.

The vsc sensor is activating during normal driving conditions without warning. This is causing the van to aggressively apply the brakes and lose acceleration. This issue mainly occurs when turning down while going down hill, however it happens randomly in other instances as well. I have been in several life threatening instances where the brakes are being applied while traveling through mountains with large semi trucks behind me. . Nearly causing several accidents. My research points to a few things that could possibly be the culprit: the yaw sensor stearing wheel rotational position sensor vsc computer module this video captures exactly what is happening to my vehicle. . Read more...

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, the brakes seized. The vehicle resumed to normal after sittng for a couple of minutes. This was a recurring issue. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering angle sensor possibly had to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage 143,339. Mc.

While driving on interstate vsc warning light came on, beeping and alarms heard. Engine slowed down and I felt like the vehicle was out of control. The vehicle swerved like it was hydroplaning on a dry highway. Called our repair shop immediately. Car was towed and research was done on the history of the problem in other Toyota Mini vans. I was told there were reports of this happening in other vehicles but not enough for a recall to be issued by Toyota, recommendation by the report they found was to replace a sensor which is what was done. That was just over a month ago and the same problem occurred again tonight on a side road going approx 30 mph on dry road. Van is back at shop again tonight. I will be calling the 1-800 number for Toyota, I do not understand why there is not a recall on this issue. Both incidences could have resulted in an accident. Tonight I was driving with my child in the van. This issue could have placed her life in danger had there been an accident.

In this initial incident, I was travelling on a curvy road at posted speed limit of 30mph. My vehicle suddenly slowed, as if I was applying the brakes, which I was not, and my steering was compromised. In addition the vsc indicator and symbol flashed on my dashed and beeped. The road was dry. This has occured 10+ times since. I have brought it to my mechanic, without turning the engine off after the occurance so that he could "read" the computer but there is no evidence available. We have brought it to the Toyota dealer. They "rebooted" the sensors and said it should be fine. It has continued to happen, on the freeway going uphill at 55 mph, going downhill at 60 mph and has been close to causing a rear end collision each time.

Summary: sensor in stability control failed and falsely reported crisis situation, causing computer to seize control to slow vehicle and change course. Long version: while driving straight on city street, suddenly vehicle slowed and pulled to side, stability control light and audio alarm activated, heard grinding noise that sounded like abs. Condition persisted if driving over 5-10 mph. Crawled to nearby non-dealer repair shop. Diagnosis/solution: steering angle sensor reporting wheels at 250 degrees when actually straight ahead, would not recalibrate, circuit integrity othewise good, sensor was replaced. No residual problems noted so far since then (one day). I have the failed sensor. This sensor problem was cause of a production change and TSB br008-04 in the first year. Obviously Toyota has known about this problem for years, but no recall. Other accounts exist on line of people who have had this happen. This is a major safety hazard. It's the mechanical equivalent of riding with a driver on lsd who is braking/swerving to avoid hallucinations. I was lucky to be going slowly on an uncrowded street, but at higher speed or crowded conditions this could be a disaster. Toyota has not been terribly helpful so far, but discussion will continue. . . .

My car is a 2004 Toyota Sienna awd xle limited. The vehicle will activate the vehicle skid control (vsc) without warning while driving on smooth dry roads. The effect is for the vehicle to apply brakes strongly to specific wheels pulling the car strongly to one side. This happens most frequently while driving winding roads and in corners. It has become more regular it it's occurnce and has happened on relatively straight sections of highway most recently. A similar situation occured approx 2 years ago. At that time the retailer repaired it by adusting the steering sensor used by the vsc and stated that this should be done periotically dependant on alignment work done on the vehicle. This solved the issue at that time. It is very dangerous both to the vehicle which requires great effort to maintain control and the vehicles following it which are at risk of rear ending the effected car. The Toyota retailer initially indicated that a catalyst failure was the cause (yes they said this). I was told that the cat failure could induce other brake and engine related failures. The cat was replaced and the vsc failure has resumed. At this time no failures of any kind are indicated. I have researched this topic and find about a dozen identical failures on 2014 Toyota Siennas documented in various user forums. As there are only a few documented on the NHTSA site I am concerned that the situation is under reported. Many of these user forums indicate that the symptoms were reported to the manufacturer. My most recent trouble report case number from Toyota is 1308160316.

Traction control unexpectedly engaged while I was driving on the curvy hwy 17 from santa cruz to san jose, California on July 04, 2012. The traction control light came on with sound "bip, bip. Bip. . . . I lost control of the car in a very short moment and cars adjacent to me veered away to avoid me. I almost caused an accident. I had both Toyota dealership and qualified auto shop test my van, replaced a fault sensor (recemended by Toyota dealer) but the same problem remains. I had Toyota dealership and private qualied auto technician test the van again and they could not repeat the same problem, and determined that there was nothing wrong with it. During the past 12 months I experienced traction control problem around 10 times, the last 2 times were in July 2013. The problem happens only on curvy roads, at any speed, and in a very short moment, around 1-5 seconds before the traction control light and sound go off. This is a very serious safety problem.

2004 Toyota Sienna van has been having intermittent vsc. At 10-20 mph the anti-skid warning light will activate with warning beep and the anti-lock brakes will active and begin to stop the car. When the anti-lock brakes activate the car pulls violently to the right and is difficult to control. Toyota issued a TSB br008-04 in November 2004 stating ¿some customers may experience an intermittent vsc activation after starting the engine and driving straight from a stop position. This condition is always accompanied by the instrument panel vsc light and audible warning buzzer turning on at the same time. To prevent this condition, the steering angle sensor has been changed. ¿� this is an obvious recall malfunction. Why was there not a recall?.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving at 70 mph around a curve, the brakes engaged independently. In addition, the contact heard a beeping noise coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who diagnosed that a sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. However, the failure recurred on numerous occasions. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. Pam.

Our family is deeply troubled and worried about the safeness of our 2004 Toyota Sienna le-8 every time we use it on the road. Our van has been having intermittent vsc, kicking which started early this year. First, it will hesitate to accelerate followed by vsc kicking then automatic braking engages then sudden pull of the steering to the left. The vsc keeps flashing and beeps continuously unless I slow down to around 20mph. I even showed the dealer copies of Sienna owners complaints with similar problem and tsbs regarding yaw rate sensor and steering column sensor. But still could not fix or duplicate the problem. Nothing was done to correct the problem and no parts replaced or repaired.

: the contact stated while driving 40 mph or at various high speeds on normal braking conditions, the automatic braking engaged intermittently and the wheels locked up. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer who upon examination determined that the steering angle sensor failed. The dealer also stated that there was a NHTSA service bulletin # 10011806 regarding the service brakes, hydraulic. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for further repairs.

Brake pads worn down to damage rotors with no warning at 30k miles. New pads and rotor and still hear noise from right front. Black brake dust on outside hub caps started appearing at 3k miles, mechanics said it's normal. Mechanic hears noise but maintains it is not indicative of a problem. Two tires already replaced due to wear. Tire sensors worked sometimes for flats.