Two problems related to electrical failure have been reported for the 2004 Toyota Sienna. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Toyota Sienna based on all problems reported for the 2004 Sienna.
6/13/2011 I brought my 2004 Toyota Sienna to the cedar rapids Toyota to check the electrical right sliding door as it was hard to open using the electrical system and manually. Toyota applied white grease and the door was less hard to open. No electrical check was performed. 7/9/2011 that same door would not open electrically and, while opening it manually, the door made a strange noise; then, the rear quarter glass of the wing window shattered. The electrical sliding door stayed stuck in a semi-open position. Being late Saturday, it could not be repaired and had to drive home with that door open, shattered glass all over the floor and seats and the deafening beeping automatic sound/signal that indicating a door is open. 7/11/2011 the car is taken to Toyota of fort worth. A supervisor was called in and, despite no investigation whatsoever, the conclusion was that nothing could be done and that I should bring the car to a body shop because it didn¿t look like a mechanical/electrical failure. I took the car to the body shop (sterling fort worth. ) once the door was stripped of its components, the body shop found that the door¿s power slide control motor was noticeably chafed with cables linking the motor to the door all twisted. The motor was replaced but the issue recurred and also the second motor showed chafing and twisting, not allowing the door to work. The body shop concluded that the cause of the problem is the sliding door control module which controls the motor. For safety reasons I agreed with the body shop to disconnect the motor to allow the manual use of the door. Both body shop and Toyota conclude that the issue cannot be resolved because of a design flaw which does not allow for the installation holes of the module to line-up with the door. Toyota specified it does not have a manual or a design to share with anyone to fix the issue.
The electrical doors fail due to cable issues. The repair estimates exceed $1500. We fixed one door oly to have the second door fail and jam close completely. Now we only have one sliding door that can open which seems very unsafe. After looking on line to see more than 900 complaints for this item, thought I would report. Customers are frustrated with the lack of help from dealers and Toyota.