Hatchback/liftgate Support Device problems of the 2004 Toyota Sienna - part 2

Power lfitgate was closing unexpectedly on the 2004 Toyota Sienna xle fwd because the struts supporting the lftgate failed.

My 2004 Toyota Sienna rear liftgate failed numerous times - including falling without warning on my 5 year old daughter - she was not hurt thankfully. No warning - the gate would just start to fall. It did not matter if it was in "power lift mode" or manual. I took the van to Toyota, hoping they would fix the problem. They said since I have 60k miles it is out of warranty. I took the van to my mechanic and he replaced the struts with others, that do not allow me to use the power option.

Struts on lift gate of 2004 Toyota Sienna failed suddenly, making lift gate dangerous, and causing minor injuries when being used to myself and my children.

2004 Toyota Sienna, rear lift gate hold open gas struts failed with rear hatch in full open position causing rear hatch to slam shut narrowly missing my wife. Failure may cause severe injury if person struck by falling door. Toyota contacted, vehicle out of warranty by 6 months & 2500 miles. No assistance offered. Parts ordered from local parts dealer.

The two liftgate support arms failed and the door fell on my head. I was not seriously hurt, but had a knot on my head. Toyota and the local dealership refused any responsibility. This door has not yet been fixed because it is expensive ($520) and since they are continuing to use the same parts, this will probably happen again!.

Right side rear hatch support strut failed causing the hatch to self-close instantaneously after opening. I began to load groceries as the hatch opened and the hatch closing startled me to jump into the traffic lane of the parking lot. No traffic. Strut replaced at dealer at my cost. Old part retained by dealer.

Rear lift gate struts fail causing injury to head when door is in the open position. Lift gate does not open to the full position and the problem gets worse during time. If the person opening is not aware that the clearance is not sufficient, the sharp edge of the door can hit user in the forehead.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the struts on the rear door that support the lift gate failed. The lift gate could be operated manually or electronically. The rear door closes on the person under the door, but there have been no injuries. There is an open investigation (ea06020). The current mileage was 37,302 and failure mileage was 30,000.

Toyoata Sienna rear power liftgate abruptly reverses directions and begins to close immediately after it has opened up. Liftgate will not remain in open position. If liftgate is opened manually the struts provide no lift assistance or support - liftgate door is very heavy. This is a safety hazard & liftgate is not able to be used with this defect. Each attempt to open the liftgate results in failure.

Rear tailgate struts bind and fail to hold up tailgate.

In December, 2006, my tailgate closed on its own, injuring my wife. Toyota replaced the rear stays (struts) under warranty, including the addition of some brackets. At first everything was fine. But when the weather turned colder (below 20f), the rear hatch would not open on its own unless opening under power. And then a couple of days ago (still very cold), the hatch closed on its own under power again. This time, my daughter and I were both in its path, but fortunately, so was a shopping cart. There were fortunately no injuries this time. I am frustrated that just 45 days after the problem was "repaired" it is already happening again.

- the contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact explained that the rear door liftgate did not stay open when used. The contact would push the key fob to open the automatic rear door and the door would open. After a short period of time they would close without warning. The door normally has a chime to alert the contact when the door is closing, but when it closes in error there isn't a chime to alert the contact of the closing. The contact has been hit several times because of this failure. Updated 2/27/2007 -over the past few weeks the rear door would close immediately after being opened. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but hey did not fix it.

2004 Toyota Sienna minivan: over a dozen times the automatic rear tail hitch has come down without warning and tried to close itself completely. The door traps you between it and the rear bumper, once hurting my child. Toyota and the dealership said this was not under warranty and that there was no recall yet this seems to be a problem they are hearing more frequently. The dealership repaired the door at our cost.

2004 Toyota Sienna lift-gate struts on the rear hatch failed. Both struts leaked, then completely failed causing the lift gate to fall. Lift gate no longer stays open, but completely drops.

In the winter of 2006 the gas struts that supported the rear cargo door failed. The struts did not fail completely. It appears that some, but not all, of the gas that charges the struts has leaked out. The problem manifests only in the cold weather when the gas volume in the struts is less due to the cold. In the summer the struts perform normally.

The power lift gate has twice reversed operation for no apparent reason and without warning. The first time I noticed and was able to move out of the way. The second time, my wife was about to walk under it and ended up hitting her head rather hard on it. The van is almost 3 years old. It is currently at the dealership service center, who initially suspected the cause to be some sensors within the liftgate.

Intermittently the back lift door on our 2004 Toyota Sienna xle minivan closes unexpectedly. So far, no one had been injured by the closing door, but we have had a couple of very close calls. This happens when only the door has been raised using the remote control and most often on cool wet days. .

Toyota Sienna 2004 with power lift gate. Opened the lift gate on the van we just purchased and the lift gate started to come back down hitting my wife in the head while she was trying to load something into the van.

The liftgate on my 2004 Toyota Sienna closes unintentionally and unexpectedly. This problem started a couple of months ago. It has trapped me several times now. I have to use the key (in my hand or pocket) to get it to reopen. It closes silently so that you don't know that it is happening until it is too late. It poses a very dangerous situation for my wife and kids (9 and 12) if they were to be trapped. I now am conscious of this failure and watch for the door closing and simply quickly move out of the way.

Rear power hatch came down on my back 2 times about an 1 hour apart. About a month ago they replaced the rear struts for the same problem, the hatch came down on a car wash attendant.

Back door (gate) started to fall down at colder temperatures (approx. 50 f). After couple of month the gate doesn't stay up anymore. It just falls down. Also, whitish spots started to appear on the dashboard in the area where there is an airbag is located.

: the contact stated the rear lift gate malfunctioned on a worsening basis and almost closed on the contact's head. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined the rear support device of the liftgate failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted and stated the vehicle was not included in any recall due to the VIN. The vehicle was currently at the dealers for further repairs.

Liftgate closes unexpected without any input after being opened. It has closed on my wife's head, my 4 yr old, the bagger at the grocery store, and myself. My 4 yr old had a bruise on her head. This has been happening for about 2 months. It was just once in a while at first, but now it won't stay open at all without being supported by hand. I've gone to the local Toyota dealer and they want to replace the "stays" at a cost to me of several hundreds of dollars. No repair has been made yet.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that when the liftgate was power-opened, it unexpectedly power-closed on its own. The door would re-open if it met resistance; however, it would continue to close. As of November 30, 2007, the dealer had not inspected the vehicle. There is an engineering analysis open (NHTSA action number ea06020). The failure mileage was 35,000 and current mileage was 45,000.

1. Opened rear door on 2004 Toyota Sienna. 2. The hydraulic struts failed and door fell on my head. No severe injury. 3. At this point, I'm looking to replace the struts but the cost is about $450.

The liftgate struts on my 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan failed. The liftgate (manual, not power) slammed down with no warning while I was putting groceries in the back. If I had been in the way, I could easily have been injured. If either of my children had been helping me, they certainly would have been hurt!.

: the contact stated the hydraulics that held the hatch open failed and caused the hatch to fall. The dealership replaced the hydraulic assembly. Updated 1/25/2006 -.

Rear hatch struts failed on 2004 Toyota Sienna, causing rear hatch to slam shut.

Rear lift gate of 2004 Toyota Sienna van upon reaching full open position using the automatic opener will reverse itself and close. This event occurs when the outside temperature is below 50 deg f. The latest event was 8/29/06 this event has occurred numerous times in the past year. The dealer could not duplicate the problem in the shop. There have been no injuries involved, but the liftgate has hit me on the back of the head several times.

: the contact stated while the lift gate was opened automatically with the keyless remote, it fell downward without warning. No injuries were sustained. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who determined the hydraulic lift gate arm support device needed to be replaced. After the replacement, the problem later returned. The manufacturer was not alerted.

2004 Toyota Sienna rear hatch hydraulics no longer hold up the hatch. The cost to replace these is $167. 71 each!! I have had numerous other problems already with the vehicle in the two years I have owned it. . . . Crack in radiator, failed motor on automatic window, drive shaft had to be replaced. . . Wand with wipers etc. . Had to be replaced. I am beginning to think I got a lemon. But the hydraulics on the hatch. . . After only two years. Found an article that this was being investigated by you guys involving approximately 400,000 vehicles. Has there been any resolution to this?.

July 15, 2006 noted that rear hatch would not rise when commanded nor would it stay up when opened manually. Took to authorized dealer shop and was told that both rear hatch stays (struts) had leaks and would need to be replaced. Quote was 430$+ for repair. Vehicle is less than 36 months old, but has more than 36,000 miles. Found Sienna owners website on internet which directed me to Toyota technical service bulletin #bo003-4. Identifies this part as a known design deficiency.

: the contact stated the button on the key to open the hatch was depressed and the hatch went up, then immediately went down and would not stay open. To ensure the hatch would stay open, the contact had to hold it up. The dealership determined the shocks were defective and the shocks were replaced.

2004 Sienna hatch failing (lift-gate struts).

The liftgate "slipped", failed and came down on the owner. Because it was set for auto closure, it came down with a mechanical force behind it. I had to disable the auto closure because of this and then it just came crashing down by gravity. It would start to slip slowly so you didn't know it was happening, then past a certain point, just came flying down.