general problems of the 2004 Toyota Sienna

Shifter not shifting into park even when in park causing it to roll even when you think it’s in park.

Was driving on highway at 60-65 mph. The car continued to accelerate. Pressed on brake and wasn't slowing the vehicle. The driver was weaving in and out of cars as the van started to creek up to 92 mph. The driver and passengers thought they were going to crash and possible die. The driver tried the brake multiple times and nothing. The driver said the accelerator pedal wasn't pressed all the way down to the floor. It was half way and driver had to go down and pull up on the pedal while driving. The van then started to slow and driver was able to pull over to have the van evaluated . The throttle body was reached and cleaned of carbon because it said that this may have been part of the issue. Never has this van taken off like this. The throttle body cable wasnt loose or disconnected either. So far we havent been able to recreate but 3 people could have been killed.

Three year old child was able to put the car into neutral without depressing the break pedal and car rolled away. Car was parked in a flat driveway, and went across the street and hit a speed limit sign and did damage to the front bumper. I do have a photo unable to upload of bumper. Not covered under the 2005 shift lock solonoid recall by Toyota.

On April 18, 2018, I parked the car in garage, shifted to park, turned the key off, and removed key. While getting out I noticed that car began to roll. While in park, locked with key out, I noticed that the vehicle could be rolled forward or backwards. After inspection I found that the transmission shift cable had become detached from the shifter. (see first photos) apparently, Toyota secures it with some type of plastic grommet which deteriorates with age, disintegrates, and causes the detachment. (second photos) even though the vehicle appears to be locked and in park, it is actually in whatever gear it was in when the detachment occurred. Our driveway is on an incline, and had I parked on the driveway when this occurred instead of the garage, the vehicle would have rolled into the street creating a serious risk of injury or death. This design defect in the Toyota Sienna is inexcusable, and creates an unreasonable risk of injury or death to the owners of these vehicles and the public, and Toyota should be required to recall them and correct this dangerous defect.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. While the vehicle was turned off and in park, it started to roll backwards. The contact applied the emergency brake and stopped the vehicle. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was called, but the associates were in a meeting. The failure was not diagnosed. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.

Traction-control malfunction during speeds over 40. Vehicle traction control engages, at any time and suddenly. Abrupt braking and warning light.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked with the shift lever in the park position, the vehicle rolled backwards. The contact was able to stop the vehicle by engaging the emergency brakes. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the gear shifter cable fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer mas not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

On may 2, 2016, the driver suddenly lost all ability to shift the 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan's automatic transmission, and therefore operate the vehicle, upon attempting to shift from *d* to *r*, I. E. , drive to reverse. The vehicle was stationary at the time, while preparing to pull into a space in a parking lot. The root cause of the event was the vehicle's shift cable had broken at the cable's termination with either the shift lever or the transmission. Repair required replacement of the defective cable, Toyota part number 33820-08020. The sudden inability to shift the transmission caused the driver to be stranded, obstructing other vehicle traffic. If this event had occurred in traffic, such as when attempting to parallel park, the disabled vehicle would have presented a collision danger to the driver as well as to other vehicles.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 13v429000 (power train) and 05v327000 (seat belt) and stated that the part needed for the repair were not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experience a failure. Part distribution disconnect. Aw.

The steering angle sensor, pn# 89245-08011 failed. The van can not be driven over 23 mph. The brakes come on automatically over 23 mph and the engine will not respond to accelerate. The steering seems strange (anti-lock brake light coming on) but I was able to keep the van in my lane of traffic. I am concerned that this sensor or others will fail and the van will automatically apply the breaks and loose power preventing me from maneuvering the van to the side of the road. I do not know what would have happened if I was travelling at highway speed. I consider this a major safety problem.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. On several occasions, it took several attempts to shift the vehicle into park. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 13v429000 (power train); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 107,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact received NHTSA campaign number: 13v429000 (power train). The contact stated the vehicle was seen by the dealer for repairs. The contact stated that when attempting to start the ignition, the vehicle would not start. The vehicle was eventually able to start and taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 57,000.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. While driving 20 mph, the vehicle automatically shifted into reverse when the contact applied the accelerator pedal. The contact was able to maneuver the vehicle backwards and engage the emergency brake in order to shift the vehicle into park. The dealer stated that there was a fractured cable linkage. The vehicle was repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 79,000.

When starting from 1-25 or slowing down to 25 from 35 there is jerk and van moves forward even if brake has been applied.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that that the vehicle was serviced under NHTSA campaign number 13v429000 (power train) however, the contact was unable to shift into park after the recall service. The vehicle was not diagnosed or further repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage and VIN was not available.

There is a crack in my Toyota Sienna 2004 radiator and the coolant is leaking. I received a letter from Toyota with information that they had received reports of cracks in radiators in 2004 and 2005 Toyota Siennas. As a result of these reports Toyota was extending the warranty on these radiators to 6 years or 72,000 miles from the in-service date. Since I noticed the crack in the radiator in my 2004 Toyota Sienna when it had 85,000 miles, Toyota has refused to pay even a % of the cost of replacing the radiator. I bought the Toyota Sienna and paid the higher price because of Toyota's reputation for using very high quality parts in its cars. I previously owned a Toyota camry and had almost 200,000 miles on it. I did not have any problems with the radiator in my Toyota camry. I called Toyota's customer service department about this problem and they refused to do anything about it, saying that the car is out of the warranty period since it has 85,000 miles. Clearly, the crack in my 2004 Toyota Sienna is directly due to the defective radiator. So many 2004 and 2005 Toyota owners are having problems of cracked radiators after the expiration of the extended warranty period of 6 years or 72,000 miles. The arbitrary extended warranty period of 6 years and 72,000 miles does not protect the Toyota Sienna owners from the defective radiator because in most cases the radiator will crack just after the extended warranty has expired. Toyota should take responsibility for using a defective radiator and at least reimburse owners 50% to 70% of the cost of replacing the defective radiator when it cracks after 72,000 miles.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna le. The contact was driving 30 mph when he abruptly drove over a speed bump. Once the contact reached his destination, the shifter could not be moved into park. The contact stated that he did not drive over the speed bump hard enough to where he believed it would cause the failure. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 120 and the current mileage was 130,000.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the vehicle would not shift out of park just after the ignition was started. After repeated attempts, the contact was able to shift the vehicle out of park as the anti-lock brake warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the brake switch and the anti lock braking system were replaced. The failure and current mileage was 97,145. Updated 04/15/lj.

I wrote to Toyota sept. 7, 2007, concerning an acceleration problem with my 2004 Sienna minivan, following many visits to the dealer to evaluate and fix it. The throttle response is delayed, in my case; it lags during initial acceleration from a stop, but more importantly, it lags when immediate acceleration is needed for passing, and accelerating after slowing for a turn. The factory rep who responded to my letter said the dealer would reevaluate the problem. The dealer rep drove the van, experienced the same problem, and concluded it was a "quirk" of the car, that could not be fixed unless, perhaps, the computer controlling the throttle was replaced. They would not do that unless a recall was ordered, he said. Needless to say, I thought that was the final word, until other problems began to surface with the "fly by wire" system in Toyotas. I do believe that the electronic throttle, the throttle position feedback circuit, and related sensors are at fault, all of which are controlled by the computer. I also have other cars with electronic throttles, an accord and a town & country, and neither has that problem. No accidents have been caused by this daily malfunction, as I guess I have adapted my driving style to it, but don't you think there is a systemic problem here? the incident date is a continuing date, beginning during the first year of ownership (2004) up to the present time.

Toyota 2004 le Sienna. Driving on straight, dry, road about 30-40 mph. Vsc suddenly light turned on unexpectedly, followed by loud beeping noise. Van appeared to hesitate. Can't go more than 40 mph. I was glad that there was no car behide me otherwise there would have been an accident. Van was brought into dealer (Toyota of palo alto, CA). They found no error code.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while decelerating to 10 mph, the vehicle would stall before accelerating. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and dealer stated they could not find a problem within the vehicle. The contact then took the vehicle to a local mechanic and the mechanic acknowledged the failure but could not identify the problem. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 120,000. The VIN was not available.

We have a 2004 Sienna le awd. The vehicle consistently appears to hesitate for 1-2 seconds when accelerating from a dead stop while depressing the accelerator. There has been no accidents, only some scares when merging or entering into flowing traffic from a stop.

On 5/29/2004 I purchased my Toyota Sienna. I started having "mysterious" lights coming on at all different times. On 7/15/2004, I went out to my car and it wouldn't start. This was the beginning of a nightmare. Since then my car has been in the shop at least 6 times for this problem. I have not had my car start at least once a month since I purchased it. I would usually just jump the battery but they could never tell me the reason why it kept on happening. There were times that I couldn't even leave my doors open for 5 minutes without it wearing the battery down. When the battery is checked it is always fine. When the battery is fully charged I have the interior lights turn on for no reason. They have put in a new battery and replaced the jbl audio switch because that had been shown to turn on intermittently and drain the battery/engine. Neither of these solutions have worked. They finally told me that my car had too many "bells and whistles" (which all are factory installed) and that I need to connect to a car charger when I come home or to go on long drives at least once a week.

This is an ongoing problem. On our 2004 Toyota Sienna van, there is a "dead spot" when attempting to accelerate from a slow coasting condition. The problem does not occur when starting from a completely stopped condition. However, if coasting at approximately 5 - 10 mph, depressing the accelerator pedal yields no response. Naturally I tend to depress the accelerator further to overcome whatever inertia is happening, and when the engine/drivetrain finally responds (sometimes several seconds later) there is a pronounced jerk as everything catches. We have had a few situations where competing traffic conditions warranted firm acceleration and were at the mercy of other drivers when our vehicle failed to perform. Being in a northern climate, I am also greatly concerned that during icy conditions, the resulting "jerk" which occurs following the lag will result in breaking traction and subsequent skidding. It should be emphasized that failure to accelerate when necessary is arguably just as dangerous as failure to stop, and the problem needs corrected. Thus far, our dealership acknowledges the problem and claims that it's a "normal" behavior for this drivetrain.