general problems of the 2004 Toyota Sienna - part 1

Vehicle often applies brakes on its own . At first it was only in turns . However now it does it when driving straight on the the freeway or just down the street at 45mph. I have fixed my alignment ,new tires, all of the front suspension and nothing prevents the car from trying to brake for me. It is a safety feature that is not safe at all. A car slamming on your brakes at any speed is dangerous in addition to that it seems to cut off your fuel , leaving you unable to accelerate until its done beeping which can take a long time. The vsc , chenk engine and trac off flash there is no crash to report I have been lucky so far.

The traction control system commonly malfunctions while making turns on curving road sections. I will lose power through turns as the tcs light blinks on my dashboard and makes a beeping sound. On some occasions the brakes will automatically engage in the tire that the car perceives as experiencing slippage. This problem is continuously worsening and commonly endangers me and my passengers, as the car engages brakes or cuts power to the engine at unexpected and in opportune times.

The trac control is activated while the car is driving variable speed and brake the car and and the driver loose control of acceleration.

- traction control engaged at high speed(70 mph on interstate) causing the vehicle to brake abruptly and pull the vehicle to the right. Had I been traveling in the left hand lane, I could have been forced into the right hand lane causing a collusion with another vehicle. Also occurred at lower speed(30 mph on a windy road) causing the same issue as described above, almost causing the vehicle to leave the paved surface. - mechanic was able to duplicate the issue - mechanic diagnosed intermittent traction control activation, scanned computer for codes. Yaw rate/steering angle correlation causing false activation abs/traction. Replaced hub bearing and spindle. Four wheel alignment, including check castor, camber and adjust toe. Performed zero point calibration and reset abs memory. - traction control lights up briefly.

About a year ago the vehicle stability control warning light along with an audible alarm started coming on intermittently while turning on highways going uphill or downhill in dry weather and with no risk of any tire slipping. At first this only happened at higher speeds 65+mph. Over time, it has occurred more and more frequently and can occur at speeds down to 25 mph. At times, the anti-lock braking system is also activated resulting in jerky braking and loss of throttle. When people have been following me too closely, this has almost caused accidents. When these symptoms occur, it is always on a curve (of any degree, even slight curves) and while driving at least 25 mph, and even happens on flat turns now. The weather has always been dry with no risk of tire slippage.

The failing component is the vsc/abs system. It puts the occupants of the van and other motorists at risk of either causing a collision or causing the driver of vehicle in question to be unable to control the vehicle . The failure appears when going in a curve in the road at low speed causing the abs to engage lock the brakes and steering wheel rapidly decelerating the car and causing the car to jerk to one side or the other and go into a skid where the driver is unable to control the wheel due to steering wheel locking up when it happens the vsc and trac lights come on and there is a loud and rapid beeping that can be heard inside the vehicle. The issue usually appear when going between 25-40mph in banking curves.

Sometimes when I take turns in my Sienna, the vsc starts going off and braking individual wheels without my control. This happens unexpectedly on highway bends at speeds of 60+ mph and it is difficult to control the car and keep from swerving into another lane. If the roads were icy when this happens, it would probably cause a dangerous accident. Toyota has a technical service bulletin for this, but not a recall - which it should since this is a significant safety issue. The TSB is br008-04. There are many others experiencing this same issue: https://forums. Edmunds. Com/discussion/13855/Toyota/sienna/vsc-sudden-activation-2004-Toyota-sienna.

While driving on dry freeway or other stable road conditions, the electronic stability control kicks in, braked hard, causing the van to swerve, and the lights on the dash started flashing, accompanied by a loud beeping. This has happened multiple times now. There is no reason for this to be occurring. It is involuntary, sudden, and random. If someone were close behind me, they could rear-end the vehicle. It also sometimes pulls the steering so hard that it swerves into the other lane. This is a serious safety issue that Toyota needs to deal with.

Numerous times (too many to say), the traction control indicator sensor comes on & I am unable to control the car. Typically it lasts for 2-3 minutes and turns off. It does not depend on road conditions, weather, and or speed. I have taken the car to the repair shop and they have not been able to capture anything on the engine diagnostic system. No codes were found for them to troubleshoot this issue. I've seen this problem being reported on several posts. Yet the nhsta has done nothing!! Toyota needs to be held liable for this issue. Wake up nhsta. Make our tax dollars work!!! this poses a huge risk to my family and other drivers, not to mention impact on budget.

Abs some times activates when driving a light curve road at speed around 30-40 mph. Usually a steering wheel is about 2 or 10 o'clock positions. At the time vsc indicator flashes and warning alarm goes off. This causes a sudden breaking and it becomes very difficult to control the car.

The vsc system is enabling while driving and making a turn on an otherwise normal road. When it enables, it applies the brake and sounds a repeating alarm. The system applies the brake while I am attempting to make a turn, and this makes me feel unsafe, as if I have temporarily lost control of the vehicle while making an otherwise benign maneuver. The repeating alarm does not turn off until I have turned the wheel to the opposite direction from the initial turn angle. This means if the turn is slow, the alarm will sound for the entire distance of the turn.

In motion, on dry, off-camber highway curves, with slight acceleration, the abs/vsc /trak engages, briefly jerking the steering to one side. Dash warnings: "vsc" "trak off" + "check engine". Reducing mechanical "slop" (wheel bearings, steering rack & pinion, etc. ) tends to reduce frequency of occurrence. Toyota dealer diagnosis: "steering control system fault". >"Toyota knows about -- but, does not know how to fix this problem. "< dealer-suggested workaround: "pull fuzes to disable vsc and abs systems. . . " dealer repair documents are with previous owner. . .

This vehicle has a traction control feature which helps keep it from skidding out of control in icy, wet, or otherwise unstable conditions. It can help an out of control vehicle get back into control by doing a variety of things, including braking. Previously this feature had only kicked on when I would slide on the snow during a low speed turn and would slide in the snow (which was good). But over the past few months, there have been two times that this feature has kicked on at high speeds (once at 40mph and once at 65mph) on dry roads, both while turning around a curve. Suddenly the braking system is applied without any warning and the vehicle swerves slightly and does what it wants for a few seconds. Then it stops. If this were to happen on an icy road at those speeds, the vehicle could certainly spin out of control. The vehicle could also swerve into an oncoming lane of traffic. I have seen many forums online where other Sienna owners are having the same issue and Toyota dealers say they can't replicate or fix the issue. This is certainly a safety issue that needs to be looked into by Toyota to see what is causing this issue. Thank you!.

Driving at 50 mph on a two lane highway the car suddenly veered to the right and decelerated/braked hard, under it's own control, not mine.

Traction control malfunction. While driving on curvy roads there is a beeping alarm, steering locks up, brakes engage. The car seems to think that the traction is off. This has been a problem for over a year. No problems driving in city. Only happens on curvy roads.

When traveling at highway speeds and usually on a slight curve to the right, the traction control alarm and breaks go off causing the van to jerk and shake. We have been told this might be low tire pressure but the tires are fine. We have had an alignment, new tires this problem happens randomly and we have not been able to reproduce it for the mechanic. We have been dealing with this for a couple of years maybe happening 20 times. I feel it is just not safe enough to drive or pass this problem on to someone else. I wouldn't want the car on the road with me either I have read online of other Toyota Sienna's with the same exact problem. This is not isolated and is a safety concern.

I am having a massive problem with my vsc. Randomly, regardless of speeds (it's happened going 70 as well as 25, and 40 mph), my vsc will kick on, kill my speed, and cause me to swerve. As you can imagine, going 70 on an interstate with other vehicles around and having this happen is life threatening not only to me and my family but other vehicles around me. Reading on several auto forums, this problem has been drawn to the attention of Toyota corporate to no avail. It is absolutely beyond me that they see no reason to file a recall.

Traction control kicks in for no reason, tration beeping and tires lock,at freway speed traction control activates and cuts off speed dramatically. Very unsafe to drive.

While driving the vsc comes on randomly. Causing the vehicle to try to pull into oncoming traffic. It happens quite a bit and is potentially deadly.

While driving at 55 mph or faster, generally on a right hand bend, the vsc will activate pulsing the brake and violently pulling the car to the left and towards oncoming traffic. The skid light goes on, and the car beeps until you are out of the turn and then it goes away. This problem has been intermittent for about 6 months but has gotten much worse and more frequent in the previous 2 months. It has been to the dealership several times and they do not know what to do. There are no error codes. The best they can say is "you're going to fast. . . " which is a wholly unacceptable answer considering we are going the speed of traffic and no more than 0-10 over the speed limit.

The vsc traction control system activates on it's own. Driving the van it automatically comes on and brakes the van, dashboard light and beeping noise comes on. Brakes you automatically causing the van to veer to the right. This malfunctioning devise with the yaw system is continuing after many trips to the local Toyota dealer. They currently have the van and are replacing part after part and the problem still persists. Contacted Toyota headquarters and filed a complaint with them but they say there is no recall on this van. Checked on line and found many other Toyota Sienna owners who are experiencing the same issues as we are. This is a dangerous safety hazard which can cause an accident. As of today's writing the problem has not been diagnosed by Toyota.

Unexpected vehicle stability control activation while driving resulting in automatic braking and unexpected steering pull. I have been experiencing this issue over the past 4-5 years. There have been times where this issue has led to almost striking vehicles around me. I have brought the vehicle to a Toyota dealership, but they have not been able to fix the issue. On several online bulletin boards, other owners of Toyota Sienna have complained regarding the same issue. I just read in the news that similar issues are occurring on 2001-2002 Toyota sequoia.

On numerous occasions, we have had the vsc indicator light turn on while driving on dry pavement while on the highway, which caused the car to apply the brakes and also swerve. Our car is awd so the first time it happened, we thought there must have been black ice on the road (even though the road appeared dry). It first happened about three years ago, although it is happening more frequently now. We drove home yesterday through the mountains and it happened four times on our two hour drive. It mostly happens while going downhill for us, and has happened at speeds of 70 mph - 30 mph. It has happened while turning (both directions) and going straight. It is very scary for both my wife and I, and I feel unsafe with her driving our car with our four children. We've taken it to the dealership and they want to charge us lots of money to try to fix what they "think" the problem is. I have spoken with other Sienna owners who have experienced the same frightening experience so know it is not just our car, driving, etc.

I have experienced the issue with 2004 Sienna le with 130,500 miles. Traction control kicks in at 45-60 miles per hour on straightaway, clean pavement, no rain, no snow, and brakes car and cuts power. Almost lost control of vehicle when it happened, steering into other lanes. It happens frequently and is very possible to have the car rear ended if a car behind me is closing on as the speed suddenly slows down. Apparently this is a big issue that I found lot of other Sienna owners is sharing from the forum. As far as I know that many Toyota dealership is not intend to acknowledge such issue and able to fix them.

When I am driving my 2004 Sienna, its shaking so badly I feel like wheels going to roll out. Also brake make worse, and engine mounts and transmission mount are very bad condition. I don't know why its bad breaking in rain.

Sudden deceleration of vehicle: 2004 Toyota Sienna xle. The vsc engages, without warning, on smooth, dry roads and when cornering or negotiating a curve. We are the original owners and have never experienced this until the first incident in late oct. 2014. We did not take any action because athough road conditions good, we were rounding a sharp bend in the road and assumed this had something to do with the incident. Vehicle speed was approximately 25 mph as the vehicle suddenly decelerated, the vsc light came on and a rapid beeping alarm sounded. The vehicle pulled to one side and steering the vehicle became extremely difficult. The whole incident, start to finish, lasted approximately 5 seconds. The next incident happened in early December 2014. Again, all the above decribed things happened, except vehicle speed was approximately 35 mph going around a gentle curve in the road. I did some research and found many complaints concerning this issue but do not see any recommendations or recalls officially issued by Toyota. It appears most of the dealer recommended repairs did not correct the problem. Today (December 26, 2014), this same issue happened five times within 40 minutes. My wife managed to get the vehicle home and we called our local Toyota dealer, described the issue and they informed us they have never received any complaints concerning rapid deceleration of this model year, before our phone call. I've scheduled an appointment for December 30, 2014 to have the vehicle checked out and have recall work done concerning the "shift lock solenoid assembly". Will update after appointment.

The outside temperature was below 32 and it was close to 25 or so. When I was driving the car at 40 mph with engine temp still slightly above cold(not at optimal which is almost half way) and slowed down by using gentle brakes(not hard brakes). Just before the vehicle comes to a full stop, there is unintended acceleration and I could see even the rpm(scale) to spike temporarily. This has been happening every time when outside temp is cold and vehicle is driven with cold or slightly above cold engine temperature. There is a risk of hitting another vehicle or meeting accident if misjudge my braking because of this problem. . Please note : this problem disappears when engine temperate is at optimal and I have driving a Honda accord 2008 exl for last 7 years(was bought new one), I never had experienced this problem in that car even when driven with cold engine.

It started a year or so ago the while driving on dry road above 50miles the vsc light would lit with a alarm sound, the van will automatically apply brakes and slow the Sienna. Since this was extra van and we were driving mostly sedans we had and due to business I could not spend any time on it. . Now it happens more frequently and it risk our lifes on highway. Upon searching internet various forums came with with problems pertaining only to this year and model, please search (sudden vsc activation) and you will find multiple owner only of 2004 complaining for same issue. . In fact there are to two TSB articles to point to this problem ( TSB-br001-04 and TSB-br004-03) . I would kindly request to investigate the sudden vsc activation in middle of highway. I have spent money to replace tires, aligment balancing to find the issue is widespread.

Driving on the freeway, the vehicle all of a sudden started to barke. I was unable to accelerate and a beeping noise started going off. This continued for about 15 minutes. I pulled over, turned off the car, but as I started driving again, it happened again. The dash showed the car with the skid marks below it blinking as this was happening. I took it to a shop, but they were unable to diagnosis the problem. Now when I make a left turn of any kind, the vehicle continues to do the same thing. I have been trying to research the problem and fix it, but unable. The vehicle has been sitting in my garage since the middle of oct.

While driving 55 mph on a straight stretch of road, the car careened to the right and the automatic braking system suddenly became engaged and our car was forced to stop on the side of the road. After turning off the car and restarting, the problem appeared to be a singular incident. However, about one year later, on March 27th, 2015 a similar occurence happened but at only 25 mph. The car, however, was not driveable. After driving about 25 feet, the traction light came on, the signal sounded and the car brakes began to pump as though the car was skidding. As the car slowed almost to a stop, stepping on the brake manually stopped the signal and the light , as well as, the abs system temporarily allowing the car had driven a short distance. After another 25 feet, the traction light went on again, the warning bell went off and the abs system was activated again. This continued for a significant distance before I determined that the car could not be driven without a significant accident occuring. Unfortunately in the first incident, we were almost struck from behind by a closely following vehicle. In the second case, the same nearly occurred as I tried to exit onto a roadway.

At varying rates of speed, on dry roads, my van's vsc and traction control icons will illuminate on the dash, the acceleration will cease and the brakes will pump 2-4 times, and the steering will stick. Originally, this occurred only on roads that curved however the frequency of occurrence is increasing and it now occurs on straight roads as well.

In the early summer of 2013, I was traveling north on I-15, approx 5 minutes to st. George, utah on a beautiful clear day when the car began to swerve and the yellow skid light came on and the emergency beeping sound alarmed and the car slows down on its own--I no longer have control over accelerating the speed of the car. It frightened and alarmed me and my passengers. Within about 5 seconds the light went off and the alarming beeping sound stopped and now I have control of the speed of the car. I have traveled that road several times since and the same incident has occurred at approx the same spot. However, in 2014, during my travels to and fro on this same highway where the speed limit is 65-75mph, the incident occurs in several other spots along I-15 north and southbound. The skid light and the alarming beeping sound even went off when coming to a stop going approx. 5mph. The indicator light and alarm sound seems to be getting more and more sensitive. The same incident has been occurring this year every day on my way home from work at the same spot on I-215. Even though the speed limit is 65mph, I have to slow down to less than 50mph in order to avoid this occurrence. This creates a very hazardous situation since I am slowing down for apparently no reason to the cars behind me who are traveling at the speed limit.

Six times now driving at speeds between 30 and 60 mph my Toyota Mini van's vehicle traction control has activated, brakes go on, pull me into another lane, all lights flashing, car beeping. It lasts anywhere from 3 seconds to 10 seconds. It is absolutely terrifying.

On freeway interchanges, entrances and exits vsc and abs suddenly engagess. Van is not aggressively driven and when turning on mountain roads and switch backs vsc and abs engages despite the slow and controled steering.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the vsc and the traction off light illuminated causing the brake to engage independently. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,000.