Engine Belts And Pulleys problems of the 2008 Toyota Sienna

Vvt-I hose broken, rapid oil loss and almost no oil left in engine when problem was spotted. Oil spilled to the belts around the vvt-I hose. When turn steering wheel, noise heard. This is the same issue to the other recalls but not applicable to Toyota Sienna. . Read more...

My wife was parking our 2008 Toyota Sienna with our 3 young boys in the automobile. She slowly brought the vehicle to a complete stop; never using gas, just covering and tapping lightly on the brake. Once the automobile came to a stop my wife pressed the brake a little more in order to put the vehicle in park. At that moment the vehicle accelerated incredible fast, jumped over an 8 inch concrete parking lot divider and crashed into a tree about 10 - 15 feet from the concrete divider. We are certain that this was a "sudden unintended acceleration" incident caused by some mechanical, electrical, programming or other defect in the '08 Sienna. This was not "driver error"! my wife did not confuse the gas pedal and the brake. This was not caused by a floor mat obstructing the gas pedal. This was caused by some type of a design or component defect. How can w be so certain? my wife and I have parked in this parking spot (located in our apartment complex) hundreds of times. To park in this parking spot you first have to make a left hand turn at a stop sign. This stop sign is about 30 - 40 feet from the parking spot, which requires that you make a sharp right turn. Once you press the accelerator slightly to make the left at the stop sign, you do not use the gas again. You simply tap and cover your brake until you make the right into the parking spot. Our vehicle came to a stop. In fact, upon "stopping" one of our 3 boys removed his seat belt immediately before the vehicle accelerated out of control. I'm asking for assistance from someone within Toyota or the NHTSA with knowledge of this flaw. My wife and kids were "fortunate". But this is a "fatal flaw" and something must be done.

While driving my Sienna ac quit & few miles later I saw white smoke come from under the van in my mirror. I tried to slow down & brakes were not working. I tried to pull over & power steering was not working. Without any warning light’s. After I pulled over, I walked to the back to see what the white smoke was. I noticed that the bumper cover had motor oil dripping down from the bumper & tail pipe. I noticed the white smoke was actually coming out from the front right side of the van. I ran to shut the engine off but I could not open the driver side doors. Luckily windows were opened due to the ac not working. I took the key out through the window & pulled the hood latch. By the time I got to the hood flames was coming from the right side. I could not open the hood, it was too hot. This happened in matter of seconds. Be aware that all this happened without any warning sound’s or light’s. I called 911. Just in minutes, the van was engulfed in flames & I had no chance to save anything out of the vehicle. The fire trucks arrived about 9 minutes, but by that time there was nothing left of my van. The fireman pointed out to me that there was an oil trail behind the van. The oil trace was visible for few miles. After they finished putting out the fire they showed me where the fire started on the van. It was the area on the left side of the engine around the belt. They said that the fire started from an oil leak on the engine and was started by the burst of oil spraying down on the and catalytic converter. Only two seconds of searching on google, I found out that Toyota is well informed of the hazardous defect. The rubber oil supply line unexpectedly burst open and spray’s the engine oil out in less than few minutes. I never received any recalls or notification about this serious defect from Toyota. Luckily none of my three kids was not in the van when this happened.

While driving are 2008 Sienna Mini van with 51303 miles on it we had developed a sudden loss of oil from the engine. No check engine lights or warning lights came on notifying us that there was a problem. Observed that there was a large amount of oil loss in the driveway. Could track back where we were driving with the oil loss trail in the road. Did some research and learned that the engine in the Sienna is that same as that in several other Toyotas (avalons). I learned that that there is a vvi oil line is faulty on the engine. Toyota used a rubber hose which results in failure which then results in engine damage due to the oil loss. Toyota recalled the same party on the avalon and is aware that this hose is bad and needs replacement. Toyota issued recall on the avalons but is not issuing a recall on the Sienna. This is the same piece on the two vehicles. They then state that this hose with an average fails at 50-60000miles. They then stated that this hose is not covered under warranty. This hose bursting can cause engine damage and is also a safety issue. There needs to be a recall on this rubber oil hose on all vehicles. They know that this is a bad piece when talking with them. Also if it were to fail they then will state that since this hose caused the engine issues they will not cover it under warranty. This then results in people having to replace the engine in there vehicle for 5-10000dollars. When oil loss occurs it spays every where getting on brakes, belts, and exhaust which could cause an accident and or fire. Also resulting in serious engine damage. Toyota know this vvi hose is bad and issued a recall on the same hose on the avalons. A five minute search on the internet will show you the issues with motor and vvi hose. A recall must be issued on all Toyota vehicles with this motor which had the vvi oil hose. Thanks.

At highway speed, all lights flicker on then lost all power. . . . . . . Oilline had leaked on alternator belt causing loss of power. Luckily power loss prevented engine damage from oil leak. We had not been notified by Toyota about the oil line problem or recall. . . . . Only after a local garage fixed the line did I find out about the recall. . . . I would had it replaced earlier if I had been notified.