Steering Pinion Shaft Problems of Toyota Sienna

2015 Toyota Sienna xle 44,802 miles. Hear clunk noise when turning the steering wheel during low speed or stationary. Took it to the dealer and they found excessive clearance between intermediate shaft and rack and pinion mating teeth causing the noise. They recommend to replace the intermediate shaft and quote me almost $800 for it for parts and labor. I declined. I am surprised this is happen to Toyota, the reason I bought Toyota is because its reliability. If I know things going to break just after the warranty is over, I won't buy Toyota. There are other brands cheaper brand that do that. After I talk to my mechanic, he said this problem happens a lot, even the oem replacement part won't last long 40-50k miles. For me it seems like a design issue or just a cheaply made part.

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Detroit axle, in michigan, is selling defective struts, straight out of the junkyard, and rack and pinion steering and many other suspension parts, advertised as new, by just placing a coat of paint in them. They offer a warranty of one year in the products, but the consumer must pay for the removal and installation of the part. I played their game for three times and I foolishly paid 3 times for the strut installation, plus other damages the faulty struts caused me . The faulty struts caused my frame to loosen, my horizontal drive shaft to damage, and rack and pinion steering, that detroit axle sold. Well, my vehicle shakes violently at between 45-55 miles per hour, thus having to pull to the side of the road. I managed to drive to a mechanic through back roads at low speeds. The defective rack and pinion steering and the defective, sold as new parts, and advertised as new parts failed in three occasions ane damaging my other parts of the vehicle. It cost me over $3000 to replace those parts plus the money that I gave to detroit axle, with the collusion of ebay selling his products. Once the parts are received, within 60 days, he closes the feedback on his page, thus not letting the suspecting public complain against his junkyard of defective parts. Ebay protects him. I still have to replace my michelin new tires for more expense and the third pair of struts are still on the vehicle, in which I still have to replace for a third time!.

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Bought my 09 Sienna new. At 28,000 miles, had to have the rack and pinion steering shaft replaced due to leaking. At round 60,000 miles, informed once again that my rack and pinion steering shaft is leaking and will need replaced at a price of $1,300. 00. How can a car that we average less than 8,000 miles a year go through steering shafts like this?.

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I experienced significant difficulty (stiffness, lack of responsiveness) in the power steering of my 2004 Toyota Sienna. Subsequent examination by my dealership revealed that both the steering rack and pinion and the intermediate steering shaft needed to be replaced. The minivan has only 51,000 miles.

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Steering suddenly began to bind when turning at low speed and increasing difficult to steer, especially in cold temperatures. Dealership found rusting knuckles on steering shaft and installed new shaft. Vehicle had only 42,000 miles. Never had a problem like this with 2 previous Toyotas, one of them eleven years old! very unsafe and expensive to repair. My opinion Toyota should recall.

I began experiencing a stiffness in my power steering on 12-15-08. I checked the power steering fluid level and it appeared to be low. I added a few ounces. Two days of driving later and there was no change. I took the van to the Toyota dealership today, 12-18-08, and they identified the problem as corrosion to the flex joint of the intermediate shaft of the power steering rack and pinion. They did tell me that the situation could degrade to the point where power steering could fail. Cost of repair was quoted as $500 plus $70 for related/required front-end alignment. The root cause was said to likely be water entering the seal of the joint, causing rust to form on/around the bearings. Other reports of road salt being the cause, seem to suggest that under-carriage cleaning would, in fact, prevent the corrosion. This dealers position is that the high-pressure spraying of the under-carriage was, itself, causing the corrosion to begin.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. While driving 5 mph, the contact noticed that the steering was tighter than normal. A repair shop checked the steering fluid level for leaks. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the rack and pinion failed. The dealer replaced the rack and pinion at the cost of $1,500; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and they stated that the failure could be due to the intermediate shaft pump. A report was filed with the manufacturer. The manufacturer stated that there was no TSB to explain how to repair the vehicle. The failure mileage was 41,000 and current mileage was 41,500.