2000 Toyota Sienna

OIL GELLING RELATED DAMAGE-2000 TOYOTA SIENNA W/V6 WITH OIL GELLING. THIS ENGINE WAS REPAIRED UNDER TOYOTA'S SPECIAL REPAIR PROGRAM. THE ISSUE IS THAT THE REPAIR DOES NOT INCLUDE ENOUGH PARTS TO PROPERLY RETURN THE UNIT INTO SERVICE WITHOUT COMPRAMISING THE MAIN AND ROD BEARINGS, AS WELL AS THE REAR AND FRONT SEALS. I AM NOW FACED WITH A $1400 REPAIR BILL FOR THE REAR MAIN SEAL AT 65K MILES. I BELEIVE THAT THIS PORTION OF THE ENGINE WAS COMPRIMISED DO TO LACK OF OIL CASUED BY THE OIL GELLING. THE SCREEN WAS 85% BLOCKED AND SINCE THE MAIN AND ROD BEARINGS ARE THE FIRST TO BE FED OIL FROM THE PUMP, THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED ACCELERATED WEAR. I BASE THIS ON MY DISCOVERY WHEN AT THE DEALER. I AM AN ASE CERTIFIED AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIAN WITH ENGINE SPECIALITY RATINGS, SO I CAN SPEAK AS AN EXPERT ON THIS MATTER. I TRIED TO DISCUSS WITH TOYOTA CORP AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AND THEY DO NOT SEE ANY REASON TO CONTINUE THE DISCUSSION. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED A JUMPSTART WAS GIVEN TO A NEIGHBORING VEHICLE. THE NEXT DAY THE HOOD WAS RELEASED TO JUMPSTART THE NEIGHBORING VEHICLE AGAIN. THE JUMPSTART WAS NOT NEEDED. THE HOOD WAS NOT LOCKED DOWN BUT WAS NOT FULLY UNLATCHED, WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVING 45 MPH, ON A SMOOTH BLACKTOP PAVED ROAD, WHEN THE HOOD BLEW BACK INTO THE WIND SHIELD AND DAMAGED THE HOOD, WINDSHIELD, WIPERS AND THE ROOF OF THE VEHICLE. THE SERVICE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT NOTIFIED, BUT THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED AT AN AUTO-BODY SHOP.

FOLLOWING AN ACCIDENT WHERE I WAS REAR ENDED I STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS FILLING THE FUEL TANK. THE PUMP WOULD CLICK OFF AS IF IT WAS FULL AT .70 CENTS AND WOULD CONTINUE THIS WHILE FILLING THE TANK WHEN THE TANK WAS CLEARLY EMPTY. I WAS ADVISED BY SEVERAL PEOPLE TO MOVE THE HANDLE AROUND WHILE FILLING THIS DID NOT HELP. IT WAS INSPECTED BY THE BODY SHOP WHO SAID THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG & ADVISED ME TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALER. THE FILLING PROBLEM CONTINUED & ACTUALLY GOT WORSE & WAS TAKING LONGER & LONGER TO FILL. TODAY I WENT TO FILL IT GOT TO ABOUT 2 1/2 GALLONS AND FUEL STARTED COMING OUT OF THE TANK AS IF I OVERFILLED IT. I TRIED TO FILL IT AGAIN IT DID THE SAME THING EVERY TIME. ALSO QUITE A BIT OF FUEL SPILLED OUT ON EACH ATTEMPT. *NM

MY WIFE AND 4 CHILDREN WERE DRIVING IN OUR 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA. WHILE ACCELERATING ONTO A HIGHWAY, THE HOOD ABRUPTLY RELEASED AND SLAMMED AGAINST THE FRONT WINDSHIELD, CAUSING THE WINDSHIELD TO SHATTER AND DAMAGING THE ROOF. MY WIFE PULLED OVER ONTO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD ALMOST COMPLETELY BLIND TO WHAT WAS IN FRONT OF HER. THE CAR WAS NEARLY HIT BY A SEMI-TRACTOR TRAILER. LUCKILY, NO ONE WAS PHYSICALLY HURT FROM THE INCIDENT. UPON INSPECTION OF THE LOCKING MECHANISM, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT BOTH THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY LATCHES WERE BOTH NOT WORKING PROPERLY. IT APPEARS THAT THE SPRINGS THAT ARE USED WITHIN THESE MECHANISMS HAD LOST THEIR SPRING EFFECTIVENESS. THIS WAS COMPOUNDED BY THE "STICKINESS" CAUSED BY SOME RUSTING ON THE LATCH. THE CAR WAS RECENTLY AT A TOYOTA DEALER MAINTENANCE CENTER. I FEEL THAT THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY SHOULD HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO CHECK THIS CRITICAL COMPONENT. IN REVIEWING THE NHTSA DATABASE, IT IS CLEAR THAT THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE ACROSS AUTOMOBILES. I WOULD EXPECT THEIR TO BE SOME RECURRING MAINTENANCE ON THE LATCHING MECHANISM (AT 30,000 OR 60,000 MILES) TO PREVENT SUCH AN INCIDENT FROM OCCURRING...I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE SHOP MAINTENANCE MANUALS SO I DON'T KNOW IF SUCH AN INSPECTION IS IN THE MANUALS. IF THERE IS NO SUCH INSPECTION IN TOYOTA'S MAINTENANCE MANUAL, I BELIEVE THAT TOYOTA IS NEGLIGENT ON THIS VERY HAZARDOUS FAILURE MECHANISM. IF THERE IS SUCH AN INSPECTION, I BELIEVE THE TOYOTA MAINTENANCE FACILITY SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE. *JB

I HAVE REPLACED BOTH FRONT DOOR WINDOW MOTORS. AFTER RESEARCHING THE PROBLEM I HAVE DISCOVERED THE MOTOR CONTAINS A FAULTY LOAD SENSOR. IT IS NOT THE ACTUAL MOTOR, BUT THE LOAD SENSOR THAT IS FAILING. THE SENOR IS LOCATED INTERNALLY IN THE MOTOR. TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, BUT IS NOT TAKING OWNERSHIP. NOW ONE OF MY TWO NEW MOTORS IS STARTING TO SHOWS SIGNS OF ITS SENSOR FAILING. TOYOTA NEEDS TO COVER THE COST OR MAKE THE SENSOR REPLACEMENT AVAILABLE, OTHERWISE IT IS $270 FOR THE COST OF THE REPLACEMENT MOTOR PLUS LABOR. *JB

2000 TOYOTA SIENNA. THE SEAT BELT WARNING LIGHT IS FAULTY. IN THE BEGINNING, THE WARNING LIGHT INDICATED THE OPPOSITE -- BLINKING WHEN BUCKLED, OFF WHEN UNBUCKLED. THEN AFTER COUPLE WEEKS IT JUST KEEPS BLINKING NO MATTER WHAT. IT'S BELIEVED THAT THE PROBLEM IS CAUSED BY A MALFUNCTION SENSOR. THE MALFUNCTION IS CAUSED BY THE HOUSING OF THE SENSOR. THE HOUSING IS OVER-SIZED AND ALLOWS THE SENSOR CAP POPS OUT EASILY AND CAUSES THE MALFUNCTION. IT IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT! AND IF THE SRS SYSTEM WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS IS A BIG QUESTION. THE WARNING LIGHT JUST KEEPS BLINKING AFTER THE MALFUNCTION, NO MATTER IF YOU ARE BUCKLED UP OR NOT. THE DRIVER, AFTER SOME TIME, WILL GET USED TO THE FALSE WARNING AND WILL TEND TO IGNORE IT AND WILL NOT BE AWARE IF THE SEAT BELT IS REALLY BUCKLED. WHICH MAY INCREASE THE POSSIBILITY OF INJURY OR DEATH IN A CRASH. THIS IS A SERIOUS DEFECTIVE DESIGN FOR THAT SENSOR!*JB

MY MECHANIC INFORMS ME THAT THE "SPEED SENSOR" ON MY 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA HAS GONE BAD AND CANNOT BE REPLACED. SHE STATED THAT THE SIENNA'S THAT WERE MANUFACTURED OVERSEAS HAVE ACCESSIBILITY TO THIS PART, BUT THAT THOSE MADE IN THE U.S. HAVE NO WAY TO REPLACE THIS DEFECTIVE PART. THE RESULT OF THIS DEFECT IS THAT I NO LONGER HAVE A REVERSE GEAR AND SHE SAID THAT FIRST GEAR WILL GO AT ANY TIME, AND NO AMOUNT OF MONEY CAN FIX. NOW CAR IS WORTHLESS CAR. *JB