1. Toyota Sienna
  2. Problems
  3. Power Train

Toyota Sienna Power Train Problems

220
Owner complaint records in our dataset
20
Years with records
1999–2018
Stored years

Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.

Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.

Among these 220 stored complaint records:

  • 24 indicate a crash
  • 11 indicate injury
  • 1 indicate fire

Complaints by year

What appears in the records

Mileage in stored records

BandRecords
60–100k mi56
100–150k mi41
150–400k mi31
30–60k mi26
1–30k mi26

Complaint evidence

Latest stored owner-submitted records. Open a year for the full list.

  • January 1, 2020 · 133,333 miles

    Power Train

    Rear differential- viscous coupler making a whirring noise while driving. Toyota rav4 was issued a recall for the same problem. Toyota sienna needs one as well. It is a common failure of the bearing parts.

    ODI 11301269

    2013 records in this system

  • November 19, 2019 · 100,000 miles

    Power Train

    My 2012 sienna awd xle has 103k miles and has a whirring noise coming from the rear differential area for a while now. The pitch and volume is proportional to speed and is louder as speed increases. My research tells me this is a common defect with the coupling bearings in front of the rear differential. It seems that rav4 owners got a recall for the same issue, but sienna owners did not. Toyota has redesigned this…

    ODI 11287814

    2012 records in this system

  • October 26, 2019 · 178,000 miles

    Power Train · Vehicle Speed Control

    Driving on the highway, let off the gas though kept accelerating, braked as hard as possible without any effect, shifted to neutral and continued to accelerate

    ODI 11271308

    2005 records in this system

  • October 2, 2019 · 99,000 miles

    Power Train

    Began hearing a loud whirring sound from rear of car when car is in motion. Got louder over time. Our regular mechanic could not diagnose the noise. Toyota dealership finally diagnosed as a failed electromagnetic rear coupler. Suggested we not use 'cheap tires.' we never have. We actually went through three sets of the recommended 'run flat' tires in under 75,000 miles. As you know, these are not cheap tires to…

    ODI 11265848

    2011 records in this system

  • October 1, 2019 · 90,300 miles

    Power Train

    I attempted to put my van in park today after driving to a restaurant for lunch. The shift lever will go to any position but the dash display only responds to d or 4. When i put the lever in park and took my foot off the brake pedal, the van continued going forward. It will not go to park or even neutral. I put the car in a safe parking spot, put on the emergency brake and shut the engine off. That is where it still…

    ODI 11265507

    2008 records in this system

  • August 24, 2019

    Power Train

    Transmission made a noise when i was slowing down off the highway. Now i lost reverse in transmission

    ODI 11252775

    2004 records in this system

  • August 20, 2019 · 91,000 miles

    Power Train

    The viscous coupling on the rear axle of my awd sienna started making noise and needed to be replaced. Apparently there has been a recall for the rav4 for the same part, but not the sienna. My auto shop has told me this is a fairly common problem. The bearings in the coupling fail and start to make a very loud whine. Toyota says the bearings cannot be replaced and must be serviced as a unit... To the tune of $2300…

    ODI 11251834

    2013 records in this system

  • August 1, 2019 · 75,000 miles

    Power Train

    The bearing for the viscous coupler has gone bad. It whines loudly when in motion, and the volume correlates with the speed. According to feedback from online this issue happens a lot. Toyota will not change the bearing ($50 plus labor). They will only change the whole coupler ($1800 plus labor) as they state the coupler is not serviceable. Multiple people have serviced the working coupler to change just the…

    ODI 11307184

    2012 records in this system