[Hopeful]

Slightly off topic, but when I had an automatic door fail on my '00 Ody (same symptoms as described here about the Sienna doors, except I had water leaking into the 3rd row cup holders, and a scratch down the side of the van), I found out that there is a regular routine for care and maintenance of the doors that was not mentioned in my owners manual (I guess you were supposed to hope that the mechanics at the dealership did it when -ha- you took your vehicle in for maintenance?). I wonder if the Sienna has a maintenance routine for the doors too that would prevent the popping noise? For the Ody, it was cleaning/ greasing the track, and cleaning the contacts with a soft pencil eraser. Though it does sound like a different issue (mechanical vs. maintenance), I just thought I'd toss it out there just in case.

 

[meridian]

Had my first full all door power failure, I was so p***ed off, I couldn't even open the rear hatch manually and needed to go pick up some furniture. Went back in the house to look for solutions on the web and in the owners manual. The manual has no cure but says you can rip the interior panel off the back hatch and pull an emergency lever. Meanwhile on the web, someone said disconnect the neg terminal on the battery to reset the systems. at first I did this - no success because I didn't wait long enough, next time I waited a full 10 minutes and it worked unfortunately all radio stations, clock etc had to be reprogrammed but now I don't want to reprogram in fear of future failures.
I put a 10mm wrench in the glove box in case I'm on the road and this happens, I would recommend other owners do the same-you never know.

 

[Hopeful]

Oh yay, I've had 2 power door failures, and the popping on occasion already (we've had the van a whole week as of today). Both were on the driver's side. The first failure I thought my daughter may have bumped the door, and caused it to stop halfway, since I shut it easily after I turned the power doors off. The second time, however (and of course, we weren't at home, and it was freezing), it stopped halfway, and I had to work the door shut after I turned off the power doors (in both instances, the power door options- none of them- would work).

Does anyone know if there is a solution yet? I've got to call the dealer we bought it from on Monday because we are missing a piece of paperwork to get tags, and I'll mention it then, but I'll have to have any work done through a local dealership. Wee. Oh, and I've checked to make sure there is grease, and nothing bumping/jamming the doors, etc. and it's all good.

 

[lucke]

This problem seems to me like a small issue that is easy to fix and by no way it compares with the sliding door problem of the Town and Country 2008-2010

I recently sell a Town and Country 2008 Limited and from day one the sliding doors have issues, the problem was that when you try to close the sliding door it reopens, after searching a lot of sites and writing about this issue in a forum another user told me that Chrysler has released a software fix, I go to the dealer two times with two updates until the sliding door almost never failed.

Because my minivan was the first one we only open the sliding door using the remote control, reading this post we will also do this all times to avoid any issues with the sliding doors of our new sienna.

If there is one company that build cheap and bad cars is Chrysler, I bet that any issue that the Sienna has could it be fixed very easily and the problem will be over.

Until we have our Chrysler minivan there were times that the door still reopens.

The sliding doors of the Sienna work very smoothly and the ones from Chrysler work like and old cheap car, also that doors have one issue where there is a possibility that the wires from the door could cause a fire.

 

[wtzouris]

I went to the dealer today for my 15k service and I mentioned the slider door popping sound. (Only happens when you manually pull the handle rather quickly) He said it was a two-stage mechanism and they all do that. Regardless, unless the door does not open I can't really complain about the noise or aesthetics of the noise it makes as it opens, and it has never not opened for me. I have an XLE with electric motors on both side doors and rear hatch.

I guess most owners have the standard warranty period, (What is that, 3 yrs/36,000 mi?) I have the Platinum 6 Yrs/125,000 warranty. (I had a 1991 Previa that blew an AC Compressor at 90k miles and it cost $1500, so I am wary of unexpected repairs)

So I think the sliding door problem will be an issue long term, I am trying to use the remote more than the handle.

I hope Toyota does the right thing and issues a TSB and a fix so we don't have to file a class-action suit 5 years from now!

 

[nicolasj]

I went to my dealership a month ago and told them about that same popping noise on the sliding doors. The service manager told me a TSB had already been issued but that there was no fix yet. Also most people don't seem to complain about that problem, which would indicate only some cars have it... I agree with you it's just a noise and as long as the doors open I don't really care. Just don't let go of the handle too fast and there will be no noise anyway.

 

[wtzouris]

Yes my service advisor said the same thing come to think of it -- a TSB has been issued but no fix yet.

 

[lucke]

But the sound you hear is very loud? The sliding doors from the town and country sound a lot when they close, for what I have hear from the 2011 sienna they are very silent ones.

Why you don´t record a video and upload it to youtube so that everyone can hear that sound.

If you make the video do it on night in your garange so that no other sound is around.

 

[Hopeful]

Yep, it's not the sound that bothers me, it's the door sticking open . Hopefully, it was just a glitch and it won't repeat : , but I've been using the button in front of the door for the meantime. It just seemed weird that the 2 things showed up at the same time...so...*waits* I'll reply again if anything changes.

 

[scruffed1]

Just purchased a 2011 Sienna on Saturday (12/4) and the sliding doors started sticking on Tuesday (12/7). We took the van to the dealer and, after 3 hours of standing around and shrugging their shoulders, we were told that this is a known problem and that Toyota does not yet have a fix. I'm not getting the groaning or other noises that some seem to have, but a quick pull of the handle locks up the door (after sliding about 1"). I can then shove the door back into the closed position and the door will open just fine with the remote. Told the dealer that I wanted to bring the car back and I was told that, "it doesn't work that way."

Two questions that I have:

1. What kind of damage could I possibly do by shoving the door closed?
2. Is this a safety issue at all?? Seems that if we were in an accident and EMS or fire couldn't get the door open we would have some problems.

Good to know that we're not the only ones having issues with Sienna doors. I will be contacting NHTSA on Monday to discuss the issue. Neither Toyota corporate nor is the dealer willing to work with me on this situation.

 

[lucke]

Today I try at the dealer to open the sliding door quickly with the handle and it did not work, the automatic sliding door stop working and to open it completly I have to open the door by steps and it cost me some effort.

I will never try this on my sienna to avoid issues I will only open the doors with the remote control or the inside buttons.

Comparing the sienna sliding doors to the chrysler minivan is like comparing a rolls royce to any car they open very smoothly.

 

[seplant]

We've had both sliding doors stick intermittently on our new Limted that we've had for one week now. Not sure, but may be temperture-related on ours. My wife had both doors stick while out and about today in 20-degree weather (stuck no matter which method used to open - manual, remote, interior buttons), but tonight in garage they work just fine. Planning to take to dealer tomorrow if they give us more problems.

 

[seplant]

One of the sliding doors on our 2011 Sienna failed to open again on the way back from taking my daughter to school yesterday morning, so I stopped by the dealer to see what they had to say about it. They said this was the third one they had brought to them with this issue, but they have no idea what is causing it. All they could suggest was that when this happens, to turn off the power doors with the switch up under the dash, which makes the doors easier to operate manually.

You can bet there is going to be a recall on this after Toyota figures out what is going on. I still think it might be temperature-related. Our doors opened fine after sitting in our garage overnight, but after taking my daughter to school in sub-20 degree weather, they stuck. We're on our way south for the holidays, so I'm curious to see if we have any problems over the next week with temperatures in the 50 degree range.

I have to say that other then the occasional failure to open, our power doors operate smooth and quietly.

 

[Family Buggy]

I've not read every post, so perhaps this has all ready been brought up...but do you think they might be frozen? I know from time to time people will have the sliders on gen 1 and 2 Siennas not operate after a recent wash in cold temps because the residual water would cause the seal to freeze to the door frames. It seems like the same issue if it occurs in sub freezing temps and not warmer temps. Perhaps wiping the door seals down with a clean rag sprayed with liberal amounts of silicon spray would help, as well has spraying the catch mechanisms.

Just recently, over the Thanksgiving weekend, the power hatch on my in-laws XLE failed to open in 15 degree temps while parked outside. I was able to pull it open with some force...only to find out that my father in law had taken it through a full service car wash the day before their 200 mile trip to our house. Clearly it had frozen over night. I wiped down both the seal and the contact area on the body with silicon...problem solved.

If it does turn out to be a "real" problem....I agree, Toyota will recall this for sure, as they seem to be recalling anything and everything that squeeks right now. If not a recall some sort of TSB to address it.

 

[grover432]

This problem seems to me like a small issue that is easy to fix and by no way it compares with the sliding door problem of the Town and Country 2008-2010

I recently sell a Town and Country 2008 Limited and from day one the sliding doors have issues, the problem was that when you try to close the sliding door it reopens, after searching a lot of sites and writing about this issue in a forum another user told me that Chrysler has released a software fix, I go to the dealer two times with two updates until the sliding door almost never failed.

Because my minivan was the first one we only open the sliding door using the remote control, reading this post we will also do this all times to avoid any issues with the sliding doors of our new sienna.

If there is one company that build cheap and bad cars is Chrysler, I bet that any issue that the Sienna has could it be fixed very easily and the problem will be over.

Until we have our Chrysler minivan there were times that the door still reopens.

The sliding doors of the Sienna work very smoothly and the ones from Chrysler work like and old cheap car, also that doors have one issue where there is a possibility that the wires from the door could cause a fire.

Well, I'm driving a rented T & C for 2 weeks and the doors work flawlessly. A double click on the key fob and the door opens, same if it closes. I think all doors have to make some noise - it is an electro mechanical system. While i'll likely end up with a Sienna, think the T & C does a good job for he price. Smooth engine, great automatic.

 

[seplant]

My sticking door issue is apparently not related to temperature. We had two incidents of sliding doors not opening in 50+ degree weather while on vacation in the south this week. It's really not happening very often (maybe once in 25 openings), but it's annoying when it does! There's gotta be a recall coming eventually on this.

 

[ingram4868]

Just wanted to add my van to this list. Never does it when using the remote fob or interior door open button. It does it most frequently when the grandkids (age 4 & 7) pull the handle from the outside. Because of the kids body weight they have to jerk it hard and fast.

 

[seplant]

My dealer is now saying that Toyota is aware of the sliding door failure to open issue and is working on a firmware update to resolve it. I'm hoping the recall comes soon. Ours doesn't have this problem very often, but when it does, it's very frustrating!

 

[lovemysienna]

My dealer is now saying that Toyota is aware of the sliding door failure to open issue and is working on a firmware update to resolve it. I'm hoping the recall comes soon. Ours doesn't have this problem very often, but when it does, it's very frustrating!

Possibly a TSB, problem does not qualify as a safety issue, I dont think they will categorize this as a recall...

 

[Family Buggy]

I agreee, this will be a TSB, not a recall.