2005 Toyota Sienna steering problems

“When driving on the highway, the van will suddenly brake and the steering will lock up for about 10 seconds. It is truly frightening. It has happened many times, even with the anti-lock button off. I love this vehicle otherwise, but cannot drive it for safety reasons. And I feel bad selling it to anyone else because I don't want anyone to die! The scariest part when it's on a windy 2 lane road. It really becomes non responsive and also the brakes come on when you are going 60+ miles an hour! HELP! I DONT WANT TO DIE”

“I was driving on a dry road, going 70mph when my car began flashing the abs indicator and it began breaking and controlling my steering taking me into another lane. The car slowed my vehicle suddenly down to 60 mph and then went off like it never happened. I then had control. There was no reason for the car to do this. There was nothing in the road and luckily no one was to close to me or there would have been an accident. I almost over corrected due to the pulling of the steering and the breaking of the vehicle.”

“Stability light comes on, decelerates independently, vehicle shakes and steering is somewhat compromised. This has happened rounding curves between 40-50 MPH. Has happened twice on straight road, 8/24 and 8/25/2021, traveling at 70MPH, vehicle decelerated 2-5 miles independently. I put signal on and did smooth lane change to the right to get out of fast lane, and stability light came on, vehicle shook and steering was somewhat compromised. Neither local mechanic or dealership can retrieve any codes with diagnostic equipment. Dealership told me today the light has to stay on for them to retrieve code. This has happened irregularly over the last 6-8 months but always on curves. It has occurred 4 times in 6 days last week, twice on curves, 8/23 & 8/28/2021, and the 2 lane changes above. I am concerned with the increased frequency. There is a great deal of information on the web at https://www.siennachat.com/threads/traction-control-malfunctioning.44474/ so this is not an unknown issue.”

“When driving the speed limit, going downhill, uphill, straight, around a curve, in the rain or dry weather, the vsc and slip/trac lights up, the abs system is activated / brakes engage. I loose complete control of the van. I can no longer steer or break. The breaks engage, but it causes the car to veer to the right. I have taken the car to the mechanic 5 times now and no codes show, even after he is able to the vehicle to repeat this behavior. It seems to happen a lot on off/on ramps. It happens mostly on highways, but it has happened on two lane roads. The vehicle is completely dangerous to drive. It has almost caused several accidents. I have replaced the Yaw sensors and had several alignments and this still happens. After a lot of research, we have found that this is actually really common in Toyota Sienna. People are saying that the bushings in the rack in pinion wear out and the entire rack and pinion system needs to be replaced. Some people have replaced the rack and pinion and claim that there is still a problem. But the majority say after the rack and pinion is replaced there is not further problems.”

“A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, MY 2005 SIENNA'S VSC WARNING LIGHTS, ALARMS AND BRAKING WOULD COME ON WHILE GOING AROUND TURNS. MY CAR HAD NEW TIRES, WHEELS WERE BALANCED AND ALIGNED. IT'S SCARY AND DANGEROUS WHEN THE BRAKES ENGAGE. I'M NOT GOING AROUND SHARP TURNS AT HIGH RATES OF SPEED. DOZENS OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME EXPERIENCE, AND WHEN THE BRAKES ENGAGE, IT YANKS THE CAR HARD, AND HAS ALMOST CAUSED ACCIDENTS TO ME AND OTHERS. THIS HAPPENS TO ME ON A REGULAR BASIS. THE ONLY WAY TO AVOID IT IS TO SLOW DOWN TO LESS THAN 40MPH ON SOME TURNS, WHICH IS DANGEROUS WHEN THE SPEED LIMIT IS 65. HERE'S A LINK TO THE MANY OTHER PEOPLE'S EXPERIENCE WITH THIS EXACT SAME THING. THIS IS A LIABILITY AND TOYOTA REALLY NEEDS TO TAKE ACTION HERE. HTTPS://WWW.CARGURUS.COM/CARS/DISCUSSION-C9152_DS656326?SNTEMLID=4322597535#MSG1051125”

“WHEN DRIVING AT ANY SPEED ABOVE 25 MPH, THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD WILL COME ON, IT WILL BEEP AND THE BRAKE WILL ENGAGE WITHOUT THE DRIVER PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL (THESE ALL HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME). THIS IN TURN LOCKS THE BRAKES AT TIMES AND THE CAR VEERS TO THE RIGHT. THERE IS NO REASON THAT WE CAN FIGURE OUT THAT THIS HAPPENS. IT HAS HAPPENED MANY TIMES AND THREE DAYS AGO, IT HAPPENED TWICE IN ONE DAY. WE HAVE TAKEN OUR VEHICLE TO HENDRICK TOYOTA IN WILMINGTON NC AND PROVIDED THEM A VIDEO WHERE TWO OWNERS TOOK VIDEOS EACH TIME IT HAPPENED IN THEIR VEHICLE. I ALSO PROVIDED THEM WITH EMAIL DISCUSSIONS FROM TWO DIFFERENT WEB SITES WHERE OWNERS WERE DISCUSSING THE ISSUE. WE BELIEVE THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL FOR TOYOTAS.”