Is this limited to the 2004 Siennas? Mine is a 2000 and the A/C went out right after I bought it used (no warranty) last Spring. The dealer says the compressor, condensor, and receiver dryer all need to be replaced.

I just joined this website to let you all know that the ac in my 04 sienna le at 65,000 miles just stopped working. It only blows hot air. I have to call the dealer tomorrow and see about an estimate. Although from what I've been reading I'm afraid I'm not going to like what I hear. My car would screetch almost every morning when I turned it on for the last 6 months. We thought it was a loose belt. I noticed that as it got hotter the screethcing was directally tied to the ac being on. If it wouldn't stop screetching on it's own all I had to do to stop it was to turn the ac off. I think I'm going to go into toyota with all of these other cases in hand so that I have some ground to stand on.
Very angry and dissapointed first time toyota buyer!

Add one more 2004 Sienna LE to the list with A/C problems

Let me know if anyone found any solution yet

Add one more to the list. I recently got an estimate to replace the AC compressor for $1200-1500. Class Action Law Suit, anyone???

Can you beleive it! It sounds like we all own the same 2004 Sienna. My AC began to work intermittently as well. Then, last week it only blew hot air. This was not good news as we live in Southeastern Louisiana and are just beginning our torturously hot summer. We have a friend who is a Toyota mechanic and all he can do is shake his head! Disgusting!! I thought we had made a great decision when we purchased this one year old, certified, preowned, but it turns out that we bought a piece of c..p!!! It sounds like the only fix is to get rid of the vehicle and NEVER buy Toyota trash again. I guess my sister was the smart one when she bought her Honda van.

Add another Toyota Sienna 2004 LE to the list - they say compressor failed and it will cost $1500 to replace.

I have a 2006 Sienna with what sounds like the same AC problem.

My wife took it to our dealer for routine maintenance and a complete look over prior to a trip to Florida and prior to hitting 36K miles. They said everything was ok. Started driving to Florida and as soon as we needed the AC it was not there. Took the vehicle to a dealer in TN and they told me the freon was gone but they would not do anything for me because I wasn't going to be their for at least 2 days. Once I got to Florida a dealer fixed the problem costing me several days of my vacation; replaced the rear compressor etc. 45 days later I'm getting hot air again. I better not get hot air from the dealership or I'll be done with Toyota.

My 04 Sienna (99,000) miles did the "intermittent hot air" drill last summer.
Took it to a local repair shop who said that a relay was blown which they replaced.
Worked fine until last week (103,000 miles) and same symptoms reappeared.

Has anyone actually seen the TSB AC003-05 ?

Anyone know where a person could get a copy of it?

LOL getting a dealer to show it to me.

I just had my Sienna(2004 @ 46K) seviced for the same A/C problem. Replaced the compressor, lines and added the in-line filter. Parts and labor was ~$2000..would have been double that amount if metal shavings had contaminated the system, but luckily that didn't happen in my case.

The Toyota dealership here was able to get Toyota to cover the parts and I ended up paying ~$1000. The posts about this problem really helped, since I mentioned it to the service associate, along with the fact that I regularly service the my Toyotas there. But still I'm out of a sizeable chunk of change and really think Toyota should have a recall for this problem.

Just had my first major let down with Toyota "quality" this week. We have a 2005 XLE Ltd. 52K with extended warr. (thank goodness). Airport bound, 98 degrees outside the A/C just quits blowing cold leaving my family very hot and sweaty. The only strange sounds I have heard over the past week was a groaning type sound from the rear area behind the drivers side. It almost sounded like something rubbing but to me the sound was not around any a/c parts. Now after reading all the posts I have noticed a slight squeak at start up. This has been going on for awhile, dealer did not find any issues when I complained. Never had any issue with the ac before. I went with Toyota over Honda for value and reliability.

I have the toyota warranty to 85K so we will see how it goes but now i'm worried it will return again and again. Hey the upside is I was able to manage 22.5 mpg on the way back from the airport without the a/c working. Up to then it never topped 20.x and we are use to 15.x in town.

Like everyone else if anyone gets a true answer let us know.

Thanks

We also have a 2006 Sienna with AC problems. Since we bought it new in 2006, it would occasionally blow warm humid air, usually when first starting it up. Turning the front and rear fans full blast would kick the cool air in quicker. No big deal, we just got in the habit of cranking it up full blast when first starting it. Two days ago though, it completely stopped blowing cool air. The service shop said pretty much the same thing others have said here. The shop's estimate is $530, which seems kind of low compared to what others have said they paid, so I'm worried they're going to call me back with a higher estimate. We had planned to leave tomorrow morning for a 4-day trip through California Route 66 on to Tombstone AZ and back, but of course we had to cancel it. We decided not to take the Tundra instead because it just wouldn't be comfortable enough for such a long drive (we have three kids and the 2000 Tundra doesn't have much leg room in the back). For long road trips, the Sienna is awesome. Too bad Toyota decided on such a crappy air conditioning system.

My car is at the dealer as of this moment. Told me a/c not working because of electrical problem. Cost to diagnose is $110. Told him no thanks after reading some commments. Very disappointed. I was always a Toyota fan, and even paid sticker price for my Sienna when it first came out. Was hoping to hold onto the van for 2 more years, until my other son started driving (with the old Toyota reliability I thought it was very realistic - not anymore). I will never push or recommend Toyota to anyone.

I don't agree that it's not a danger factor. When people buy vans, don't they usually have young children? I actually had my 1 1/2 year old nephew in the van when the air conditioning went out last year...probably one of the hottest spells we had. By the time we reached home, he was literally soaking wet, and that was with the windows rolled down with a 15 minute drive. What if you're travelling a longer distance with a van filled with kids or elderly people?

Another 2004 Sienna with AC problems - 30K miles - $1000.00 plus estimate for repair. Going to ask dealer for more info.

If anyone interested report to http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

I own a 2005 Toyota Sienna LE. I loved it until the a/c compressor seized up on it a week ago. I live in Phoenix,Az and it has been 115 degrees or hotter all week. I have the van at Avondale Toyota right now with a $3763.00 repair estimate. I am in complete shock at this situation. I decided to look online to see if anyone else had problems with their Sienna and I see I am not alone. I think this is a design flaw that Toyota should recall but it looks like they (Toyota) could care less. I will NEVER buy another Toyota again!!! What happened to taking care of the customer? I would love to see a class action lawsuit filed!!! I don't plan on spending almost $4000.00 to fix this because I really can't afford it. So I will forever have a very low opinion of Toyota. I was actually thinking of buying a Tundra Crewmax. Not now.....

Add another to the list. We're in Scottsdale, Arizona and its bloody hot here. My wife's 2004 Sienna XLE just lost its A/C.

Interesting history. She had a 1999 Sienna and it died in 2004 with a dead A/C compressor problem. We decided to trade it in and get a new 2004 Sienna XLE. About 2 years ago, at abot 95,000 miles, the AC compressor dies. Dealership service department quotes about $4200 to repair. But we had an extended warranty on it, so most of that was covered. We ended up forking out about $1,400 for some of the repair.

Its now less than 2 years later. Mileage on the car is about 108,000 so its out of its extended warranty now. And the previous repair had a 12 month warranty. AC dies today on the road. Just took it to a friend of mine (great local Phoenix mechanic) who took a quick look at it and pointed out all the metal fragments showing out of the compressor and the fact that it had obviously gone again.

Yep, this is clearly a manufacturer defect. Its been a problem with these cars (based on my own experience) since the late 1990s. This time I'm going to try and get my mechanic friend to fix it once he can source the replacement compressor. I expect its a lot of labor work though considering the metal fragments and shavings that are probably throughout the entire system in the car.

Other than this, there has been no other major issues with the vehicle. But 3 compressors in 9 years? That's just plain wrong. If anyone is doing a class action suit on this, I'm in.

Myles

And another one bites the dust.....!

Our 2004 Sienna made it to 82,000 miles and now we're apparently in Phase 1 of this AC failure: intermittent operation. The air comes out cold for a while, then hot. Sometimes it goes back to cold but, lately, it just stays hot....when you need it most. Here in Austin this summer, we've had more than 40 days of 100+F temperatures.

This morning I went down to the car to observe the problem. Its 80 degrees outside now and the AC seems to work perfectly. With the temp set as low as possible (to LO), the compressor runs nearly continuously with only brief stops every 5-10 minutes due, I suspect, to some pressure or temperature sensor. I was all ready to take the car to my local AC shop and suggest they look for a failing sensor when I decided to search the web for "Sienna intermittent AC" and came across this very depressing discussion.

I agree with others here that Toyota should not dump this nasty, expensive problem onto their customers, especially since so many of the expensive repairs have not lasted very long at all. This situation has completely rearranged my opinion of this car. Instead of looking forward to many more years of pleasant, comfortable motoring, I am now trying to figure out how to get this albatross off my neck so I can go buy another brand....ANY other brand.

Scott Little
little@earthtech.org