2002 Toyota Sienna Cruise Control Problems

Your car has experienced two incidents of unexpected acceleration. In the first incident, when you released the accelerator while turning on a city street, your car accelerated on its own up to 35 mph for several blocks. In the second incident, while parking in your driveway, your engine roared and the car lurched forward even though you had your foot on the brake. The fix may involve inspecting the throttle control system, fuel injectors, or brake components.

When you're driving with cruise control on and lightly tap the brakes, your car suddenly accelerates unexpectedly and alarmingly. You've taken the car to the dealer multiple times over the years, including recently in 2014, but they haven't been able to fix the problem despite trying various solutions. This is a serious safety concern because a new owner might not know to turn off cruise control before braking. The fix will likely involve diagnosing and repairing the cruise control and brake system interaction, which may require replacement of faulty sensors or control modules.

I WAS PULLING FORWARD FROM A RED LIGHT, SLOWLY ACCELERATING. SOMEONE CUT ME OFF, I SWERVED, AND THEN ACCELERATED INTO TRAFFIC. THE CAR STARTED ACCELERATING ON ITS OWN, FROM ABOUT 35 MPH (WHERE I PULLED MY FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR PAD TO "HOLD" THE SPEED BUT NOT CONTINUE ACCELERATING) UP TO 55 MPH--THIS HAPPENED VERY QUICKLY, IN A SMATTERING OF SECONDS. I REMEMBERED READING THAT YOU SHOULD JUST SLAM ON THE BRAKE AND HOLD IT DOWN HARD, WHICH I DID. THIS DID STOP FURTHER ACCELERATION, BUT IT DID NOT IMMEDIATELY SLOW THE CAR. I WAS ABLE TO SLOW THE CAR IN ABOUT 10 SECONDS, THOUGH DECELERATION WAS VERY SLOW. WHEN I FINALLY RETURNED TO 35 MPH, I DID NOT ATTEMPT TO ACCELERATE AGAIN FOR ABOUT TWO MILES. I STOPPED AT ANOTHER TRAFFIC LIGHT, AND WHEN I STARTED FORWARD FROM THE LIGHT, I DID NOT DEPRESS THE ACCELERATOR PAD WITH MY TYPICAL FORCE, ACCELERATING AT ABOUT HALF THE SPEED I NORMALLY WOULD, AS I DID NOT WANT TO BE TAKEN BY SURPRISE BY THE UNEXPECTED SUDDEN ACCELERATION AGAIN. THE PROBLEM DID NOT FURTHER REPEAT ITSELF THIS EVENING, BUT IT WAS QUITE SCARY WHEN IT HAPPENED. I KNOW IT WAS NOT THE FLOOR MAT UNDER THE PEDAL, AS THE FLOOR MAT HAS BEEN CUT AWAY FROM THE PEDAL AREA AND WAS PULLED VERY FAR BACK INTO THE DRIVER'S SEAT AREA. *TR

'02 TOYOTA SIENNA, ACCELERATED INTO AN INTERSECTION, CAUSING GRAVE INJURIES TO OTHER DRIVER. TOYOTA DRIVER DOES NOT RECALL THE ACCIDENT. *JB

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA SIENNA. WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH THE CONTACT RELEASED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. THE CONTACT TRIED APPLYING THE BRAKES BUT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT SLOW DOWN COMPLETELY. THE CONTACT SHIFTED THE VEHICLE INTO NEUTRAL AND IT STILL DID NOT SLOW DOWN. THE CONTACT THEN SHIFTED THE VEHICLE INTO PARK WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO PULL THE VEHICLE OVER AND SHUT IT OFF. THE CONTACT RESTARTED THE VEHICLE AND THE RPM'S BEGAN TO INCREASE RAPIDLY. THE CONTACT PUMPED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND THE RPM'S DECREASED. THE VEHICLE WAS DIAGNOSED BY THREE LOCAL MECHANICS AND NEITHER ONE OF THEM COULD DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE DEALER WAS ALSO UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE AND THAT "GUNK" COULD HAVE COMPOSED IN THE ENGINE, CLOGGED IT WHICH WOULD HAVE CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO ACCELERATE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE CURRENT RECALL FOR THE PEDAL. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 83,271.

I DRIVE A 2002 TOYOTA SIENNA XLE AND HAVE EXPERIENCED A LURCHING/ACCELERATING WHEN I AM AT A FULL STOP. WHEN IT HAPPENS (WHICH IS BECOMING MORE FREQUENT) IT SEEMS AWKWARD. NOW, I WONDER IS THIS PART OF THE ACCELERATOR PROBLEM TOO? *CW

TOYOTA SIENNA VAN APPEARED TO HAVE SUDDEN ACCELERATION PROBLEM WHEN STOPPED AT STOP SIGN. ENGINE REVVED UP AS ACCELERATOR WAS ABOUT TO BE APPLIED, SO I HAD TO APPLY BRAKES AS CAR WAS MAKING SUDDEN MOVEMENTS. QUICKLY PUT CAR INTO NEUTRAL POSITION. *TR

WHILE APPROACHING A STOP SIGN INTERSECTION, CAR ACCELERATED AND CRASHED INTO ANOTHER. *TR

WHILE PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE VEHICLE ACCELERATED. AS A RESULT, VEHICLE JUMPED THE CURB AND CRASHED INTO A STORE WINDOW. NO INJURIES REPORTED. *AK *BF *NM