NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE08-041: STEERING INTERMEDIATE SHAFT BINDING
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE08-041 on July 9, 2008 and closed it on October 28, 2008, the day it opened Engineering Analysis EA08-024, which this investigation's summary cites. NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2004 Toyota Sienna for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE08-041 (also written PE08041)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed October 28, 2008
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Toyota Motor Corporation
- Components
- Steering; Steering — Column; Steering — Linkages
- Vehicles and equipment
- 2004 Toyota Sienna
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE08-041.
THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION, PE08-041, TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF STEERING BINDING OR INCREASED STEERING EFFORT CAUSED BY CORROSION OF STEERING INTERMEDIATE UNIVERSAL JOINTS IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2004 TOYOTA SIENNA VEHICLES.TOYOTA'S RESPONSE TO ODI'S REQUEST FOR INFORMATION IN PE08-041 INDICATED THAT TOYOTA HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING REPORTS OF INCREASED STEERING EFFORT IN MY 2004 THROUGH 2006 SIENNA VEHICLES SINCE 2005. TOYOTA DETERMINED THAT A COMBINATION OF THERMAL DAMAGE AND SUBSEQUENT WATER INTRUSION COULD LEAD TO CORROSION OF THE LOWERMOST UNIVERSAL JOINT INSTALLED ON THE STEERING INTERMEDIATE SHAFT OF THE SUBJECT VEHICLES. TOYOTA HAS MADE PRODUCTION CHANGES SINCE SEPTEMBER 2006 TO ADDRESS THESE CONCERNS AND HAS ISSUED TWO TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS TO ITS DEALERSHIPS TO PROVIDE INSTRUCTIONS ON DIAGNOSING AND REPAIRING COMPLAINTS RELATED TO CORROSION OF THE INTERMEDIATE SHAFT. TOYOTA HAS NOT DETERMINED THAT A SAFETY DEFECT EXISTS IN THE STEERING SYSTEM OF THE TOYOTA SIENNA VEHICLES AND PROVIDED TEST DATA SHOWING THAT THE EFFECT ON STEERING EFFORT IS MINIMAL, EVEN FOR PARTS WITH RELATIVELY SEVERE CORROSION. ODI ANALYZED COMPLAINT AND WARRANTY DATA RELATING TO THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS: (1) STEERING INTERMEDIATE SHAFT BINDING OR LOCKING; (2) CORROSION OF THE STEERING INTERMEDIATE SHAFT UNIVERSAL JOINT; (3) COMPLAINTS OF INCREASED EFFORT TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL FROM NEUTRAL OR RETURN TO NEUTRAL AFTER TURNING (E.G., HARD STEERING OR STEERING BINDING); OR (4) NOISE WHILE STEERING.THESE ANALYSES REVEALED THAT THE SUBJECT VEHICLES HAVE EXPERIENCED A TOTAL COMPLAINT RATE OF 81.0 PER 100,000 VEHICLES AND A TOTAL WARRANTY CLAIM RATE OF 3.0 PERCENT.ODI'S ANALYSIS FOUND THAT APPROXIMATELY TWO-THIRDS OF COMPLAINTS WERE FOR NOISE ONLY.SIMILAR ANALYSIS OF THE WARRANTY DATA SHOWED THAT 91 PERCENT WERE RELATED TO NOISE CONCERNS. ODI HAS UPGRADED THIS INVESTIGATION TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA08-024) TO CONDUCT TESTING TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF THE ALLEGED DEFECT ON STEERING EFFORT IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE08-041. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Toyota
Toyota Sienna
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Toyota VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE08-041
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.