I just bought a one-way Southwest flight from LA to St. Louis. Luckily, it comes with two check-in bags, because I’ve got a ton of tools I need to bring with me, as the trip’s purpose is to revive a dead 2005 Toyota Sienna Minivan that I bought for $500. I have exactly one day to turn it from “immobile, been sitting for years” to “ready to drive 1000 miles,” and my plan isn’t great. Hear me out.
The truth is, I’m not entirely sure what’s wrong with the minivan that a reader named Dave sold me for $500. When I visited him, he showed me that the struts are broken (like this), but as the vehicle has been sitting, there’s no telling what else might be wrong. I do know that it was his trusty all-wheel family drive minivan for years, but is no longer needed, so it just sits on the side of the road, awaiting a blogger to finally pick it up after over a year of promises.
Well, the time has come for me to finally save this van and bring it to my coworker, Jason, who has suffered far too many automotive mishaps, and is in desperate need of a car that just works — you know, a Toyota (the fact that it has 240,000 miles and cost $500 doesn’t change anything, right?).
A week from Monday, I’m off with my tools to St. Louis, where a bunch of parts that I’ve ordered from eBay will await me. Here are those parts:
Now, do I necessarily need control arms and sway bar links and tie rods? No, but I will say that the odds of only the struts being bad are pretty damn low, and I’d like to have replacement parts on hand, just in case.
I may have actually gone a bit overboard with front-end replacement parts, but I do think having a set of front wheel bearings on hand is a smart idea, so I snagged those as well. And I know, I know, many folks will say “damn, those are some cheap eBay parts,” and it’s true, but if I’m honest, I’ve had good luck with eBay front-end kits, especially for cars that aren’t driven a ton. Plus, those two purchases added up to almost the cost of the van, so they weren’t that cheap.
Above you can see my planned route. It’s 811 miles to VA, where The Autopian will be doing some exclusive testing on a secret test track, and another 110 or so miles to Jason in Chapel Hill. I look forward to hooning the all-wheel drive minivan around that track, but most importantly, to getting Jason a car he can depend on: a Toyota.
Will it live up to the hype? Will it solve Jason’s seemingly-unending automotive woes — the broken Ford F-150 flywheel, the seized beetle engine, the overheating VW Tiguan, the janky battery’d Changli, the MacGuyver’d Yugo? Will this minivan be the salvation he deserves, allowing him to stress less so that his recently-burst heart can truly heal?
We’ll find out soon. Hopefully I still remember how to wrench on rustbuckets.
“Will this minivan be the salvation he deserves, allowing him to stress less so that his recently-burst heart can truly heal?”
Of all the dumb-ass dumb-assery ever inflicted on us by this or the previous site, this is the dumb-assest.
“STRESS LESS???” Sweet jumpin’ Jesus with a defibrillator, you’ve just sent his blood pressure through the roof and he’s probably on a second heart attack by now.
Here’s poor Jason the Polish leprechaun, struggling to put up the odd post because he’s being matched weird-for-weird by Thomas the Canadian elf (seriously – I’ve met him at a Toronto Autopian get-together). And now, his co-editor who needs to be filling in for him is embarking on this condition-unknown Toyota rescue while simultaneously freaking out over his latest Jeep project.
Someone tell Torch’s wife to keep him off the site and feed him more happy pills. NOW.
Maybe the Autopian has an expected large “donation” from a life insurance policy taken out on an employee as part of the 2024 budget…
Just a friendly reminder to avoid speeding in Virginia at all costs!
WV too! They don’t take a shine to Yankees disrespecting their laws much either.
worse yet a Californized Yankee to boot.
Virginia police make WV look like the Good Sam Club. With the possible exception of those in the area of Summersville.
Only a problem around Summerville if you have a kayak, or at least a roof rack, on your vehicle.
It used to be you got to the WV border and moved to the right lane where you would get passed like you were standing still by the locals, but if you with an out of state (Northern) plate were going 5 mph over the limit you would get pulled over. Based on my most recent experiences in WV, that does not seem to be the case any more. Va, on the other hand seems to have become an even bigger police state – which is saying something because they have been bad for a long time, this is one of the reasons I don’t live in the state and don’t visit my friends there as much as I should. Good Advice.
Don’t forget, in Virginia any speed over 80 is automatically reckless driving, even if you’re on a 70mph highway.
And make sure you have some small bills with you. Part of I-64 in WV is a toll road.
I feel like Mr. Tracy’s need to one-up himself with his extreme junker repair hijinks are going to end up in uncanny places.
“I have 90 minutes to repair this Bugatti Veyron that fell off a cliff, caught on fire and has been used as a cliffside nest by a flock of rabid seagulls for 10 years”
“Here’s my ultimate idiot plan to build a VW type 4 out of iron ore I mined myself”
“I have to drive this Jeep out of the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, the doors of the ship it sunk in are rusted shut and used as a nest by a swarm of rabid octopi”
I’m here for that last one.
David Tracy will be the first human on Mars if we can just get an abandoned manual Grand Cherokee there first.
Mars looks like it’s basically made of rust. I’m surprised David doesn’t live there yet.
Ssh.. we don’t let the world know we have an alien in our midst.. especially if he is ever going to run for president.
Preferably a Holy Grail GC
Not an idiotic plan. Put in some fresh gas, oil, top off fluids, free up the calipers (they will be surely stuck), maybe fix the strut if it’s really sketchy.
It’ll make the trip just fine.
It might make the trip but dumping a $500 crap-can on someone with Jason’s suspect wrenching skills will certainly NOT lower his stress levels. Soon, something else will fail and he will have another lawn ornament causing he and his longsuffering wife angst every time they venture out their door.
I agree, I just meant it doesn’t need to be fixed up in front of the sellers house on the side of the road to make the trip to Chapel Hill.
But it should be brought up to snuff at Jason’s place before he takes ownership.
The man really deserves a reliable vehicle.
The car LOOKS great. No real signs of rust. Fix that front suspension, some new fluids and tires, it will be fine.
Don’t forget an alignment after messing with the front suspension.
02 sensor is also likely going to be an issue, but many a beater has rolled around with the check engine light on. as long as it does not cause rough idle, I suppose it is ok.
Has anyone asked Sally what her thoughts were on this????? Good luck, just did suspension work myself. SOOoooo fun.
I expect Sally’s eyes have rolled back farther than an odometer at Marvin’s Motor Mart, where we finance everyone!
Good one! 🙂
Just curious what you do with these vehicles that have been sitting for years with presumably bad gas in the tank. Add some fresh gas and let ‘er rip? Or anything further than that?
If zombie shows and movies have taught me anything, everything will be just fine.
This is true, batteries included.
Yes, I’m always impressed with how The Walking Dead always had fueled up operational vehicles years after industrialized society broke down.
I loled that this is the follow up to the “I’m totally screwed getting this GC ready for Moab” article. Somehow I totally forgot about the van plan.
I didn’t recall from the last article that the van had been sitting for years? Must have missed that. That… changes things a little bit. That being said, those underbody shots certainly don’t scream “rust bucket” to me.
I’m usually a skeptic but I actually think this one will go fairly well.
I’m kind of surprised to see that rear differential hanging down there with no brackets or subframes or anything around it or supporting it. I guess it’s just bolted in through the top. I was also kind of surprised to see a differential with a removable cover instead of the standard Toyota/Nissan/Ford 9 inch removable center section and welded cover. Maybe that’s only for solid axles.
I haven’t spent much time around AWD/4wd cars that aren’t Subarus or jeeps, so the whole thing is kind of weird to me. I guess that’s a twist beam rear suspension? Is that what the standard Sienna uses too? All I’ve really looked at is the Dodge minivan with a De Dion rear axle, which is cool.
You can see the bracket bolting to the cover in the one pic.
These Haldex-style AWD systems don’t need that strong of a rear end because they can’t put a lot of power to it.
That’s what I figured. That diff and those axle shafts actually look like they’re in the beefy side for how little torque that must see.
Next time you’re behind a 1st Gen crv in traffic look at the cv axles. They are absolutely tiny.
Can confirm. Owned a 4wd Element. Rear axle shafts were the diameter of my pinky.
Good luck with it. I have done all the suspension on my wife’s 15 odyssey last year and used mevotech and KYB stuff. Both are OE suppliers to honda. I think it ran me like $700 plus my labor and beer.
I really never had good experiences with aftermarket parts, especially the cheaper ones. I always had to go ahead and redo it in a year or so.
A 2015 odyssey already needed all new suspension? I guess that car is 9 years old now, but that’s still not very long…….
well it was at 140k miles on it. Now it’s 165k. Besides 2 sets of brakes all around and the 105K service, it never needed anything else, and my wife is abusing the damn thing.
Well, i am not counting flats because the damn thing is always getting one every 3 or 4 months. If someone drops a nail on the road this car will pick it up for sure. I am thinking even the replacing the car for this reason alone. we had a streak where within 2 days we had 3 flats
Well I don’t know how hard she drives it but 140k is significantly less than I’m used to. I replaced a bunch of suspension parts that weren’t that bad on a Dodge minivan with 190k. I really need to redo all the bushings on my Accord, but that’s because they’re all 32 years old and have 280k miles.
140k is time to redo that stuff. Especially stuff with bushings since those are ragged at that point. I did a front end redo on our 140k RAV4. There was an incipient bad ball joint and tie rod end. New control arms, front struts and sway bar bushings all the way around completed the job. But wow, I’m scarred for life after doing the rear stuff. There’s zero clearance back there! The car drove noticeably better after all that. My Cruze needs new struts/shocks every 60k miles or so. They’re easy to DIY like most stuff is on that car.
I’ve heard that newer cars usually use much softer rubber in the bushings and they wear out faster. On old cars the bushings should not be shot at 140k. Bushings look great on my XJ with 230k. Like I said, 190k miles on a 2008 Caravan and the bushings weren’t too bad.
Salt, man. The salt does a number on everything. Between the cold shrinking stuff along with making it more brittle and the salt drying out the rubber, it’s a rough environment for a car. I do soak the underside of the cars with Fluid Film yearly every fall. That helps immensely at keeping the salt at bay! With a good sprayer the prep work of removing underbody shields takes longer than spraying the cars.
Granted they were all older, ranging from 1988-2006, but the main weakness in every Honda I’ve ever owned was front suspension. Ball joints, tie rod ends, CV’s…they’ve been problem areas.
My 1992 Honda has front suspension issues, and rear suspension issues, because it has 280k miles. My other 1991 Honda with 154k? miles has suspension in great shape.
David yesterday: “I have three month to finish my Jeep or I’m out of the Jeep Super Friends!”
David today: “So, anyways I’m flying to St. Louis to fix some dude’s van. That’s now my van. I’m giving myself 24 hours to fix it before driving it halfway across the country.”
You do really like a deadline.
can you imagine this being a “reality tv” show
“David has found a ’93 Dodge Neon that’s sat on bottom of Lake Huron for six month. At only 100 dollars, David meets the guy at a local boat launch in Alpena. He has given himself two days to get the Neon into top shape, before driving it to Vancouver, Washington for his cousin’s uncle’s wedding. He plans to give the pristine five speed Neon to whoever happens to be working valet that night. Join us this week on David Tracy and the Holy Grail(s)”.
If anyone can meet such a deadline, it is David. Project Cactus was quite something.
“Plus, those two purchases added up to almost the cost of the van, so they weren’t that cheap.”
With logic like that, what can go wrong?
Disclaimer: I fully support this endeavor, motive, undertaking. Go be David.
I’ve done all these parts on my wife’s ’04. A few things-
> To swap out the control arms, some of the motor mounts need to come out
Whut
The two bolts for the front hinge of the control arm can’t be accessed with the motor mount in place.
The trade off of transverse engine layout, you can stuff a lot in a smaller space. Not a problem if you never need to take those things out. Those plugs against the firewall will be a pain to access.
Can confirm the Sienna is unbeaten when it comes to access to cupholders. It will accommodate numerous Slushees.
I am excited for David to join the ranks of those who enjoy minivans. Those Sienna’s are a great “they just work” car.
Umm, welcome new friend!? David loves minivans, and has one he keeps in Germany for tooling around Europe and visiting supercars.
He enjoys that minivan, because it is a holy grail. I wouldn’t say that he enjoys minivans, but that he loves Jeeps and the odd holy grail.
Can someone tell me how this Sienna can be an XLE and a Limited? I was pretty sure those were two different trims, maybe just an added badge?
I think it was CE, LE, and XLE. Limited was maybe just an option package.
For the first few years of this gen, Toyota did label it it as “XLE Limited” for whatever reason, even though it was indeed a separate trim at the very top. Not sure if they were just concerned that people wouldn’t think it was the top Limited was already the top on Toyota’s SUVs and it’s rare for “Limited” to have ever meant a trim that wasn’t higher end. The Avalon would add a Limited trim above XLS the next year (but not XLS Limited). Or perhaps they just felt it was too copycat of the Chrysler T&C having a Limited trim at the top.
Nowadays we still see it like Kia with SX and SX Prestige but it’s more common in two “names” for the trim – like Honda with Touring and Touring Elite, as Touring and Elite might not mean anything on their own, but more words = fancier I suppose.
It was also Limited Platinum for a few years on Highlanders before that was spun off into its own trim level
Thanks for the info, I always like hearing about the odd ball manufacturer naming conventions. Toyota seems to have a history of spinning off names and trims. My aunt had a Celica Supra model back in the day and then they became two separate models.
Same, this is one of the few outlets I have for such obscure vehicle knowledge I acquired over the years, lol.
Yeah – Camry Solara, Corolla Matrix, etc etc – they do have such a habit of rolling names together.
Toyota Sienna XLE. Mobility currently Limited.
XLE was the top standard trim in those days. Any major factory options would sometimes be indicated with a second badge next to the trim badge, for example you could get a V6 in any Camry and they would add a V6 badge next to the LE/SE/XLE badge. I’m not sure when Toyota started using Limited as a full trim above the XLE.
I think the 4Runner was the first Toyota in the 90s to have a “Limited” and then it trickled into their other trucks/SUVs by the 2000s. The Sienna was the first “car” with a Limited trim IIRC, maybe they felt they had to bridge the two as XLE Limited since the Sienna did follow CE/LE/XLE. The Avalon followed in ’05, but the only other Toyota car that ever added a Limited that comes to mind is the Prius. OTOH Toyota crossovers never followed the LE/XLE format until the 2010s so that sort of converged too.
Good luck! Treat yourself to a hot salami sandwich from Gioia’s if you get a chance. Plenty of other great Italian places on The Hill for pastas you can eat in the shower as well..
For cost to quality ratio, I recommend Amighetti’s.
I’d grab some Imo’s. I love it and I’m a Chicago pizza snob.
second this, lots of good places to eat in STL, be sure to get some toasted raviolis, super yum!
Because flying in to replace the flywheel on the F150 or to drop a new engine in the Beetle (or both) would lack the entertainment value of a trademark David Tracy hopeless cause project.
I kind of assumed he would be replacing the f150 flywheel while he’s there. We’ll see.
I wonder if that truck is the best thing to drive while he recovers. It is a bit agricultural—not even sure if it has power steering.
If he can drive it, I’m an hour north of NC, and I’ve replaced the flywheel in a 72 F100. It’s not hard—but you kinda need 2people for pulling & replacing the trans as it’s too big for most to benchpress.
Having sat in The Marshal, I can verify that it’s not the sort of vehicle one would prefer while recovering from major surgery.
Having daily driven a straight six manual 2wd f150 very similar to the Marshal for several years, I can verify that it ain’t bad. Light clutch, pretty smooth ride(soft half ton springs and independent front), and a very comfortable seating position that’s quite easy to get into(although maybe a little tall for Jason). Out of all my cars, the f150 is perhaps the best of all of them if I were recovering from major surgery.
It has power steering, that was standard equipment by then.
Bench press? You don’t use a jack to pull transmissions? I can pull that transmission by myself if I have a floor jack, or, better yet, an actual transmission jack. I ain’t bench pressing no transmissions, even with a friend.
Right: one to work the jack: the other to maneuver the trans
Yeah he said he would in the first van post
If there’s a lack of thrills, I’m certain Torch’s chainsaw could be employed somehow. “One of the engine mount bolts on the VW was stripped, so we had to cut the entire back end off the Bug…”
I drove my 286k prius to michigan and back a few times. Same with the 100k bmw motorcycle, you’ll be fine
Why not change the rotors while you are in there- they look a bit Krusty approved
I’ll see how they feel.
You may have to intervene if they feel overconfident. Be nice about it.
Bring a torch, heat is your friend with stuck bolts. Can also be used as a space heater in case you’re having to do all this outside!
If you break down around Lexington, KY, have trailer, will travel.
Watching David work on Project Cactus is what taught me how to properly use this trick.
He doesn’t get to Torch until after the van is fixed 😉
Do not use a torch while cleaning a carburetor.
I learned this lesson when I nearly burned down a man’s humongous garage.
The best part is that you made this response to someone with a username KYFire.
Are you sure that wasn’t a subconscious attempt at a funeral pyre for the FC?
I had almost this exact van for several years, just sold it a few months ago. Overall it’s great. The plugs and coils tend for go bad every 100,000 miles, so keep that in mind. The front 3 cylinders are easy to access, but the rear three are a bear, as they are partially obstructed by a bunch of cladding and wiper motors and such. Taking that all apart to get at the plugs and then reassembling again takes a few hours. Also, this era of Sienna had a notorious VVTI hose failure and Limited Service Campaign, and while I don’t think it applies to this particular engine it’s worth thinking about:
https://www.siennachat.com/threads/oil-cooler-failure-no-recall-beware.60699/
I may have to remove that wiper transmission to do the struts, so maybe I should do those rear three coils and plugs?
Project creep!
I think we’ve all been here…
The universe will probably punish you for not replacing them when you have them easily accessible. haha
Far be it for me to add to your already stunning to-do list, but if you’re taking that area apart anyway then it seems worth it to zip some new ones in there, although I was shocked at the cost of the plugs and coils (but cheaper eBay/Amazon options are available). You get two jobs done with one disassembly! Is the mathematical inverse of project creep efficiency?
I bought Amazon sourced NGK plugs for my Taco. Turned out they were counterfeit/defective (first time I’ve encountered that in 55yrs of buying NGK). Turned out O’Reilly’s had them for near the same price. Autozone were like 3X the price.
Yup the common trick shady sellers do. They know Amazon just bin together with the same SKU eg spark plugs / sd card etc. So they sign up to be 3rd party seller that uses Amazon warehouses. CS people don’t care, they just refund the money.
“Creep Efficiency”. I like that. So true….Thats how I wound up with a new drive belt tensioner and idler pulley, along with the radiator hoses, and drive belt, while putting a new radiator in my ’06 Miata. Wait, was that a squeak, I heard…
Despite being another car that usually “just works”, I am pretty sure that when that car was built, they started by hanging a radiator from the ceiling, and then assembled the rest of the car around it.
“As long as you’re in there”
I bought a set of hubs for a Saturn VUE from Detroit Axle – seemed like good stuff.
I’m not familiar with SCITOO, but according to their little badge they’re “100% ensure” so they should be fine. 🙂
You’ve got a full tank of class, half a pack of Raisinets, it’s dark, and you’re wearing eyeglasses.
Hit it.
lol. 100% ensure. Sounds great!
Fingers crossed, et cetera
Btw, if that last part sounded a little odd it was inspired by this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbF29c_FpV8
(AFAIK you haven’t seen the film yet, but maybe you stealth-watched it on a plane or something)
I might even have gone with “he’s drunk…how would he know where we’re going?!”
I have to say, since this is going to ostensibly be carrying a guy whose heart…just….burst… maybe spending an extra couple bucks for reputable parts (other than the Scitoos) on Rock Auto might have been worth it. You dont want him pitching forward and straining at the seat belt if a tie rod end goes. And do you save money if you put these struts on and they last a year, meaning they need to be replaced. I would have gone with Monroes at the minimum, but most likely KYBs.
Detroit Axle is good people. I live close enough to go to their factory/workshop in person. The BMW dealer I worked at used them to refurb parts.
That’s good info – thank you!
Good to hear! I’ll give them a shot if I need what they sell. Seen them on Amazon and eBay. The reviews seemed genuine but ya never know these days.
I’ve bought a ton of stuff from Detroit Axle and I’m sure I’ll buy a ton more. Considering the price I didn’t really expect much out of that first power steering rack but that exceeded my expectations and they’ve been a go to for me ever since.
For $500, you got a damned good deal.
Let me know if you need any help wrenching.
The 3MZ is a very reliable unit, but it is a timing belt, so maybe ask when that was last done (it is an interference design). Also they are sensitive to oil changes, so check for signs of oil gelling and sludge.
It’s not likely that I’ll be changing a timing belt.
Thus foreshadowing Torch’s next big vehicular disaster. 😉
I completely understand not wanting to replace the timing belt it IS a major job that easily can take a full day in and of itsself…
That said the timing belt change interval on these is 120k miles. And you said this has 240k miles…
I’m no mathematician, but I did stay at a Holiday Express last night, so unless you have proof the timing belt (plus accessory belt, and all the relates tensioner and pullys, water pump and thermostat) were replaced recently…
It will probably be fine for the drive there, but that just means you’ll be leaving Jason with another vehicle with another major maintence job that is needed.
I had my timing belt (and all tensioners, pullys, accessory belt plus water pump, thermostat and ypper and lower radiator hoses replaced* (on a 2wd 2004 Sienna XLE) the van was at 180k miles because I was concerned with the age of the belts.
My mechanic also had to replace the passenger side (upper) engine mount bc that mount had to be removed to give good enough access to replace the belts and the large engine mount bolt was frozen in place.
*I try to do as much work on my vehicles myself and I have replaced timing belts before (I replaced 3x timing belts + all related stuff noted above) on my last primary daily (98′ VW TDI Jetta, knowing what’s involved I left this big job to my mechanic 🙂
Ugh I stand corrected, 90k miles is the timing belt replacement interval and the 3.3 v6 in these is a non-interface engine too. Still good thing I replaced mine around 180k miles (I replaced it at 178k miles).
So IF the timing belt was replaced around 180k miles it should be OK.
Ref: https://www.timingbeltinfo.com/toyota-sienna
Honestly those vans are stout, overall.
Check to see if the rear diff is clunking, you can save yourself replacing the unit if you replace the bushings in time…or else if they go for too long then you need a new rear diff.
Also, those 5 speed autos are great but they really do need fluid changes since they run a little hot and degrade fluid a bit fast, especially in the AWD vans.
Since it’s a 2005, it has a timing belt, so check that out as well.
But, overall, these are very good vans. It’s just that a lot of them weren’t maintained well.
Also, did you know that you have the uncommon version with adaptive cruise control?
I haven’t driven one, but I’ve heard the system is decent, especially for a van that started in model year 2004 (!)
If the system still works (it should), then your long drive should be a lot easier.
Say what?! Really?!
Yep, it was optional on only the limited version, and there is a small hole that is on the front end, lower passenger side, that was used for the Dynamic Laser Cruise Control.
I’m not 100% sure you have it, but I’m fairly sure you do. Check it out!
yes XLE Limiteds have adaptive cruise! I mentioned that on the original post too, I am curious how well it works compared to today’s systems. IIRC this was a year before the Avalon even offered it.
If my memory serves (and it could not…), this adaptive cruise was able to control speed only through shifting gears and relying on engine braking, and isn’t actually connected to the brakes, so it’s limited in the rate it can slow you at and how slow you can go?
That’s a good question, I’m not sure. I found that Toyota did add brake control to the laser-guided cruise in 2000, but can’t tell if all versions thereafter had that by default or if they perhaps reserved that part for Lexus after it trickled down to Toyota. And by/around the time they began offering laser-based on Sienna and then Avalon, they had introduced the radar-based cruise and precollision systems too in the LS430.
Godspeed. You’re a good friend.