STEERING INTERMEDIATE SHAFT BINDING

What NHTSA is examining

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…

Vehicles under investigation