| Issue ID | 1565850 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 11208740 |
| Manufacurer | Toyota Motor Corporation |
| Brand | TOYOTA |
| Model | SIENNA |
| Model Year | 2014 |
| File date | 20/05/19 |
| Component | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | With the car in park and attempting to open the driver side sliding door, it refuses to open and stops abruptly during the slide only opening a few inches (not enough to render the opening usable) because the fuel door is not sufficiently closed to depress the push button that tells the van's system that the fuel door is fully shut. Thus the sliding door stops abruptly (as programmed) to avoid a collision with an open fuel door. However, that is not the case here. Upon further inspection it is noticed that the spring on the push button has such a severe stiffness that the fuel door's hinge system was not designed durable enough to compensate for the outward load exerted by the push button when the fuel door is closed and locked. For this reason, the fuel door hinge, over time, experiences a fatigue failure at the top of the hinge only. That is to say, the lower half of the hinge remains connected and operable while the top half of the hinge shears in twain. Now sheared, the fuel door is pushed freely away by the push button and the top forward most corner of the fuel door protrudes past the van's profile by half an inch or more. It is the failure of the fuel door hinge, created by the overdesign of the spring on the push button, that allows the door to not open properly despite the driver doing everything to keep the path of the door clear. Unfortunately, for embarking, this renders the sliding access point as difficult as you have to manually push against the fuel door when opening the sliding door until it halfway open. For disembarking this is the safety hazard, as there is no way to "rig" the system to operate from the inside and during emergency egress from the vehicle. If the passenger door is blocked or broken as the result of a hazard or crash, occupants in the rear of the vehicle can become trapped inside being forced to climb into the front seat or trunk |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 60000 |
| Number of Occurences | |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | JACKSONVILLE, FL |
| VIN pattern | 5TDYK3DC9ESXXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | N |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | |
| No. of fatalities | |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | |
| Drive train type | |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 0 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |