2004 TOYOTA TACOMA Complaints

POWER STEERING PUMP SEAL FAILED AT 57000 MILES. FAILURE NOTICED BY (LOW FLUID) PUMP NOISE ON 09/19/06. PUMP REPLACED BY DEALER ON 09/23/06 UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY. DEALER STATED THAT THEY HAD SEEN SEVERAL POWER STEERING PUMP FAILURES WITH LESS MILEAGE. *JB

A WEEK AFTER BUYING MY TACOMA (04) WE WERE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AND W/ONLY 496.4 MILES ON IT, THE TRUCK STARTED TO SHAKE CONTINUOSLY, IT STARTED SMOKING AND THE STEERING WHEEL SEIZED UP ON ME. I MANAGED TO AVOID A HUGE CAR ACCIDENT, AND PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. WHEN WE GOT OUT WE SAW THAT MY BACK DRIVERS SIDE TIRE WAS COMPLETELY GONE AND HAD A SIDEWALL BLOWOUT W/NOTHING LEFT ON THE TIRE. I CALLED TOYOTA AND THEY WOULD DO NOTHING FOR ME SINCE IT WAS THE TIRE, I HAD TO TAKE IT TO A TIRE COMPANY. I DID GET THE ONE TIRE REPLACED BUT IT WAS A TIRE THAT DIDN'T MATCH MY OTHER 3. I HAD REQUESTED ALL OF MY TIRES TO BE INSPECTED AS WELL AS MY TRUCK BUT NO ONE WOULD COOPERATE.

I PURCHASED MY TACOMA IN 2004 WITH 6000 MILES ON IT. EVERY SINCE I BOUGHT IT, IT HAS BEEN EXTREMELY HIGH ON GAS, ONLY GETTING BETWEEN 240-260 MILES ON A TANK. I HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE TOYOTA DEALER AND THEY COULD NOT FIND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT. IT FEELS AS IF IT HAS A SKIP IN IT. I NOW HAVE 20,789 MILES ON IT AND WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER THEY RECOMMENDED A FUEL INJECTION FLUSH SO I HAD THAT DONE BUT IT STILL FEELS AS THOUGH IT STILL HAS A SKIP. THIS IS ONLY A 4 CYLINDER MOTOR SHOULDN'T I BE GETTING BETTER GAS MILEAGE? *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED AFTER RELEASING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE IDLED WHEN THE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED AGAIN. THE PEDAL MUST BE RELEASED AND DEPRESSED FOR THE VEHICLE TO RESPOND. THIS OCCURRED ONCE EVERY TWO WEEKS OR SEVERAL TIMES A DAY. THE DEALERSHIP WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. *AK UPDATED 10/4/2006 - WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WITH THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL PRESSED THE VEHICLE WOULD DECELERATE. THE VEHICLE WOULD LOSE POWER WITHOUT WARNING. *NM

2004 TOYOTA TACOMA WILL NOT PASS INSPECTION DUE TO WORN STEERING RACK BUSHINGS. ACCORDING TO MY MECHANIC (AND CONFIRMED AS PLAUSIBLE BY DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPT), THIS WAS CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE LOWER BALL JOINTS. ALSO, THERE IS A CURRENT SERVICE/RECALL BULLETIN FOR JUST THIS PROBLEM. HOWEVER, DEALERSHIP AND MANUFACTURER REPRESENTATIVES BOTH INSIST THE BULLETIN DOES NOT APPLY TO MY VEHICLE. THIS MAKES NO SENSE AS THE PROBLEM EXISTS. THE BUMPER TO BUMPER DOES NOT APPLY AS THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY 2K OVER. *JB

2004 TACOMA RACK AND PINION SYSTEM WAS REPLACED TWICE PER THE SUGGESTION OF THE MECHANIC. MECHANIC INFORMED CONSUMER THAT THE STEERING ROD WAS ALSO BROKEN. ALTHOUGH THIS PART WAS BROKEN THE DEALER RETURNED THE VEHICLE BACK TO THE CONSUMER BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE PART AVAILABLE TO REPAIR IT. THE DEALER SAID THERE WAS NO DANGER IN DRIVING THE VEHICLE WITH A STEERING BROKEN ROD. *TS *NM

AT A STOP, VEHICLE DOES NOT ACCELERATE AFTER DEPRESSING THE GAS PEDAL. 2 OCCASIONS NEARLY CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. ALSO, AT CRUISING SPEEDS (60-70 MPH) VEHICLE WILL DECELERATE WITHOUT ANY CHANGE IN PRESSURE TO THE GAS PEDAL. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THE RACK AND PINION STEERING HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE DUE TO CRACKS. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO A SERVICE DEALER WHO DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS A FAULTY BUSHING. AFTER THE SECOND REPAIR, THERE WAS A LOT OF PLAY IN THE STEERING, CAUSING REDUCED CONTROL. THE STEERING ROD ALSO FAILED. UPDATED 04/11/06. *JB

2004 TOYOTA TACOMA [XXX] ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM (ETCS). ON 26 FEB 2005, 14 APR 2005, 17 APR 2005 AND 20 FEB 2005 AFTER PROLONGED DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHEN STEPPING OFF THE GAS PEDAL TO MAKE A STOP THE ENGINE SPEED WOULD NOT DECREASE AND I WOULD HAVE TO APPLY BOTH FEET TO THE BRAKE PEDAL TO TRY TO SLOW DOWN, AND SWERVE TO THE SIDE TO AVOID HITTING VEHICLES IN FRONT OF ME. AFTER APPROXIMATELY 5-10 SECONDS THE ENGINE SPEED WOULD SUDDENLY DECREASE AND I COULD REGAIN CONTROL. WHILE STRUGGLING TO KEEP CONTROL DID NOT SHIFT FROM DRIVE TO NEUTRAL. IN EACH INSTANCE NO WARNING LIGHTS. BEFORE THESE 4 EVENTS OCCURRED THE ENGINE SUFFERED A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE ON 11 APR 2004 WITH ONLY 1,111 MILES. TOYOTA OF CARSON CITY NEVADA EFFECTED THE REPAIRS TO THE CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE BY REPLACING THE LOWER BLOCK AND THE CYLINDER HEADS AMONG OTHER COMPONENTS. I TOOK THE CAR TO TOYOTA OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA ON 1 MAR 2005, 20 APR 2005, 5 MAY 2005 AND 23 FEB 2006 FOR THE SPEED CONTROL PROBLEM BUT THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE IT AND WOULD NOT REPLACE ANY COMPONENTS. APPARENTLY THE COMPUTER DID NOT REGISTER/STORE ANY DIAGNOSTIC FAILURE CODES. I KNOW BY HAVING READ THE TOYOTA SERVICE MANUAL THAT THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE DOES NOT RECORD ALL FAILURES. I CANNOT TELL IF THIS PROBLEM WAS PRESENT WHEN THE CAR WAS BUILT OR WHETHER IT WAS INDUCED BY REPAIRS FOR THE CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE. WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT I HAVE A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO AVOID HITTING A PEDESTRIAN OR ANOTHER VEHICLE. I HAVE EXHAUSTED ALL CONSUMER SUPPORT AVENUES WITH TOYOTA. REFERENCE NUMBER [XXX] WITH ELOISE TOYOTA CUSTOMER SUPPORT 1-800-331-4331 TODAY 24 FEB 2006 INDICATES THAT THEY WILL NOT DO ANYTHING ELSE. I STRONGLY SUSPECT THAT THERE ARE TWO FAILURES. FIRST, THE THROTTLE BODY IS MALFUNCTIONING INTERMITTENTLY CAUSING THE PROBLEM. SECOND, THE ECM IS FAILING TO DETECT AND RECORD THE EVENT. *NM UPDATED 07/17/2012 *JS

ONE OF REAR SHOCKS HAD TO BE REPLACED IN LESS THAN 5,000 MILES ON A NEW 2004 TACOMA. *AK