This is a common problem on your vehicle and other years also you can try spraying a lubricate on the latch to see if it will free up also problems with the cables on the doors up to a couple grand or more to have repaired per door.
Toyota sienna sliding door latch problems.
Most common problem is the motor of the latch fails.
Order a new motor from a toyota authorized dealer like ours.
The electric motor s circuit will become overloaded and this will trip the fuse and prevent the door from being closed entirely.
Easy fix for sliding door that won t open unless you really yank on it.
After you have the replacement part it is simply a swap and reassemble process.
If the lock is free from obstructions it could be the actuator.
When your sienna side door won t close one possibility is a circuit overload.
Here is how you fix it.
The sliding door latch is not working see the picture of the latch unit.
This happens when the power sliding door isn t able to latch on properly due to something blocking it.
Toyota sienna vehicles with this problem.
Remove the door panel and look over the locking mechanism.