And it’s held up alright?
Cabin Filter Change and the Recirculation Flap Issues FIXED (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter ttrmike
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And it’s held up alright?
been over a year now with the crazy temperature swings of Colorado. No issues.
Excellent write up, thank you! My linkage wasn’t broken, but it was popped out. After putting it back together it still wouldn’t cycle properly like it was binding somewhere. I decided to pull the actuator motor and sure enough there was a stripped gear inside. Inhad to remove the NAVI drive and some other assorted brackets to reach it. I bought a replacement part off eBay and now we’re good. I put a “NO TOUCH!!!” label on the access door so hopefully they’ll keep their greasy mits off of it at the dealer.
Now this right here is some crap! This exact thing happened to the first car I ever owned (a 1993 Chevy pickup) and it was a problem that plagued many GM products through the 1990s and 2000s. They were trying to get away from using vacuum lines to operate the blend door and dampers but they had not perfected their actuator build quality. It didn't surprise me that Delco had it wrong 30 years ago, but it does surprise me that Denso has it wrong now.
Of course the GM part would fail under regular operation and this is almost certainly an isolated incident resulting from forcing the recirculate door.
bloc
SILVER Star
To be fair the vast majority of these don't have that problem.. even most of us with broken doors. Not sure I could classify it as denso having it wrong.
Agreed, not a Denso issue. The motor was fine. It’s from untrained Techs jumping in and forcing the door open. In my case the actuator being disconnected the way it was forced the motor to turn beyond binding up and eventually chewed the teeth out of the drive gear.
Need some advice from those with fixed filter doors. Mine was broken (not just off track) by the dealer service department. I can see the damage and the door will neither move On its own nor close completely. My ‘17 is covered by a Toyota extended warranty and I could get it fixed free at the dealer. BUT, for a unknown length of time, it’s extremely difficult to get my truck to a dealer and I really don’t trust them to do a proper fix. So, I’m thinking about using my “Stay at home” time to do the repair myself this spring. I’m experienced, resourceful, fearless, and have good tools. But, if my fix fails, the dealer will be very unlikely to fix it for free since it will be obvious I messed with it. For those of you with a home-brew fix, has it held up permanently? Did the glue stick? Etc.? I’ve read through both long thread on this and it seems doable; I’m just not sure about longevity. And, BTW, I had a sign on the filter door at the dealer when the door was broken. They just don’t care.
CharlieS
GOLD Star
Have the dealer fix it and fix it right.
I fixed mine myself, and it has held up, but it isn't the proper repair (remove the dash and replace with a new unit). I would much rather have had it done correctly by a dealer, if it were free of charge.
I fixed mine myself, and it has held up, but it isn't the proper repair (remove the dash and replace with a new unit). I would much rather have had it done correctly by a dealer, if it were free of charge.
@Sandroad - bite the bullet and have a dealer fix it. I'd tell the service mgr the whole story and make them put you into a nice loaner as well. Refer them to this thread if they dont believe you, assuming they know how to use the internet.
The only time I've been to a dealer service dept(for the seatbelt recall), besides the nice warning label I got here, I locked the glove box, took the key, put a big masking tape label on the glove box, that said something like DO NOT OPEN. DO NOT INSPECT FILTER. As well, I told the service writer to put it in the work order. At my own mechanic, who I trust completely, I still tell them to stay out of the glove box. They know I can change my own filter.
The only time I've been to a dealer service dept(for the seatbelt recall), besides the nice warning label I got here, I locked the glove box, took the key, put a big masking tape label on the glove box, that said something like DO NOT OPEN. DO NOT INSPECT FILTER. As well, I told the service writer to put it in the work order. At my own mechanic, who I trust completely, I still tell them to stay out of the glove box. They know I can change my own filter.
Thanks @CharlieS and @fasteddie2015. Good advice. The only reason my truck was in the dealership was the oil change service was a freebie. In this case, free was bad. The COVID-19 lockdown is the game changer for getting it fixed at a dealer. It will be at least a couple months before I can risk taking it in and maybe well into the summer. In the meantime, I have lots of time. But for now, I’ll close the flap as much as possible and plan on a dealer fix sometime. I’ll hold off on further ranting about the dealer for now. I’m in a bad mood about damage to my truck (not the only time) and no reason to get ugly. 
Understood. If it were me, I'd talk to the service mgr and get on the record about the problem. Like u said, you have the time now. Since you're in Michigan, I wonder how far you are from Eric Sargents dealership in Indiana. Based on reputation, I'd certainly trust him to do the job.
I purchased my 16' certified from a dealer. Got it home and 9 days later heard a squeaking sound coming from the glove box when the AC was running (both fresh and recirculate) So I opened the cabin air filter the door moved freely (probably broken)...it was soaked and so was my pass side floor board. Checked the fuse panel, no water thank goodness. Took it back to the dealer, they had the windshield replaced before I purchased it, non oem. So they are starting there as far as the leak is concerned. We had a pretty good rainstorm where I'm at. When I looked from the top of the cowl I could see straight I to the cabin are filter, is that normal? I should here back from the dealer in a few days.
Seeing the cabin filter through the cowl is normal. How it’s water tight is absolutely beyond me.
Blows me away.
PhuckItImDone
SILVER Star
So on my '18 there is a decal, from the dealer, or Toyota, stating to have the recirc on and all. Rightnon the door. Replaced the filter today myself, having locked the glovebox and taken the key everytime its been at the dealer, because of reading the stories here.
bloc
SILVER Star
Probably still a good idea to lock the glovebox. The level of dealer tech changing cabin filters is very unlikely to pay attention to warning labels they see dozens of times per day.
CharlieS
GOLD Star
Lock it, label it, don't leave a physical key (even the spare in the fob) and tell the service writer that you don't want the cabin filter touched.
