Climate blower speed seems off...

[stridertexas]

So most of the time in Texas, it's hot as sh!at and I've left the internal temps at either LO or around 68-70, even during the winter.

A few times I've noticed this winter, when I need as much as heat as possible, and I crank the blower speed to hi, barely any air is flowing out.

The rear seems to be fine.

What I've noticed so far is if I set the blower speed to high, and if the temps are set from roughly LO and up to around 68, the blower speed is blowing hard. My hair looks like Cindy Crawford in a Pepsi commercial ; )

However as I increase the temp above 68 the blower speed starts diminishing.

By the time I'm at 72 and over the blower speed feels like it's at roughly 25-30% of what the max was when the the temp setting was set to LO.

The rear again seems unaffected. If I set the temp to HI and blower to HI, it'll blow full blast. Only the front vents are affected.

It also appears to blow slightly harder when not on recirculate. The A/C filter is fine, and the fan under it is spins freely.

I believe this can't be a fuse as the blower works well when the temp settings are LO.

It's cold right now in Austin, and I need some heat. Any ideas?

 

[NMNORSSE]

When was the last time you changed thr cabin filter? There are threads here on how to do it right without breaking the recirc door.

It might not be "the" problem but a dirty filter could inhibit airflow.

 

[gaijin]

Try turning 4-Zone Climate OFF.

HTH

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Is the vehicle at full operating temp?

 

[stridertexas]

When was the last time you changed thr cabin filter? There are threads here on how to do it right without breaking the recirc door.

It might not be "the" problem but a dirty filter could inhibit airflow.

Changed it a few months ago. Yes I was aware of the recirc button when changing it.

Is the vehicle at full operating temp?

The last two time I've noticed this, no. But as the vehicle warms up the blower motor speed does not change in the front. Again the rear is always full blast no matter the operating temp.

Try turning 4-Zone Climate OFF.

HTH

Yep, no luck with turning 4-zone either on/off.

 

[TonyP]

The blower won't operate to full speed unless the vehicle is at operating temp, for heat at least.

 

[stridertexas]

The blower won't operate to full speed unless the vehicle is at operating temp, for heat at least.

I jut assumed this, but the rear blowing at 100% after start up seems odd to me, while the front is essentially at 20-30% at most...

Stil doesn’t make sense that it would be designed this way...

 

[TonyP]

I think I remember seeing that the rear uses a different heat exchanger. Whereas if the front fan is blowing against the heat exchanger at full blast, it'll take longer for the vehicle to get up to operating temp. Think about it back in the day when your s***ty Pontiac Grand Am is overheating in traffic you can blast the heat to get the engine temp down. Same principle. The heat comes from hot coolant, which comes from the engine heat.

 

[ForrestGrump]

Could be the transistor board on your blower motor. What year is it? I was just experiencing something similar. I think there is a way to check that the voltage at each pin on the plug is correct. You could go through all of that or just pull the blower motor and look to see if anything is off. If it is, replace it ($150ish shipped) I have a post about it somewhere and can send the part number also. I haven't updated that post now that I think about it. Not too hard to pull out and replace. If you can contort your body under the passenger side dash, you're half way there

 

[stridertexas]

I understand the heat (temp) part.

I guess I’m more confused about why I can’t have the blower speed on full blast, even if there’s not hot air yet

Could be the transistor board on your blower motor. What year is it? I was just experiencing something similar. I think there is a way to check that the voltage at each pin on the plug is correct. You could go through all of that or just pull the blower motor and look to see if anything is off. If it is, replace it ($150ish shipped) I have a post about it somewhere and can send the part number also. I haven't updated that post now that I think about it. Not too hard to pull out and replace. If you can contort your body under the passenger side dash, you're half way there

It’s a ‘14.

It really odd that I can’t have a full blower speed unless the temp is set below 68-69.

I might make a video...

I’m not concerned about the actual heat coming out.

 

[ForrestGrump]

Do you have AUTO button pushed? If not, could be the bad control on the blower.

 

[stridertexas]

Do you have AUTO button pushed? If not, could be the bad control on the blower.

Auto is off

 

[ForrestGrump]

Ya, sounds like a bad blower sub assembly. Nice thing is that it's an easy fix. Mine is an 08 and I think a different part number. You may want to check with Toyota on the part number because it really hard to confirm online. Mine was 87103-60481. You can also do some googling on your symptoms and see if it sounds the same as the problems you're experiencing. Fan speed doesn't work unless on full blast, or similar symptoms. YouTube vids show it's a bad blower resistor. On 200's, these are integrated on the control board which is part of the sub assembly. If what I'm saying and what some more googling of your symptoms (leave out the land cruiser in your search, you won't find it), I'd replace it. Or you could take to the shop. But labor should only be 2hrs if their greedy. Should only take 30mins if they know what they're doing

 

[morganism]

Does this model have the heater resistor in the ductwork near the gas pedal ? they can get coated in dust, and overheat. Clean very carefully.

 

[rsnellie]

Have you replaced the flux capacitor? Had to do it. Let’s go to the wheeling park in the 60’s

 

[stridertexas]

So this is a bit embarrassing I’ll say, but my problem was the type of filter I bought.

I purchased a Bosch 6055C HEPA Cabin Air Filter off Amazon. After reading reviews and pro/cons on a hepa filter for the car, I thought it made sense b/c living in Austin means allergies are a way of life.

Needless to say after replacing the filter with a Toyota filter, the air coming from the vents is much stronger.

You can see light through the factory filter unlike the Bosch. The Bosch filter is much denser than the Toyota. A good thing I suppose if one suffers from allergies, but for me the trade off in that much decreased air flow wasn’t worth it.

I’ll just stick to using the allergen/dust removal button on the climate control and changing the filter out more frequently.