Cold air on Passenger Side Floor - Has anyone figured it out? (1 Viewer)

[JETTIX2]

I have searched all through the board here, and found several threads about this..........05 LX470, with the heat on, my wife complains of cold air on the passenger side floor area. Thread "solution" was to check the carpet installation, I have verified and my carpet is not obstructing the heat vent (on center console side) at all.....this appears to be the only vent on the passenger side floor.

Vehicle not moving, there is hot air blowing from the vent, and I don't feel any cold draft from anywhere else. She said the air seems to be coming from near the blower motor or base of A-pillar area, but only as we're traveling down the road.

Any help appreciated, I am assuming it is a WIND leak that is causing cold air to be pushed into the cabin. ?? Only thing I found re: this was a possible loose antenna grommet. Any other thoughts?

Any help appreciated, thx

 

[Trunk Monkey]

So while it's sitting you can put your hand there and it's hot air? Have your wife drive and I would verify yourself the temps over on the passenger side. If my truck is on 85* and floor vents, it's hot enough I can't hold my hand in front of the vent for long.

 

[JETTIX2]

When we have a chance I will do this, but parked, I can verify HOT air coming out of the vent.

While going down the road, she says there is HOT air blowing from the vent, but COLD air coming from somewhere over by her right foot.

 

[00N8]

My wife complained about the same issue from the passenger side when cruising at highway speeds. I read the same thread and confirmed my carpet did not obstruct any vents. I did notice that changing the AC settings from allowing "outside air in" to "recirculating cabin air" made a HUGE different. That was mostly noticed at highway speeds in temps under 35 degrees. Other than that, I have yet to figure out the cold air leak but am curious of you findings.

 

[JETTIX2]

My wife complained about the same issue from the passenger side when cruising at highway speeds. I read the same thread and confirmed my carpet did not obstruct any vents. I did notice that changing the AC settings from allowing "outside air in" to "recirculating cabin air" made a HUGE different. That was mostly noticed at highway speeds in temps under 35 degrees. Other than that, I have yet to figure out the cold air leak but am curious of you findings.

Hmmm, I have outside air turned on (recirc off) and A/C is enabled as it takes the humidity out and thus gives less fogging up. I'll try your suggestion, and keep me posted too if you figure it out......

 

[hkeller]

We, too, have this issue and it is not the carpet. It is really cold on that side of the vehicle.

 

[Kev UZJ100]

Same here, and the complaints!

 

[phippsj]

I had the same exact problem with my 07 Sequoia. Same complaint from the wife. Was like a huge hole was open in the fire wall or a door seal was gone.

I pulled the blower motor out and found the vent flap just laying on top of the blower housing. This allowed cold, and hot, air to just bypass the blower and pour into the cabin. Probably why the previous owner sold the truck.

Pull your glove box and back panel and check out that flapper door. Mine just snapped back into place.

Good Luck!

 

[Brock]

Thanks... notice in mine it will get hot but once it gets up to temp...and the HEATER stops putting out...it gets VERY DRAFTY on both sides actually. The bent right under steering column is source on drivers side so definitely coming through ventilation somehow at driving speeds.

 

[JETTIX2]

Anybody have any luck solving this?

 

[sseaman]

Bringing back an old thread to see if anyone has come up with a fix. I have verified the carpet is not covering the vent on either side, it does seem like there is a fair amount of cold air coming in between the ash tray area and the shifter, maybe something that needs to be sealed better?

 

[Alumin8]

I tried to remedy this situation myself this past winter season. There is an unquestionable connection between fresh air vs. recirc position on the climate control. I took steps including cutting a section of rubber mat and inserting it into the cowling at the base of the windscreen to try and reduce the total volume of air coming in but it made no difference. There is also a large amount of air leakage through the door cargo slots, handles, etc which indicates that it's fully sealed in general. It will require some major surgery to disassemble the blower assembly and try to dig into why there is so much cold air leakage from this unit. I do not have much experience in automobile HVAC systems but if I get a chance to this summer, I will give it a try.

 

[SEA777]

We had cold air blowing through the glove compartment while traveling at highway speed in winter. Today we removed the glove box expecting to find what phippsj explained above but found a rodent had chewed a large hole through the vent flap that is above the cabin filter. Checking behind the glove box for a leak is quick and easy. Now to name the part and replace it sounds like a larger task. The auto shop figures we'd have to remove the dash. Anyone else have experience with this?

 

[ItGoesTo11]

I have the same problem on my 1999 LX470. I'm the original owner and know the vehicle's history from day 1. It's never been modified in any way, always garaged and babied.
In tracing this down, I noticed the cold air is definitely blowing in to the passenger footwell from around the fan assembly. In fact, the fan body itself was very cold. There is a small hole (normal) near the fan housing and cold air is blasting out of it, and the amount is relevant to the speed of the vehicle, at 0 MPH, no cold air, at 50 MPH it's streaming in. That IS the path the blower fan sucks in outside air, so that seems to be the best place to start.

I have a question, then for the group, have any of you replaced the blower fan? I did and it seems to be about the time frame it started happening. I did not replace with an OEM unit from Lexus but rather an OE unit I purchased on line. Perhaps OE units don't seal properly? Although a simple fan change still would not explain why cold outside air is blasting in the cabin relevant to speed...

I am going to remove the fan this weekend and I have a video bore scope scope which I'm going to snake up there and trace the path of the air. I'll look for rodent damage, a stuck flap or door or anything else I can find and report back.

 

[ItGoesTo11]

We had cold air blowing through the glove compartment while traveling at highway speed in winter. Today we removed the glove box expecting to find what phippsj explained above but found a rodent had chewed a large hole through the vent flap that is above the cabin filter. Checking behind the glove box for a leak is quick and easy. Now to name the part and replace it sounds like a larger task. The auto shop figures we'd have to remove the dash. Anyone else have experience with this?

Interesting. I will be looking deeply at mine this weekend, I have the same problem. But, you made me think of something... This vehicle is always garaged and used frequently. However when I did some minor repair to it this summer, I noticed a mouse had taken residence above the hood insulation liner at some point. I'm guessing it climbed up there after the car got home and was using it as a warm spot during cold winter nights. I knew this because as I manipulated the hood insulation liner, small shells from seeds fell out, the classic sign of a mouse.

I wonder now if the mouse chewed in the same fashion you mentioned, perhaps trying to get closer to the warm heater core area still wafting heat out through the night? Can you describe the "flap" that was chewed in your LX470? This will help me in what to look for when I send my video borescope up the fan air duct.

And, how did you see it when you removed the glove box, would you mind describing that too? Was it obvious or did you have to dig? There is a lot of "stuff" behind the glovebox and I'd like to know what to zero in on...

 

[SEA777]

I have a 2008 Toyota Sienna. The easiest access is to open glove box, push in the sides of the glove box so the stoppers allow you to flip the box out further. If this doesn't work on your vehicle you maybe able to unscrew the sides of the glove box and fully remove box.
Looking behind where the glove box is, I can see the cabin filter, directly above it (you will need to get your head closer to the floor of the vehicle and look up) I can see the "flapper door" where its chewed through. Reading other blogs I have determined it's the "air inlet control door". To replace it, I need to replace the blower assembly by removing the whole dash. Yeah, that's not happening. I'm going to use packing tape and/or duct tape on the door.

Reading on another blog it sounds like mice can get in the vehicle near windshield wipers then through the cabin filter. My guess is a rodent got in through the cabin filter and couldn't get out, so it chewed it's way out. BTW I drive my vehicle daily. Rarely it sits for a day.

If by chance someone finds a way to replace the control door with out purchasing the whole assembly and tearing the dash apart, I'm open. I believe there's someone creative and mechanical enough to do this. Until then, it's tape for me.

 

[SEA777]

Interesting. I will be looking deeply at mine this weekend, I have the same problem. But, you made me think of something... This vehicle is always garaged and used frequently. However when I did some minor repair to it this summer, I noticed a mouse had taken residence above the hood insulation liner at some point. I'm guessing it climbed up there after the car got home and was using it as a warm spot during cold winter nights. I knew this because as I manipulated the hood insulation liner, small shells from seeds fell out, the classic sign of a mouse.

I wonder now if the mouse chewed in the same fashion you mentioned, perhaps trying to get closer to the warm heater core area still wafting heat out through the night? Can you describe the "flap" that was chewed in your LX470? This will help me in what to look for when I send my video borescope up the fan air duct.

And, how did you see it when you removed the glove box, would you mind describing that too? Was it obvious or did you have to dig? There is a lot of "stuff" behind the glovebox and I'd like to know what to zero in on...

I sent reply below.

 

[TheForger]

I have this same problem but on both sides. With the heater on full blast my passenger and my own feet will will freeze down in the foot wells. I know I need to flush and possible replace my heater core, but I would at least expect the air coming out of the bottom vents to be remotely close to the same temp as the air blowing out of the top vents. Hmmm...

 

[TheForger]

I have a 2008 Toyota Sienna. The easiest access is to open glove box, push in the sides of the glove box so the stoppers allow you to flip the box out further. If this doesn't work on your vehicle you maybe able to unscrew the sides of the glove box and fully remove box.
Looking behind where the glove box is, I can see the cabin filter, directly above it (you will need to get your head closer to the floor of the vehicle and look up) I can see the "flapper door" where its chewed through. Reading other blogs I have determined it's the "air inlet control door". To replace it, I need to replace the blower assembly by removing the whole dash. Yeah, that's not happening. I'm going to use packing tape and/or duct tape on the door.

Reading on another blog it sounds like mice can get in the vehicle near windshield wipers then through the cabin filter. My guess is a rodent got in through the cabin filter and couldn't get out, so it chewed it's way out. BTW I drive my vehicle daily. Rarely it sits for a day.

If by chance someone finds a way to replace the control door with out purchasing the whole assembly and tearing the dash apart, I'm open. I believe there's someone creative and mechanical enough to do this. Until then, it's tape for me.

Not sure if this is helpful but it's taken from the FSM and shows how to disassemble the control door. Unfortunately they are pretty vague instructions

 

[ItGoesTo11]

I have a 2008 Toyota Sienna. The easiest access is to open glove box, push in the sides of the glove box so the stoppers allow you to flip the box out further. If this doesn't work on your vehicle you maybe able to unscrew the sides of the glove box and fully remove box.
Looking behind where the glove box is, I can see the cabin filter, directly above it (you will need to get your head closer to the floor of the vehicle and look up) I can see the "flapper door" where its chewed through. Reading other blogs I have determined it's the "air inlet control door". To replace it, I need to replace the blower assembly by removing the whole dash. Yeah, that's not happening. I'm going to use packing tape and/or duct tape on the door.

Reading on another blog it sounds like mice can get in the vehicle near windshield wipers then through the cabin filter. My guess is a rodent got in through the cabin filter and couldn't get out, so it chewed it's way out. BTW I drive my vehicle daily. Rarely it sits for a day.

If by chance someone finds a way to replace the control door with out purchasing the whole assembly and tearing the dash apart, I'm open. I believe there's someone creative and mechanical enough to do this. Until then, it's tape for me.

Ok, thanks, I'm going to look in that area. The LX470 has more things behind the glove box than what you described, but I have a borescope I can use to peer around back there.

I'll let you know what I find.