Defroster problems (1 Viewer)

[jivewalker]

Probably waiting until Monday now.
Checked it again and it's certainly broke,
thought I dodged a bullet.
It will cycle up but not down. Hopefully it will cover under warranty.

Yep, I'm in the same exact boat and also have the CPO warranty, just procrastinating going to the dealer. Several members on here have just fixed them themselves with wire, epoxy, etc. with decent success. If it's not covered under warranty, that is what I will do.

 

[Bluecyclone]

Yep, I'm in the same exact boat and also have the CPO warranty, just procrastinating going to the dealer. Several members on here have just fixed them themselves with wire, epoxy, etc. with decent success. If it's not covered under warranty, that is what I will do.

Pretty frustrating for us.
Only 15k miles and a couple oil changes on the rig.

 

[Tex68w]

I'd be pissed if mine were broken by the dealer as well. Glad to I took the advice here on the forum in an attempt to prevent it from ever happening.

 

[bloc]

Fair enough, but I don't think mine was forced. I do my filter and oil changes myself and I'm aware of the correct way. It was working fine last winter. My LC was worked on by a reputable shop to have the AT fluid and diff fluids changed - did they break the door? I can't say for sure, maybe they did. But they weren't asked to look at the cabin filter and they didn't try to sell me one.

Have you owned since new? I can imagine a situation where it was damaged from previous abuse then finally gave up the ghost with more cycles. Your story is along the lines of best case scenario.. but this is the kind of thing that toyota doesn't usually mess up. Or, if it were a design issue, they would have upgraded the part through the 13-year span of this generation. It doesn't seem that they did that.

Yep, I'm in the same exact boat and also have the CPO warranty, just procrastinating going to the dealer. Several members on here have just fixed them themselves with wire, epoxy, etc. with decent success. If it's not covered under warranty, that is what I will do.

Now you and @Bluecyclone are faced with the big question.. even if it's free, do you want the same dealer service dept digging that deep into your cruiser? Replacing the broken part involves removing the whole dash, evacuating the AC, and removing that module from the system. Then, putting it all back together in a way that works as well as factory.. and won't squeak or rattle in 30k miles.

Personally? Faced with this issue and seeing good at-home options I'd fix it myself. I trust the factory to install a dashboard far more than the dealer, even if they'll have a high-level tech on this, not the lowest-rung guy that do the cabin filter changes. Yes that will likely void any future warranty option on this, is a tough pill to swallow, and isn't "right", but for a vehicle I'd plan to keep as long as a low-mile 200, I don't want them getting their hands that deep into the truck unless absolutely necessary.

Then again I do all of my own maintenance because I don't trust them with any of it.

 

[Sandroad]

Probably waiting until Monday now.
Checked it again and it's certainly broke,
thought I dodged a bullet.
It will cycle up but not down. Hopefully it will cover under warranty.

Toyota refused to warranty mine, even though the damage was done while it still under the 3/36 factory warranty. Looking back, my strategic error in talking with Toyota was calling it damage by a dealer right from the start. Warranty does not cover accidental damage, only defects, or so I was told. I’m pretty sure if I had gone to a dealer, acted ignorant, and simply told them my fresh/recirculate button was not doing anything, they would have had to fix it under warranty. Then I would have had to decide whether to let a dealer tear apart the dash. In retrospect, no way.

 

[bloc]

Toyota refused to warranty mine, even though the damage was done while it still under the 3/36 factory warranty. Looking back, my strategic error in talking with Toyota was calling it damage by a dealer right from the start. Warranty does not cover accidental damage, only defects, or so I was told. I’m pretty sure if I had gone to a dealer, acted ignorant, and simply told them my fresh/recirculate button was not doing anything, they would have had to fix it under warranty. Then I would have had to decide whether to let a dealer tear apart the dash. In retrospect, no way.

Yeah.. without the ability to figure out exactly who broke it to recover costs I could see them just denying it.

Which is what sucks about this.. most of us find the issue well after it has been broken. No way to hold anyone accountable.

 

[Tex68w]

Toyota refused to warranty mine, even though the damage was done while it still under the 3/36 factory warranty. Looking back, my strategic error in talking with Toyota was calling it damage by a dealer right from the start. Warranty does not cover accidental damage, only defects, or so I was told. I’m pretty sure if I had gone to a dealer, acted ignorant, and simply told them my fresh/recirculate button was not doing anything, they would have had to fix it under warranty. Then I would have had to decide whether to let a dealer tear apart the dash. In retrospect, no way.

This sir is definitely the way to play it.

 

[Sandroad]

Doesn't matter if the mechanism is strong enough, the number of breaks and likelihood proves it's a crap design.

It would be like an auto closing rear door breaking the first a valet tries to do it by hand.

It’s hard to make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious, or so the old saying goes. There a LOT of parts on a vehicle that can be broken or damaged if someone working on it doesn’t read instructions. I think it’s fair to say dealer service departments should know better than to break stuff, even if it’s easy to do so out of ignorance. I really think it comes down to the poor training and oversight the employees (not really techs) have in the dealer Express Lanes, where the damage is done. There are many horror stories from those Express Lanes related to oils and filters and services done there.

 

[Bluecyclone]

After reading all the posts in the other thread I'm wondering if I shouldn't try my own JB fix.

I hate it that this almost certainly happened, to a near new rig, at the dealership, but I don't want them to screw anything else up in the process of repairing it. Even if it is covered under the warranty I'm very cautious to turn it over to them.

 

[04UZJ100]

After reading all the posts in the other thread I'm wondering if I shouldn't try my own JB fix.

I hate it that this almost certainly happened, to a near new rig, at the dealership, but I don't want them to screw anything else up in the process of repairing it. Even if it is covered under the warranty I'm very cautious to turn it over to them.

So easy to do man. Easier than I thought it was going to be.