Fan blower markedly weak in heater setting (and windshield de-icer) (1 Viewer)

[stridertexas]

Just heard from my dealer.

The system is functioning correctly by severely limiting the fan speed when heat is being emitted. Apparently it's a new thing on all the new platforms across the entire brand : \

Same goes for the seat heaters. The temps are limited from mid 80s to mid 90s for warmth and that's it.

 

[Matsayz]

Just heard from my dealer.

The system is functioning correctly by severely limiting the fan speed when heat is being emitted. Apparently it's a new thing on all the new platforms across the entire brand : \

Same goes for the seat heaters. The temps are limited from mid 80s to mid 90s for warmth and that's it.

Lamesauce. Well, it's the first Winter for the vehicle in North America so maybe the complaints will roll-in and changes can be made later this year

 

[thabruiser]

FWIW, the new gen Tacoma has a similar condition (seemingly insufficient airflow on the heat setting), that is also considered a "characteristic" of the vehicle. Not sure how it is designed differently, but I would suspect that the new 4Runner works similar. I have only driven one, as they are hitting our dealer slowly still. I have sat in several of the LC250 and new Taco, and I have yet to come across one that is what I would consider sufficient airflow. Toyota Corporate(the big Mr. T) is aware of the issue. All I can say from a shop foreman's perspective, is to make your concern known to the service dept during regular maintenance, on the repair order. (that way it is documented that it was a concern).

As a foreman, or if there is a senior tech in the shop who is made aware of it, we are to report "customer satisfaction" or "customer expectation not met" issues, that are fundamental engineering things, oversights or otherwise. (This can range from transmission shifting issues, to premature seat wear, paint quality, panel gap, etc). If enough reports are submitted organically (i.e. customers are actually coming in and complaining, not just that there a lot of forum readers that seem to say a specific word track they read to get a desired outcome...) then sometimes Toyota does redesign (or address with part production countermeasure) things to make them better for customer satisfaction. Hope that makes sense.

For anecdote, the new generation (22+) Tundra has had a poorly designed radio knob for power and volume when it first released. It would break prematurely under normal use. Toyota issued a service bulletin, and now it is a (supposedly) better-made knob. It came about by enough dealerships making these reports, showing what happened. Toyota does try to make their product better. Sometimes they can, and sometimes they can't.