I just checked and mine functions perfectly...but will follow your GREAT suggestion from now on. Thanks.
IMPORTANT: Check your HVAC recirculate door and answer Poll (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter John E Davies
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Mine was inoperable as purchased the LC used with ~50K. I checked it 2 days ago and the curtain was at least in the outside-air position. Lifted the curtain up, pushed firmly, and the curtain now does what it's supposed to do. Prayers or pure luck, not sure...
My LC is a '13, and a side-effect on mine with the curtain not moving was that the truck couldn't remember it's last setting...so, from a cold start I had to reset the system to proper temp and circulation. That issue is now fixed and the truck recalls it's last havoc setting. I'm a much more happy camper as another La Nina winter approaches.
John, thanks for the thread.
Steve
I removed as much as I could. I don't see a way of removing the blower assembly without a lot of work (dash removal). It might be possible but I didn't see an easy way to remove it. You can probably remove the door itself but you'd have to do some cutting into the blower housing to slide it out. Nothing detrimental to the operation of the blower assembly but still, cutting none-the-less.
So I bought some of this and use the syringe part to inject some adhesive in the area to glue the door to the pin/arm. So far so good. Except I got a little too much glue on there and the pin/arm was starting to adhere itself to the casing, but I kept switching the recirc to break the bond throughout the bonding process and it's fine now.
Loctite Epoxy Instant Mix 5 Minute Directions from Loctite Adhesives
So I bought some of this and use the syringe part to inject some adhesive in the area to glue the door to the pin/arm. So far so good. Except I got a little too much glue on there and the pin/arm was starting to adhere itself to the casing, but I kept switching the recirc to break the bond throughout the bonding process and it's fine now.
Loctite Epoxy Instant Mix 5 Minute Directions from Loctite Adhesives
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Been battling foggy windows for over a year now, door was stuck in recirc mode. Will try to glue it later but for now this thread has ended a year of misery cracking windows in AK winters to keep from fogging
I’ll check my ‘08 tomorrow and report. Makes me wonder if my ‘14 Tundra has a similar system with same vulnerability.
Edit #1: my '08 LC damper door functions perfectly and is undamaged.
Edit #2: My '14 Tundra seems to be set up a bit differently. As far as I can tell, the cabin filter is behind a small door situated below the operating damper, and can be accessed without regard to the position of the damper door.
Edit #1: my '08 LC damper door functions perfectly and is undamaged.
Edit #2: My '14 Tundra seems to be set up a bit differently. As far as I can tell, the cabin filter is behind a small door situated below the operating damper, and can be accessed without regard to the position of the damper door.
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Finally checked mine today. Count me in the Broken Damper Club.
Dammit.
Damper does not move, but I can hear the actuator trying. Manually lifted the damper, and it has a huge crack in the right side.
DAMMIT.
Not looking forward to this repair. I'll print the posted PDFs for now, this will have to wait until Spring, since we just put our 3rd vehicle into storage yesterday for the winter. It's stuck back in fresh air mode in the meantime. If it's too hard, or too $$$, I may just leave it that way. I can probably live without it, I rarely use that mode, if ever.
DAMMIT.
What a STOOPID design. Shame on you Toyota! And shame on the person that broke it by forcing it open. Solution for the future (love my Brother P-Touch labeler):
Dammit.
Damper does not move, but I can hear the actuator trying. Manually lifted the damper, and it has a huge crack in the right side.
DAMMIT.
Not looking forward to this repair. I'll print the posted PDFs for now, this will have to wait until Spring, since we just put our 3rd vehicle into storage yesterday for the winter. It's stuck back in fresh air mode in the meantime. If it's too hard, or too $$$, I may just leave it that way. I can probably live without it, I rarely use that mode, if ever.
DAMMIT.
What a STOOPID design. Shame on you Toyota! And shame on the person that broke it by forcing it open. Solution for the future (love my Brother P-Touch labeler):
Checked mine today - put me down for a non-mover. The filter has only ever seen Toyota tech hands - definitely a s***ty flaw.
Question - does the right pin move the door? Mine is missing / broken - I guess it could be hanging outside the hole too...not sure?
Also interesting - the blower blows much faster in fresh air position, although it doesn't actually have better draw when the door is manually down...
Question - does the right pin move the door? Mine is missing / broken - I guess it could be hanging outside the hole too...not sure?
Also interesting - the blower blows much faster in fresh air position, although it doesn't actually have better draw when the door is manually down...
My service records are kinda spotty, I know the PO used a local indy shop for some of the maintenance, so I can't say for sure that it was a Toyota tech that broke it.
Checked mine today - put me down for a non-mover. The filter has only ever seen Toyota tech hands - definitely a s***ty flaw.
Question - does the right pin move the door? Mine is missing / broken - I guess it could be hanging outside the hole too...not sure?
Also interesting - the blower blows much faster in fresh air position, although it doesn't actually have better draw when the door is manually down...
Yes, the pin/lever is attached to a servo goes through the housing into the door. That's the only part that moves the door. You can pull apart your glove box area and see if the pin just popped out. I can't tell from the pics if the door is actually cracked.
- Thread starter
- #31
I think we need to let this thread run for a few months to build data in the Poll, (we have a 20% failure rate as of today!) then somebody can talk to Toyota to see if we can get some financial help to replace out of warranty blower assemblies. It is obvious that there is a fundamental design flaw and they should send out a warning letter to owners, or a Tech Bulletin. In reality it is frigging DANGEROUS in some winter conditions and may have caused a number accidents. You literally cannot see out any of the windows and the windshield is largely obscured. It probably deserves a recall.
As I mentioned above somewhere, they could reprogram the climate control computer to self-park the door at shutdown. That and a bright warning decal to "Do Not Force The Door" could be included in a recall.
I have been looking at other models and I have not found another that has this wonderful "feature". Has anyone seen this elsewhere?
A little off topic, I wonder how many frustrated 200 owners finally decided to trade in their trucks due to their inability to defrost the windows...? This defect might actually be costing Toyota some loyal Cruiser customers.
My 2013 truck is screwed up and in five years it has had three previous owners. If the door has been broken for that entire time, counting me that gives you FOUR pissed off 200 owners just with my truck!
What do you guys think about this?
John Davies
Spokane WA
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Door is intact - maybe there is hope...
Yup, pull apart the dash and have a look. This post has a pic of the pin/servo link
IMPORTANT: Check your HVAC recirculate door and answer Poll
I would be interested in seeing the dealer's Tech Data steps used in the cabin filter replacement in TIS. I assume everything, even simple maintenance jobs like this, have steps outlined in TIS. If it doesn't say anything about putting the door in recirc mode first, then Toyota should be liable. If it does say it, then the dealer (or whomever changed the filter) should be liable for not following Tech Data.
gaijin
GOLD Star
I'm one of the lucky ones - everything still working perfectly:
Maybe this slowed down the techs in the past and made them think twice:
In future I will definitely lock the glove box before any dealer service just to be sure my CAF isn't subjected to a "complimentary 13-point Inspection" that winds up breaking mine.
Thanks for the tips.
Edit to add:
I really like the washable (and NOT oiled) K&N cabin filter:
Maybe this slowed down the techs in the past and made them think twice:
In future I will definitely lock the glove box before any dealer service just to be sure my CAF isn't subjected to a "complimentary 13-point Inspection" that winds up breaking mine.
Thanks for the tips.
Edit to add:
I really like the washable (and NOT oiled) K&N cabin filter:
How many horsepower does K&N claim that gains?
(Sorry, couldn't resist)
(Sorry, couldn't resist)
When I replaced my cabin filter, I followed the steps in my Owner’s Manual. Step 1 is to switch to recirculate mode! All is well with my door thanks to me simply reading the manual. I suspect lots of techs and owners don’t bother with reading the manual and when faced with a closed door, just pry it up. Anyway, because Toyota put the correct procedure right in the manual, it seems that damage would be the dealer’s fault.
The only issue would be getting the dealer (or more likely the tech) to admit they broke it several months after the fact, which they won't. I foresee the common phrase of "Nah, it was already like that." being used by the tech.
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