Rotted heater control valve

[Dan2722]

While replacing my radiator I also decided it was high time I replaced my firewall heater hoses and while the hoses were in suprisingly good condition the heater control valve was not. While pulling off the hose a big chunk of the control valve came off with it requiring a replacement of the valve. Once the valve was out I discovered that the plastic took very little effort to break off and had the consistency of wet chalk.



Here are a few pics.

 

[Dan2722]

Ready to go another 226,000 miles.

 

[george_tlc]

Yep, plenty of threads:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/285050-check-your-heater-valve.html

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/498974-phh-some-other-fun-important-s-c-info.html

etc etc.

Be happy it didn't break on the road or in the dunes...

cheers,
george.

 

[Kernal]

Happened to me also; should probably be a pm item at some point IMHO.

 

[e9999]

what kind of coolant were you running most of that time?

 

[george_tlc]

In my case our 80 was bought new and has been run with toyota Red all its life. The coolant has been changed multiple times.

I'd bet the heater valve "enjoys" an intimate and "warm" relationship with the EGR on our US 80's....

As mentioned/recommended in multiple threads - it SHOULD be replaced on all 80's that are still running the original unit. Too many folk have had catastrophic failure of that valve and being on this reasonably OCD forum that would imply it is not a coolant maintenance issue.

I'd hazard a bet that more folk have had a failure of the heater valve than the PHH...

cheers,
george.

 

[Eicca]

Mine didn't look all that bad at 195k... But it had cracked somewhere. So I replaced it.

 

[Dan2722]

Yep, I feel very lucky that this did not fail in the middle of nowhere. It should be a PM item but I think a lot of people overlook this item as I did. The parts guy at Toyota said this was the first one he had ordered for anyone.

My truck has run Toyota red all it's life and I flush it on a yearly basis.

 

[itechnology]

i just did my PHH this past weekend and i noticed that the very end of the valve peeled off when i was putting the hose back on it.....i was still able to break a tiny piece off the end and get the hose on it .......now that i read your post i probably should not have ignored it.

how much is the part BTW?

 

[Eicca]

how much is the part BTW?

The Toyota part is some ridiculous amount... I got mine at Napa for $35.

 

[94SRUNNER]

I paid about $60 for OEM unit last year this time from American Toyota.

 

[Eicca]

I paid about $60 for OEM unit last year this time from American Toyota.

I understand going OEM with some parts, but others.............

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I just replaced mine with OEM...

Sent from my DROID2 using IH8MUD

 

[94SRUNNER]

I completely understand and to each there own....it gave me over 230K miles, very much justified in my maintenance program

 

[e9999]

interesting, so it's not the wrong coolant causing it. Better look at mine some time...

 

[kayaked56]

Can you please post the part number on the forum?

 

[ktjensen]

I wonder. Is this a symptom of just the overall TOO MUCH HEAT in the coolent system? At 220k to 250k you start seeing multiple overheating issues. Maybe all due to the FAN CLUTCH failure problem? This is starting to show a pattern. I have paint failure on my hood. Many report head gasket failure. Every one of these symptoms says TOO MUCH HEAT over time. What say others?

 

[arndog123]

My '97's went out at a little over 100K. Changed my wife's LX at around 200K and it actually looked great. Replaced it anyway and kept the old one as a spare. The previous owner always took it to Lexus for service and there was no record of it ever being replaced so it has always had Toyota red coolant. My '97 had green when I took ownership. Probably just a coincidence?

 

[ktjensen]

220k was mileage not temp in my reference

 

[Michael Hanson]

They used to be copper now plastic. There was a reason they were copper all those years. MIke