Check your heater valves

[Romeo1]

The heater core shut off valve is located top and center of the engine bay on the firewall. Here’s what mine looked like. The corrosion and electrolysis ate the hose barb off of the nipple. This 4runner also had a ton of corrosion in it from its past life, if you have a system with a lot of corrosion in it, it may be very well worth your time to check out your valve health.

 

[Romeo1]

Here is what they look like mounted. It’s less than a five minute job to replace.

 

[Sarki]

Interested to hear if you went OEM or aftermarket and your thoughts on that.
I’m always looking at mine and thinking probably good insurance to pick one up and replace with the related hoses……20 years & 200K miles tells me time is coming!

 

[T4R2014]

The end is near when the valve starts turning brown. I recommend replacing the heater hoses if you replace the valve, OEM is best but I trust Gates. OEM or Breeze constant tension for hose clamps. The OEM valve is the better part. Aftermarket brands like 4 Seasons will work, but buy once cry once right? OH, hit that cable with silicone spray and work it. It makes a particularly noticeable difference with the slider controls on the 96-97.

 

[Romeo1]

Interested to hear if you went OEM or aftermarket and your thoughts on that.
I’m always looking at mine and thinking probably good insurance to pick one up and replace with the related hoses……20 years & 200K miles tells me time is coming!

I went OEM. Anymore, I don’t buy too many aftermarket parts for things like this. I’ve been burned by A1 Cardone and other parts makers too many times.

This has been an almost all Toyota repair/restoration to this point really.

 

[3bears]

i will second this info....that they can get brittle. mentioned above...if they start turning brown....they are brittle....like our radiators. however dont wait that long...i had one..not brown...that i bumped slightly on another repair and it broke. have read lots of info an aftermarket not working right. I have a brand new OEM on shelf for next spring.
habenerro ( a forum memeber here) listed all hose and part numbers for everything under the hood....well maybe not for 2001 -02....those rigs are "special" in many ways

 

[gamefreakgc]

A word of caution on the heater valve as others said they are brittle with heat and age: if you plan on removing any of the heater core hoses you should be prepared to replace the valve. Often what causes the hose ends to crack and break is when the hose itself is removed. The only time I had any issue with a heater valve is doing just that, removing the hoses. If you're not able to replace the valve such as you are away from tools, don't have an extra vehicle, etc. buy the valve first so you're not left stranded.

 

[brillo_76]

I learned the hard way about brown plastic on cooling systems. I thought my 1990 camry radiator was copper like the old ones where. Needless to say I melted a big hole in the top of the plastic section of the rad years ago. So that's a great tip on brown plastic in the cooling system..

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[Sarki]

A word of caution on the heater valve as others said they are brittle with heat and age: if you plan on removing any of the heater core hoses you should be prepared to replace the valve. Often what causes the hose ends to crack and break is when the hose itself is removed. The only time I had any issue with a heater valve is doing just that, removing the hoses. If you're not able to replace the valve such as you are away from tools, don't have an extra vehicle, etc. buy the valve first so you're not left stranded.

Excellent advice buying valve in advance.
I’m going to do just that even though I may not install it right now. Will also buy the hoses……only OEM for me as well.

 

[thegipper]

I went through 3 aftermarket heater control valves before I bit the bullet and spent the money on an OEM one. All three of the aftermarket valves started to leak within a few months. Just get an OEM one and be done with it (it was fairly expansive though).

 

[19963.4lsr5]

My napa is over a year old with zero problems. 20k plus miles on it so far.


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[brillo_76]

I went through 3 aftermarket heater control valves before I bit the bullet and spent the money on an OEM one. All three of the aftermarket valves started to leak within a few months. Just get an OEM one and be done with it (it was fairly expansive though).

I learned this over 20 years ago with some aftermarket parts. However, I also learned to stay away from the big box store auto parts on components.

Some of the old mom and pops etc parts are higher quantity. So nothing wrong with sticking to OEM if possible and affordable.



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[thegipper]

My napa is over a year old with zero problems. 20k plus miles on it so far.


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I bought mine (2 different brands) off of Amazon. All were junk.

Good to know that the napa ones are good.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

I bought mine (2 different brands) off of Amazon. All were junk.

Good to know that the napa ones are good.

If I don’t buy OEM…. Napa is my go to place. On the things napa does not carry, my last resort is a Borg Warner part from someone else. I do not do Duralast at all unless its to get me by unit I have time to fix it properly.


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