Climate Control - Your problems? fixes? experiences?

[RiverRat37]

Those of you that have had digital climate control problems... What do you do about it? Do you just use it the way it is and hope it doesn't die all the way? Mine is stuck on a/c all the time and all the buttons don't work unless you mash so hard it hurts and then its hit or miss whether it works or not. When on "auto" it works fine heating and cooling. When in manual it works fine heating and cooling. I have to play with the knobs to get the auto to switch to manual and as I said the a/c light is always on. The recirculating and fresh air button also works when it wants to. The "mode" button randomly works too. Also I can't get the unit to turn completely off. I think my biggest fear is that it'll quit working at all during the winter when I have to have heat, defrosting, etc. I'm just curious about what you guys do about this problem. Thanks for letting me be part of the best forum online.

 

[Brilliant]

Mines not working 100%, but I am not ready to take it apart and fix it. I'd maybe check out a electronics repair place. Its probably just the bottons and contacts that are bad.

 

[kruegs]

There is a person on ebay who actually fixes these from what I understand. You ship your unit to him and he repairs / refurbs it and return ships it. Here is one example I found. There are others.... eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

Good luck!

 

[owenskp]

Did you fix it?

Did you ever resolve your problems?

 

[LexusFTW]

I'm really surprised there's not a fix for the climate control on here...

 

[troy_279]

Mine is slowing dying as well. The temp and fan knobs work fine but most buttons work very rarely. I took it apart and tried cleaning everything but it didn't help. I have a new one on the way i bought from a member here and I'm going to take mine apart again once i receive the other one but I have no idea where to start. I would like to know what these repair shops on ebay actually fix or replace.

 

[89s rule]

Mine works fairly well but I do have a related question. I noticed after I bought my 4runner that the CC center portion was not lit up, makes it nearly impossible to see at night even with the overhead on you cant tell whats going on. So.. I ordered some LEDs and installed them, still nothing, they were a tiny but larger than the original bulbs as I had to push a little to get them in, reinstalled everything and still no lights. I then started thinking and noticed that my rear defrost, window and other switches up there on the dash do not light either.

The buttons on the climate control and the rear defrost light when activated. But the backlights do not work. I checked fuses under the dash and did not see anything that were blown that could be remotely close in area. Any ideas??

My only other thoughts were to check fuses under the hood and possibly wiring (not sure how to check this other than making sure a wire isn't damaged?)?

 

[owenskp]

Its all about the bulbs

I don't know what to tell you if you aren't using the factory replacement bulbs. They are not LED, they are bulbs. If you look at the schematic, there are a bunch of them and they typically cost $5-$9 each. I have replaced all of mine...because, like yours they were all burned out and you can't see anything at night.

 

[owenskp]

Troy 29

If you end up with an extra module that isn't working I am still looking for the plastic faceplate that screws onto the front on the CC module. This holds all of the black buttons in place.

Please keep me in mind if you want to sell this piece.

 

[troy_279]

owenskp
i'll keep you in mind once i get mine swapped and have a chance to take a look at it.

 

[89s rule]

I don't know what to tell you if you aren't using the factory replacement bulbs. They are not LED, they are bulbs. If you look at the schematic, there are a bunch of them and they typically cost $5-$9 each. I have replaced all of mine...because, like yours they were all burned out and you can't see anything at night.

There are several threads out there about swapping over to LED, its well worth it, especially in the overhead lights. Best $5 I spent to light up the interior. Ordered the 4 led bulbs that go in the CC unit, they are not hard to get to. I think I spent $4-6 total on them. I was not sure about the switches above being lit or not then, but I will probably pull a few out and check them with a multimeter.

 

[LexusFTW]

Mine is slowing dying as well. The temp and fan knobs work fine but most buttons work very rarely. I took it apart and tried cleaning everything but it didn't help. I have a new one on the way i bought from a member here and I'm going to take mine apart again once i receive the other one but I have no idea where to start. I would like to know what these repair shops on ebay actually fix or replace.

I would start by breaking down the front fascia and see what connections are made when you push the buttons. Please keep us updated on what you find.

 

[kegelinanger]

This place will refurb your unit for pretty cheap:

Welcome To Auto ECU Inc.

I plan on doing this eventually, but the only thing on mine giving me trouble right now is the temp knob, so I can live with it for the time being.

EDIT: Just noticed this is the same company as the Ebay link above.

 

[Mellow77]

May just be a coincidence but on mine if I hit the "OFF" button at roughly the same time as my desired function button it seems to work most of the time.

I think it's a connectivity issue that ultimately result in cleanup or replacement of the contacts. In the meantime that seems to be my workaround for getting it to function.

 

[Antpwr]

i have been having the same problem with my 99, it works sometimes then it doesnt. it will go into self-diagnosis mode and i have to piss with it for a couple of minutes holding off and mode at same time then hitting a few other buttons just to get it working. I have never came across any related articles that describe a solution or for that matter what is exactly wrong, also no service bulletins are posted for the problems, nor does the toyota or lexus dealership mechanics have heard any problems, so i guess i will bite the bullet and take it apart and see whats going on, keep you posted if i come into contact with any real noticeable problems.

 

[LexusFTW]

Any update on this?

 

[98OzarksRunner]

Mine 2002 had classic button problems - hit or miss, sometimes worked partly, 'Auto' LED never came on. I happened to hit it just right one day recently and it all worked. So (being the former electronics tech that I am - or was) I knew it was intermittent connections. So a couple of days ago I pulled out the board with the display and buttons and began looking for problems.

Of course, there were no obvious bad connections (broken solder joints) but it is a two-sided board (circuit traces on both sides). There are feed-throughs all over the board that connect the two sides. I took a small soldering IRON (15-25 watt - DON'T USE YOUR 200 watt Weller gun or you will destroy the board) and went over each solder connection (adding a small dab of solder every now and then to the IRON to transfer heat). Be careful not to short across conections (some are very close).

I put it all back together and it works great now (except the lights are burned out - next project). The feed-throughs probably break loose after pressing the buttons a few thousand times and they become intermittent. Which one is anybody's guess, but I made sure I got the ones near buttons done well.

 

[Lyle Beach]

I just purchased this:

1999 to 2002 Toyota 4Runner Limited Climate AC Control Rebuild

Will let you guys know how it turns out when I get it back!

Fingers crossed!

 

[Mellow77]

Popular topic lately...

I updated my build thread with what worked for me. A little DeoxIT goes a long ways.

LINKY

 

[Lyle Beach]

I just purchased this:

1999 to 2002 Toyota 4Runner Limited Climate AC Control Rebuild

Will let you guys know how it turns out when I get it back!

Fingers crossed!

Got it back now! And this thing is awesome now! It's probably better than when it was new! Everything work flawlessly and with just a regular push of the buttons! No more pushing so hard it seemed I was going to break the plastic!

So on their website it's $150 + shipping.

But you can find their auctions on Ebay for alot cheaper! I payed $98 with Free Shipping for mine!

I recommend these guys 100%!!

For less money than 2 tanks of gas, I can now use my climate control again! Can you tell how happy I am? lol! arty: