Fender Bender :(

[mustangaustin34]

After 331,672 miles without being in a fender bender, some ding-dong lady on her cell phone rear-ended me while I was stopped at a red light. Luckily I had my ball hitch on which she hit dead center with her puny Honda so no damage to my rear hatch and bumper (I still need to check the frame but it appears everything is ok). Oddly enough, the only fatality was my AC button on the dash…it apparently snapped/popped off when I was bumped from behind. Question: where do I buy a new AC button or do I need to buy the entire climate control unit? Thanks!

 

[BigSlim]

When I removed the center dash on my 97 a couple of days ago to paint it, that complete A/C button came unplugged and fell out when I pulled the surrounding panel off. You should be able to use some needle nose pliers and pull out the remainder of the switch and it may snap back together. It simply plugs into what looked like a 4 prong connector in the back. Mine plugged right back in and is working fine. I hope this helps.

 

[Mike&Ike]

It's illegal in some states to drive with a ball hitch without a trailer. So be prepared to say something about that. If they ask say you were going to get a trailer or something.

 

[downpour11]

New AC button? Waste of money

 

[Dutch-Runner '99]

After 331,672 miles without being in a fender bender, some ding-dong lady on her cell phone rear-ended me while I was stopped at a red light. Luckily I had my ball hitch on which she hit dead center with her puny Honda so no damage to my rear hatch and bumper (I still need to check the frame but it appears everything is ok). Oddly enough, the only fatality was my AC button on the dash…it apparently snapped/popped off when I was bumped from behind. Question: where do I buy a new AC button or do I need to buy the entire climate control unit? Thanks!

Same thing just happened to my A/C button last Monday... It came out when I was attempting to pull the faceplate off of the climate control cluster to replace the bulbs back there.... I was able to find the A/C button rectangular-box controller on Ebay Used for $15: Toyota Corolla 4Runner Truck Pickup Dash A C AC Air Button Control 158086 Switch | eBay

BUT, if you take all of your knobs off of the climate controls and pull the faceplate out a little, the rest of the rectangular-box controller will come out just enough to pull completely out. From there, you can glue (I used EPOXY) the button back into the controller. Be sure to just use a dab so the button wont get secured to the sides of the controller. I put the Epoxy right dead center of the broken piece where I could tell it used to be attached.

Then all you need to do is let it dry... I suggested taking the whole controller out so that you can see what your doing better and so that it can dry sitting straight up and down.

 

[JamesDean91]

It's illegal in some states to drive with a ball hitch without a trailer. So be prepared to say something about that. If they ask say you were going to get a trailer or something.

Where are you getting your information? Unless your a cop or legal person that deals in stuff like that its better to not post and clutter with misinformation.
Just to clarify talking with my uncle (state municipal court judge) it is not illegal to drive with your tow ball on and no trailer attached due to the fact some are permanently attached to some vehicles...

To OP you should be able to pull the whole switch out with some needle nose pliers and crazy glue the button face back, that is if you haven't tried just pushing the button face back on it does not seem damaged.