Help - Heater stopped working

[PacoTG]

Blower No Work - Saga Continues

Problem repeated - took to a Toyota dealer in Haverhill MA. T4R sat inside the shop for a couple of hours then the blower worked, was charged $49. Took vehicle home, next AM wife drove to airport, no heat for 30 miles. Now the T4R is sitting outside in a parking lot for 5 days hopefully we get Jan. thaw. Will use the TSB AC00207 and see if I can fix this problem or maybe go back and see if dealer will deal with this. Bernardi in Framingham MA much better me thinks but the cost is high!!
Tied to a whipping post.....:whipping2

 

[PacoTG]

Good idea about going back to dealer with TSB, will try that. Perhaps I will get $49 worth of service.

 

[zerowkul98]

Paco, im from around that area and Bernardi was good to me service-wise.

Boch, not so much.

There's one in Central MA that you should stay away from IMO.

Now, back to the issue at hand. The wifey's 03 4R Sport Edition V8 is at the dealership with the entire fan assembly UN-assembled in the passenger seat. The master tech they have there (that's helped me a LOT in the past and done some other fixes on the ride with ease) had me drop off the ride the night before, and 1st thing in the morning the next day, he started it up and the fan worked fine. He also said there was no sign that there was moisture there in the past that might have effected it.

However, he still took it out because he thought he heard somerthing IN the fan (like a leaf or something paper-ish fluttering around) and the fan was completely clear. NO sign of moisture, ice, nothing whatsoever. He also used the air compressor on the ductwork to make sure there was nothing that could "fall into the fan" for whatever reason.

However, there were some TSB's that were specific for 03-05 T4R's fan resistors. So, we ordered the part and its coming in tuesday. Hopefully, its the right fix.

I asked about that moisture-leak-fix TSB, which calls for a fix with a plastic and foam wedge and some silicone, and he said he's never had to do that. We will see though.

 

[4RBob]

Well, I didn't see any moisture in mine, but trust me it doesn't take much at all to ice up and stop the fan from turning. Might as well do it, it's a cheap and easy fix.

I have also used Bernardi service in the past and they were pretty good. Would never buy a vehicle though, they don't budge much.

 

[zerowkul98]

Yeah, i'll ask them to do it since they'll have it all apart anyways. I just hope they dont have to order that little part and have it take a week like this resistor. ugh.

I use Lia in Wilbraham. Nothing but good things to say about them.

 

[norwal42]

+1 this fixed same dead fan problem for my '08 4runner (adding data point here 10 yrs later, in case helpful to anyone else. ...I think it was 7.5 amp fuse, though. 5 degrees outside.

Warmed up to operating temp, still no response at any fan setting. Turned off and restarted, no change. Turned off, pulled and replaced Heater2 fuse, restart and then fan worked normally.

To answer my own question, I took the small 15 amp fuse out called HEATER2 and put it back the fan started to work. There was no faulty fuse or anything. Almost like a reboot or something like that was necessary. Is the 4runner running on Microsoft Windows

hahah

I actually had to do that with my nav last summer.

 

[PacoTG]

Fan Heater Problem

This problem was ultimately fixed by replacing the outside cowling below the windshield, water was leaking down into the fan and freezing!! I no longer own the vehicle, a sad day but underneath hardware needs to be replaced.

 

[jengel35]

Heater issues!!!!

Just ran into this issue the first time since owning the 2006 4 runner. We just got done receiving 18 inches of snow in 4 days. No issues other years and we have owned this 4 runner since 2009. did the fuse pulling under dash and then worked. Well this morning back to the drawing board since no heat this morning. Going to place in garage and heat it and see what happens, hoping to dry it up. Going to look under hood and look for fuse. Thanks for all the info and glad to say I'm happy there is other issues out there.

 

[norwal42]

This problem was ultimately fixed by replacing the outside cowling below the windshield, water was leaking down into the fan and freezing!! I no longer own the vehicle, a sad day but underneath hardware needs to be replaced.

PacoTG - thanks for the tip - was this a TSB or something? I'm not seeing any info about upgraded cowl parts.

I was looking into the Technical Service Bulletin (AC002-07) for HVAC Blower Motor Ice Build-Up, but it is specified applicable only through 2007 model year, while mine is a 2008. Since it was published in 2007, I'm wondering if they fixed the problem at production for 2008 models (seems most likely), or if there's another different TSB for that problem with the '08.

Symptoms sound similar to the blower fan TSB, but now I'm wondering if it's actually the cowl parts issue you mentioned. The conditions at present, in any case, would be conducive to leaking/freezing in either the cowl or the blower fan. I've had it parked for over a week under deep snow which has alternately melted and frozen multiple times.

Also, update on troubleshooting, I've had the issue pop up 3 times now, all in single digit temps outside, and all following a period of some days parked outside getting snowed on. I think the sun on the dark paint also contributes to some melting even when it doesn't get above freezing temps - which would also set up conditions where you'd expect water leaking in and then freezing.