Hot footwells - is this normal?

[Shamish]

Hi all -

This is my third 4 Runner. Started with a 2010 SR5, then to a 2012 Trail, and now I have a 2020 TRD Off Road!

Something is weird with the temperature in the drivers footwell, and I wanted to see if any of you notice the same thing.

I notice that the temperature in the footwell is very warm, and there seems to be a light current of warm air flowing into the footwell even when the air control is set to defrost or the "face" setting (far R or far L). This causes my right foot to get warm, and I definitely did not have this issue with my other 4Runners. I felt around under the dash, and also noticed that the side of the center console is really warm (see the "blue tape" in the attached photo) this appears to be due to a lot of heat that's radiating off of the items that are marked in red. I will try to post a photo in a "reply".

Is anyone else noticing this? I'd hate to have the dash torn apart to see what's going on, but this is really bugging me.

Thanks...

 

[Shamish]

Here's the photo...I hope

 

[trapshot68]

Don't know if its the same routing on your other ones, but perhaps because of the coolant pipe (with the red line) on it that runs through the area.

I know when installing a pedal commander/sprint booster, the instructions make note to avoid the area due to heat.

 

[JAXJeremy]

Don't know if its the same routing on your other ones, but perhaps because of the coolant pipe (with the red line) on it that runs through the area.

I know when installing a pedal commander/sprint booster, the instructions make note to avoid the area due to heat.

x2..you see the vertical tubing with the red line on it..that's part of the cooling system and runs behind that area and it gets very hot..

 

[Shamish]

Regarding the pipe for the coolant circuit - yes I saw that. I would have thought that Toyota would have insulated the pipe, and my 2012 is long gone, so I don't know if this was a revision relative to the older versions.

I was able to determine that a light flow of hot air is coming out of the heater ducts. I called the dealer, and they said they'd take a look at this.

 

[Shamish]

So the dealer took a look at and then grabbed a couple of new 4Runners to compare. There is zero air coming out of the heater ducts when the flow control is set to the face or defog settings and they agreed that the other two vehicles were OK and something was weird with mine. They did ask how often I move the controls, and I said I basically have the setting on "Face" unless I am using the defogger.

They are going to see what they need to do to fix the issue. It sounds like an examination or replacement of the airbox flow control thingy the next step...ugh.

 

[Ripper238]

Funny i was going to post "does your 4R burn your feet". lol

Yeah, after about 20min of driving with the heat to the floor my feet are burning. Crazy hot, even with the heat off or more adjusted up high i can still feel it. Im worried it will dry out my leather boots. lol

From my old 70-80's vehicles this did happen, but nowhere near as hot as this 4R.

This 4R has some crazy cold and hot AC.

 

[LIT4R]

Funny i was going to post "does your 4R burn your feet". lol

Yeah, after about 20min of driving with the heat to the floor my feet are burning. Crazy hot, even with the heat off or more adjusted up high i can still feel it. Im worried it will dry out my leather boots. lol

From my old 70-80's vehicles this did happen, but nowhere near as hot as this 4R.

This 4R has some crazy cold and hot AC.

The 4runner's ac/heating is really impressive. My wife hates it because she is always too hot or too cold, but I think it is great.

I agree that the 4runner puts out a ton of heat, especially in the footwell. Great for melting snow.

 

[Shamish]

The 4runner's ac/heating is really impressive. My wife hates it because she is always too hot or too cold, but I think it is great.

I agree that the 4runner puts out a ton of heat, especially in the footwell. Great for melting snow.

Yes the 4Runner heater is pretty powerful - it'd just that heat is continually coming out of the vents in the footwell. After 20-25 minutes in the winter, my feet are all sweaty. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer.

I am not sure what the inside of the airbox (or whatever the thing is that directs the flow of air to one vent vs another), but it sounds like the "flap" or whatever for the footwell ducts is partially open. It seems like this could be verified with a videoprobe...

 

[mteolus]

This 4R has some crazy cold and hot AC.

If you live it Texas, the air conditioner is not all that great.

 

[csommers]

Mine does this as well - I've got the temp setting right in the middle with the ducts set to defrost/face and it gets fairly toasty. I just wish the AC worked as well as the heater does lol.

 

[LIT4R]

Yes the 4Runner heater is pretty powerful - it'd just that heat is continually coming out of the vents in the footwell. After 20-25 minutes in the winter, my feet are all sweaty. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer.

I am not sure what the inside of the airbox (or whatever the thing is that directs the flow of air to one vent vs another), but it sounds like the "flap" or whatever for the footwell ducts is partially open. It seems like this could be verified with a videoprobe...

I am aware that my heat continues to blow at the footwell, even if the ac/heat is off. I've never really questioned it. Just thought of it as a quirk.

 

[Ripper238]

Yes the 4Runner heater is pretty powerful - it'd just that heat is continually coming out of the vents in the footwell. After 20-25 minutes in the winter, my feet are all sweaty. I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer.

I am not sure what the inside of the airbox (or whatever the thing is that directs the flow of air to one vent vs another), but it sounds like the "flap" or whatever for the footwell ducts is partially open. It seems like this could be verified with a videoprobe...

I bet if you put it to cold and not run it you will get little to no heat in the foot well. Just having it set to any heat i get some heat off the air box even if off, I never got any heat when it was set to cold. The heat has got to go somewhere when its selected even if the blower is not on.

 

[Shamish]

You are correct in that turning the fan off would solve the issue, but I always like a little air movement. And you are also correct in noting that the air coming out of the ducts would be cold if I set the temperature to cold.

The Service Advisor came by after a couple of hours and said they fixed the issue and I would not need to come back for a follow up (although he said I was welcome to hang out and drink their coffee for as long as I wanted to).

I said I was a nerd and was curious as to what they did. The tech put some pretty detailed notes on the repair slip, but the short version is that he verified the problem (and checked more vehicles), called someone (an Agent after a TAS case was created?), and it was recommended to perform a zero point calibration for the servo. After doing this, they said everything was OK.

There is still a tiny bit of airflow (or at least I think there is), but the situation seems to be very much improved. I will keep an eye on things (basically, by seeing how hot my feet get), and go back if things still seem out of whack.

I am glad they did not need to tear the dash apart.