I Broke the A/C Blend Door

[4thGen4.7]

According to search, I'm the only person who has accidentally broken their blend door for the A/C.. the arm will tip it closed.. but it won't come back up. Heat from the floor vents and cold from the main vents..

Does this mean a trip to the scrap yard? I can't make out where the actual break is..

 

[That_Titanium_4RNR]

According to search, I'm the only person who has accidentally broken their blend door for the A/C.. the arm will tip it closed.. but it won't come back up. Heat from the floor vents and cold from the main vents..

Does this mean a trip to the scrap yard? I can't make out where the actual break is..

Sounds like it might have something to do with the servo motor. They are notorious

 

[4thGen4.7]

Sounds like it might have something to do with the servo motor. They are notorious

I should have specified - I was under there fixing my servo when I pulled down on the door and broke it. Servo works awesome now tho!!!

 

[That_Titanium_4RNR]

I should have specified - I was under there fixing my servo when I pulled down on the door and broke it. Servo works awesome now tho!!!

Oh I think I know what youre talking about now, I actually broke mine too. Some call it "bellows" because of the ridges in it. Apparently its for the recirc?? I have mine taped in the down position now currently. Not sure how to fix it either. It was down when I was doing my servo and then I forced it up and broke it without realizing I could have simply pressed the re-circ button to get it to go into the up position.

 

[4thGen4.7]

Oh I think I know what youre talking about now, I actually broke mine too. Some call it "bellows" because of the ridges in it. Apparently its for the recirc?? I have mine taped in the down position now currently. Not sure how to fix it either. It was down when I was doing my servo and then I forced it up and broke it without realizing I could have simply pressed the re-circ button to get it to go into the up position.

Haha! Yours is taped down but you're able to get your air to mix and blow as desired? Shoot maybe that thing isn't my problem..

 

[That_Titanium_4RNR]

Haha! Yours is taped down but you're able to get your air to mix and blow as desired? Shoot maybe that thing isn't my problem..

So far I haven't noticed any issues with anything...fresh air obviously doesn't work...however I only have a passenger like 20% of the time

 

[4thGen4.7]

So the timeline and events look like this: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/attachments/4th-gen-t4rs/16696d1211751833-anyone-03-4r-ac-blows-hot-driver-side-cold-passenger-side-4runner-hvac-components-gif

I replaced the 'Mode Damper Servo Sub-Assembly (Air Outlet Damper Control Servo Motor)'
When doing that I broke the bellow or blend door. The racket persisted so I dealt with it for a few months. Then the cold stopped blowing and it only put out heat.
I then took out the 'Damper Servo Sub-Assembly (Air Mix Damper Control Servo Motor) and fixed the worm gear.
Now it doesn't blow only heat, it blows heat on the passenger floor vent and cold everywhere else

 

[4thGen4.7]

So far I haven't noticed any issues with anything...fresh air obviously doesn't work...however I only have a passenger like 20% of the time

I wonder if air mix servo isn't turning the levers anymore.. I neglected to mention that I decided to purposely break the top screw on the bracket instead of dropping the blower and fan motor assembly

 

[DeVett89]

So, I think I am in this boat too somehow. I noticed that my driver's side was blowing warm air and the passenger's side was cold. Texas in summer means warm air is not tolerable. Mine's an '04 Limited so it has dual zone temp control. I checked the driver's side blend door servo and it worked fine. I removed it and actuated the blend door arm by hand to see the temp change. It works as expected except it never gets very cold. My theory is that the actual bellow somehow got misaligned in there. It's not a part sold separately so to replace it I have to replace the whole heater core assembly. I am seriously debating drilling a hole above the blend door and actuating it to see if I can get it to slip back down to where it blocks off hot air in the full cold position and then covering the drill hole with electrical tape to save $3k. Any lessons learn from you guys who have also had bellow problems? Does this seem like a terrible idea? Thanks!

TLDR: Limited driver's side hotter than passenger, not the servo so I think it' bellow alignment. Debating drilling a hole to adjust the alignment because it's hot as hell right now.

 

[eleven14]

So, I think I am in this boat too somehow. I noticed that my driver's side was blowing warm air and the passenger's side was cold. Texas in summer means warm air is not tolerable. Mine's an '04 Limited so it has dual zone temp control. I checked the driver's side blend door servo and it worked fine. I removed it and actuated the blend door arm by hand to see the temp change. It works as expected except it never gets very cold. My theory is that the actual bellow somehow got misaligned in there. It's not a part sold separately so to replace it I have to replace the whole heater core assembly. I am seriously debating drilling a hole above the blend door and actuating it to see if I can get it to slip back down to where it blocks off hot air in the full cold position and then covering the drill hole with electrical tape to save $3k. Any lessons learn from you guys who have also had bellow problems? Does this seem like a terrible idea? Thanks!

TLDR: Limited driver's side hotter than passenger, not the servo so I think it' bellow alignment. Debating drilling a hole to adjust the alignment because it's hot as hell right now.

Your issue is very likely the system being low on refrigerant and you'll need to get the system recharged (with dye) and check for leaks.

I'm dealing with the same thing (same symptoms) and after evac/recharge, it's blowing ice cold. Will check for leaks in a few weeks and/or if the symptoms return. Tech said it was pretty low.

Lots of threads on it, seems pretty common at 10+ years and 100k+ miles. Fingers crossed that mine isn't a leaking evaporator core. Good luck

 

[DeVett89]

Your issue is very likely the system being low on refrigerant and you'll need to get the system recharged (with dye) and check for leaks.

I'm dealing with the same thing (same symptoms) and after evac/recharge, it's blowing ice cold. Will check for leaks in a few weeks and/or if the symptoms return. Tech said it was pretty low.

Lots of threads on it, seems pretty common at 10+ years and 100k+ miles. Fingers crossed that mine isn't a leaking evaporator core. Good luck

Thanks for the reply. If it was the refrigerant why would the passenger side be cold? They use the same a/c and heater element on both sides, the only difference between driver and passenger side is the hot/cold air ratio, right? At least that's how I understand it.

 

[importman]

It's hard to explain but it's true. Apparently the half of the evaporator where the refrigerant enters it, cools the driver's side, but there's not enough refrigerant to totally fill the evaporator and the 2nd half, which is designed to cool the passenger side goes lacking.

 

[eleven14]

Thanks for the reply. If it was the refrigerant why would the passenger side be cold? They use the same a/c and heater element on both sides, the only difference between driver and passenger side is the hot/cold air ratio, right? At least that's how I understand it.

I don't know the technical explanation beyond the post above, but it's common with Toyotas. Again, search around on the forum, it's common and always low refrigerant. Just trying to save you time/money running down the wrong path.

 

[DeVett89]

I forgot to update this back then but I'm glad I listened! It ended up being low refrigerant just like y'all said. Thank you [MENTION=174591]eleven14[/MENTION] and [MENTION=507506]importman[/MENTION].

 

[23Twisted]

I should have specified - I was under there fixing my servo when I pulled down on the door and broke it. Servo works awesome now tho!!!

No you’re not the only one…!

 

[23Twisted]

I did the same thing thinking I could force it to open up and then “snap”…I knew when it happened I’d screwed up. Diving into these blogs now to see how I can get the blower box out so I can fix that valve. Doesn’t look good though. I may just have to be driving her with recirculating air permanently. Sad thing…that wasn’t the original problem…the issue was it wasn’t producing heat…so I was diving into looking for the blending servo. Then noticed the fresh air servo wasn’t working either. Which was the case…but now trying to nail down which of the two servos on the left side of the housing is the “blender”…Ugh.

 

[AuSeeker]

I did the same thing thinking I could force it to open up and then “snap”…I knew when it happened I’d screwed up. Diving into these blogs now to see how I can get the blower box out so I can fix that valve. Doesn’t look good though. I may just have to be driving her with recirculating air permanently. Sad thing…that wasn’t the original problem…the issue was it wasn’t producing heat…so I was diving into looking for the blending servo. Then noticed the fresh air servo wasn’t working either. Which was the case…but now trying to nail down which of the two servos on the left side of the housing is the “blender”…Ugh.

To find out which one does which function all you have to do is change the setting on the controls for the one you know is working, in this case I would think it's the "mode" servo, the one that changes where the air comes out of, when you change the setting do so while looking at the two servos and take note of which one is working, then you will know the other one is the one you are wanting to replace.