Passenger is FREEZING!

A

Alpacamarc

New member
I've tried the search button and didn't really find any answers. Here goes...

So I just picked up a '98 to replace my '92 and they both have the same problem:

When it's cold out (-30 like today) my passengers' feet absolutely freeze and I try to compensate by turning up the heat, in the end I am absolutely sweating and my passenger's feet are in pain they're so cold.

If I recirculate the air it helps, however then my windows fog over (can't have that).

I'm assuming this is inherent to 4Runners of these years (2nd and 3rd gens), or do I have a problem with both of my trucks?

Has anyone else noticed that as far as temperature setting goes, it's either all or nothing? Hot, turn the knob or pull the lever over just a hair and bam cold air... no happy medium (this as well is on both of my trucks).

Has anyone found a way to resolve these issues or am I the only one who can never seem to get the HVAC set just right on cold days?

Thanks for any help!

,Marc
 
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I never had the temperature with my 1990 or my 2000 but the foot thing i never noticed but would make sense in my 2000 my feet are on fire
 
my 99 is the opposite, the passenger footwell is always hot.

i think its because of the exhaust or the tranny.

Everytime my girlfriend gets out, she comments on how hot her purse is.

maybe theres a difference since mines a 3RZ? probably not.
 
I don't have an issue with the passenger foot well in my 97 but I do have the problem of either hot or cold - no happy middle ground. I end up having to turn the heat on for a little while, then turn it off, then turn it back on. :ybrick:
 
Maybe she's giving you a Christmas hint...
 

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Are you using the three options on the flow knob? My '99 (w/o the digital control) allows all foot, all top vent, or a mix in between. It works as advertised--I can freeze them feet or cook 'em.

I do wish it had the left vs. right temp option so I could cook my girlfriend without causing myself to fall asleep. Audi's do this, as did my mom's '74 Mercedes that she had for 30 years (and was done in only by the NJ pollution Nazi's).
 
Ya I'm using all the options, trying to get that magic setting between the temp, fresh air selector, zone selector, and fan speed. It comes down to me doing what was mentioned above: cab gets hot - turn it down a hair, cab gets cold - turn it up just a hair... this repeats every 3-5 minutes or so for the duration of the trip. And that's just to keep the driver comfortable! The passenger is never really comfortable, especially her feet. No solutions out there?

I may just have to try blocking off some of the heat to the driver's feet somehow (has anyone out there tried this?). Then I should be able to crank it to the floor, make the passenger side more comfortable, and not melt my toes in the process haha. The deep freeze continues here tonight, it's -40 right now.... freaking beautiful. Had to put a new battery in the '98 today, the one that came in it just wouldn't crank (I know, WIERD! haha)
 
My temperature controls are pretty picky as well and it can take a while to get it perfect. First the space in the 4Runner is rather large compared to a car so it will take a lot of hot air to get it warm inside. Turning on the rear heat if equipped can help but this is not easy to do on the fly if you don't have a passenger back there.

Also even though my temperature gauge for the engine moves rather quickly the engine block is really not warmed up completely until several miles down the road. This is on the coldest of days of coarse. After traveling about 5 miles down the road give or take I get a lot of heat out of the vents but not before.

One thing to look at "and I have not yet because its been so cold" but the cable going from the temperature control dial to the actual vent mechanism sometimes comes loose from its fitting and can cause the dial to not be accurate. For example mine goes from full hot to complete cold in a couple of clicks counter clockwise. By the time I enter the white area its full cold. Really the white zone should be a mix and the most comfortable. Supposedly you can crawl behind the dash from the passenger side and see that cable and its easy to put back in its place. I have not tried it yet though.

Nothing beats an automatic climate control system for complete comfort. However they are an expensive option and often break at least on some cars.
 
longhaul747 said:
Turning on the rear heat if equipped can help but this is not easy to do on the fly if you don't have a passenger back there.
Click to expand...

I relocated my rear heat fan switch to one of the front blank spots and put the blank cover in the back. It was an easy swap and the switch fits perfectly. Now I don't have to reach back anymore

I would definitely check the vents. It sounds like one is blocked for sure. I've found that once the cab heats up to a comfortable level you can turn the temperature down a little bit, shut the fan off, and turn the setting to outside air instead of recirculating. This acts like a passive fan setting that allows heat in, but maintains temperature instead of increasing it.
 
Simple. The driver side is hot and passenger side is cold. She wants to be hot and you want to be cold so she should drive and you be the passenger. Don't be surpised if she starts complaining about the driver side now being cold too when your feet are burning on the passenger side.
 
miniracer said:
Simple. The driver side is hot and passenger side is cold. She wants to be hot and you want to be cold so she should drive and you be the passenger. Don't be surpised if she starts complaining about the driver side now being cold too when your feet are burning on the passenger side.
Click to expand...

Haha, if only that were the case...
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I will try looking up behind the dash for the temperature control mechanism at the end of the cable and see if I can't tighten it up. Aside from that I'm just going to have to look at limiting the amount of heat going to the driver's feet (maybe blocking the vents a little) and then see if I can figure out why the passenger side's foot area floods with cold air when the fresh air is all the way on. I will update if I ever get this right, that way any canucks (or owners in the northern states) can try the same. Cheers!:cheers:
 
Sounds like you may have some ideas but I'll throw something else in that I had happen in my 96.

My wife would usually have colder feet also on longer drives in temps like this (-43 today here too) but the rest of the cabin was pretty good. Temp control seemed to keep the cabin comfortable with the exception of the passenger's feet. Eventually the heater box went and I lost all heat to any of my dash (not fun in winter conditions). Only heat I had was from the rear seat heater which was at least something but did nothing to keep the windows clear. Got the box fixed and all was good after. Perhaps that may be an issue?

Most times though with the heat at 3/4's and the rear heater going (almost like built in seat heaters with that on) mine was plenty comfortable with minimal adjustments required.
 
Hey GP, sure hope it's not the heater box going... was it a pain to fix? It's freaking cold up where you are, I spent about 6 months in Whitecourt 2 years ago. I remember leaving to drive back to Saskatoon one day and it was -52... the thermometer in the GMC I had wouldn't even register anything below -50 hahaha.
 
I've just had OP's experience driving up to Montreal. Passenger side's right foot was freezing, and the driver's side feet were baking. Stopped and looked around the front foowtwell areas, and I concluded the problem was design, not a malfunction or component failure.

If you look down in there, you'll notice there is only one hot air outlet each for the driver and passenger sides, facing outward from the center stack. When the front heater is turned on to either the foot or foot/defroster setting, you'll be feeling hot air coming out these vents, and -assuming you have them set to open- each of the dash side window defroster vents (the vents that are supposed to defrost the driver's and passenger's side windows).

From messing around with the settings a bit, I figured the front air system is configured like this.

ZCJJW.jpg


The way this is designed, because there only is one fan + heater core sending air to both the driver and passenger side branches, the volume of air sent to each of these branches is dependent on the flow resistance of each branch, which is largely affected by the setting of the side window vents.

For example: if the driver's side window vent is set to open and the passenger side window vent is closed, then
[driver's side flow resistance] < [passenger side flow resistance];
therefore
[driver's side air flow] > [passenger's side air flow].
...which is the situation OP and I were experiencing.

So if you need to cook your passenger while you stay nice and cool, have the passenger side window vent open, and close the driver side window vent. More hot air will flow to the passenger foot vent with respect to the driver's. If the driver needs the side window vent on top of the condition above, you'll just have to make sure the driver side window vent is open to a lesser degree than the passenger side air vent.

If you really wanted to get into it, I suppose you could close off (or install a tiny spring-hinged door to) the driver-side vent outlets to permanently increase the driver's side air flow resistance. I might just tape a piece of cloth on there or something as an easy fix, since I like my feet to stay nice and cool.

Or ya know, keep an extra blanket in the truck. It's a good idea in the colder regions anyway, just in case you get stranded.


Edit: Hmm, wonder why my signature is not working... 2000 4Runner SR5 MT
 
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One thing to note for the driver's side is there is a vent in the steering column (at least in my '98), and that blows on me even when only the windshield vent is on...
 
Hmm, didn't notice that one. If that's the case though, that'd certainly help to reduce the flow resistance on the driver side.

..and my figure was only intended to depict the flow of air when the setting is on foot/windshield defrost or foot. Sorry if that is unclear.
 
Drove a '79 Camaro (Berlinetta, factory t-tops!!!) from jacksonville, Fl to St. Louis, Mo in June, back in '92. Rad got so hot I had to crank up the heat; my buddy put the floormat over his feet, me not so lucky, had blisters all over by the time we got back. Sorry just felt the need to share, as I MUCH prefer this scenario!
 
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