Rear heat pitiful...

[tedcool]

Hi All,

I've got my two little ones in the back, and after we play in the snow, they are COLD! Both of my previous 4Runners ( 88, 98 ) had rear heat, with separate heater cores and fans. My 06 Sport has ??? Just a vent, that uses air forced back from the front. I have to blast it to warm up the back, and even then, it's kind of pitiful.

I haven't checked into the dual zone setup the limited has, but I'm wondering if it's significantly better, and if I can retrofit it into my SE. If that's just crazy, then maybe a separate booster fan can be slipped in somewhere, somehow.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[fitzt4r]

I don't know if I am qualified to vote on this yet b/c I only checked it's output oce since taking delivery of the truck.

It was over the summer and I had just taken the dog for a run so he was burning up in the cargo area of the truck. I cranked up the a/c and reached back to make sure the vents were open for him. But if I recall correctly, there was just a trickle of cold air coming out and I have the control on Auto/Lo so the front was blasting cold air.

Based on my limited knowledge, I would say it sucks. But what do I know!?

 

[Falls]

It will blow out the counsel vents when the selector is set to the upper body face position. Also make sure the vent is open .

Still not a good system but thats how mine works.

 

[Iron Clad Lou]

by the time the air gets through those vents its cold...unless you blast the heat in the front...

 

[pipspeak]

I'm slightly annoyed by a related problem... When I want to cool myself (the driver) I find that, unless I close the rear vents, too much air goes into the back leaving precious little to cool me up front. So I either have to close the rear vents or crank up the blower fan to level 3 or 4.

I'm also curious if there are any vents under the front seats to warm the rear passenger footwell. I honestly haven't looked but it's a fairly common feature in many other cars. Anyone know?

 

[MAC4Runner]

There are in fact vents under the front seat of the T4R for the rear footwells. In the winter I close the two front (middle) dash mounted vents and this significantly increases air flow to the back vents in the center console.

I have them aimed at my daughter's car seat and she loves it! :bigok:

YMMV

 

[tedcool]

I've been closing most of the front vents, and setting the blower on high. Noisy, though, and not too impressive even then.

What do you folks with Limiteds think of the dual zone rear heat?

 

[Mark86]

I thought there were floor vents under each front seat that warmed up the rear. I never sit in the back of my truck but nobody has ever really complained.

 

[Bill42]

I think the dual climate in the Limiteds just means that the driver and front passenger can select different climate settings. Other than that I don't believe there is any other difference in the ac/heating system.

 

[Uneek]

Yup, it's for different front driver and passenger temperatures. Don't know which side temperature setting controls the air to the back.

I haven't tried it out on the 4Runner, but I've tried it on a GS430 with one side on the hottest setting and the other on coldest. On the GS, the system shuts off the center vents and sets the highest fan speed for air through the vents near the doors. IMO, dual zone climate is just gimmick and fluff. The only benefit is if either the driver or passenger is the sun and want a slightly higher or lower temperature. The other person is less than three feet from the other.

I went snowboarding with two other people in my 4Runner and no one complained about the temperature.

 

[atomic punk]

Works fine - blast the upper vents with HI heat and close all or some of the front driver/passenger vents. The rear vents will heat up the second row in no time. Don't know about the third row since I don't have one.

 

[Elton]

mine never gets used

 

[HiVel-JR]

Yup, smoething that could have been better designed.

 

[BC4Runner]

I quite often have 2 adults in the back and they have never complained about the temp.

 

[cdoyle]

My 91 had a separate control for the fan and temperature for the rear passengers.

When I got my 04, I was surprised to see that this option was no longer available. Just 2 vents in the back, and it's sort of annoying because if the people in the back are cold. you have to turn off the vents in the front (so enough air goes through the rear vents), and then try and figure out if it's the temperature control for the driver or the passenger is the one you need to adjust for the people in the rear.

I swear it changes each time! One time I'll turn the drivers side up to 80 and the rear will get hot. Then the next time, nothing but if I turn the passenger side up then the rear gets hot. I guess it just has a mind of it's own. (lol)

 

[JB.]

I did a quick test once and it seemed that the rear air temp was an average of the two front temps.