Ripp off or what? AC/blend door problem

B

badaxed

New member
I have a 2003 toyota forunner Limited v6. This is my first post to this forum. I am looking for advice/help.
Late this past fall my drivers side air vents started to blow luke warm air. my passenger side vents blew cold air when my air was on cold.
I have read some posts on this forum detailing possible fixes.
1. checked freon/ok
2. evaperator working
3. pulled fuse and reset computer
4. took to toyota dealer for analysis.

The mechanic @ toyota dealership found that the air was 20 degrees warmer on the drivers side.
He indicated the acutater motor was working.
he removed the actuater to manually move the door.
He indicated that the door does not appear to be closing fully causing warm air to mix with ac.
I WAS TOLD AT THAT POINT TO RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM THEY WOULD HAVE TO REPLACE THE HVAC SYSTEM AS THE DOOR COULD NOT BE REPLACED. They told me Toyota does not have replacement door only the whole hvac unit. Is this the truth?
THE ESTIMATE FOR THIS REPAIR IS
$3,000.

Am I getting ripped off? Has anyone out there had the same problem?
Help!!!!!!!!!!
 
Last edited:
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He may have been referring to the fact that the whole HVAC housing behind the dash may have to be removed and replaced. This alone can be labor intensive. I had a Jeep GC that had dual climate control that was notorious for going bad. 3 times I went through it with my old '02. Did it myself to save on the cost of the dealers labor time plus parts. Also, the AC had to be evac'd and refilled with each job.

See if you can get clarification on cost of parts and how much time in labor they're talking about.
 
I do not know the answer to this but it seems like as the 4runners age the problems they have are very expensive. Not like the old days. Examples, 4x4 transfercase actuator leak $2500, brake master cylinder problems $3000, My speedometer reads high after 6 hours use, as reported by another member $2500, Cracked exhaust manifolds on the V8 and V6 head gaskets big dollars also. Now a new one, your a/c problem $3000. As vehicles get more complicated big dollar repairs are in our future.
 
Oh yeah, this has been happening since OBDII & CAN came into play, as more and more computerized circuits and components are used, the repairs for even your "affordable" bare bones Yaris can easily "total" a car in an owner's eyes.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
Oh yeah, this has been happening since OBDII & CAN came into play, as more and more computerized circuits and components are used, the repairs for even your "affordable" bare bones Yaris can easily "total" a car in an owner's eyes.
Click to expand...

Does the entire HVAC have to be replaced instead of just replacing a blend door?!? Incredible if true!
 
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ooouch..........hv a similar problem in my truck..cold aair only comes out from the inner port of the pssenger ir vent..all the other vents blow hot aaair, really b stranage.....will top up the refrigrnt n see wht happens
 
Was there ever a resolution to this? I'm taking my 2003 to a mechanic tomorrow and would like to know ahead of time if you found a solution other than paying for an entire new HVAC unit...

Thanks,
Jim

badaxed said:
I have a 2003 toyota forunner Limited v6. This is my first post to this forum. I am looking for advice/help.
Late this past fall my drivers side air vents started to blow luke warm air. my passenger side vents blew cold air when my air was on cold.
I have read some posts on this forum detailing possible fixes.
1. checked freon/ok
2. evaperator working
3. pulled fuse and reset computer
4. took to toyota dealer for analysis.

The mechanic @ toyota dealership found that the air was 20 degrees warmer on the drivers side.
He indicated the acutater motor was working.
he removed the actuater to manually move the door.
He indicated that the door does not appear to be closing fully causing warm air to mix with ac.
I WAS TOLD AT THAT POINT TO RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM THEY WOULD HAVE TO REPLACE THE HVAC SYSTEM AS THE DOOR COULD NOT BE REPLACED. They told me Toyota does not have replacement door only the whole hvac unit. Is this the truth?
THE ESTIMATE FOR THIS REPAIR IS
$3,000.

Am I getting ripped off? Has anyone out there had the same problem?
Help!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
 
The Answer is- RIP-OFF!!!

We just had the same problem, except for us, it wasn't just one side. In our situation, my husband was actually able to spray some WD40 on the arm that moves to open & close the door. Then he (gently) moved the arm manually. After that, I tried raising & lowering the temperature & lo and behold- it worked. He suggests you try using some WD40 on the arm & door. The good thing is that you only have to remove the glove compartment door to get to it- you can see everything from there. There are a few great videos on YouTube that can really help a lot. The following link is for the video I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=mB71oDAGxCqZloYN&v=pxPZDmYVQ2A&feature=youtu.be

This is another short video that will just give you an idea as to weather or not this is the problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=ikUh74pH03Dz0TWy&v=WyV_RnrcfCs&feature=youtu.be

This is a link to my playlist of 4runner info, including some quick easy fixes and even a video of 4runner secrets that I found to be pretty cool.

2024 AUTO - YouTube

I suggest you use the video so that you can see for yourself if it's not closing because THE ARM is not moving completely to close it, or if the door is sticking or if it's a little off. A buddy said he put a piece of POSTER BOARD (of all things) & cut it to the appropriate size, and affixed it to the door, which covered any gaps when in the closed position and he said that was 1½yrs ago & it's still working great! He said to tell you that "the junkyard is your friend", but I say that a good YouTube repair video aaaand the junkyard are your friends. I'm a woman and I've personally fixed 3 different things on my truck, just by watching videos & using a little common sense.
Even if my video links aren't the fix- my husband said that there's no way that a bad blend door should require an entire HVAC system to be replaced. He said to be careful, because a shop like that will go as far as TELLING you that they replaced something when all they did was a repair. He said to tell them that you want the old broken part back when they're done ANDA he suggests that you always buy the part yourself and give it to them to put in & make sure that they put YOUR part in (u can mark it with yellow or pink paint on it so u can recognize it. The hubby also said that quite often it's better to get a good "alley mechanic" that's an auto guru. He'd fix our cars himself, but can't work on them himself anymore due to an accident that left him with limited physical abilities) Good luck to ya' my 4runner friend.

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badaxed said:
I have a 2003 toyota forunner Limited v6. This is my first post to this forum. I am looking for advice/help.
Late this past fall my drivers side air vents started to blow luke warm air. my passenger side vents blew cold air when my air was on cold.
I have read some posts on this forum detailing possible fixes.
1. checked freon/ok
2. evaperator working
3. pulled fuse and reset computer
4. took to toyota dealer for analysis.

The mechanic @ toyota dealership found that the air was 20 degrees warmer on the drivers side.
He indicated the acutater motor was working.
he removed the actuater to manually move the door.
He indicated that the door does not appear to be closing fully causing warm air to mix with ac.
I WAS TOLD AT THAT POINT TO RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM THEY WOULD HAVE TO REPLACE THE HVAC SYSTEM AS THE DOOR COULD NOT BE REPLACED. They told me Toyota does not have replacement door only the whole hvac unit. Is this the truth?
THE ESTIMATE FOR THIS REPAIR IS
$3,000.

Am I getting ripped off? Has anyone out there had the same problem?
Help!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
 
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