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HighlanderGeneral discussion forum for the Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid.
This is a discussion thread titled "Heater quit... sort of", within the Highlander forum, part of the SUV Forums category.
Well, well, well..... It looks like I'm another victim of that damn temp control knob!!! I found this thread on google, and thanks to everyone on here, I should be saving myself a nice big chunk of bucks! I haven't checked the wires yet, but I'm pretty sure that's the fix!
I was able to take it apart as Ptinio described it. No problem once you "see" how the A/C-Radio panel its put together and how it fits into the whole highlander panel.
The thing is that once I got into the back of the control knob, everything was soldered in. In mine, looks like sumitomo corrected the issue by making sure the plate where the cables go into does not move, even if the nut becomes loose.
I put everything back in place and I'm still experiencing the lack of cold air on the driver side while in the passanger side it feels colder. Any thoughts are more than welcome.........Thanks for your help....
Ok - the heater fix was great and everything works as it is supposed to. Now though, I am getting the engine light with EVAP codes P0440 and a few other EVAP codes as well. I have cleared them a few times and they keep coming back. This started after the fix...
Anyone else have this issue or know what I should check?
What is surprising is Toyota has the nerve to decieve its customers ($800) when the problem squarely lied in the design of the dash console and the PCB. Man sucks that there are more and more joining the thread and Toyota is happily saying "Its ur problem. We always make quality products".
I wonder how many of these Toyota owners are going to return to buy a Toyota and much worse bitch about Toyota to colleagues, in churches, in malls, Instant messaging, forums, complaining to local radio/tv stations etc... Great publicity.. Looks like Toyota has a sound marketing road map..
I just bought a 2004 Highlander last Saturday (6/7/08) with 53,512 miles on it. I've been reading here, and elsewhere, all I can find about my HL. Yesterday I checked the heater control and it worked fine. I pulled the knob, and the screw was loose. I tightened it, and after reading some more of this thread today, I'll be putting on some blue Loctite. I've copied the pics from this thread to my computer for future reference. I have a friend who has a HL (not sure what year or model) and I'll be calling him to tell him about this issue. As others have said, this thread is great! I want to add my "THANKS" to wizzer!
Thanks wizzer, dfluitt and others for the help. My buddy was unable to turn off the hot air on his 02 Highlander. Now its almost summer and he is roasting. After taking off the ac/heater control panel, his wires look to be OK at first. Unable to see any broken wires as in the photos. Maybe he was not so lucky on such a cheap fixs. Since the unit was out, he had the wires resolder anyway. Guess what? Now he able to shut off the hot air and use the A/C. Dealer also missed diagnose problem and wanted $900 for fix.
woo hoo! my wife has a 2002 toyoter highlander, she took it to the car wash today and when they were done she said she had no a/c she asked me where the coolant goes, after i stopped chuckling i told her im sure the car wash did not sabotage her vehicle (she hates it when i refer to it as a suv or vehicle she calls it a car) god bless her ignorant mind yuk yuk i also told her it is freon she might be thinking of, so i told her she can take the truck and i will take the highlander to work and take it to the dealer in the am, first off i was lucky to have a fellow employee who used to work on toyotas, he determined that the freon was full and the a/c compressor was on, and we narrowed it down to the knob, however he did not know the cheap fix, i searched the internet looking for recalls when i came across your site i simply removed the knob and tightned the 12 mm nut and ta da! cold air, while i was at it i tightened the nut on the other knob on right (vent selector) and called her up at work and told her that the nuts were loose and she made a joke and that was it. thank you so very much
Last edited by metamorphosis4x4; 06-19-2008 at 02:55 AM.
"wizzer" must have saved the entire org community millions of dollars with the fix. Think about it, at the very least if 1000 folks found this thread on the internet (vs $1000 for fix) it easily ran up a million dollars. Multiply that with the number of folks who don't sit on forums..
Internet and WWW must undoubtedly be the greatest invention in my generation and many more generations to come.
I'll add my experience in here as well. I was experiencing intermittent heat loss and then found this thread. Just fixed last night on my 03 HL. The soldering was pretty tight but I managed to use the existing wires and just soldered them back in place.
On an even better note, my dad has an 02 HL. I told him about what I'd read here, he hadn't experienced any heat issues yet but went right out and tightened it up to avoid a problem in the future.
Thanks again for the great pictures, and instructions.
Ok - the heater fix was great and everything works as it is supposed to. Now though, I am getting the engine light with EVAP codes P0440 and a few other EVAP codes as well. I have cleared them a few times and they keep coming back. This started after the fix...
Anyone else have this issue or know what I should check?
Thanks.
Isn't emission components warrantied for 10 years from Toyota?
The A/C quit working on my 2004 Highlander (actually it blew hot air until I searched the temp control dial until I found a spot that gave me A/C) and I discovered the same problem with the broken wires described in previous posts. I carefully resoldered three brand new wires. Now my car only blows hot air with no A/C at all! It was worth a try but I'm forking out $650 for the new control panel and I'll install it myself.
I have an 02 Highlander, my heat is on all the time.. was quoted $1100 plus tax for repairs, read this thread, complained to Toyota, this is the response I got...
Thank you for your recent correspondence.
Toyota Canada Inc. is not aware of any common concerns with the 2002 Highlander such as you have described. However, we suggest discussing this directly with the Service Manager at your Toyota dealership. They would be in the best position to advise you in this regard.
We would also like to mention that we have noted your comments regarding the Highlander and have forwarded them to the appropriate departments within Toyota Canada Inc. for information purposes.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact us and for allowing us the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
Alice McNamee
Customer Interaction Centre
Toyota Canada Inc.
After the air went out in Tonapa NV (temp 105) i took the center knob off my 06 highlander and noticed it was loose. SInce the air did come back on for a minute later in the week I thought this may have caused fatigue on the sodder and the repair would be cheap. Since Mark Miller of SLC came in with a seven hundred dollar offer !!!, I thought this is worth a google, ended up here and solved the problem myself, with the help of MIKES TV repair in SLC. What really pissed me off about mark millar was that as I was standing there waiting to retrieve my keys, a lead mechanic wandered by and I presented him with the problem. He actually told me half these jobs clould be fixed with a solder, and then I queried my service rep and they never tried to even see if the problem could be repaired cheaply. Mike actually replaced the three wires connecting the knob with the board and commented that the alloy used in the wiring was pretty tough to solder. He charged me 30$ and guaranteed his work.
THANK YOU WHIZZER
Last edited by powderpond; 09-04-2008 at 08:00 AM.
Reason: Thank WHizzer
Well, add my gratefulness to wizzer, and others, for your exceptional help and advice on fixing our intermittent cooling problem on my wife's '01 Highlander. When I first told her that one site said it would take $1,100 to repair she stated that she didn't need an A/C that bad and fall weather was coming. But then she added that perhaps it was time to trade for a new vehicle.
I found this forum, was able to correct the problem, so far, by just tightening the nut. So, 5 minutes of time and a pair of pliers has fixed the problem and saved me at least $1.1K and most likely many K's more. Should be able to fend off the desire for a new car, at least for a few months.
Re: Heater quit... sort of
