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HighlanderGeneral discussion forum for the Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid.
This is a discussion thread titled "Sun Visor Problem", within the Highlander forum, part of the SUV Forums category.
Message to Life Tech from Yrmother:
What you are saying about cutting out the home-link buttons from the defective visor and mounting them elsewhere is very unclear to me. How do you install a new visor while at the same time keeping the electrical wiring exposed that connects to the home link buttons? It's an interesting solution in theory but I don't see how it works.
For those considering replacing a homelink visor with a non homelinkvisor, I would disect the homelink button pad and wiring and just relocate the button pad and wiring harness to anther area of the dash... if yu absolutely want/need to retain Homelink conrols and do so without spending $650.
For those considering replacing a homelink visor with a non homelinkvisor, I would disect the homelink button pad and wiring and just relocate the button pad and wiring harness to anther area of the dash... if yu absolutely want/need to retain Homelink conrols and do so without spending $650.
It can be done. Time patience and basic wiring skills will do it.
LT
Hint: examine the harness that goes through headliner to visor and relocate it elsewhere to the relocated OE Homelink button pad.
Now yu can maintain Homelink and just purchase a basic visor from the dealer.
2002 Highlander Limited. Same problem, driver side visor drops down about 30 degrees from the 'up' position.
We have had this same problem. After purchasing the Highlander, new, in 2002, the driver's side visor had this same problem a year or so after. Took it back in and they tightened it. That didn't last long before I had to take it in again and they replaced it because it was still under warranty. Unfortunately, I haven't kept track of the timeline, but the second visor also started having dropping problems. I took it in to the dealership and they told me I must be putting too much on the visor (I have never placed ANYTHING on this visor, and told them so). They said it was no longer under warranty, but that I could replace it for $600 plus. This is VERY aggravating, especially since it seems this is a defect from the beginning. I feel Toyota should make good on it. I've tried the sticky velcro, but of course the sticky part soon doesn't stick to the visor. What else to do?
Try an adhesive sealant on the back of the velcro from your local auto store. I would personally use a product called "Goop". You can find it at Lowes or Home Depot. When dry it stays flexable and will stick to virtually anything. I use it for for just about everything. Just my 2 cents worth.
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My first two Toyotas: a 1972 Yellow Carina and a 1974 Copper Corona 'woody' station wagon. Remember these names?
I have the same unsafe sun visor issue on my driver side visor of my 02 highlander and I will try to take apart the visor joint and tighten the screws. It really is a safety issue and when it hits my head sometimes when I duck to look under it in a tricky situation, it is not pleasant since it is heavy and very annoying. Of course I never put anything on top of the visor, ever, and I asked the dealer about replacing it and got the same $600.00 fix it solution since the warranty was not in effect anymore. My dealer even said that I could not replace it with the plain one, so if I cannot fix it by working on the bracket, then I will try to get the visor without the home system on it since I never even used this function anyway and I will try to have someone else install it if they will not. Thanks for the advice. I just finally had my last straw and it is annoying to know my whole family drives Toyota forever and Toyota will not fix this dangerous issue with a reasonable solution once the warranty is expired.
A defect that is costly to fix. Off warranty yu are sh*t out of luck.
They changed the design and put the Homlink in overhead console.
They charge mega $$$ to replace this old design visor.
Toyota wants yu to buy a new vehicle . The average person is expected to buy new...planned obsolescence. All manufacturers do this on different levels.
Hello,this is my 1st post. Just bought 2002 Hl. Same problem dri side vis falls down.This is definatly a design flaw.I took mine off sqeezed the cheap tin tube togeter and still had problem.I did finally fix it for about 15 cents and it works perfect.If you want the steps to do it e-mail me and I will give you a step by step details on what I did. I can tell you that the dealer sells the visor with a cutout for the lighted mirror for $67.but you will lose your I-link on the visor.the other problem also is the plastic that is around the visor shaft that connects to the roof also wears,so replacing the visor alone may not correct the problem unless you replace the shaft also.the visor moves independently on the shaft,the shaft does not move,over time the plastic shaft wears and the cheap tin in the visor that goes over the shaft weakens that why even when you squeeze it together and put it back on the shaft it will not work,and even if you buy the shaft and visor you will still encounter the problem again because of the design and toyota will not do anything about it once your warranty expires.if you have alittle know how and want to attempt the fix i did it will take you about 1 to 2 hours and cost you under a dollar.Just scroll a few posts down I posted what worked for me.Good Luck.
Last edited by sbish; 04-05-2008 at 05:28 PM.
Reason: to delete my e-mail address
ok here it goes.
First take the plastic lens cover off visor light,then take out 2 screws that hold vanity light to visor,light should easily separate from visor,now heres were you got to decide if you have the know how to do the rest,so if you decide you do then take out the 10 amp fuse I have a 2002 hl and if u have owners manual it is labeled dome #16 on drivers side engine compartment.then with the light separated if you have the I-link like I do you will see 2 sets of red and black wires connected two one connector, you have to cut 1 red and 1 black wire make sure you cut the ones going to the top of the visor connected to the shaft not the ones going to the I-link.make sure you don’t cut the wires to close to the top of the visor or to close to the connector because you will have to slice these wire back together,then sit in your drivers seat with visor down and pointing at you use one hand to move visor left to right while the other hand is pulling visor at you off the shaft,the shaft only goes about 4 inches into visor,now with the visor off the shaft you can try what the one guy suggested which was look inside the visor hole with a pair of needle nose pliers squeeze that cheap tin cirlcle tighter then put visor back on shaft to test make sure you put your cut wires back through visor hole you might have to remove some of the tape to get the wire to come down in the visor more easily.I tried this and it did not work for me,you can see the plastic on the metal shaft where the visor goes onto also weres out that’s why buying a new visor may not solve the problem unless you buy the shaft also which connects to your roof.but what I did was put a plastic anchor the kind you put in a wall to hold pictures or something into the visor hole it should fit in their tight.the body of the anchor will go into the visor hole while the lip of the anchor stops on the tin ring in visor,if anchor goes all the way in hole then anchor is to small.once the anchor is in visor hole fish wires in visor hole put visor on shaft by swinging left to right and pushing at same time check to make sure it works like I said it worked perfect for me,connect wires back together either using electrical tape or I used Quick disconnects you can get at radio shack,make sure you don’t crimp the wire together permatetly because if you do this again you don’t want to keep cutting the wires because they aint that long to begin with.then put everything back together.Good luck if you got any more questions e-mail me. Let me know if this worked for you.if you decide you don’t want to cut the wires you still can pull the visor off the shaft just to see what it looks like for yourself just don’t pull to hard or you will brake the wires,you still will have to unscrew the mirror.
I put this into bullet format to make it a bit easier to read (sBish - thx for posting it!!!)...
- First take the plastic lens cover off visor light,then take out 2 screws that hold vanity light to visor,light should easily separate from visor
- Heres where you got to decide if you have the know how to do the rest,so if you decide you do then take out the 10 amp fuse I have a 2002 hl and if u have owners manual it is labeled dome #16 on drivers side engine compartment.
- With the light separated if you have the I-link like I do you will see 2 sets of red and black wires connected two one connector, you have to cut 1 red and 1 black wire make sure you cut the ones going to the top of the visor connected to the shaft not the ones going to the I-link.
- Make sure you don’t cut the wires to close to the top of the visor or to close to the connector because you will have to slice these wire back together
- Sit in your drivers seat with visor down and pointing at you, use one hand to move visor left to right while the other hand is pulling visor at you off the shaft,the shaft only goes about 4 inches into visor
- With the visor off the shaft you can try what the one guy suggested which was look inside the visor hole with a pair of needle nose pliers squeeze that cheap tin cirlcle tighter then put visor back on shaft to test make sure you put your cut wires back through visor hole you might have to remove some of the tape to get the wire to come down in the visor more easily.
- I tried this and it did not work for me,you can see the plastic on the metal shaft where the visor goes onto also wears out that’s why buying a new visor may not solve the problem unless you buy the shaft also which connects to your roof.
- What I did was put a plastic anchor the kind you put in a wall to hold pictures or something into the visor hole it should fit in their tight.the body of the anchor will go into the visor hole while the lip of the anchor stops on the tin ring in visor,if anchor goes all the way in hole then anchor is too small.
- Once the anchor is in visor hole fish wires in visor hole put visor on shaft by swinging left to right and pushing at same time check to make sure it works like I said it worked perfect for me,connect wires back together either using electrical tape or I used Quick disconnects you can get at radio shack
- Make sure you don’t crimp the wire together permatetly because if you do this again you don’t want to keep cutting the wires because they aint that long to begin with.then put everything back together.
Good luck if you got any more questions e-mail me. Let me know if this worked for you.if you decide you don’t want to cut the wires you still can pull the visor off the shaft just to see what it looks like for yourself just don’t pull to hard or you will brake the wires,you still will have to unscrew the mirror.
The plastic cover slides off. You will see the cover is wider at the end pointing toward the center of the roof, so I just used a screwdriver and pushed on it to slide it off.
And ues, add me to the long list of people that has a visor that flops down -- worst time is in heavy traffic, surrounded by idiot drivers, and everybody starts hitting their brakes. At my height, the entire view in front of me is blocked.
Here's the real "low-tech" solution I tried (after trying to crimp with no success). I noticed there is very little clearance to the right and left of the visor when it is folded up, so I grabbed a napkin, folded many times, placed the "wad" on the right edge and then raised the visor to wedge the napkin in place. So far so good!! The cost of the required part was included in my meal from McDonalds.
Re: Sun Visor Problem
Re: Sun Visor Problem
