Change Manual a/c heater to Auto digital

[Dysan911]

klr toy,

How much would you say the parts cost you and can you provide a parts list by chance?

Awesome job!

Thanks

[klr toy]

All together, the parts from the wrecker totalled $680. Half of it was the heater box assembly. They said they would give me a credit for the heater and evaporator cores if I take them back so I should get $200 back later today. I will test it for the next few days and see if the last damper and servo are really necessary or not. If in fact they are not needed, then one can theoretically go without getting the whole assembly which was $350 by itself.
That being said... it should cost around $350 to do this conversion so it works. If one wanted to replace all of the components, count on about $700.

The amplifier required for a crewmax is 88650-0C070
I'm not sure of the other part #'s for the thermistor (and I don't know that the thermistor comes with the tube from the dealer) , but they have been posted in this thread already. I will see if I can get part #s off of the actual servo motor, damper flap, and servo harness in case anybody wans to order these seperately.

[PENER]

Originally Posted by klr toy

That being said... it should cost around $350 to do this conversion so it works. If one wanted to replace all of the components, count on about $700.

just because you were able to find Ltd Tundra at your junk yard and get all the parts needed for $700 doesn't mean that "it should cost $700 to do this". it is very hard to come across Ltd heater controls or a/c amplifier. you were lucky!

[klr toy]

Yes, this is true; however, if I had to go to the stealership to buy the parts, I would not have done it. I also paid $350 for the control panel that was all scratched up. I believe there was a couple for sale on this forum, possibly even this thread for around $100.00. The parts that I got were also on an international parts exchange network. Theoretically, anybody could have gone to their local wrecker and got the very parts that I installed in my truck. The prices are set by the network, not the wreckers, which is usually half of the dealers list price. I was only relaying what it cost me to do the swap. Remember that patience is a virtue and that research can pay off. If you don't want to wait, you will pay more. If you can wait and look around, you will pay less. There are lots of written off trucks out there, now.

On a further note, I had my truck into a buddies stereo shop to install a remote starter and decided to install the last servo motor and swap out the required harness since my dash was half ripped out anyways and had nothing better to do. (I did not install the flapper inside the heater box as this requires seperating the box into 2 pieces to install and cannot be done in the truck). I can report that I noticed no noticeable difference in performance or functionality with it hooked up. This seems to confirm my theory that if it is not there it will be disregarded by the network. That being said, I believe that one could skip those parts and not purchase the heater assembly at all to make the control system work. I did take the heater and evaporator cores back and got $210 credit for them.

[PENER]

BTW I have one extra mint condition LTD heater-a/c control panel for sale.

I'm looking for LTD a/c amplifier to buy

[jgaudette]

Has anyone found a faster way at gaining access to the solar sensor wires? anyone tro to snake them out of the hole and relocate the sensor?
I too am also looking for a Limited crewmax amp.. I see the dealer wants over 300 for these little guys....
Thanks
Me

[klr toy]

Originally Posted by jgaudette

Has anyone found a faster way at gaining access to the solar sensor wires? anyone tro to snake them out of the hole and relocate the sensor?
I too am also looking for a Limited crewmax amp.. I see the dealer wants over 300 for these little guys....
Thanks
Me

I have been running my new setup for a few weeks without the solar sensor hooked up and it seems to be working fine. At least I am not having any noticeable problems and the system maintains the temp I set it at. From what I can tell, the wires for the solar sensor are terminated somewhere before the connector directly below the sensor in the dash. The pins and wires will need to be added to the connector. It would seem that without adding the extra cool air bypass flapper, servo, and servo harness, then the solar sensor is not required since the parts it is used to control are not there.

Just curious as to why you would want to relocate the sensor anyway? As far as an amp goes, go to any local wrecker and get them to look it up on a parts interchange. It should be half of dealer and they can bring it in from anywhere at no extra cost to you!

[jgaudette]

Thanks Klr Toy,
I was looking into moving the sensor to avoid taking the whole dash out, seems rather excessive for 1 sensor. But you are correct, without the added damper there isnt much sense if people are not running into problems.. Does the system function normally in the auto position?, Thats pretty much why I am doing this conversion (already have the controls) and I too learned the hard way its not just a plug and go install....
Me

[klr toy]

So far I haven't had any problems and I still haven't hooked up the sensor. I'm in Canada and we get some pretty big temperature changes during the day. It's almost freezing in the morning now and gets pretty warm during the afternoon. I set the temp and it does it's thing! Gotta love it. It will probably be a couple of weeks before I can get to finishing hooking up the sensor...

[Psychosis]

So, let me get this straight. All we need to get for the auto controls to work is:

1. auto controls
2. a/c amplifier
3. thermistor

All of which can be found if a wrecked LTD can be found on a junkyard somewhere.

Am I correct?

[klr toy]

That's pretty much it. Just make sure you get the tube that connects the thermistor to the front of the heater box as well

[pedro66]

Originally Posted by Psychosis

So, let me get this straight. All we need to get for the auto controls to work is:

1. auto controls
2. a/c amplifier
3. thermistor

All of which can be found if a wrecked LTD can be found on a junkyard somewhere.

Am I correct?

Any chance of some pictures of what we need to get from behind the dash A/C is not my thing

[roadking3]

ANyone find the part number for the tube that connects the thermistor to the front of the heater box for this swap. I have done everything but drill for this tube and connect it since I cant find a part number for this? It seems to work fine without it? Anyone care to comment on what its for and if I actually need it.

Thanks tons

[PENER]

Originally Posted by roadking3

ANyone find the part number for the tube that connects the thermistor to the front of the heater box for this swap. I have done everything but drill for this tube and connect it since I cant find a part number for this? It seems to work fine without it? Anyone care to comment on what its for and if I actually need it.

Thanks tons

it works in the following way:

the air from the evap case blows out through the fitting. due to it's design (venturi tube) it causes the air to be drawn (sucked) from the plastic tube connected to it (that goes to the temp sensor).

the effect: temp sensor can constantly sample the cabin temperature. the faster the fan, the quicker the cabin temp changes, the quicker the feedback on those changes from the sensor.

think of it as a difference between mechanical air circulation and gravitational air circulation (which in fact is even worse than that in your case)

you may think the system is working fine, it is not. most of the time you will be OK in the manual mode. there are rarely some occasions when the system may get confused due to it's inteligent design.

the Auto mode, however, WILL NOT function properly without the proper air flow through the temp sensor.

[roadking3]

Pener;

Did you ever source the part number for this or know if I can build one with a tube and maybe secure a venturi connectro/fitting at local home depot?