Drafty Cab

My wife has been complaining about feeling a cold draft on her feet during these colder months. She says it seems to originate from the upper RH side under the dash of the passenger side. I've looked up there but don't see any obvious source.

Have any of you experienced this? Where should I look to track this down? I've told her to wear thicker socks but that wasn't the answer she was looking for.

<-- It concerns this truck.

Thank you,
Andrew

 

A woman with cold feet?

 

Yea, that is quite unusual isn't it.

 

He hee. I dunno, the area your talking about may be behind the glovebox where air comes through your cabin air filter.

 

I don't believe my '03 Tacoma has an air filter. But I guess I could pull the glove box and look around.

 

sounds like air is getting into the ductwork and blowing through the dash fan that is right where she feels the air.

check the door to the fresh air intake vent is closing all the way, I think that is going to be the problem.

set the climate controls to the recirculate air position and it should close that door if it is working correctly and sealing properly

 

I'll check that out. She feels it when the air is on the recirculate air position more so than when it is open. I figured when it is open it us creating positive pressure in the cab that has to blow out that same hole, wherever it is.

Today I am getting ideas, will tackle it tomorrow.

 

Looks like your right there. I guess they didn't have them until 2006.

 

could be sucking in air from the kick panels so try pulling them and taping plastic over then to seal out any air leaks, also check if its coming from behind the door panel, if so pull that and tape plastic over it to seal the air out.

might be best to pull the passenger seat out and lay on the floor while the wife drives on fast road so you can feel and locate exactly where its coming from because that may be the only way to locate and fix this quickly or you might spend a lot of time guessing where it might be coming from.

 

Well I pulled the glove box out but could not find any obvious route for air to be entering. Not wanting to spend a whole lot of time and effort I reassembled the glove box and stuffed the area with some batting material that I had.

I am hoping this will block the air from blowing directly on her feet, even though it will still be entering the cabin. She has not yet ridden with me but we should be able to test my "repair" this weekend. I'll report back the results after testing.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

On the early Tacomas 95-00 with the cable controls. The air mix damper cable would break allowing cold air in on your feet. This cable tied in on the warm-cool control. Not sure if the 01-04 Tacomas use cables. But the controls might be simular.

 

Well she again has cold feet. I guess I need to figure out some way to break into the box where the valves are to see if one isn't sealing. None of the other attempts have yet solved the problem.

 

Have someone drive the truck with you in the passenger seat. While going down the road, feel up under the dash looking for the air leak. Feel around the door seal.

 

My wife's civic had the same issue. Never got to the bottom of the issue as it wasn't my car to poke around in and she never seemed to give two shits.

 

check all the grommets where harnesses come through the fire wall

 

Perhaps I should do this after removing the glove box. I've checked the grommets and they all look tight.

 

or ... you could just give her a blanket ....

 

snuggie

 

let her drive instead

 

Not going to happen! But maybe the snuggie. ;-)