Heater Control Valve

right?

 

Original poster back again, thought I should pass along a few more tidbits I’ve learned since my last post.

I decided to purchase a valve advertised as OEM Toyota on eBay from a highly reviewed seller in Japan. The price (including shipping) was better than anything else I could find (but still more than the aftermarket ones), and it was shipped to me with lightning fast speed (just a few days) despite coming from another country. It arrived in a sealed baggie and with a formal-looking Toyota label and part number designation (yes, I know the fraudsters have gotten much better when selling knock-offs), and after comparing it side-by-side with the valve currently mounted on the truck, I believe it to be OEM. In fact, despite my earlier proclamation that none of the pics of valves advertised as OEM showed the Denso name, the new one I just received has the Denso name molded into the part. I can only say the clarity and angle of all the pics I looked at when originally researching simply did not clearly show any name. And one side benefit of my Toyota valve is that it came with a shiny new mounting bracket, to replace my old rusty one, which is something I did not see included when researching the various aftermarket models.

Another issue I discovered has to do with the actual Toyota part number. I mentioned the one listed for my truck (87240-04020), as well as others that looked similar (87240-35050, 87240-35070, 87240-04030), with the latter three NOT listed as fitting my application. Nonetheless, I chose to risk ordering the 35050 variety, and again, once it arrived and was compared to my original, I would say it’s absolutely identical. So to any TW members who might be looking for one of these valves for their rig, be advised that Toyota apparently might label this one specific part with many different numbers, and also list each one for a separate application, but my experience suggests the part fits a myriad of years and models. As in my case, you might find serious price differences between differing part numbers and can score a less expensive one.

I realize a number of members have shared their experience with aftermarket valves, both positive and negative, and I respect their input and appreciate their sharing it. The negative ones helped convince me to go for the OEM version despite the higher price. I won’t be able to comment on the long-term reliability of my new valve since I won’t be installing it for at least another couple months, but I’m hopeful that sharing my experience with members on this site might help them make an informed choice.

 

Hammerhead,
How'd the install go this summer? I just bought a 99 4wd v6 manual. I knew that it needed AC work when I bought it. After driving it home, I realized the heater system may need some work too. The temperature know is super hard to turn and clicks pretty hard. I've never done any work on this particular thing before. A friend just told me that it's likely the mixing valve gone bad.
I need to get this fixed quickly as a strong North Idaho winter is about to start. If you or anyone else have any experience with those specific symptoms, I'd love to hear about how it went. Also, with your install, did you the part you bought end up lasting these months?

 

Mabel96, I'm very sorry to report that I have been unable to perform the cooling system refresh as planned this summer, mostly because where I live (Alaska) true summer didn't really exist this year - lots of rain/wind, very little sunshine, and cool temps. This is compounded by my lack of a shop or garage, and also by all the other "life" events that residents in my state must try to accomplish during non-winter months. So it was a matter of priorities, and the cooling system fell down the list. I still intend to do it, but as stated in my opening post, I'm not experiencing any cooling system problems (knock on wood!!) and was planning to undertake this exercise as a preventative measure based on the age of the truck and unknown age status of cooling system components. My personal feeling (not necessarily a recommendation so take it with a grain of salt) is that if I'm gonna go to the trouble of having to partially or fully drain the cooling system because I don't know the age of the components, I might as well go ahead and change out all, or at least most, of the individual those cooling system components while I'm at it, and hopefully not have to worry about any failures for a long time to come.

Since I haven't performed the fix(es) yet, I can only provide observations. If you intend to ONLY replace the heater valve, it would seem like it shouldn't be too difficult - drain sufficient coolant such that any remaining in the system is at a lower level than the valve itself (still might be a small residual amount in the heater core?), then replace the valve. Probably have to make sure that the cable from the knob to the valve is not sticking, but if it is, I'm not sure but maybe you could get some sort of lubricant in there to free it up? Mine is not sticking at present so I haven't had to tackle that one yet. If you decide to tackle replacement of additional components (water pump, thermostat, electrical sensors, hoses/clamps) the job becomes considerably more complex and would likely require complete draining of the cooling system. Since this is kind of an old thread now, not sure if it will get any hits from other members on recommendations and outlooks for any of the aforementioned tasks. Hopefully you will get it figured out, best of luck to you!!

 

I personally have been through 4 on my 95.5.
2 years ago gave up on OEM plastic parts.
Previous owner had radiator replaced 3 times while still under warranty and then I had to replace it5 years later
Every Toyota I ever owned had to replace door handles a couple times.
If it’s mostly plastic and not electrical go aftermarket

 

Resurrecting an old post to see if you ever had a chance to install the part, and is it working fine? I’m looking to replace mine and I think I found the 35050 part on eBay, however it claims it doesn’t fit my 02. Just wanted to reach out before ordering and see what you think. Thanks