Heater isnt working, looking for recommendations

Just bought this truck so dont have much information on it previous life. Doesnt look to have been taken care of the way I take care of my vehicles. I noticed when i purchased it the coolant was about 1/2 gallon low. The thermostat seems to be working. I have a scan gauge 2 and monitored the temp on a 60 mile ride this morning. It got up to 188 and stayed there the whole trip. I can hear the door open and close when i turn the temp from cold to hot and vice versa. I felt of the two hoses coming out of firewall and they were warm but not sure if that was from engine heat. Can someone tell me what the lever does in the photo where the bottom line from heater core goes into. What makes that lever move? It has a cable going to it. I have nothing leaking inside the cab nor do I smell coolant in the cab.

 

That is the heater control valve. Connects to temp knob in the cab. When heater is set to hot, it allows hot coolant to flow into the heater core. If it opens properly and you get no warm/hot air, the heater core could be corroded. Or there could be coolant blockage into or out of the core.

 

Ok we may be on to something. The control knob that controls the temp is actually broke and is not turning that valve. I took the cover off and saw where the wire in the photo attached, but the gears are stripped. If i extend and retract the wire it is opening and closing a door but nothing is working the valve. Im going try and manually see if I can move the lever on the firewall in first photo and see if heater will work.

 

Im looking at buying a new control center from toyota. By chance anybody have any experience on changing this out? Those cables are sometimes hard to manipulate to even hook up. It looks like several cables also.

 

I have a ‘97 so it’s a little different.

Is the cable in your hand from the top location or bottom location of that temperature control dial?

I looked up what I think is the same climate control module you have and it looks like one cable could correspond to opening the hvac door and the other to the heater valve. Looks like you could be handling the lower.



Photos I think are a ‘98.
Did you see the other cable when you were seeing that the gears were stripped? That top cable could be your valve cable.

 

Beaverdamoand, Im almost positive you are correct. I’m going pull it again and try to fix those stripped gears. More than likely its probably from the cable freezing up and then the base that holds the top gear broke. Its worth a try to see if I can zip tie that base down. To help tacoma owners in the future the control panel part number is 55910-35121 and the cable from control panel to heater valve is 55907-35040.

 

@Ricky B good luck with the zip tie fix! were you able to find anything out after opening the valve by hand?

 

RickyB
Those/your’s HVAC control panels can be acquired for less than half the price from dealers (if even available from dealer)
Car-part.com excellent source

AAA part classification means insurance quality/no damage

 

Ok guys, I unhooked the cable off the heater valve on the firewall and moved it opposite of what it was. This allowed me to get heat in the cab. I do appreciate all the help. I have to adjust valves and do a power steering flush before I tackle the heater/ac exchange.

 

I love cable HVAC controls!!
Good job