weak heater. 2015 TRDORDC with 52k

Zero degrees this morning prompting this thread...

The heater on this truck is awful. Always has been. Takes about 15-20 minutes for any substantial heat. By then I am at work. Once it finally reaches a minimally warm temp then its fine. I would never say hot. When it's as warm as it can get, in no way does it compare to any of the multitude of Toyotas I have owned in the past. Every one of them could burn you out. This truck also feels very drafty when driving. Feels like cold air is coming right thru the firewall. The oldest Toyota we currently own is a 2004 4Runner 4.7 that sits outside and has 207k. It's hot after 2 blocks.

Anybody else experience a slow-warming or weak heater in their 2nd gen?

 

Time for a new thermostat. Change your cabin filter also . My 2008 V6 has an awesome heater in it .

 

Thanks for the reply whatstcp.
This truck just continues to disappoint with the little things Toyota used to get so right with all my 1980s and 90s Toyotas. If I would have known about this before buying the truck it would have been a deal killer. Why would I ever think a Toyota would have a weak heater? I have never had anything like it in 30-40 years of Toyota ownership. Guess I'll see if I can change to a hotter thermostat and that's about all that can be done.

 

Something is wrong with your truck unless you are in the extreme north.

Change the thermostat. Sounds like it is stuck open. 90% chance it is this.

Other options:
Check your coolant level. Heater core can’t get hot if it doesn’t have enough juice to circulate.

Change the cabin air filter. My AC sucked until I figured out the awesome HEPA filter I put in was severely limiting air flow. OEM or bust.

Check the heater core (sounds like it could have a mouse nest or something blocking flow).
Is the fan pushing an adequate volume of air?

For the drafts:
Check the rubber boot on the fire wall in front of the driver where the steering linkage and hood release pass through. If you have a bad draft, that or another passage may have been butchered by a previous owner to run stereo wires or something.

Mine on full heat is uncomfortable after about 2 miles from my house.

 

Might also be the heater/aircon blend door in the airbox. It might not be moving all the way to the "hot air exclusively" stop. There might be a foreign object stuck in there, causing it to bind, or maybe the door actuator is dodgy. Or a flaky plug/socket mate. (I'm assuming here that the blend is controlled electrically rather than manually.)

 

i have the same truck and year. While i agree this truck takes a little longer than other vehicles i have owned, it is nothing like your experience. Start going through the checklist others have listed here, there has to be something wrong.

 

i will also add, if i just let it idle and warm up, it takes at least 10 minutes to start pumping satisfactory heat, If i just start driving, 3-5 minutes depending on outdoor temps.

 

Thanks everyone, for the input and suggestions. It's scheduled for service next week so I will ask them to check out some of the potential reasons mentioned here.

I have a co-worker with the same exact truck and his heater is slow to warm and the cabin is drafty.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I would first check to see if the thermostat is stuck. Does the engine take a long time to warm up (as indicated by the temperature gauge or heater operation) the thermostat is probable stuck open. If the engine runs hot, use your hand to check the temperature of the lower radiator hose. If the hose is not hot but the engine is the thermostat is probably stuck in the closed position preventing the coolant inside the engine from traveling through the radiator. In both cases replace the thermostat...
Good luck....keep us posted.

 

That was important info. You might have a partially blocked heater core due to antifreeze that was left in there too long and let some corrosion build up. Or maybe someone used the wrong type antifreeze. Go to the local parts store and get a heater core flush kit. It adapts a garden hose to the core fittings. Flush both directions a few times and see what sort of crap comes out, what the flow is at first, whether it improves after the second or third flush. Pray you don't have to replace the core.

 

I forgot to mention: Check the insides of the hoses that run to/from the core. Modern hoses can look fine from the outside but can be falling apart on the insides, leaving debris in tiny spaces such as... yep, heater core passages.

 

Yea my heater will blow you out of the cab ..........toasty

 

No problems here but then again I don’t live where it’s 0 flipping degrees.

 

Crap... I thought I was replying to the OP. Sorry for the error. For the .0 low-heat issue I would still flush the heater core. And if the antifreeze has been in there longer than spec, I'd replace it. If HOAT is specified, be sure to use that.

 

Thanks again everyone. I will report back if I find any resolution.

 

My 2015 double cab heater takes for ever to heat up too. I am interested to hear back from you if a solution is found.
I have dumped my coolant twice over the last few weeks hoping it would help and it did nothing for the heater.
And my in cabin filter is fairly new and its not a HEPA filter, just an el cheapo brand from Advanced Auto.

 

How do you change the in cabin filter? Where is it?

 

remote start kit=warm truck without leaving the warm house

 

behind the glove box, remove the little piston and push in the sides to release the box. Be prepared for the glove contents to fall out if your not careful. You'll see a rectangular area with two latch points. the filter goes in a certain way, look for arrows on the filter itself.

so are you saying you havent change that filter in 52,000 miles? If so, thats a problem

 

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