1. Welcome to Tacoma World!

    You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.

    As a registered member, you’ll be able to:
    • Participate in all Tacoma discussion topics
    • Communicate privately with other Tacoma owners from around the world
    • Post your own photos in our Members Gallery
    • Access all special features of the site

Weird AC Problem

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by Down In A Hole, Nov 4, 2015.

  1. Nov 4, 2015 at 12:21 PM
    #1
    Down In A Hole

    Down In A Hole [OP] Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Member:
    #419
    Messages:
    27
    Gender:
    Male
    Philadelphia, PA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Double Cab Limited Pre-Runner 2wd
    De-badged. Air-raid air intake. Magnaflow muffler. Clear front corners. 6700 HID headlights.
    So I recently repaired my climate control and put in a new wire between the circuit boards. (I accidently ruined the old wire attempting to change bulbs) After putting everything back together and plugging in the harnesses I checked to make sure everything was working and gauge lights came on, the fan came on, vents worked properly, ac came on and seemed to work fine (blew cold air) but after a short while of driving the air turned hot and it never returned to cool. Even turning the fan off noticeably hot air seemed to be coming through the vents. I checked all fuses and they are fine. The AC is definitely on the whole time because I can hear it still cycling in the engine. I unplugged my battery doing some work with my stereo and started up the car again and it did the exact same thing. I'm really scratching my head here. Everything worked perfectly fine beforehand. Any help or suggestions please?
     
  2. Nov 4, 2015 at 12:45 PM
    #2
    Xbeaus

    Xbeaus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2015
    Member:
    #166775
    Messages:
    1,573
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Beau
    Black hills South dakota
    Vehicle:
    98 Tacoma 3.4 5 speed SR5 limited TRD 4x4
    Toytec coilovers. Height adjustable Bilstein's. 265/75/16 MT. TRD wheels. Rebuilt r150f. Marlin clutch kit. All kinds of new parts...
    My 98 does something similar. In my research here I have came across many different things. Easy one first. Take off glove box and check your linkage for the blend door. Next is (requires two people) move the temp control from cold to hot and watch the bypass valve located in the middle (mine anyway) and you should be able to watch the diverter switch go back and forth. Funny thing is all my stuff functions properly. My AC doesn't get to cold. If I leave the fresh air on and my fan off hot air always comes out of my vents even when the setting is on cool. Like it's not taking cool air from outside into the cabin. Driving me nuts!
     
  3. Nov 4, 2015 at 12:53 PM
    #3
    keakar

    keakar Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2014
    Member:
    #139537
    Messages:
    5,258
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    karl
    louisiana
    Vehicle:
    2006 4runner sport 4.7L V8 (white)
    used to have - 99 2.4L I4 5 lug & 04 prerunner v6
    check if Freon is low before getting into looking at anything else.
     
  4. Nov 4, 2015 at 1:47 PM
    #4
    Xbeaus

    Xbeaus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2015
    Member:
    #166775
    Messages:
    1,573
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Beau
    Black hills South dakota
    Vehicle:
    98 Tacoma 3.4 5 speed SR5 limited TRD 4x4
    Toytec coilovers. Height adjustable Bilstein's. 265/75/16 MT. TRD wheels. Rebuilt r150f. Marlin clutch kit. All kinds of new parts...
    if you have the AC off and the fan off and the recirc switch to outside air why would low freon do that? In the OP's initial thread he is stating this happening. Hot air still coming out.
     
  5. Nov 4, 2015 at 3:23 PM
    #5
    Down In A Hole

    Down In A Hole [OP] Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Member:
    #419
    Messages:
    27
    Gender:
    Male
    Philadelphia, PA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Double Cab Limited Pre-Runner 2wd
    De-badged. Air-raid air intake. Magnaflow muffler. Clear front corners. 6700 HID headlights.
    That would be a odd coincidence. I was still using the AC in October. I will check. Why would hot fresh air be coming out through the vents when turned off though? Moving the temperature knob changes nothing. Not even from warm to hot. It's just plain HOT air. I've never noticed this symptom with low freon before.
     
  6. Nov 4, 2015 at 4:38 PM
    #6
    keakar

    keakar Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2014
    Member:
    #139537
    Messages:
    5,258
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    karl
    louisiana
    Vehicle:
    2006 4runner sport 4.7L V8 (white)
    used to have - 99 2.4L I4 5 lug & 04 prerunner v6
    the way our trucks are designed, they don't have extra defrost vents on the side of the dash to defrost the side windows so it uses the outside vents to defrost them so they blow anytime defrost blows.

    when the rec button is off it allows outside warm air to pass through the ducts and out of these outside vents as well as the dash windshield vent.

    next time you drive along try it out, turn rec on and no air, turn it off and air blows. the thing is the ducts are always going to be picking up warm air from the heater core even when heat is turned off so the only time the vents don't blow warm is when the a/c is on.

    hope that helps.
     
  7. Nov 4, 2015 at 4:40 PM
    #7
    keakar

    keakar Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2014
    Member:
    #139537
    Messages:
    5,258
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    karl
    louisiana
    Vehicle:
    2006 4runner sport 4.7L V8 (white)
    used to have - 99 2.4L I4 5 lug & 04 prerunner v6
    no, he was saying this happens when the a/c is on and it stopped cooling, that would be a symptom the compressor had turned off
     
  8. Nov 6, 2015 at 3:54 PM
    #8
    Down In A Hole

    Down In A Hole [OP] Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Member:
    #419
    Messages:
    27
    Gender:
    Male
    Philadelphia, PA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Double Cab Limited Pre-Runner 2wd
    De-badged. Air-raid air intake. Magnaflow muffler. Clear front corners. 6700 HID headlights.
    So when I hit the Recirculating button it makes no difference. Also I have to emphasize this air is HOT, Not warm. It will make me start sweating if the windows are down without the fan even on. Regular vent air never felt this HOT. Warm yes, I understand that. After a ton of searches I find a possible cause. "Stuck blend door" It can be stuck in a hot or cold position. Mine maybe stuck in a hot position not allowing normal "cool setting" ventilation or A/C air to come through. Other idea might be a actuator problem.

    Also forgot to mention my compressor and lines were replaced a year ago because of a accident. It's all brand new in the engine bay. I felt the lines when the compressor was running today and one was icy cold and the other was warm as they should be. I REALLY don't think the issue is in the engine bay.

    Check out this video. I just have to get around to taking the dash apart again.

     
  9. Nov 6, 2015 at 6:37 PM
    #9
    Garyintn

    Garyintn Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2015
    Member:
    #155742
    Messages:
    5
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Gary
    Nashville Tennessee
    Vehicle:
    1998 Toyota Tacoma Extracab SR5
    Tacoma
    I have a 98 Taco with the same problem, here is what I found. If you reach under the duct located in the center behind the radio and climate controls you can feel the cable running from the temp knob that opens and closes the blend door. The temp knob also has a second cable that opens and closes the heater control valve. My guess is either your blend door cable or heater core cable is sticking. You can move the blend door cable by hand if you help it along with the temperature knob.
    I ended up putting some lithium grease on the cables and working them by hand until they moved using just the temp knob. Good luck, hope this helps!

    Gary
     
    Xbeaus likes this.
  10. Nov 7, 2015 at 12:06 PM
    #10
    keakar

    keakar Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2014
    Member:
    #139537
    Messages:
    5,258
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    karl
    louisiana
    Vehicle:
    2006 4runner sport 4.7L V8 (white)
    used to have - 99 2.4L I4 5 lug & 04 prerunner v6
    sounds like the a/c is working fine, I agree it may be the blend door but it could also be the heater valve under the hood is open which turns the heater on. even with the blend door open it shouldn't be hot unless the heater valve is open. this is the only thing under the hood I want you to look at, and its easier to check this first before taking the dash apart. if its blowing "hot" air, then for sure the heater valve is open and you will need to figure out if its open because its broken, or if its being told to open.
     
  11. May 17, 2016 at 6:10 PM
    #11
    Down In A Hole

    Down In A Hole [OP] Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Member:
    #419
    Messages:
    27
    Gender:
    Male
    Philadelphia, PA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Double Cab Limited Pre-Runner 2wd
    De-badged. Air-raid air intake. Magnaflow muffler. Clear front corners. 6700 HID headlights.
    So I Let this go through the winter and I'm finally getting back to trying to solve this issue. So I did all the diagnostics possible in the engine bay and I determined the problem is definitely not there. I took the glove box off and started looking around for a lever that would open and close the blend door. While taking things apart, seeing nothing and getting frustrated I did some more research. I located the blend door actuator aka the vent flap motor aka the servo damper. I decided to take it off to see if I can locate a cable of some sort. It's located below the bottom left of the glove box. It has 3 screws. The rear screw is very difficult to get at so I ended up snapping it off. Didn't really care at this point. After getting the servo damper out of the way I located the cable and assembly for the blend door. Turned on my a/c and manually pushed the lever the opposite direction it was stuck in and the COLD AC came through the vents!!! So I'm thinking the servo damper isn't working correctly so I tested it out and the arm moves that pushes the lever but I don't think it moves enough to push the lever where it needs to be. I'm thinking I must have damaged it somehow during my climate control bulb replacement when I didn't disconnect the power and it was turning on and off. BIG LESSON learned here! So I think a Faulty servo damper is the problem. I took it apart and it has a small motor in it. I'm going to find out if I can get a replacement. Otherwise a new servo isn't that cheap!
     
  12. May 24, 2016 at 6:30 PM
    #12
    Down In A Hole

    Down In A Hole [OP] Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Member:
    #419
    Messages:
    27
    Gender:
    Male
    Philadelphia, PA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Double Cab Limited Pre-Runner 2wd
    De-badged. Air-raid air intake. Magnaflow muffler. Clear front corners. 6700 HID headlights.
    So after running some more tests on the servo damper I believe it's working fine. Ran 12 volts to the unit itself and it seems to operate correctly. Put it back in and watched it try to move the lever I manually moved to open and close the blend door. It would not move the lever enough to fully open the door. So I'm completely stumped at this point. Could the problem be somewhere else or is the servo damper not rotating fully? Does anyone have a video of how it should move? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I cannot find anything on this topic anywhere. No youtube vids. Nothing. I can manually open and close the blend door but not electronically.
     
  13. Aug 7, 2016 at 6:39 PM
    #13
    Down In A Hole

    Down In A Hole [OP] Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Member:
    #419
    Messages:
    27
    Gender:
    Male
    Philadelphia, PA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Double Cab Limited Pre-Runner 2wd
    De-badged. Air-raid air intake. Magnaflow muffler. Clear front corners. 6700 HID headlights.
    I still haven't fixed this issue. For the summer I manually moved the cable in the cold position so the A/C will function properly. Is there a second servo damper? It seems the one I took out is working properly but if there is a second one under there that assists the other in moving the lever that might be the problem? Some one has had to have had this issue..
     
  14. Dec 5, 2016 at 10:25 PM
    #14
    mechanicjon

    mechanicjon They call me "Jonny Stubs"

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2016
    Member:
    #203828
    Messages:
    10,151
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Jon
    Scottsdale Arizona
    Vehicle:
    04 Taco SC 4dr SR5 TRD Prerunner
    Supercharged, AEM FIC/6, Meth Inj, ION Alloy's, Radio & Phone steering Wheel controls,Fabtech AAL, Billie's wrapped with 880's , Tundra big brake conversion, bully bars and Pioneer DDin Stereo/dvd with exterrnal usb ports. 290K and going strong.
    Instructings to check servo motor
     

    Attached Files:

  15. Nov 1, 2024 at 9:41 AM
    #15
    Xbeaus

    Xbeaus Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2015
    Member:
    #166775
    Messages:
    1,573
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Beau
    Black hills South dakota
    Vehicle:
    98 Tacoma 3.4 5 speed SR5 limited TRD 4x4
    Toytec coilovers. Height adjustable Bilstein's. 265/75/16 MT. TRD wheels. Rebuilt r150f. Marlin clutch kit. All kinds of new parts...
    I was in this thread in 2015 and I still haven't fixed mine. haha I just reach down and move the arms manually in the passenger floorboard area. Pain the ass. I contemplate taking the dash apart and replacing my entire HVAC unit. There is a rod that is completely broke off the mounting point for my HVAC unit. I am assuming about 10 years ago somebody had the servo motor malfunction or a cable got stuck and they broke it trying to figure it out.
     

Products Discussed in

To Top