Climate control unit replacement

Good evening! I am looking to replace the climate control unit on my 2002 Tacoma. The temperature knob is finicky, when you go from hot to cold sometimes it doesn’t get to cold, so I’ll go back and forth a few times from hot to cold and eventually it’ll click in and stay cold. The knob is fine and the ac works great (new compressor, condenser, and ac was flushed so it’s super cold and works well when I can get the dang knob/unit to cooperate. If you guys have any advice on where to get a quality climate control unit and how to replace it would be awesome. Thanks again!

JD

 

Have you checked that the blend door actuator is properly articulating? The motors sometimes have problems & makes noises.

If you are 100% sure it's a bad circuit board:
Toyota part # 55910-35240 ... I think this includes the circuit board?
HVAC Temperature Control Panel, 55910-35240

 

I have not checked that, I’m not super familiar. Where/how can I check that?

 

Here is a much better video you may wish to check out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRRcLVNqgC8


I make no guarantees or promises.


This is a complicated system. Stick head under passenger dashboard and look for movement while turning temp knob.

The temperature is controlled by a mechanic door that a servo-motor adjusts. If there is blockage, gear binding, or a bad servo, the door may not open/close all the way.
Below is an image of the general A/C layout...
When you turn the temperature knob, you should hear the electric motor adjusting said door. You may need to stick your head under the passenger glovebox to hear it.

If you hear a mechanical/servo-motor sound buzzing/making noise, without adjusting any knobs / temperatures, then something may be binding / blocking the door / bad sensor.

 

Awesome! Thank you! I’ll look into it

 

Scroll down to Post #7.....Typically the air-servo damper will make a clicking / grinding noise when it's getting stuck.
I've yet to find an aftermarket one, and of course an oem replacement is $$
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ssible-aftermarket-part.500522/#post-16583373

 

Thank you! So I took out the blend door actuator and cleaned it and threw fresh grease in it, bent the connector arms a tad to hopefully make a better connection. I plugged it back in and before reinstalling I turned the key on and rotated from hot to cold a few times and it was still not working correctly, the arm would jump back and forth and not stay where I would place for temp. Not clicking or anything but more just jumping around. Guessing the connectors or motor has had its day. Could it be something else? 230k miles. I’ve ordered an after market that said it would fit a 2002 Tacoma, I’ll keep the one I have in case I need to swap the actuator arm to match. I’ll check in and see. Still not sure if there is an OEM one out there or aftermarket one that is legit. I found one that seemed right guessed and ordered the 35$ one. Fingers crossed. If you have ordered one before aftermarket or OEM please post the link and I’ll double check my order. Thank you!

 

@jdleckenbyFF Yes, please post if the aftermarket fits correctly.
I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it does...

 

The aftermarket actuator fits perfect but unfortunately does the exact same thing as the first actuator any ideas on what to check next? I took out the climate control unit and checked the connections and greased. No luck. My guess is the control unit needs replaced? If that’s not the case what else can I keep in mind? AC and heater work well when it gets there. I can manually move the arm below the passenger side and everything works normal. Just not connected to the unit or the actuator is when it doesn’t work right

 

I've got the same thing going on in my '02. What did you ever get this troubleshot to? Bad control unit?

 

I ended up just ordering a used control unit off of eBay and its been working fine ever since. I took the old one apart and cleaned it and what not and could never get it to work so I took a gamble and ordered that used one hoping it would work and luckily so far it’s worked fine. It was like $100 and a new one from Toyota was hard to find and were like $250. That’s what I would recommend. Early on I also replaced the blend door actuator which was like 30 bucks but turned out not being the issue.

 

Mine will sweep from cold to hot (or vice versa) with a bump in the road, change in blower fan speed, or mode change... I'm inclined not to think it would be the blend door actuator. I'm going to start looking for a control unit! Thanks for your update & help!

 

Did the control unit fix your problem?