Heater blows cold air on passenger side

Tiny
GLBY
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER
  • 3.6L
  • 6 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 157,000 MILES
Blowing heat on driver's side but cold on passenger side. Thinks it's the air blender but do not know where it is located.
Saturday, January 11th, 2020 AT 12:32 PM

10 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,133 POSTS
Hi,

I agree. It sounds like the blend air door actuator. First, here is a link that shows in general how one is replaced:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor

I attached a pic below to help locate the air temp servo (actuator).

Let me know if this helps.

Joe
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Saturday, January 11th, 2020 AT 5:46 PM
Tiny
GLBY
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  • 6 POSTS
Still little lost from the diagram. Found the recirculation servo and the one that changes what vent. Both are working. Is there a way to manually open the blend door?
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Sunday, January 12th, 2020 AT 4:06 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,133 POSTS
The only thing you could try is to remove the actuator and move the door. I enlarged the location hoping to make it easier to identify, but I think I made it worse. It is very close to center of the dash.

Let me know.

Joe
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Sunday, January 12th, 2020 AT 5:53 PM
Tiny
GLBY
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  • 6 POSTS
Better. Thanks.
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Monday, January 13th, 2020 AT 2:08 AM
Tiny
GLBY
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
How do you get to it. Do you have to take the entire dash apart?
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Monday, January 13th, 2020 AT 2:12 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,133 POSTS
If you remove the insulator panel under the dash, it will be tight but you can access it. I'm not going to lie. They are a pain, LOL

Joe
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Monday, January 13th, 2020 AT 6:35 PM
Tiny
GLBY
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
I'll give it a try. Thanks for the help.
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Tuesday, January 14th, 2020 AT 3:23 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,133 POSTS
You are very welcome. If you get the chance, let me know how things turn out for you.

Joe
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Tuesday, January 14th, 2020 AT 5:14 PM
Tiny
GLBY
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Hi Joe, as promised an update on the air blend door issue. Turned out to be a bad water pump. As soon as it was replaced the heater issues went away.
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Saturday, February 29th, 2020 AT 5:25 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,133 POSTS
I'm glad you got it taken care of. You know, if you would have asked me if I thought the water pump was bad, I would have said no. There is only one heater core, so if one side was hot, the other should have been as well.

Regardless, it's fixed and that's all that matters. Please feel free to come back anytime.

Take care,
Joe
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Saturday, February 29th, 2020 AT 5:33 PM

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