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middle air vents stopped blowing

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by beezer, May 27, 2014.

  1. beezer

    beezer Junior Member

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    Hi. I used the search option and came up empty.
    Yesterday I was driving with the AC on. I had it on the setting that blows out of all 4 dash vents (left, right, and two middle). I switched it to the option that should blow from the 4 dash vents and the vents in the floor/bottom. All of a sudden the two middle vents in the dash stopped blowing. I have played with the settings - on, off, all the way hot, all the way cold - nothing from the two mid vents. The left and right vent blow with no problem. There is also cold air coming from the vent near the windshield - just the two middle dash vents are not functioning.
    I found one thread that mentioned the problem may be with the "levers" or "actuators" that I have pictured here.
    Anyone know if I am on the right track? I just replaced the 12v battery and don't really have the funds at the moment to let Toyota poke around right now. Thank you for any help!


    3.jpg 1.jpg 2.jpg 4.jpg
     
    #1 beezer, May 27, 2014
    Last edited: May 27, 2014
  2. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    Yes, those are the baffle motors that run to direct the air flow. When they sit for long periods the servo potentiometers get dirty and they no longer move properly, but can be exercised to break through the grime. There is also the possibility that the foam sealer that surrounds the baffles may have gotten bonded, or melted, and the baffle gets stuck in one place. It is not simple to get into the dash, but the instructions are there to be followed by the DIY'er. You can see that Toyota will charge plenty to get in there and have a look, and in the end might potentially just replace the whole box for way too high of a bill.

    Try all the control variables to make sure the baffles are set to the extremes of their ranges.
     
    #2 nh7o, May 27, 2014
    beezer likes this.
  3. beezer

    beezer Junior Member

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    Ok, thank you for the reply. I took those pictures just by looking under the dash on the drivers side.

    I want to make sure I am correct here .... you are saying to remove at least a portion of the dash to be able to see the foam sealer, etc. I can find these instructions online here. Correct?
     
    #3 beezer, May 27, 2014
  4. beezer

    beezer Junior Member

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    Also, I had my wife sit in the car and run the AC through the motions - heat, cold, etc - while I looked at the "baffles". I did not see any movement at all. Should I have seen movement from that point?
     
    #4 beezer, May 27, 2014
  5. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    Here is the dash disassembly instruction:
    http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/chris-dragon-dash.pdf

    If you see no motion of anything, with all the variables (recirculate on off, defrost on off, etc), then that says something is wrong with the A/C controller. That ought to throw out some trouble codes. So I am stumped for the moment.
     
    #5 nh7o, May 28, 2014
  6. beezer

    beezer Junior Member

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    Where would I see these trouble codes? The MFD or the dash display? Right now the air is working minus the middle vents.
    I ordered a new "climate" button a few days ago for the MFD (current button has a small puncture in it). I will wait until it comes in to take the dash apart - two birds with one stone.
     
    #6 beezer, May 28, 2014
  7. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    To read the codes, you need to get the mini VCI cable (eBay, Amazon, ...). The more important codes (check engine, master warning, etc) will light up icons, but A/C problems need the scanner.
     
    #7 nh7o, May 29, 2014
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