I just completed this repair and my Highlander’s climate control is working again! Thank you very much for this video. It helped me very much and gave me the confidence to attempt it myself. I saved some money.
just found this video and fixed my daughter's AC temperature knob using this method. Hers is the upgraded automatic climate control but the knob is hooked up exactly the same way. The wires were completely broken off so I just took them all the way out and resoldered to the original holes. Worked like a charm.
Went just as described. Only problem I had was one of the small screws fastening the 2 halves of the climate control spun, and I had to drill the head off. Could see that 2 wires in the ribbon at the knob were broken; explains why it sometimes worked if I jammed the stem in the right direction. I asked an EE at work to bridge them as described, but he removed the ribbon, cleaned the holes, and soldered 3 wires thru the 6 holes. Now I have AC, heat, a happy wife, and some new tools! Thanks, Rick!
Rick, Thank you so very much. I watched all 4 of your videos on the Toyota Highlander a/c temp control. I was going to my mechanic tomorrow but I checked the nut under the knob and guess what? Loose nut. I will keep an eye on the equipment for further development. Thanks again
Rick, You are the MAN!!! I was a able to remove and then take my control board to a local computer repair store, They soldered per your video and then added some glue to ensure it would not have any vibration issues..Btw I used a putty knife rather than a credit card to remove the surround..MANY THANKS
Rick, I used your video and like yours, the middle wire was the only one really connected. Also my knob was loose and I think this is the reason that the wires failed. I took the unit to an avionics shop and they removed the 3 wire tape and installed three wires to replace the wire harness (tape). total time to fix was about 1 hour for the whole job. I stuffed a plastic bag down in the cracks to avoid loosing that 6th bolt! Best regards and thanks for a good set of videos!
Holy cow! I don't know squat about cars and never soldered anything in my life. Watched your video, went to Ace and got a $20 soldering kit, and had the part out of my Highlander, solder repair done, and re-installed in about an hour. Awesome! Thanks for saving me time, hassle, and $$$!!!
thank you rick just took my 2002 in today to see what was wrong. they told me it was the switch 847 dollars and they could fix it. I am going to try your fix i am so happy you took the time to make this video.
Got the wires connected and soldered and reinstalled the console. Looks like a success. I got full control of the temp. I think I have a second issue though. The A/C doesn't get cold on the drivers side and is cold on the passenger side but only about 80% as cold as it could be. Driver's side blows a little colder than the non-A/C vent. Heat works fine everywhere. Thanks for your help Rick!
Thanks Rick, You just saved me $1000. Just fixed my climate control knob wires. Watched your videos twice and went for it. Works like a charm and now comfortable again. Didn't actually take too long.....two hours.
Thanks SO much! I just did mine for less than $25. I used some cheap putty knives from the Home Depot and they popped the bezel right off without issue.
Thanks this is great advice. I took my Highlander to Tires Plus last summer and they were merciful and did it for $75 or so. The technician did mention this simple problem so I logged it in my memory. Now its winter and my heater doesn't work. Will try myself this time. The one problem that Tires Plus ran into that this guy did not mention is that my OEM burglar alarm kept going off. They unplugged a relay so that they could get their work done. I asked them to leave it off b/c it is a hassle. My wife will arm the alarm with her fob and I kept setting it off using my key. But remote lock/unlock still works. Shhh don't tell anyone my alarm is disarmed.
Thanks Rick, I just fixed my 2002 Toyota Highlander after watching your video. It is all digital and set up a little different but the basic principles were the same. My temp was stuck at 72 and wouldn't budge. After jumping just one of the 3 wires it works like a champ. Thanks for putting this video together. I wish I had watched this years ago when I bought a $500 replacement unit from a junk yard that also eventually went out on me.
Hey so i have the same car 2002 highlander and i have it all apart right now for the same exact issue..So i dont have to take out the old soddering joints but instead just jumper 3 wires to the tips of the old wires? Basically bypassing the old ribbon?
I might be falling in love with Rick. I just followed his helpful video and was able to fix the AC in my 2006 Toyota Highlander. Like others, I was hesitant to do the soldering myself, so I took the unit to a TV repair place; they charged $30 to do the job -- saving me hundreds of dollars over the dealer's repair price. Note: The most time-consuming part for me was detaching the white "plugs" from the back of the AC and radio units. Even after watching Rick's video, it was a struggle for me. If others have tips on how they did this, please post. I am a 50-year-old female. If I can do this, so can you. And, if you're a married woman who does this, your husband will say, "You rock!"
Thank you for this! It is in the single digits and my heater just crapped out. I do not have a $1000 to sink into a new heater board. I'll give it a try.
Great video. I was trying to figure this out by reading people explanation of the fix. After watching your video, I am going to give a try. Much appreciated. I'll let you know if it works.
Rick, you sent me a message asking if I was in Michagan. Actually, no. I'm in TN. Anyway, I ended up fixing (serendipitously) the air using the "tighten the bolt on the temperature dial" from your first video. It worked. My girlfriend has air consistently again and is very happy. Again thanks for the video.
thank you!!!! you saved us allot of money and frustration. The hardest part was the soldering and that's only because I drank a rock star before hand. We have a 2007 highlander with digital read outs, but the procedure was nearly the same. started the job at 10am completed by 1:00pm and I was very cautious and took my time. Thanks again :-)
Thanks. I got mine fixed :D The nut was loose, causing potentiometer to move as dial is turned and that is what caused wire to snap right at solder joint. Instead of jumping, I decided to unsolder old wire, strip it and solder it back. Only problem was I did not have a good desoldering tool and it was very hard to remove broken wire from the hole. (burned silk printing a bit in process) I never thought it will be the wire. I thought potentiometer went bad when it began having problem and did not bother disassembling because I did not think I will find same potentiometer. LOL I put little bit of super glue to pot. thread to keep it from happening again. Toyota should have done that in the first place. Many electronics manufactures put small amount of glue on the thread of pot or dial for same reason. (Amplifiers, mixers, etc..)
Thanks for your help. I have never soldered a thing in my life, but your videos gave me the confidence to give it a try. This worked and, minus the $10.00 for the soldering gun, I saved over $1,200!
Kaye, If the fan only works on "HIGH", it's mostly likely the A/C blower resistor which is located under the dash. If the fan does not work at all check your fuses. Let me know what you fine.
Thanks for the video(s) - had same issue on my 05 Toyota Highlander. Made it easier by cutting off the original wires and connected my own. Local repair shop wanted $800 to fix and replace unit. Took 20 mins and a sharp tip soldering iron. A tip to those who are attempting to do this repair : use a small gauge wire that is pliable and no more than inch and a half in length each. Great repair video!! Thumbs up!
Holy cow!!! I had the exact same symptoms except I could visibly see that the wires were broken. Jumpered all three and just like that I have heating and cooling for the first time in years!!!! You are my hero!!!
Thanks for the video! I did this repair reusing the ribbon by resoldering it. The ribbon was too short and after a week it broke again. I didn't think the redundant wires would work. I almost sent my climate control unit to a online repair place to do this fix, This video saved me much $$, thanks!
Brother Rick thank you for your time. I have shot tutorials before and I know that it takes 3 times as long to do the job while running camera and teaching. Bless you for making this video. This has given me the confidence to tackle this on going issue. I know my wife will appreciate it even more than I do.
1st of all, thanks a bunch! Took a bit longer for me just because I wanted to be more careful.. however, I don't recall you going into more detail about the root of the continuity problem.. but if you look under that smaller switch board, at least on mine, the ribbon points were broken/disconnected from the small board. The center wire was fine. I think with the moving back and forth of the knob and loosening of the nut forced the outer 2 connectors on the ribbon to break off..cont..
I just finished up on performing this process...! Thank you, Rick! It went exactly as described, and now my lovely bride has heat in her car again! More than that - I was made out to be the hero!
Also, I ended up just soldering new wires to the 2 outer connectors. However, I noticed that there was resistance from the middle and right wires.. that's odd.. I couldn't "see" any issues with my soldering (would be the blue/red wires shown in your video). But I ended up taking my chances.. and everything seems to work great.. great A/C.. great heat. This winter should be great.. last winter, it blew cold air most of the time in winter...burrr!
Rick - thanks for showing and explaining things in layman's terms. I used this repair as an excuse to get myself a nice digital multimeter, otherwise the entire repair just cost me my time!
Everyone's calling you Rick so I will assume your name is Rick. Or perhaps Godsend or auto hero. Thanks to you and your videos I was able to fix my ongoing frustrating problem in 40 min flat from tools out to tools away. It was EXACTLY as you demonstrated to repair. Thank you so much for your generosity in making the training video. I actually just resoldered all the control joint spots and that took care of it. Cold solder joints from vibration no doubt. Thanks again!$$$$
Just wanted to thank you for the videos. They were great! I fixed the air conditioner and only had to spend $20 for a soldering iron and some solder. And, I was able to get the change out of the tape player that my daughters put inside. Thanks!
I can't thank you enough Rick! I watched you've AC repair videos twice then set off to fix my Highlander and it was a smashing success. First time i've ever soldered anything too. You save me the $350 my mechanic was gonna charge me to fix it.
After having to re-solder one of the wires, I now have a working temp control! Thanks Rick! I had been fumbling with the thing for about a year getting cool easily but having to work hard to get heat. This is NICE. KEY STEP IN YOUR VIDEO - CHECK CONTINUITY POST TO POST! It is worth it to go and get a simple meter to do this. Also; I put a 5/8 lock washer under the nut to the switch so it would no longer work its way loose - the root cause of the problem I think. Thanks and happy sailing!
I am guessing the smaller, square board at the bottom is the back of the potentiometer (knob). No? How hard would it be to remove it from it's mount to examine and perhaps solder the front?
If your question is whether you can remove the potentiometer without removing the whole unit, the answer is no. The ribbon connector that connects the potentiometer to the board is very small and quite tight.
Thanks for this video Rick. The fan switch on my 2006 Highlander has to be spun around and around to get it to respond to fan speed. I took the knob off to see if it was broken (it wasn't) and turned the "post" that it was on, but the same results occurred; it kept spinning around until finally it would change speeds. It takes countless spinning of the knob to get it to respond. Any ideas what's going on here? Also, the AC doesn't cool, but the heater works. Suggestions to solve either problem would be appreciated. Thank you!
Rick - you rock!!! I just completed this repair on my wife's 02 Limited Highlander. Started after work and finished right after dinner. Even used some old Cat 5 cable just as you did. I did lose one retaining screw down the "black hole", but otherwise smooth as silk. Thanks for saving me big bucks.
Thanks so much for this! Your video and 45 minutes of my time saved me over $1000. Even better, I don't have to listen to my wife nagging me constantly about it, since it is the car she drives. One quick tip: You don't have to unscrew the brackets from the sides of the radio. Once you remove the upper screws, the radio and brackets will come off as one unit.
Hi Rick, thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for the video! extremely well presented (I also liked your humor). I followed your instructions with no issues and I was able to fix the temp control issue that I've been having for the last 6 months. again, thanks a million!!!
Great job! Mine has not done this yet but probably will. 2004 Highlander. Would have been nice to see you remove the back side of those soldered connections for I am presuming the ribbon was compromised or cracked on one of the two connections causing the intermittent connection. Again great work!
RickM1953, you are AWESOME! I been having this problem for a couple of years! I did the tighten the nut thing for awhile but today it finally just quit for good. I followed your directions step by step including the three wires soldering deal. It worked great! Now my AC is working good & my "climate control" is back to being like new! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Fixed my issue like a charm! I had continuity though prior to the solder just a heads up to anyone having the issue still. My wires looked okay, but the were corroded. Did much research on fixing this issue and this is the method due to the cheap wire design. Pep Boys was going to charge me almost $1k for what I fixed for free. I was not looking forward to summer here, but now I will be cool. Thank you @RickM1953
thank you for the video seems like everyone is having the same problem. I am curious though... Why didn't you tin your wires beforehand it seems it would have been a lot easier?
RickM1953 Thanks for the fix - it worked perfectly. One issue though, the AC knobs work but now the lights for the clock and the lights for the digital temp panel don't turn on. You can only see the numbers in the daytime or when the headlights are off. When the auto-lights turn on (headlights) the lights to the panel turn off. Any thoughts on what this could be or what a possible fix could be?
***** Thank you Frank. I'll try that, just haven't gotten back around to taking everything apart! I assumed that was it OR that the cable is damaged. Do you happen to know what type of cable it is, just in case I need to go buy one and have it ready?
Great video! My 2001 has been “bi-polar” for a few years now. The AC turns to heat and the jiggling around of the knob isn’t working anymore. I’d like to try this fix out. Never have done my own car repair so a little scared but your video’s step by step is giving me a little confidence to try. Two questions: if I don’t complete the fix is the car still drivable with a hole in the dashboard? And does your offer still Apple to solder? Thanks!
Thank you so much! I was able to fix my AC in no time thanks to your video. It was my first time soldering too, so I only spent $8 for the soldering iron. I'm glad I took care of this a day before a heat wave! can't take you enough!
Rick, Thanks a lot for the video. I'm a EE and feel very comfortable with the soldering portion of the job but I'm always scared about disassembling parts from cars specially related to the dashboard. Everything went smoothly for me and my son is now super happy specially given how hot this summer has been. Thanks again.
This was great thanks! My '06 has the two knob configuration and it all was the same. The only difference was the soldering points seemed a lot smaller and a lot closer together. Sloppy job soldering, but it worked! Thanks again!!
Rick thanks for the great video. I took my car the dealership before watching this video, they told me the unit was too damaged to be repaired. I followed your instructions, when I pulled the unit out, it look like it was burnt, I cleaned it up a bit, and connected the wires as you described. Unfortunately it did not work, How can I get in touch with you, I can send you some pic, and you can give me your thoughts.
Thanks! I will get to it this week. Looks simple enough to get into but the soldering work looks awful small. I will poke around for someone who is good at soldering. So, you must also be a sailor?
Hi Rick you had awesome videos, but I have question for you if you can answer . the problem I have the blow air is coming from front facing me I can't get the blowing air to legs or upper window. do you know if the issue fixable the same in your video?sam
Thanks for this video series. My 2001 Highlander climate control system had stopped responding to temperature change inputs from the knob. Since the temperature stating was stuck at 83 degrees it got pretty warm so I needed to get this fixed. I just have a couple of lessons learned. You don't need to remove the entire unit with the radio/cd player if you remove the side brackets the CD player can stay in place and you don't have to disconnect the antenna and other cables from the CD player. When separating the board peel off the plastic window for easy access to the ribbon connector. Finally, unless you are very good and have done micro soldering it is worth finding someone experienced in micro soldering to put the jumpers on. Fortunately I have a friend who's is trained and does this type work all the time. It was well worth the bottle of Crown Royal I gave him, saved me about $1,500. A good investment. Once again, thanks for the very helpful videos, great job.
Rick, your awesome! When I took the housing off, I will admit, it was a little intimidating...Everything was much smaller than in the video. But, with your video and a steady hand, did it!! Thanks so much for your knowledge! It saved me $700 ! Thanks again!
I'm glad it all worked out for you. The work that the EE did for is the best way to fix the problem. However, for those people out there with little to no knowledge of soldering it come cause bigger problems. So this is way I demonstrated the bridge...
Just fixed mine today thanks 100 % to your video Rick ! I would not have even known where to start as I had the constant hot air going. Saw that the flat ribbon wire indeed broke at the original joints so soldered new bypasses as you did. I normally would bring this in to get fixed but just finished spending $$ on other things on my 2005 Highlander so looked for a solution on line. Thanks again - you saved me big bucks.
I just finished doing his repair about an hour ago. Everything works fine now. I suggest 2 things. Remove the glass window to disconnect the ribbon wire and hook it back up. This can be eaisly done with a small flat tip screwdriver and replaced by pressing down when done. Also try to find someplace to do the soudering. It is close together and very difficult. I don't know who this fellow is but thank you very much!!
Thanks for this post. I froze last year after finding out how much it cost to replace the climate control in my 2006 Highlander. It only cost me a better soldering iron after watching your videos. We will see how long my soldering joints last! Thanks again.
No experience on solder, so I went to local phone repair shop for solder work but I think he messed up because soldered looks crappy, now only heat is working but no a/c & knob on the right that controls air upward, leg section is unresponsive & also upper 3 button are also unresponsive. So be very careful with soldering work. and also soldering points seemed a lot smaller and a lot closer together.
Great video set! I might see what I can do with this. I have an 04. Once I get it open if I don't think I can get the soldering done right ( I am a woodworker more than an electronics guy), how could I get it to you? I live in NC.
Great video. Worked like a charm on my '05 Highlander. Thanks, Rick. (Minor tip: if you unscrew the radio brackets prior to removing the heater control from the vehicle, you don't have to bother with the stereo wiring.)
Can this issue cause the AC to constantly cycle as well? I realize the mix of heat and AC could make it seem like the AC is not cool enough, but having lived with it for so long, I am fairly certain that the AC is actually not kicking on correctly now or it kicks on th3 off right away... just cyrious if those three wires could be responsible for that (as well as the more common issue of continual heat blasts).
RickM1953 Actually the answer is yes and no… I think this was initially causing the problem of constant cycling of AC, but a search of the Internet made me think that my AC coolant was too low… So I had added some more… Then once I resolved the issue (using your technique of rewiring), the issue remained because my AC coolant was now way over full. By the way it is worth mentioning that I think the issue is not really the wires but rather the fact that the solder joints are not very well connected to the PCB… Or they loosen over time… When Resoldering new wires the old wires get resoldered as well and the connection to the board is improved… I’d be willing to bet that just resoldering all the existing wires would probably do the trick…but I did add a parallel connection ecause, lets face it, who wants to risk having do this twice, right? LOL! Anyway this issue reminded me of the red rings of death on the original Xbox and PS3… Basically bad solder joints to the pcb that need to be re-soldered after having been used for a while. I am not sure if you mentioned this in your video: But people should be aware that there is a type of glue covering most/all of these connections and that that needs to be cleaned off to ensure that they are not ruining their new solder connections by getting the glue in them. It also makes it hard to check for conductivity when everything is coated with glue. Anyway, fantastic video! Thank you for taking the time… And thank you for saving me a lot of money on my air-conditioning!
It worked! Got it fixed, thanks to you! Thanks Rick for posting these 3 videos. It was extremely helpful! Great step by step guide. You were right on point with the time frame estimated to fix this. Total cost for soldering gun and some wire: $9.73. I soldered the ends that broke off. It was tricky, but I did it. You saved me tons of money. Thank you so much Rick. You're a pro!
Rick, have you ever removed the panel below the the radio to access the heated seat control? The switch still works for me but the light behind it is out as well as the lights on the shift indicator. Do you think the cover comes of in the same manner? Thanks for the advice on the knobs too, mine are wobbly so I'll check to see if there is a loose nut.
Will this correct the AC/Heater that has the opposite problem you had? My unit will drop from hot to cold air coming through the vents, can change it with a click back and forth of the "temperature" dial, but if I go over a bump in the road, the cold air returns in force.
Great videos. I just fixed my heater control. It's been acting up for a few years. Usually turning it one click fixed the problem temporarily. Now it is really fixed. Thanks.
Rick, The fan knob doesn't work at all - it just spins as if it's stripped (but it's not). The only way I can get the fan to come on is to use the auto temperature set. For a while it worked occasionally, then it finally just quit altogether. Any ideas? Thanks! Kaey
Any wire that is broken is a bad thing, right? This is a short three wire ribbon that had one job and one job only. That was to connect one circuit board to other. It failed because one or more wires were broken.
Hey great video, I have the same exact issue and I have it all apart...Can i send you mine and you do it? I am being serious I dont have the confidence to so this job. Also what wires are you using for the jumpers and are you not taking out the old sodering points like other videos suggest?
Don't know if you ever check this. I watched your video and about 10 others of people doing the same thing. When I got done, not only did the hot or cold work, but now the ac, the rear defrost, the air recirculate, and the fan switcher don't work either. It's stuck on defrost. Any ideas?
Lane, there two things you want to check. 1 make sure the the small wire ribbon is fully seated and that it wasn’t damaged (see video 2). Also make sure that the set of wire connections are fully seated and not damaged (see video 3). Good luck.
Sent an email also - do you think 22ga will work fine instead of 24? Getting into this thing is absolutely as easy as the video shows. Good advise on the magnet wand!
I just completed this repair and my Highlander’s climate control is working again! Thank you very much for this video. It helped me very much and gave me the confidence to attempt it myself. I saved some money.
just found this video and fixed my daughter's AC temperature knob using this method. Hers is the upgraded automatic climate control but the knob is hooked up exactly the same way. The wires were completely broken off so I just took them all the way out and resoldered to the original holes. Worked like a charm.
Went just as described. Only problem I had was one of the small screws fastening the 2 halves of the climate control spun, and I had to drill the head off. Could see that 2 wires in the ribbon at the knob were broken; explains why it sometimes worked if I jammed the stem in the right direction. I asked an EE at work to bridge them as described, but he removed the ribbon, cleaned the holes, and soldered 3 wires thru the 6 holes. Now I have AC, heat, a happy wife, and some new tools! Thanks, Rick!
Rick, Thank you so very much. I watched all 4 of your videos on the Toyota Highlander a/c temp control. I was going to my mechanic tomorrow but I checked the nut under the knob and guess what? Loose nut. I will keep an eye on the equipment for further development. Thanks again
Richard, I glad the you watch all the videos. You'll be ready when it happens again.
so true. Thanks
Rick, You are the MAN!!! I was a able to remove and then take my control board to a local computer repair store, They soldered per your video and then added some glue to ensure it would not have any vibration issues..Btw I used a putty knife rather than a credit card to remove the surround..MANY THANKS
Rick, I used your video and like yours, the middle wire was the only one really connected. Also my knob was loose and I think this is the reason that the wires failed. I took the unit to an avionics shop and they removed the 3 wire tape and installed three wires to replace the wire harness (tape). total time to fix was about 1 hour for the whole job. I stuffed a plastic bag down in the cracks to avoid loosing that 6th bolt! Best regards and thanks for a good set of videos!
Holy cow! I don't know squat about cars and never soldered anything in my life. Watched your video, went to Ace and got a $20 soldering kit, and had the part out of my Highlander, solder repair done, and re-installed in about an hour. Awesome! Thanks for saving me time, hassle, and $$$!!!
thank you rick just took my 2002 in today to see what was wrong. they told me it was the switch 847 dollars and they could fix it. I am going to try your fix i am so happy you took the time to make this video.
Got the wires connected and soldered and reinstalled the console. Looks like a success. I got full control of the temp. I think I have a second issue though. The A/C doesn't get cold on the drivers side and is cold on the passenger side but only about 80% as cold as it could be. Driver's side blows a little colder than the non-A/C vent. Heat works fine everywhere. Thanks for your help Rick!
Thanks Rick, You just saved me $1000. Just fixed my climate control knob wires. Watched your videos twice and went for it. Works like a charm and now comfortable again. Didn't actually take too long.....two hours.
are you bypassing the ribbon with the jumpers? Instead of de-soddering the old joints?
Thanks SO much! I just did mine for less than $25. I used some cheap putty knives from the Home Depot and they popped the bezel right off without issue.
All three of my ribbon wires were broken off. The jumper cable solution worked for me. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks Mr. Rick for posting so much detailed process, I have same problem on my 2007 Highlander I will give it a try.
Hi Rick, thank you so much for the video. It took me longer to to find 3 pieces of wires than disassemble the unit :-). Thank so much
Thanks this is great advice. I took my Highlander to Tires Plus last summer and they were merciful and did it for $75 or so. The technician did mention this simple problem so I logged it in my memory. Now its winter and my heater doesn't work. Will try myself this time.
The one problem that Tires Plus ran into that this guy did not mention is that my OEM burglar alarm kept going off. They unplugged a relay so that they could get their work done. I asked them to leave it off b/c it is a hassle. My wife will arm the alarm with her fob and I kept setting it off using my key. But remote lock/unlock still works. Shhh don't tell anyone my alarm is disarmed.
Great News!! Hats off to Tires Plus.
Im an electronic engineer. so thanks for the fix. saved us money...
Great help. Followed your instructions and it was easier than what I thought.
Thanks Rick, I just fixed my 2002 Toyota Highlander after watching your video. It is all digital and set up a little different but the basic principles were the same. My temp was stuck at 72 and wouldn't budge. After jumping just one of the 3 wires it works like a champ. Thanks for putting this video together. I wish I had watched this years ago when I bought a $500 replacement unit from a junk yard that also eventually went out on me.
Hey so i have the same car 2002 highlander and i have it all apart right now for the same exact issue..So i dont have to take out the old soddering joints but instead just jumper 3 wires to the tips of the old wires? Basically bypassing the old ribbon?
I might be falling in love with Rick. I just followed his helpful video and was able to fix the AC in my 2006 Toyota Highlander. Like others, I was hesitant to do the soldering myself, so I took the unit to a TV repair place; they charged $30 to do the job -- saving me hundreds of dollars over the dealer's repair price. Note: The most time-consuming part for me was detaching the white "plugs" from the back of the AC and radio units. Even after watching Rick's video, it was a struggle for me. If others have tips on how they did this, please post. I am a 50-year-old female. If I can do this, so can you. And, if you're a married woman who does this, your husband will say, "You rock!"
Thank you for this! It is in the single digits and my heater just crapped out. I do not have a $1000 to sink into a new heater board. I'll give it a try.
Great video. I was trying to figure this out by reading people explanation of the fix. After watching your video, I am going to give a try. Much appreciated. I'll let you know if it works.
Rick, you sent me a message asking if I was in Michagan. Actually, no. I'm in TN. Anyway, I ended up fixing (serendipitously) the air using the "tighten the bolt on the temperature dial" from your first video. It worked. My girlfriend has air consistently again and is very happy. Again thanks for the video.
thank you!!!! you saved us allot of money and frustration. The hardest part was the soldering and that's only because I drank a rock star before hand. We have a 2007 highlander with digital read outs, but the procedure was nearly the same. started the job at 10am completed by 1:00pm and I was very cautious and took my time.
Thanks again :-)
This video was a great help. I diagnosed this problem as per your instructions and paid a local electronics guy $50 for a repair. Thank you.
Congratulation, you are the first women to do this repair.
Thank you.I have same problem on my Toyota.I"ll do same way.
Thanks! Please share your success when you have it completed.
Thanks. I got mine fixed :D
The nut was loose, causing potentiometer to move as dial is turned and that is what caused wire to snap right at solder joint.
Instead of jumping, I decided to unsolder old wire, strip it and solder it back.
Only problem was I did not have a good desoldering tool and it was very hard to remove broken wire from the hole. (burned silk printing a bit in process)
I never thought it will be the wire. I thought potentiometer went bad when it began having problem and did not bother disassembling because I did not think I will find same potentiometer. LOL
I put little bit of super glue to pot. thread to keep it from happening again. Toyota should have done that in the first place. Many electronics manufactures put small amount of glue on the thread of pot or dial for same reason. (Amplifiers, mixers, etc..)
Thanks for your help. I have never soldered a thing in my life, but your videos gave me the confidence to give it a try. This worked and, minus the $10.00 for the soldering gun, I saved over $1,200!
Thank you for the video. I just finished and I have heat again!😁
That’s GREAT NEWS!
Kaye, If the fan only works on "HIGH", it's mostly likely the A/C blower resistor which is located under the dash. If the fan does not work at all check your fuses. Let me know what you fine.
Rick thanks for the video you saved us lots of money hopefully you can post for other cars as well. it will help us all .
Thanks for the video(s) - had same issue on my 05 Toyota Highlander. Made it easier by cutting off the original wires and connected my own. Local repair shop wanted $800 to fix and replace unit. Took 20 mins and a sharp tip soldering iron. A tip to those who are attempting to do this repair : use a small gauge wire that is pliable and no more than inch and a half in length each. Great repair video!! Thumbs up!
are you bypassing the ribbon with the jumpers? Instead of de-soddering the old joints?
@@christopherfox8950 yes. Bypassed them.
Sounds like the same issue to me. This will correct the problem
Holy cow!!! I had the exact same symptoms except I could visibly see that the wires were broken. Jumpered all three and just like that I have heating and cooling for the first time in years!!!! You are my hero!!!
are you bypassing the ribbon with the jumpers? Instead of de-soddering the old joints?
@@christopherfox8950 I took an old USB cable, stripped out three of the little wires, cut off the ribbon and soldered in the three new wires.
Thanks for the video! I did this repair reusing the ribbon by resoldering it. The ribbon was too short and after a week it broke again. I didn't think the redundant wires would work. I almost sent my climate control unit to a online repair place to do this fix, This video saved me much $$, thanks!
Brother Rick thank you for your time. I have shot tutorials before and I know that it takes 3 times as long to do the job while running camera and teaching. Bless you for making this video. This has given me the confidence to tackle this on going issue. I know my wife will appreciate it even more than I do.
are you bypassing the ribbon with the jumpers? Instead of de-soddering the old joints?
thanks for your help ill give it a try. ps the consumer guide has indicated elec. probs. on these vechicles
Good deal. Just be careful with the removal of the small ribbon cable. Let me know how it works out for you.
1st of all, thanks a bunch! Took a bit longer for me just because I wanted to be more careful.. however, I don't recall you going into more detail about the root of the continuity problem.. but if you look under that smaller switch board, at least on mine, the ribbon points were broken/disconnected from the small board. The center wire was fine. I think with the moving back and forth of the knob and loosening of the nut forced the outer 2 connectors on the ribbon to break off..cont..
Same problem 2004 Highlander I'm doing this tomorrow.
I just finished up on performing this process...! Thank you, Rick! It went exactly as described, and now my lovely bride has heat in her car again! More than that - I was made out to be the hero!
Great to hear. My best to you and the wife!
Also, I ended up just soldering new wires to the 2 outer connectors. However, I noticed that there was resistance from the middle and right wires.. that's odd.. I couldn't "see" any issues with my soldering (would be the blue/red wires shown in your video).
But I ended up taking my chances.. and everything seems to work great.. great A/C.. great heat. This winter should be great.. last winter, it blew cold air most of the time in winter...burrr!
Rick - thanks for showing and explaining things in layman's terms. I used this repair as an excuse to get myself a nice digital multimeter, otherwise the entire repair just cost me my time!
Everyone's calling you Rick so I will assume your name is Rick. Or perhaps Godsend or auto hero. Thanks to you and your videos I was able to fix my ongoing frustrating problem in 40 min flat from tools out to tools away. It was EXACTLY as you demonstrated to repair. Thank you so much for your generosity in making the training video. I actually just resoldered all the control joint spots and that took care of it. Cold solder joints from vibration no doubt. Thanks again!$$$$
Just wanted to thank you for the videos. They were great! I fixed the air conditioner and only had to spend $20 for a soldering iron and some solder. And, I was able to get the change out of the tape player that my daughters put inside. Thanks!
I can't thank you enough Rick! I watched you've AC repair videos twice then set off to fix my Highlander and it was a smashing success. First time i've ever soldered anything too. You save me the $350 my mechanic was gonna charge me to fix it.
Thank you
You're are welcome. That wasn't to hard, was it?
Not at all. Worked perfectly. Saved me so much money and headache. Thank you again sir. Amazing video.
The fan is an easy fix too. You have a bad relay. This relay is under the dash. I believe there are videos out there already.
After having to re-solder one of the wires, I now have a working temp control!
Thanks Rick! I had been fumbling with the thing for about a year getting cool easily but having to work hard to get heat. This is NICE.
KEY STEP IN YOUR VIDEO - CHECK CONTINUITY POST TO POST!
It is worth it to go and get a simple meter to do this.
Also; I put a 5/8 lock washer under the nut to the switch so it would no longer work its way loose - the root cause of the problem I think.
Thanks and happy sailing!
awesome. thanks so much you saved me hundreds of dollars
I am guessing the smaller, square board at the bottom is the back of the potentiometer (knob). No? How hard would it be to remove it from it's mount to examine and perhaps solder the front?
+bigpardner Correct
If your question is whether you can remove the potentiometer without removing the whole unit, the answer is no. The ribbon connector that connects the potentiometer to the board is very small and quite tight.
Thanks for this video Rick. The fan switch on my 2006 Highlander has to be spun around and around to get it to respond to fan speed. I took the knob off to see if it was broken (it wasn't) and turned the "post" that it was on, but the same results occurred; it kept spinning around until finally it would change speeds. It takes countless spinning of the knob to get it to respond. Any ideas what's going on here? Also, the AC doesn't cool, but the heater works. Suggestions to solve either problem would be appreciated. Thank you!
Rick - you rock!!! I just completed this repair on my wife's 02 Limited Highlander. Started after work and finished right after dinner. Even used some old Cat 5 cable just as you did. I did lose one retaining screw down the "black hole", but otherwise smooth as silk. Thanks for saving me big bucks.
NICE JOB PAUL! Total cost of your repair - your time and less than $30.00. Congratulations
Thanks - this repair saved me $900 that the dealer quoted!
Thanks so much for this! Your video and 45 minutes of my time saved me over $1000. Even better, I don't have to listen to my wife nagging me constantly about it, since it is the car she drives.
One quick tip: You don't have to unscrew the brackets from the sides of the radio. Once you remove the upper screws, the radio and brackets will come off as one unit.
Hi Rick,
thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for the video! extremely well presented (I also liked your humor). I followed your instructions with no issues and I was able to fix the temp control issue that I've been having for the last 6 months. again, thanks a million!!!
Great job! Mine has not done this yet but probably will. 2004 Highlander. Would have been nice to see you remove the back side of those soldered connections for I am presuming the ribbon was compromised or cracked on one of the two connections causing the intermittent connection. Again great work!
RickM1953, you are AWESOME! I been having this problem for a couple of years! I did the tighten the nut thing for awhile but today it finally just quit for good. I followed your directions step by step including the three wires soldering deal. It worked great! Now my AC is working good & my "climate control" is back to being like new!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Fixed my issue like a charm! I had continuity though prior to the solder just a heads up to anyone having the issue still. My wires looked okay, but the were corroded. Did much research on fixing this issue and this is the method due to the cheap wire design. Pep Boys was going to charge me almost $1k for what I fixed for free. I was not looking forward to summer here, but now I will be cool. Thank you @RickM1953
thank you for the video seems like everyone is having the same problem. I am curious though... Why didn't you tin your wires beforehand it seems it would have been a lot easier?
+questioneverything2 You are 100% correct. Basic soldering... brain fart on my part. LOL
RickM1953 Thanks for the fix - it worked perfectly. One issue though, the AC knobs work but now the lights for the clock and the lights for the digital temp panel don't turn on. You can only see the numbers in the daytime or when the headlights are off. When the auto-lights turn on (headlights) the lights to the panel turn off. Any thoughts on what this could be or what a possible fix could be?
***** Thank you Frank. I'll try that, just haven't gotten back around to taking everything apart! I assumed that was it OR that the cable is damaged. Do you happen to know what type of cable it is, just in case I need to go buy one and have it ready?
Great video! My 2001 has been “bi-polar” for a few years now. The AC turns to heat and the jiggling around of the knob isn’t working anymore. I’d like to try this fix out. Never have done my own car repair so a little scared but your video’s step by step is giving me a little confidence to try. Two questions: if I don’t complete the fix is the car still drivable with a hole in the dashboard? And does your offer still Apple to solder? Thanks!
Your car will still be drivable. You can do it....
Thank you so much! I was able to fix my AC in no time thanks to your video. It was my first time soldering too, so I only spent $8 for the soldering iron. I'm glad I took care of this a day before a heat wave! can't take you enough!
crphilly28 That's great!!
Can you please help me and send mine to you?
Rick, Thanks a lot for the video. I'm a EE and feel very comfortable with the soldering portion of the job but I'm always scared about disassembling parts from cars specially related to the dashboard. Everything went smoothly for me and my son is now super happy specially given how hot this summer has been. Thanks again.
This was great thanks! My '06 has the two knob configuration and it all was the same. The only difference was the soldering points seemed a lot smaller and a lot closer together. Sloppy job soldering, but it worked! Thanks again!!
Thank you ! I just did that same repair, even dropped a bolt inside the dash too. I fished out the bolt with a magnet on a stick.
Awesome video, fix my problem on 2005 Highlander in 40 minutes! Thank you!!!!!!!
Rick thanks for the great video. I took my car the dealership before watching this video, they told me the unit was too damaged to be repaired. I followed your instructions, when I pulled the unit out, it look like it was burnt, I cleaned it up a bit, and connected the wires as you described. Unfortunately it did not work, How can I get in touch with you, I can send you some pic, and you can give me your thoughts.
Thanks! I will get to it this week. Looks simple enough to get into but the soldering work looks awful small. I will poke around for someone who is good at soldering.
So, you must also be a sailor?
Hi Rick you had awesome videos, but I have question for you if you can answer . the problem I have the blow air is coming from front facing me I can't get the blowing air to legs or upper window. do you know if the issue fixable the same in your video?sam
Thanks for this video series. My 2001 Highlander climate control system had stopped responding to temperature change inputs from the knob. Since the temperature stating was stuck at 83 degrees it got pretty warm so I needed to get this fixed. I just have a couple of lessons learned. You don't need to remove the entire unit with the radio/cd player if you remove the side brackets the CD player can stay in place and you don't have to disconnect the antenna and other cables from the CD player. When separating the board peel off the plastic window for easy access to the ribbon connector. Finally, unless you are very good and have done micro soldering it is worth finding someone experienced in micro soldering to put the jumpers on. Fortunately I have a friend who's is trained and does this type work all the time. It was well worth the bottle of Crown Royal I gave him, saved me about $1,500. A good investment.
Once again, thanks for the very helpful videos, great job.
Rick, your awesome! When I took the housing off, I will admit, it was a little intimidating...Everything was much smaller than in the video. But, with your video and a steady hand, did it!! Thanks so much for your knowledge! It saved me $700 !
Thanks again!
Enjoy the money you saved.
Thanks again!
I'm glad it all worked out for you. The work that the EE did for is the best way to fix the problem. However, for those people out there with little to no knowledge of soldering it come cause bigger problems. So this is way I demonstrated the bridge...
Unfortunelty I followed other site in which they removed the solder.This caused me to ruin the connections on the switch.
Just fixed mine today thanks 100 % to your video Rick ! I would not have even known where to start as I had the constant hot air going. Saw that the flat ribbon wire indeed broke at the original joints so soldered new bypasses as you did.
I normally would bring this in to get fixed but just finished spending $$ on other things on my 2005 Highlander so looked for a solution on line. Thanks again - you saved me big bucks.
Dang good idea! Just solder three wires onto the back...no need to remove circuitboard or the controller! Thanks!
I just finished doing his repair about an hour ago. Everything works fine now. I suggest 2 things. Remove the glass window to disconnect the ribbon wire and hook it back up. This can be eaisly done with a small flat tip screwdriver and replaced by pressing down when done. Also try to find someplace to do the soudering. It is close together and very difficult. I don't know who this fellow is but thank you very much!!
Are you still repairing these climate control units? The videos are awesome.
This BSEE thanks you. I could not figure out how to remove the trim and didn't want to damage the wife's car/
Thanks for this post. I froze last year after finding out how much it cost to replace the climate control in my 2006 Highlander. It only cost me a better soldering iron after watching your videos. We will see how long my soldering joints last! Thanks again.
Great video
How about 4runner 2000 limited
No experience on solder, so I went to local phone repair shop for solder work but I think he messed up because soldered looks crappy, now only heat is working but no a/c & knob on the right that controls air upward, leg section is unresponsive & also upper 3 button are also unresponsive. So be very careful with soldering work. and also soldering points seemed a lot smaller and a lot closer together.
Update; cleaned up the messy solder between the points and it is working everything fine. Thank you.
Great video set! I might see what I can do with this. I have an 04. Once I get it open if I don't think I can get the soldering done right ( I am a woodworker more than an electronics guy), how could I get it to you? I live in NC.
Great video. Worked like a charm on my '05 Highlander. Thanks, Rick. (Minor tip: if you unscrew the radio brackets prior to removing the heater control from the vehicle, you don't have to bother with the stereo wiring.)
are you bypassing the ribbon with the jumpers? Instead of de-soddering the old joints?
Can this issue cause the AC to constantly cycle as well? I realize the mix of heat and AC could make it seem like the AC is not cool enough, but having lived with it for so long, I am fairly certain that the AC is actually not kicking on correctly now or it kicks on th3 off right away... just cyrious if those three wires could be responsible for that (as well as the more common issue of continual heat blasts).
Eric Hemingway this procedure will resolve your issue.
RickM1953 Actually the answer is yes and no… I think this was initially causing the problem of constant cycling of AC, but a search of the Internet made me think that my AC coolant was too low… So I had added some more… Then once I resolved the issue (using your technique of rewiring), the issue remained because my AC coolant was now way over full.
By the way it is worth mentioning that I think the issue is not really the wires but rather the fact that the solder joints are not very well connected to the PCB… Or they loosen over time… When Resoldering new wires the old wires get resoldered as well and the connection to the board is improved… I’d be willing to bet that just resoldering all the existing wires would probably do the trick…but I did add a parallel connection ecause, lets face it, who wants to risk having do this twice, right? LOL! Anyway this issue reminded me of the red rings of death on the original Xbox and PS3… Basically bad solder joints to the pcb that need to be re-soldered after having been used for a while.
I am not sure if you mentioned this in your video: But people should be aware that there is a type of glue covering most/all of these connections and that that needs to be cleaned off to ensure that they are not ruining their new solder connections by getting the glue in them. It also makes it hard to check for conductivity when everything is coated with glue.
Anyway, fantastic video! Thank you for taking the time… And thank you for saving me a lot of money on my air-conditioning!
Worked for me. Thank you so much id have never had fixed that without your video and id probably still be searching the scrap yards now.
are you bypassing the ribbon with the jumpers? Instead of de-soddering the old joints?
It worked! Got it fixed, thanks to you! Thanks Rick for posting these 3 videos. It was extremely helpful! Great step by step guide. You were right on point with the time frame estimated to fix this. Total cost for soldering gun and some wire: $9.73. I soldered the ends that broke off. It was tricky, but I did it. You saved me tons of money. Thank you so much Rick. You're a pro!
Rick, have you ever removed the panel below the the radio to access the heated seat control? The switch still works for me but the light behind it is out as well as the lights on the shift indicator. Do you think the cover comes of in the same manner? Thanks for the advice on the knobs too, mine are wobbly so I'll check to see if there is a loose nut.
Thank you Rick. I appreciate you taking the time to make a video of the process. You are Awesome.
Will this correct the AC/Heater that has the opposite problem you had? My unit will drop from hot to cold air coming through the vents, can change it with a click back and forth of the "temperature" dial, but if I go over a bump in the road, the cold air returns in force.
Great videos. I just fixed my heater control. It's been acting up for a few years. Usually turning it one click fixed the problem temporarily. Now it is really fixed. Thanks.
Rick,
Thank you for this video. My girlfriends car is now working perfectly!
Rick,
The fan knob doesn't work at all - it just spins as if it's stripped (but it's not). The only way I can get the fan to come on is to use the auto temperature set. For a while it worked occasionally, then it finally just quit altogether. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Kaey
How did you know that those pins were supposed to have continuity through the ribbon?
Any wire that is broken is a bad thing, right? This is a short three wire ribbon that had one job and one job only. That was to connect one circuit board to other. It failed because one or more wires were broken.
Thanks you
Exact same problem, 2hrs later working great!!
Hey great video, I have the same exact issue and I have it all apart...Can i send you mine and you do it? I am being serious I dont have the confidence to so this job. Also what wires are you using for the jumpers and are you not taking out the old sodering points like other videos suggest?
Don't know if you ever check this. I watched your video and about 10 others of people doing the same thing. When I got done, not only did the hot or cold work, but now the ac, the rear defrost, the air recirculate, and the fan switcher don't work either. It's stuck on defrost. Any ideas?
Lane, there two things you want to check. 1 make sure the the small wire ribbon is fully seated and that it wasn’t damaged (see video 2). Also make sure that the set of wire connections are fully seated and not damaged (see video 3). Good luck.
@@RickM1953 thanks - i actually went and bought this product to repair it with, and fixed it completely: www.dormanproducts.com/p-20870-599-040.aspx
Sent an email also - do you think 22ga will work fine instead of 24?
Getting into this thing is absolutely as easy as the video shows. Good advise on the magnet wand!