My air circulation switch just broke

[Kal-El]

Well, something on my Yaris was bound to break eventually. At 91,000 miles, the first issue happened today.

I went to switch the inside/outside recirculation switch and there was an unusual tension to it. Without thinking twice, I gave it a little more pressure and it just let go. The switch is just a loose piece now and I heard the directional parts within the dash make an odd noise during the time a lightly forced the rotation. Damn. So now I cannot choose between inside recirculation or outside air. I believe it is stuck on outside air.

At least it's not a critical function but still something I want fixed. With a tight budget, it won't happen soon. And I imagine this will be a costly dash removal.


This happen to anyone else? Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[CTScott]

There was a member from Canada who had his fail. I sold him Crashy's diverter assembly with the mechanical cable assembly that went to the back of the knob. To change it out requires removal of the entire dash, to get the blower stack out, which the diverter is part of. You can get at the diverter from up behind the passenger glove box to see why it won't flip positions. You can also easily remove the HVAC controls panel to see what happened on that side.

[Kal-El]

Thanks CTscott.

I probably won't want to get into taking the dash apart myself.

How much do you think a dealer would charge - 1 or 2 hours of labor?
And are we talking about replacing a fairly cheap part or simply reconnecting a cable? I appreciate it.

[auxmike]

Can you just reach in and move that piece by hand via the glovebox?
I always leave it on recirc.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Thanks CTscott.

I probably won't want to get into taking the dash apart myself.

How much do you think a dealer would charge - 1 or 2 hours of labor?
And are we talking about replacing a fairly cheap part or simply reconnecting a cable? I appreciate it.

If memory serves me, the person form Canada was quoted 6 hours of labor for removing the dash and swapping the assembly.

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by CTScott

If memory serves me, the person form Canada was quoted 6 hours of labor for removing the dash and swapping the assembly.

That's outrageous. I don't know how I'll ever get it fixed if that's the case. 6 hours x $100 just for labor to fix a minor problem?

[Manley81bass]

The same thing happened to me. I just took the panel off and found that the cable had popped off the back. I reattached it and it works fine now. Quick, easy and free. Hopefully its as easy for you.

[Revsson]

I think you owe CTScott the other 5 hours and 55 minutes of labor cost!

Glad you got it fixed and were able to tell others. Too bad you couldn't have
taken some pics of the process.

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by Revsson

Glad you got it fixed and were able to tell others. Too bad you couldn't have
taken some pics of the process.

Very easy to do. It only takes minutes with no tools to take the center stack apart. Starting with pic 1 snapping off the bottom piece.

Then pic 2 shows the two vertical pieces snapped off.

Pic 3 shows the climate control panel being pulled off.

Pic 4 I'm holding the control arm assembly that connects to the back of the top left knob that controls the circulation switch. That's what popped off. I simply re-attached to the back of the the fan speed assembly shown in pic 5.

[JoeMac]

WOW thanks a lot, I had an appt at the dealership tomorrow to fix this and decide to look real quick to see how hard it was to fix. You definitely saved me at least 60 bucks if not more.

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Very easy to do. It only takes minutes with no tools to take the center stack apart. Starting with pic 1 snapping off the bottom piece.

Then pic 2 shows the two vertical pieces snapped off.

Pic 3 shows the climate control panel being pulled off.

Pic 4 I'm holding the control arm assembly that connects to the back of the top left knob that controls the circulation switch. That's what popped off. I simply re-attached to the back of the the fan speed assembly shown in pic 5.

[BCtogian]

Thanks for the pictures Kal-El! Just had this happen to me a few weeks ago, decided to finally take a look at it and found this place! Still relevant in 2015.

[Martywells777]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Very easy to do. It only takes minutes with no tools to take the center stack apart. Starting with pic 1 snapping off the bottom piece.

Then pic 2 shows the two vertical pieces snapped off.

Pic 3 shows the climate control panel being pulled off.

Pic 4 I'm holding the control arm assembly that connects to the back of the top left knob that controls the circulation switch. That's what popped off. I simply re-attached to the back of the the fan speed assembly shown in pic 5.

Just was searching for how to fix mine which popped off a month ago and all the steps worked great, thanks!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[Hershey]

found that if you sit on the opposite side when pulling out the side panels works best . That way you're at an angle where the plastic clips ( hooks ) let loose without breaking off . Had to remove center display so the loud annoying rattle it made would stop . Used sticky back felt , no more rattle . Good to see that you got it fixed .

[Revsson]

I don't have a sedan, but thanks for the pics!

[EastCoastCnd]

I realize this is an older thread, but I wanted to thank you for the pictures. I had the exact same problem with my Yaris but it wasn't stuck in "fresh air" mode. The windows were fogging up 20 minutes into a drive in the middle of winter (scary!).
I took it to my mechanic who fixed it and only charged me $35 for labour. Then it happened again. I don't want to be paying to have the same simple problem fixed when I feel like I can do it myself. Tomorrow morning I'm going to give this a try.

Thanks again!

[bronsin]

If you leave the dial on recirc in my experience you will crud up the system so it smells like old socks if you run the AC very much. Which needs to be on recirc if its really hot in summer.

So my drill is run it on fresh every day for a few minutes to keep my car smelling sweetly.

If that thing didnt toggle back and forth it would be trouble!

[Tardis]

Originally Posted by bronsin

If you leave the dial on recirc in my experience you will crud up the system so it smells like old socks if you run the AC very much. Which needs to be on recirc if its really hot in summer.

So my drill is run it on fresh every day for a few minutes to keep my car smelling sweetly.

If that thing didnt toggle back and forth it would be trouble!

Good plan. You don't want to run recirc too very long in cold weather either unless you like steamy windows! Hot days I run recirc with the AC to get the cabin cold fast then go to fresh.( unless there is some stinky diesel truck in front of me! LOL)

[Astroman]

Mine did this but broke something down where it pivots. Dumbass shop put my dials on in upside down order and stressed the cables. They even had the audacity to tell me I was WRONG about the order of my dials! It broke a few months later when I moved far away, and that was when I discovered the jerk had shaved the clips off the knobs to make them fit (then glued them back in when I showed him a pic of a new on the lot yaris knob location.) I now just remove the glove box and flip it manually a couple times a year, recirculate for summer, fresh air for winter. Totally sucks but I'm not tearing my dash apart to fix it. If I ever did take the dash out it's getting fixed then.

Please try to post your threads in the correct thread section. It's getting old moving all the stuff from the "general discussion" when this was service related. I've moved it to the proper sections