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AC air outlet direction problem

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by PriusHead05, Oct 15, 2024.

  1. PriusHead05

    PriusHead05 Member

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    I just bought a 2006 Toyota Prius with only a 120k mi. on it. Nice car. It's like brand new. I have noticed though a problem with the direction of where the AC blows. It I put it on face only, it blows out of both face and feet. If I put it to face only and feet or just feet only, it blows out of only the face. Defrost doesn't work no matter what mode its in. Whether it in defrost or defrost and feet, it still only blows out of the face. I believe it the air outlet servo on the drivers side under the dash, but before I dig into that job, I wanted to verify my conclusion just a little bit. I know there's a way to put the AC in diagnostic mode by pressing and holding the AC auto and recirculation buttons on the steering wheel, but my recirculation button does not work. (I believe I need to replace the clock spring, is there are other buttons on the right side of the steering wheel that also do not work.) is there any other way to put the AC in diagnostic mode without using the physical recirculation button?
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Why just replace clock spring 30 min job . Then re test AC servo buttons and see were you are . Then if needed the harder job of cleaning or replacing servo motor is done! Wella why make it harder on self?
     
  3. PriusHead05

    PriusHead05 Member

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    So are you saying that because the clock spring is bad, that there is a possibility that's why the servo motor doesn't work quite right?
     
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  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Seems to me quite likely. Fix easy stuff first .
     
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  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I wouldn't say the clockspring problem is causing the outlet servo problem.

    Only that the clockspring problem is getting in the way of you getting into diag mode, so it's making your life harder trying to diagnose the outlet servo problem. So why not start by fixing the thing making it harder?

    That's what I thought Tom was saying too.
     
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  6. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    A bad clock spring would not affect setting the direction using the MFD. It might if you are only doing it through the steering wheel.
     
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  7. PriusHead05

    PriusHead05 Member

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    I just bought the car and I'm on a budget and still need to fix a few things. I am waiting on the things that don't need to be done right away. The air bag light isn't on, so I wasn't too worried about the clock spring just yet. I was able to turn the steering wheel so that the buttons would work and I could access the A/C diagnostic mode. It gave me code 21, 42, and 43. I know 21 we can ignore since its just regarding the solar sensor, but what are the other two?
     
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    B1442 is a problem with the air inlet (fresh/recirc) control servo or circuit, and B1443 is a problem with the air outlet control servo or circuit.
     
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  9. PriusHead05

    PriusHead05 Member

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    Alrighty, I forgot I had started this thread before I made the new one, but anyway... I decided to replace the air outlet servo motor. I just got that accomplished Wednesday. I was going to do the fresh air servo motor as well, but couldn't get to all the screws without taking the whole dash apart (literally the whole dash). I didn't have time for that, so I put the dash all back together with the new air outlet servo motor installed. That did not fix the issue. Still having the same exact issue after replacing the air outlet servo motor. I was able to get the steering wheel in the right position so that I was able to put the AC in diagnostic mode again. It is still giving me all three same codes. With the new AC servo motor, I do hear a clicking noise when trying to switch between the different outlet modes. I never heard a clicking noise before. I also tried to hear anything from when switching from recirc to fresh air. I do hear distinctly that "thud" the door makes when switching back and forth. I am going to take out the cabin air filter and look in there to verify that the recirc door is working properly despite the code. Is there any way to possibly clear the codes and have the computer diagnos again?

    I will say someone has been in the dash before. There was a computer randomly zip tied in there and some of the trim panels were not installed properly. I noticed that some of the trim clips for the AC ductwork wasn't installed correctly either. I also found one of the passenger side airbag bolts in the dash. (At least they replaced it with a different bolt.) I also had to reroute the wiring harness for the outlet and air temp servos, as it was installed around the arms instead of in the proper mounting clips. At least I fixed all these things while in there!