Hello,

My car v6 93 camry's heater has stopped working... It was working a month ago. I topped up the coolant and everything is well maintained.... but I do not know why my heater doesn't work.

Recently my turn knob which switches over to "heat" kind of broke and keeps on twisting over and over again. So, I took it off and used my fingers to turn it to the heater side... but the heater still didn't work.

Need help! Winter is coming fast!!
- could the fuse be blown? If so how do I test it myself? I have downloaded the 94 camry wiring diagrams...
- any other ideas ?

Thanks
Thiran

30 views and no reply....
Can someone please help with this problem?

well I would think the broken knob would be an obvious thing to look at, no? Open the hood and check the coolant heater bypass valve. It should be below the TB near the firewall. There should be a steel cable attached to it going into the firewall. It's possible that cable has broken or the clip that secures it has come loose, or the heater knob mechanism has jammed and is now broken away from that cable. You can take a pair of pliers and try manually moving that cable near the valve to see if it provides you some heat. More than likely though, you will at a minimum need to remove the heater controls on the dash and inspect the heater knob mechanism.

dave mc

Thanks, IT was the knob!! I had been tricked thiking it was turned tothe heater position. But after comparing the knob's backside hold for the heater turning thing coming from the engine, I realized it was not correctly fit.

THX.

davemac2 - you are an absolute genius!

davemac2 - you are an absolute genius!

thanks, but I don't think so! lol :) just experience. i recently replaced my wife's heater bypass valve, so I'm familiar with that. I think hitmanattacks jinxed me here, because just tonite, the exact same thing happened to my wife's camry! It too was the knob that was cracked near the shaft clip on the back side. I ended up taking the whole heater control out to have a look because I thought the gears may have been stripped on the gearbox in there. I should have looked closer at the knob. I guess that knob takes a lot of stress, especially as the cables get a little stiff with age. I re-lubed those too. I fixed the knob with a little CA glue and wrapped some copper wire around the knob shaft area for re-enforcement. Should last another 60K at least. :)

dave mc

hahah ..davemac2, aren't you glad it was the knob instead of the gears?

But, I would like to do a bit of that lubrication as well on my heater box and the knob. But have no clue on how to take it out ... carefully and work on it.

Any chance you can provide directions as how I can lubricate it?

I notice there is a small screw right under the shaft (cylindrical thing comin out where the knob is attached??) Do I unscrew that...and I don't know any steps after that?


THX!

you will have to do the following to remove it:

1. remove the instrument panel plastic fascia that extends over to the HVAC controls and ends just above the radio. There are 2 screws above the instruments to remove plus 2 screws at each side of the radio. The rest are clips holding it in. To get to the screws at each side of the radio, you need to remove the radio trim piece using something to pry at the bottom of it without damaging it. There is a clip on each side. The top part of the radio trim is held in under the instrument panel piece. As you pull the panel off, remove the wiring connectors by reaching in behind.

2. Once you have the trim pieces out, remove the 4 screws that hold the HVAC control cluster in. Remove the 2 wiring harness connectors on the back of the control panel. Remove the screw just under the heater control knob. The back of the gearbox is also held in with a few plastic tabs that are part of the control panel. Just spread those tabs gently using your fingers and pull the gearbox away from the HVAC panel.

3. You won't be able to pull the gearbox out too much because of the cables attached. You will need to remove the cables from the other ends. One cable goes out to the heater bypass valve under the hood as already mentioned. The other one goes to a vent door lever that you can see if you stick your head in underneath just to the right of the accelerator in the center area.

4. Once the cable ends are disconnected, you can remove the gearbox and then lube the cables with some silicon grease and work it in. The top of the gearbox is covered with a removable metal plate. You can stick some more grease on the gears in there if you like, but it may not be necessary.

5. Take a close look at the knob itself unless you are getting it replaced because it is likely cracked.

cheers,

dave mc

Thank you very much.

I will give it my best shot.

davemac2 - you are an absolute genius!

I agree :)