# Hot or Cold at random -2004 Toyota Highlander

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/hot-or-cold-at-random-2004-toyota-highlander/81148>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** toyota, highlander\
**Created:** [August 31, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/hot-or-cold-at-random-2004-toyota-highlander/81148 "2013-08-31T17:39:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Goddess\_of\_Water](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecccb3/32.png) [@Goddess\_of\_Water](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Goddess_of_Water)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/hot-or-cold-at-random-2004-toyota-highlander/81148/1 "2013-08-31T17:39:53Z")

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My 2004 Highlander air conditioning air shifts from cold to hot at random (well maybe more often after going over a small bump). If I rotate the temperature knob from cold to warm and back, it goes back to feeding cold air. it happens when air conditioner is off and the fan is feeding outside air as well. When I asked my favorite repair shop about it their eyes rolled back - I don’t think they wanted to tackle it. Is this a mechanical problem or electrical problem? Anyone have any ideas how to tackle fixing it? Should I take it to the dealer (ouch)?

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**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/hot-or-cold-at-random-2004-toyota-highlander/81148/2 "2013-08-31T23:09:10Z")

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If your “favorite repair” shop doesn’t want to deal with your problem, I would suggest the dealer or  
an independent shop which specializes in Toyota

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**Author:** ![MM1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@MM1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MM1)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/hot-or-cold-at-random-2004-toyota-highlander/81148/3 "2013-09-01T19:20:50Z")

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Try pulling the temperature knob off and see if the nut behind it is loose. This fixed the problem for me a few years ago.