Minivan rear upper airvents not working but lower vents are

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I have a 04 Toyota Sienna. Front HVAC works great. Lower rear vents have hot and cold air flowing. Upper rear vents have no air flowing out. I had the interior removed to find a water leak and now I have this air problem. Can anyone help?

2

I can’t help, but have a slightly different problem on my 2002 Sienna. Since I live in the South, or in Mexico, I really never heat the back of the car. I do cool back there, but when we drive north in the winter, we only heat the front where the two of us sit.

I did notice last year when I had passengers in the back, that telling it to heat back there does not give heat back there, just produces a roaring noise at the right front of the car. I am guessing somewhere in front there is a port that swings between hot and cold, and for failure to use it for 7 years, it hangs up.

Since I still have little need to heat back there, It will probably be that way to its grave.

3

You both may have a stuck, damaged or disconnected blend door, OR a worn out blend door motor.

4

OK. The blend door/motor. Is there anywhere in particular you can recommend starting to look? I heard mention that the vents run up pillars and inside the ceiling. So any help you can provide would be most appreciated. Could this be a DIY project that someone with slightly above average automotive skill can pull off?

I am thinking that the technician that removed the interior panels may have dislodged a vent pipe somewhere and if I knew where to start looking (like if someone knew where the joints/connections are located), I wouldn’t mind doing this myself.

5

I’m not positive if the blend door motor is behind the radio area or behind the climate control adjustment controls in your van.

It takes a bit of work to get in there though.

If you can, get a hold of a schematic that shows the duct routing.

6

Thanks Roadrunner, will post if/when i have had any luck.

7

Siesta, have you taken the van back to where you had the interior removed and asked the service person who did the job?

Was the rear upper vents working properly prior to this work?

8

Are you talking about the vents in the ceiling? The ceiling vents have their own separate blower motor (so it wouldn’t be an air door problem). Maybe when they did the work the forgot to reconnect some of the electrical connections?