87 camry heater troubles

[powder blue]

Hi,

This is my first post here. I would first like to thank those who have already helped me by posting relevant threads to my electrical woes. I have been driving my 87 camry LE for about 10 years now and have always managed to keep it running well, while turning my head from electrical issues. I finally got fed up and decided to start addressing them.
So far I have fixed a rusty dome light fixture, faulty driver side power door lock switch, and am close to fixing my rear defogger and blower fan. Both of my automatic seat belts have malfunctioned as well, and I plan to look into those next year.
While other solutions have come easier, I have experienced some troubles fixing my heater, and am hoping for some good advice from toyota nation. I have read the sticky and other threads on the climate control units being the primary cause of troubles. Note: My heater has not worked in probably 5 years, and when it went out, I remember it working intermittently before dying completely.
So I took out my climate control and tested for continuity. It seemed to me the unit was not working correctly. I attempted to solder the contacts for the rheostat, but to no avail. I hot wired the harness in the dash and could hear the heater door open. I recently picked up a new climate control unit from a junkyard, plugged it in, and my heater was working. I thought my problem was solved. But now my new climate control seems to only be working occassionally. Most of the time it just blows cold air. I am planning to take it back out and test it, and test my old one to see if there is a difference.
But I am curious if there is any advice...something i am overlooking, a more efficient way to go about fixing my heater.
I am a biologist, not an electrician, but I am trying. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

austin

[powder blue]

Hi. So I now have both of my climate control units out and they are behaving similarly. There is continuity with the slider all the way to the right on hot. As soon as I slide the lever towards cool, I lose continuity. Is this the common problem that can be solved by soldering the contacts pointed out in earlier threads? Or are my rheostats beyond easy repair? I am considering just hooking up an on/off switch and staching it in my ashtray.
The wiring from the harness to the heater door seems to be good. I was reading a steady 40 mv, and the door was strong and responsive.

Insight would be much appreciated. Thanks.

austin

[MCV2O]

Hey Austin,

Try this (not sure if it helps...but...)

You Tube

You Tube

[powder blue]

thanks. I have seen this video, many times, in fact. It was this video and a previous thread here that helped me remove the unit from my car and test it.
What im unsure of now is if my units are salvageable. I know they are the problem.

[es250nut]

Nice video, As far as I know, my post on TN was the original information on the reostat fix. See this link http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t9592.html Since then I have repaired around a dozen or so for other Camry owners. Glad to see someone getting some use out of the information.

[Musikmann]

Maybe I was lucky but when I lost heat all I did was slide the temp control back and forth a bunch of times and it has worked ever since.

[Alltracdust]

Originally Posted by MCV2O

Hey Austin,

Try this (not sure if it helps...but...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gDcQ87OIBk

HAHA wow this is my video! Posted it up when I had heater issues! how funny. Did it help ya? My sound on that camera wasn't so good.. but its really the only video on YouTube..that's why I made it!