2003 Avalon Volume Knob issues?

This thread from the DIY sticky oughta be helpful. The first part is regarding replacement, but the later posts talk about refoaming it. If yours is bad because the foam flexure arond the perimeter is crumbling or torn, you can replace just that for less $.

+1 on the refoam, worked great, cheaper than the jbl from Crutchfield which many Avalon owners have left positive reviews about on Crutchfield’s site. A little messy and tedious but not hard to do. I’m glad BMR recommended the same repair to me almost a year ago!

Justinb2000 said:

So the volume knob is kind of weird. I’ve noticed it’s a little looser than the other knob(mode) and when I turn up the volume to a certain point the volume level goes from like a 6 or 7 to a full blown 10 and it’s loud as hell. Anyone know what this might be?

Click to expand...

I've noticed this on my non-JBL 01 Avalon, except mine goes from 5 to 11 (sorry attempt at a little Spinal Tap joke). The knob itself isn't the issue -- it's the variable potentiometer that's being turned by the knob.

The daunting task of replacing it has certainly daunted me. There's going to be dash panel disassembly, radio disassembly, determination of the potentiotmeter's ohmage, de- and re-soldering, and heaven knows what else. It might even turn out to be an electrical engineering error in the radio circuitry to the point where a potentiometer replacement wouldn't fix the issue.

Possibly in your case, the problem IS the loose feeling of the knob, which might indicate wobbly innards in the potentiometer. They have disc(s) and wiper(s) and these work to perfection only when the shaft of the potentiometer turns in good bearing surfaces. I keep eyeing aftermarket double-DIN infotainment systems...