I have a 2008 Toyota Highlander Limited. The volume control knob does not work properly. When you go to turn up the volume, it will sometime go lower and sometimes higher. It works fine on the steering wheel. I have taken the knob off and put it back on, still no luck. Any ideas?
Kerri Hagood
Welcome to Toyota Nation Kerri.
I'm going to move your question to the HL section.
You'll get more responses there.
I'm going to move your question to the HL section.
You'll get more responses there.
Yep Very common issue, One of our members found if you remove the knob, then take a can of CRC Electric Contact Cleaner
and liberally spray a bunch down the inside of the shaft (It's hollow),
Rotate the knob a bunch and spray, rotate the knob spray,
several times WHILE THE RADIO AND CAR ARE OFF,
then let it air out a few mins and dry,
then replace the knob and test
You should be good to go again...
I was almost on the verge of tossing the entire radio head unit out and purchasing a new one, until a fellow member told me this trick.
Worked like a charm, and my radio is as good as new again...
Hope that helps you out some
And PS Welcome to Toyota Nation!!
and liberally spray a bunch down the inside of the shaft (It's hollow),
Rotate the knob a bunch and spray, rotate the knob spray,
several times WHILE THE RADIO AND CAR ARE OFF,
then let it air out a few mins and dry,
then replace the knob and test
You should be good to go again...
I was almost on the verge of tossing the entire radio head unit out and purchasing a new one, until a fellow member told me this trick.
Worked like a charm, and my radio is as good as new again...
Hope that helps you out some
And PS Welcome to Toyota Nation!! 
Funman1 I got the knob off of the volume control and the shaft is not hollow.
So i'm not sure where I should spray the CRC contact cleaner.
Where the shaft goes into the radio I guess?
So i'm not sure where I should spray the CRC contact cleaner.
Where the shaft goes into the radio I guess?
I'm 99.9% sure your shaft is hollow.
The OUTER shaft does not rotate...
The INNER shaft is what rotates inside the outer hollow shaft.
Spray as best you can where the arrow shows, that's how to access inside the hollow shaft.
![Image]()
The OUTER shaft does not rotate...
The INNER shaft is what rotates inside the outer hollow shaft.
Spray as best you can where the arrow shows, that's how to access inside the hollow shaft.
Funman1, That's what mine looks like.
I was thinking you meant the end of shaft was hollow, but I see by your picture what you mean. I saw another post that said to just spin the volume knob 360° in each direction a bunch of times and this might clear up anything that has accumulated on the contacts.
I tried that and it has eliminated the problem I had so far. If the problem returns I will try the spray. Thanks for the picture and the info., greatly appreciated.
I was thinking you meant the end of shaft was hollow, but I see by your picture what you mean. I saw another post that said to just spin the volume knob 360° in each direction a bunch of times and this might clear up anything that has accumulated on the contacts.
I tried that and it has eliminated the problem I had so far. If the problem returns I will try the spray. Thanks for the picture and the info., greatly appreciated.
I concur that it works great. Also works on pretty much ANY volume knobs, pots(potentiometers), rheostats... especially if you have vintage stereo equipment(home, classic car....).
Deoxit is my favorite but CRC works great. If knob has too much resistance after cleaning, DeOxit Fader is a great lube for the volume knob.
CRC QD is a contact cleaner and not a protectant or lubricant.
http://www.crcindustries.com/products/contact-cleaner-protectant-10-wt-oz-03140.html
http://www.crcindustries.com/products/qd-174-contact-cleaner-11-wt-oz-02130.html
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.293/.f
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f
https://www.wd40specialist.com/products/contact-cleaner
Deoxit is my favorite but CRC works great. If knob has too much resistance after cleaning, DeOxit Fader is a great lube for the volume knob.
CRC QD is a contact cleaner and not a protectant or lubricant.
http://www.crcindustries.com/products/contact-cleaner-protectant-10-wt-oz-03140.html
http://www.crcindustries.com/products/qd-174-contact-cleaner-11-wt-oz-02130.html
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.293/.f
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f
https://www.wd40specialist.com/products/contact-cleaner
I had the same problem. Here was my tear-down fix:
https://www.electrolund.com/2018/10/digital-volume-knob-fix/
https://www.electrolund.com/2018/10/digital-volume-knob-fix/
If you need to repair the encoder shaft that the knob sits on (Radio Version, not Navigation Version), you can order a new Encoder Shaft from Allied Electronics, EC11E15244G1. The little circuit card is easy to take out by removing the three little screws. Unsolder the old volume shaft and solder in the new volume shaft.
Just found in stock online at a different place.
Placing an order to see if it's really the same one and if it can be easily swapped.
Placing an order to see if it's really the same one and if it can be easily swapped.
Actually, you all are in luck!
I was contacted recently by someone who found my blog and did some good digging on encoders. They found the following part number as a possible replacement: EC11E15244G1.
I work in the electronics and engineering world, so I took that to DigiKey and Mouser and found the following info:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ALPS/EC11E15244G1?qs=YMSFtX0bdJDiV4LBO61anw==
From what I can tell, this is a valid replacement, comparing drawings to the circuit board footprint.
![Image]()
I was contacted recently by someone who found my blog and did some good digging on encoders. They found the following part number as a possible replacement: EC11E15244G1.
I work in the electronics and engineering world, so I took that to DigiKey and Mouser and found the following info:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ALPS/EC11E15244G1?qs=YMSFtX0bdJDiV4LBO61anw==
From what I can tell, this is a valid replacement, comparing drawings to the circuit board footprint.
I removed the whole knob/circuit board assembly and sprayed contact cleaner on it, rotated several times and sprayed several times, dried it out really well and reinstalled it and volume control works like it supposed to. Worth a try.
It's not the correct replacement.
The size is wrong so I never made it to the functional part because I'm not going to try to install a part that is clearly the wrong size and won't work because of that alone.
The size is wrong so I never made it to the functional part because I'm not going to try to install a part that is clearly the wrong size and won't work because of that alone.
I replied with my fix in another stream, but thought I should also add it here...
After hours searching on the internet (and even called Toyota's home office, to no avail), I came up with a fix in my case (in my case, the encoder/stem for the tuner broke off at the base - see photos below). Rather than buying a whole new radio (as the dealer suggested) or buying an encoder (that didn't look like it would fit), I realized that my stem piece, if held by hand, would still seat in its proper place in the radio unit. So I found a tight-fitting washer that fit around the base of encoder, and super glued it to the tuner unit such that it would hold the encoder in place (as the encoder still had a little bit of its base left, which fit right under the washer). Seems to be working, though only time will tell... The photos below show the steps in my process. Maybe this will help someone with the same situation as me.
View attachment 321530 View attachment 321531 View attachment 321532 View attachment 321533 View attachment 321534
After hours searching on the internet (and even called Toyota's home office, to no avail), I came up with a fix in my case (in my case, the encoder/stem for the tuner broke off at the base - see photos below). Rather than buying a whole new radio (as the dealer suggested) or buying an encoder (that didn't look like it would fit), I realized that my stem piece, if held by hand, would still seat in its proper place in the radio unit. So I found a tight-fitting washer that fit around the base of encoder, and super glued it to the tuner unit such that it would hold the encoder in place (as the encoder still had a little bit of its base left, which fit right under the washer). Seems to be working, though only time will tell... The photos below show the steps in my process. Maybe this will help someone with the same situation as me.
View attachment 321530 View attachment 321531 View attachment 321532 View attachment 321533 View attachment 321534
Hi - I see this is an older thread. Hoping to see if anyone still might respond. My volume was doing the same thing. So I went to using the steering wheel controls. But now the radio won’t turn on. Is it possible that cleaning it will fix that issue as well? Since it’s all within the same knob? Thoughts?
You can have your original part repaired at UpFix - We save you money on rebuilding your failed electronics!
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Here is the service link
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Yes! Thanks for this thread and special thanks to the person whom posted a photo. My 2012 just started doing this and using contact cleaner fixed it.
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