Ok. So I've had this problem for the better part of 3 months. I have an '07.

When I turn on my headlights or running lights, my climate controls (HVAC) don't illuminate. The little individual lights on the A/C and recirculate come on though. But the LCD and the buttons do not illuminate.

I took it into the dealership twice. First visit the lights just happened to work fine.... weird?

I take it in now and they see that the lights don't illuminate at all. They say its related to my after market stereo. But when I take off the face of my radio the problem still occurs. They didn't have time to look at it today when I took it since they are half staffed on Saturdays.

The lights used to go out in the past and I would smack the HVAC with my hand and they would come back on. The problem became more frequent over time though. About 3 weeks ago the light wouldn't come on at all regardless of smacking the HVAC. I'll try to take it back to the dealership this coming week though to convince them that it isn't my radio. I haven't modded my lighting on my HVAC at all either.


Anyone have a problem like this? Know of fix? I want the dealership to replace it under warranty.

 

Yes, this is a very known issue. Its warrantied work. There is something wrong with the circuit boards that are making the Illumination quite working. Take it to the dealership, tell them its a TSB i do believe and all they have to do is swap in a new HVAC control console. I've had my 07 since July of last year and havn't had it happen to mine yet "knock on wood" but it is a common issue for 07 buddy. I'm gonna go try to find the thread that was originally started on it so you can read up on it. I'll post it if I find it. Your aftermarket radio has about 95% chance of not being the issue, I'm sure of it, but there's always the possibility you might have tapped into a wrong wire somewhere.

 

I didn't tap any wrong wires. I bought the connector that plugs into the stock wiring harness. I double checked my wiring today when I got back from the dealership and everything was fine.

 

Cool, heres the link to the thread I mentioned. All they have to do i put in a new board and it should be good to go. https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...r=asc&&start=0

 

Thanks. I'll call up the dealership and see if they're aware of this issue. I'm guessing not though since I went in there twice in 8 days and no one mentioned that its a common problem.

 

yee! thanks a lot i just had this happen to me today. noticed blackness in my car and started freaking out

 

ME TOO!!

 

$570 something part. It's going to be a week to get it in. I thought i was going crazy when this happened. I thought for sure i was able to read the time and temp at night before!
I hope there are no other big problems with the '07's. I'm pretty happy with everything else on the car so far.

 

And I thought I was the only one xD!! Mine is an '07 too =3!!

 

Mine did it too! Good thing I had that warranty, the only real hardship was waiting for the part to come in, and scheduling time to fix it.

And mine is an 07, if anyone is interested.

 

I'm getting this part replaced tomorrow. My question is are they replacing this part with an upgraded part or should I expect this to go out in another year or so?

Anyone that's had this fixed.... Has this happened twice to anyone?

One more thing. Should the dealer let me keep the old part If i want it?

 

Happens all the time to the early to mid 07 units. I just had a customer send one in that he bought used "he never tested it or had it in his hands" and it was DOA with the 07 issue. Thank goodness the parts company put orange torque strip tamper paint on all the screws so it can be returned without issue. I was lucky and warned him of the issue before he had it sent to me just as I warn all my 07 customers and sure enough, another unit that does not light.

Best way to fix the issue is go to the dealer, or just buy a used 08 HVAC. It will work on the 07 and so far I have not heard of an 08 having the issue.

This problem is so common it is sickening. Happens to swapped HVAC's, non swapped HVAC's, pretty much any of them in the early, mid and a few late production run 07 units.

I have traced the problem down on the board to the main IC processor that controls all the functions of the board. It simply wigs out and the output dies on it for no reason. When you flip your lights on, it sends the signal to the processor to light... and the output does not trigger. I am sure I can bypass it if I looked into it, but you would loose the dimmer function.

 

From what I can tell, all the new HVAC units should not have any issue as they corrected the problem.

Also on warranty work, they do have the right and usually the need to send it back in. Somtimes they just throw the stuff away so it never hurts to ask for an item back.

 

This has now happened twice to me. 1st time dealer wanted 1000.00 to do the repair.
Instead i got a used control board and put it in. Within in 30 days its doing the same thing. I am going to try and remove the transistor and bridge the other one today and see if it fixes the issues.

Ohh the part right now is approximately 659.99 for just the controls but you can get it used for about 120.00.

 

I would not remove it, Just add a tiny bit of solder to each leg / re-heat each leg at t302 and you will be fine. Also I have them in stock for $74.99 for the hvac board itself. You can also choose pre-swapped versions.