Toyota Part? Ls400 Heater Control Valve?

[TexasLS]

I called a Lexus dealership and they quoted me $110+ for a heater control valve for my 1994 LS400.

Does anyone know if Toyota has the equivalant part in one of their cars?

Thanks.

-Reid

[92Lex]

Get the part number from Lexus then call Toyota to see if they have the same part.

[wwest]

Valve leaking or clamp/hose leak??

[ravencr]

I called a Lexus dealership and they quoted me $110+ for a heater control valve for my 1994 LS400.

Does anyone know if Toyota has the equivalant part in one of their cars?

Thanks.

-Reid

←

Did your car stop blowing hot air? My wife's heat just stopped working, and I'm trying to find out if this is the most likely part that probably went bad??

Chris

[firstgenLSowner]

I called a Lexus dealership and they quoted me $110+ for a heater control valve for my 1994 LS400.

Does anyone know if Toyota has the equivalant part in one of their cars?

Thanks.

-Reid

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did your car stop blowing hot air? My wife's heat just stopped working, and I'm trying to find out if this is the most likely part that probably went bad??

Chris

Chris did you ever get your heat fixed? I'm experiencing similar problems. No heat, fan works fine, coolant is full, thermostat is fine. I'm guessing it's the heater control valve or blockage in the hoses that leads up to the heater core.....any insight would be appreciated, thx...

[chilkoot]

not to hijack the thread, but while we're on the topic when a mechanic quoted about $4.5k of back maintenance on my car he noted the heater control valve was leaking. I've ordered a new HCV and have it sitting in my trunk, but my heat works fine and I haven't noticed any dripping coolant. Is it still a potential problem?

I ordered mine from lexuspartsonline.com, I think it was about $40-$60 for the part itself, and if I recall correctly there was a thread about installation that didn't make it seem too challenging of a DIY.

[python]

if ur heater isnt blowing hot, its your heater door control, if your valve is leaking its losing coolant is all, but, if u lose so much coolant your heater will not blow hot due to no coolant, at that point you should notice your gauge fluctuating

[eatingupblacktop]

not to hijack the thread, but while we're on the topic when a mechanic quoted about $4.5k of back maintenance on my car he noted the heater control valve was leaking. I've ordered a new HCV and have it sitting in my trunk, but my heat works fine and I haven't noticed any dripping coolant. Is it still a potential problem?

I ordered mine from lexuspartsonline.com, I think it was about $40-$60 for the part itself, and if I recall correctly there was a thread about installation that didn't make it seem too challenging of a DIY.

4.5k? What work did he quote on? That's more like a rebuild than maintenance!

[chilkoot]

timing belt/water pump (originals), spark plugs/wires/caps/rotors (originals), replace driver's window motor ($600), replace coolant tank ($400, expensive because he said he'd have to refit a newer style), replace rear main seal ($800), alignment+balance, replace ECU for dead speedometer and RPM gauge ($1k+).

I made a thread on the surrounding circumstances around last April, search for it if you're curious to hear the whole story.

[eatingupblacktop]

timing belt/water pump (originals), spark plugs/wires/caps/rotors (originals), replace driver's window motor ($600), replace coolant tank ($400, expensive because he said he'd have to refit a newer style), replace rear main seal ($800), alignment+balance, replace ECU for dead speedometer and RPM gauge ($1k+).

I made a thread on the surrounding circumstances around last April, search for it if you're curious to hear the whole story.

Are you sure everything here needs doing? For that kind of money, I'd get two or three other estimates. If you're a diy, you could save money on some of it. There are plenty of tutorials for most of the expensive items on your list. I find if you keep maintaining the car regularly, the cost won't pile up on you.

[python]

do not take ur car to the dealer for this type of work, any good auto shop can and will fix thsi for u for a lot less money.....research

[chilkoot]

Everything on that list has already been done, it cost me about $2k in parts; did all of the labor myself. It was a quote from our family import mechanic who has been trusted with my father's cars for years. I forgot to mention it also included front brake pads/rotors and rear pads, another $400.

It did all need to be done, everything was original from the factory when I acquired the car last April with 132k miles except for the alternator, rack+pinion and PS pump.

[eatingupblacktop]

I made a thread on the surrounding circumstances around last April, search for it if you're curious to hear the whole story.

For some reason, I missed this part...must have been reading too fast again. Looks like a couple of us missed it. Goes to show how much can be saved uf you can do it yourself.

[python]

i had to replace my coolant tank and got it on ebay for 80 dollars and it came with the sensor

[eatingupblacktop]

i had to replace my coolant tank and got it on ebay for 80 dollars and it came with the sensor

Was it cracked or was it leaking at the sensor? I've got some leakage at the sensor and have been thinking about how to repair. Haven't tried to remove the sensor, but noticed the cap seems to be glued to the sensor. I've got this Bostic hot glue gun that might work. I know Lexus doesn't sell just the sensor.....you have to buy the whole unit. Typical.

[CUMan]

I believe that most, if not all, of the early 90's LS models leak at this sensor. The coolant reservoir is poorly designed. It appears to me that the PSI rating of the reservoir cap is too high. When the pressure in the reservoir rises when the engine gets hot, the coolant is forced out the sensor before the pressure gets high enough to open the cap.

It seems doubtful to me that you could seal this sensor good enough to stop this leaking. Furthermore, if you did, would the pressure inside the reservoir get so high that it would crack the body of the tank before the cap opens?

My 93 LS leaks at this sensor and has for the 10 years I have owned it. One way to lessen the amount of coolant that escapes is to keep the fill level in the reservoir below the bottom line on the side of the tank. This gives the coolant more expansion room.

One question I would have for those folks owning these cars is this: has anyone ever seen evidence that the reservoir pressure cap has opened to allow coolant to escape?

[eatingupblacktop]

My 93 LS leaks at this sensor and has for the 10 years I have owned it. One way to lessen the amount of coolant that escapes is to keep the fill level in the reservoir below the bottom line on the side of the tank. This gives the coolant more expansion room.

I've read that. I've also read threads where the discussion is about keeping the coolant level to at least the bottom line for maintaing heat iin the car.

One question I would have for those folks owning these cars is this: has anyone ever seen evidence that the reservoir pressure cap has opened to allow coolant to escape?

I have. A friend had the timing belt go on his '92. When the temps shot up (because his water pump had siezed - the reason his belt went), he noticed overflow from the expansion tank running down the tube at the side.

It seems doubtful to me that you could seal this sensor good enough to stop this leaking. Furthermore, if you did, would the pressure inside the reservoir get so high that it would crack the body of the tank before the cap opens?

I'm not sure about this? I'd like to know if the replacement tanks are leaking or cracking? Thanks for the tip though. I don't think I want to find out if that kind of repair would crack the tank. I think I'll experiment with lower levels for now until I hear more on this.

[yardbuzzard]

Heater door control? How do you test this or get to it? My car is cool at idle but warm at higher rpm/s. Replaced tstat, rad. cap, burped system. No better. It is intermittant.

thanks

if ur heater isnt blowing hot, its your heater door control, if your valve is leaking its losing coolant is all, but, if u lose so much coolant your heater will not blow hot due to no coolant, at that point you should notice your gauge fluctuating

[glenmore]

The changing of the HCV is pretty straight forward. But if your HCV was as worn out as mine, you need to be careful. When I removed the old HCV, the plastic had disintergrated thru and part of it was left in the vertical hose. I should have approached this very carefully but I rushed and some of the black plastic bits fell down in the hose. I got most of it out by sticking some hose down in there and siphoning up coolant.

After reading all this about the coolant reservoir above, the condition of mine makes more sense. Mine does not leak but there is sticky residue all around the sensor. In trying to clean it up, I noticed that the wiring underneath the cap was cut. The sensor was probably faulty and the entire reservoir/sensor part so expensive, that the PO probably just decided to cut the wires to turn off the idiot light.

glenmore

1990 LS400

1991 300CE

2000 C280