[dave_cl]

What a terrific thread!
I have a base model, so it doesn't apply to me, but this is excellent information.
Kudos.

 

[Minnella]

Evaporator case access

see the evaporator case removal video ,

I removed my blower assembly from under the passenger side lower dash to get to the servos. I am confused how the upper dash was removed and the damper cleaned up and the plastic gear reinstalled in 2 hrs. Can the upper dash be removed without taking the steering wheel Loose? is there access to the lower part of the evaporator case from the top somehow?

 

[rsbrett]

I know this is an old thread, but this just happened to me, and thanks to this thread I was able to fix it in an hour. Pulled the glove box out, and could see the big white gear was loose. Popped off the floor duct piece so I could look in at the damper door and sure enough, it was stuck shut with black goo. I don't think its sealer, but part of the rubber gasket on the bottom of the door that just melted at some point. Maybe a really hot summer day? I cleaned all the sticky stuff off and put the white gear back on ( which took the most time trying to figure out the correct position ). If it happens again, I may just take that black rubber gasket off the bottom of the door. Worse thing that can happen is a little air will sneak out below the door ( closed position ) into the heater ducts when its all supposed to coming out the vents or defrost.

 

[JuneBug]

This happens to a lot of vehicles. It happened to our '94 Dodge Grand Caravan. The foam they used seems to deteriorate and turn into a tar-like substance. What year is your RAV4, and does the VIN begin with J?

 

[Poe9030]

I just reset the white gear back on and cleaned the seal off with Gunk engine cleaner on a rag. I found a 2010 Rav4 at a car dealer and took pics of the gear in the different positions (after being unable to find the right spot the previous day). Pushed the control for defrost and had it on in about 5 minutes. I'll post the position pics, maybe help someone get it back on a little quicker. They set at: pic 1- floor, 2- face, 3- defrost.

 

[Hingle McCringlebery]

The attached PDF file should help you locate the Air Outlet Damper. The purpose of this particular damper is to direct airflow to the various levels (i.e. Windshield, face and feet). So the error code seems to match the description of the problem.

If you want more information you can access the shop repair manuals by looking at Junebug's profile.

Thank you for this post and pdf. Hopefully it will help me fix my B1443/43 code issue.

 

[Diaa]

I just reset the white gear back on and cleaned the seal off with Gunk engine cleaner on a rag. I found a 2010 Rav4 at a car dealer and took pics of the gear in the different positions (after being unable to find the right spot the previous day). Pushed the control for defrost and had it on in about 5 minutes. I'll post the position pics, maybe help someone get it back on a little quicker. They set at: pic 1- floor, 2- face, 3- defrost. View attachment 147141 View attachment 147142 View attachment 147140 View attachment 147141 View attachment 147142

Poe9030: that's an excellent work you did by attaching the pictures in different positions. I have similar issue on my 2008 Rav4 auto a/c and the gear just popped out. I followed your pictures as a guidance and it did not perfectly corresponds with the airflow direction buttons. I was wondering if you still own the Rav4 and could do pictures for buttons with feet air duct removed so I can see the damper door in closed/open/maybe half open position? Thanks a million

 

[Dr. Dyno]

Poe9030: that's an excellent work you did by attaching the pictures in different positions.

Sorry, but Poe only posted that once and hasn't been on the forum since.

 

[arizona37]

my 2007 limited RAV4 (222k miles) just had this exact issue. Following the steps from Poe9030 did the trick. I had to play around with the gear and correct buttons but got it to work on my 3rd try. Just install the gear in the same orientation, change the button, and see if it moves. If it doesn’t move, pop off the gear, move it to the next button, reinstall the gear and press a different button to see if
it moves. Here’s a picture of the melted gasket before and after cleaning

 

[Diaa]

my 2007 limited RAV4 (222k miles) just had this exact issue. Following the steps from Poe9030 did the trick. I had to play around with the gear and correct buttons but got it to work on my 3rd try. Just install the gear in the same orientation, change the button, and see if it moves. If it doesn’t move, pop off the gear, move it to the next button, reinstall the gear and press a different button to see if
it moves. Here’s a picture of the melted gasket before and after cleaning
View attachment 175760
View attachment 175761

2008 RAV4 limited: Same here, happened several times to me. Gear came off and put back but this time air doesn't blow strong enough on windshield when I select "defrost" or "footwell & defrost" which causes fog build up on the windshield ( pretty dangerous). I ran the test and code 43 came up this time. I don't know if I need to realign the white gear again, I'm afraid to break it as I tried to pull it off gently without success...

 

[Diaa]

What I noticed though that if set the heater to its lowest, the air flow to windshield improves dramatically, any ideas?

 

[arizona37]

Have you looked to see if the duct can move freely, or if it is stuck in place by the melted gasket? You’ll need to remove the floor duct to find out. I noticed the issue when the air wasn’t blowing strong enough on my windshield like you have said and found that the duct was unable to move due to the melted gasket

 

[Diaa]

Have you looked to see if the duct can move freely, or if it is stuck in place by the melted gasket? You’ll need to remove the floor duct to find out. I noticed the issue when the air wasn’t blowing strong enough on my windshield like you have said and found that the duct was unable to move due to the melted gasket

I previously removed the floor duct and the damper gasket was as good as new

 

[arizona37]

Sounds like it may be a different issue then. I would take the floor duct off and see how the duct and gear moves as you press different buttons. Is the gear moving as you press different buttons, or does it just barely move then stop?