koreywill

I'm almost embarrassed to even have to ask this but here goes. I've got a left/driver's side blend actuator (makes incoming air cooler or hotter) that's acting sketchy. I've taken it apart twice and done my best to clean and grease the contacts. However, I can't gain complete access to the copper fingers and paths because I can't remove the actuator arm. Motor and gears come right out but not the largest gear which seems permanently attached to the arm.
Not wanting to pay the high price for Lexus p/n 87106-41051 or equivalent Denso p/n 063600-4900 I've been searching for two hours for a lesser cost substitute. I'm usually pretty good at researching and finding stuff like this but this time, nothing. It seems that the right side servo is available in GREAT abundance (87106-41041) but not the left.
Has anyone ordered a non Lexus left/driver's side blend servo lately or can anyone else do better than me and find one online?
Many thanks if you can.

Arsenii

Hello,

It depends on what you describe as "sketchy", it would be intermittent actuation, could be Ghosting, could be something else I have no clue about, or combination of everything. Issues like that can be caused by the worn out Graphite Plate that lets the Servo know where it is located, and by a general age of the plastic, among other things. All that is to say that not ALL servos are repairable from a certain point, so it could be that it's time for a new one.

The thing is that most of Toyota servo motors are very similar to each other, the only difference is the actual lever it uses, the servo off of 6th-gen Camry looks very similar, Part Number is 87106-07120, considering the number of those cars around local junkyards, it may very well be worth a try. Its arm is removable, it uses a small clip to hold the gear in place, in your specific car, I am pretty sure the arm is removable as well, it sits on a D-shaped shaft with a dab of glue on it, as there is no retention mechanism unlike with newer ones, but with enough ... persuasion, it should come off. After that, it's only a matter of assembling the servo back together, with the same dab of glue, and making sure you didn't just glue it back to the old servo.

And if you don't feel like messing with it at all, you can just go to Amayama and get one that fits your car for a ... more or less reasonable enough price, here is a link, the only question is if you are patient enough to wait unit it actually arrives at your doorstep.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

koreywill

Hey Arsenii,
Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. "Sketchy" was not explained well enough. I don't drive the 300 a lot anymore so it sits in the garage days on end. Couple of weeks ago I took it out for a trip and the drivers side hot/cold air blend put out nothing but cold air. When I got home I pulled down the carpet beside the accelerator pedal, ran through the driver side temperature changes on the a/c controller, and the arm did not move. I took the controller out and moved the arm manually. That moved freely. Took the servo to the workbench, opened it up, moved things around, snapped the cover back on, connected it to the wiring harness, changed the temp and the arm moved as it should but it moved in a "jerky" manner in the middle of its travel path. It was not smooth. I'd repaired this one before so I thought I'd get another. Ordered what I thought was the correct replacement but received the one for the passenger side instead. Hooked it to the harness anyway and it traveled smoothly from hot to cold and back. Sent that unit back and started looking for the correct one. That's when I learned how rare they are.

Your description of how the arm is connected is dead on accurate. I tried the persuasion method of removing the arm by placing two screwdrivers in the space between the body and the arm and twisting the drivers to create upward movement of the arm. I got to the point where i thought i was going to break the case so i gave up and just reinstalled the servo. It still works - kinda, so I'm ok with that for a while.

Are you suggesting I remove the arm off my current unit and install it on the Camry 87106-07120 and hope that all the attachment points are the same? Or perhaps switch out the "guts" of the 7120 and install them into my current servo (if that's even possible)?

I've used Amayama a lot in the past for those critical OEM parts but, being the "economy minded" person that I am, I'd rather not spend the $84 for a new one if possible. But if I have to, I know I'll have a very good part that will probably outlast me.

I'll start looking for a 7120 and when I receive it I'll look at all the possibilities.

Thanks again for the reply and the suggestions.

koreywill

Arsenii: Answering my own question: I've been looking at side by side comparisons between the two servos mentioned above. Best as I can tell, externally they are both the same. Internally I have no idea. Are there the same number of paths and fingers? Is the gearing ratios to both the same? No way of knowing without getting a 7120 in hand and comparing the guts or, as you suggested, just take the arm off the original, take the gear off the 7120, put the arm on the 7120, plug it in and try it out. I'll start the hunt for a 7120.

Arsenii

Well, here is my pitch - the chances of you not finding one of those servos at the junkyard are little to none, and a good number of junkyards would let you have it for free just to not deal with all the paperwork. If it works, you just fixed your car, if not, you gained experience for a relatively low price, all the benefits with none of the drawbacks.

poorsoigrabwrench

I have 03 es300. Replaced driver side blend servo with amazon(says doesn't fit es300 but it does) $40ish

A-Premium HVAC Heater Blend Door Actuator, Compatible with Toyota Avalon 1999-2004 3.0L, Sedan, Left Main, Temperature Actuator, Replace# 87106-07070, 87106-07071

koreywill

Thanks for the heads up. I went to amazon and looked at all the pictures of the one you recommended vs the pictures I have of mine. They look identical on the outside so I went ahead and ordered one. When it arrives and I get it installed I'll holler back at ya to let you know how it works.
Good catch and thanks.

Oro

Yes Korey, it will work.

I pointed this out last fall in this post; sorry I didn’t see your more recent post on the subject:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...placement.html

Ones from the parallel gen Avalon (and I think Camry, too) work fine. The one I bought is now $17 on Ebay (link is in the discussion above).

koreywill

Hey Oro! Good to hear from you and thanks for the confirmation. I found one on Ebay for $16.99 so we'll see how it works out.
Thanks again.

koreywill

No joy. Got the part ordered from ebay today. Went to the car, pulled down the carpet, replaced the broken one with the new one, turned on the ignition, and it initialized. From then on, it would either go to full HEAT or full COLD regardless of where the temperature selector was put (except at the end of the range). The arm did not move until the temp selector read COLD or HOT. Then it would move to that position. I reinstalled the old one and it moved through the range (with a few stops along the way). It does not move smoothly and hangs up occasionally. I
Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

Oro

I’m not sure that means anything is wrong with it, tbh. Did you compare its function to the other side?

IIRC, this door does not “blend.” It’s just to open or close the foot vent, depending upon where you set the mode selector. The temp blending is done with the central blend door, and the air flow regulated by the fan. This is just an open/close switch for the footwell vent on that side.

What is the link to the one you bought? Is it the same as the one in my link above?

koreywill

I’m not sure that means anything is wrong with it, tbh. Did you compare its function to the other side?
IIRC, this door does not “blend.” It’s just to open or close the foot vent, depending upon where you set the mode selector. The temp blending is done with the central blend door, and the air flow regulated by the fan. This is just an open/close switch for the footwell vent on that side.
What is the link to the one you bought? Is it the same as the one in my link above?

Hey ORO,

Thanks for the comeback. I am 100% sure that the blend door actuator just to the right and up from the gas pedal is the one that controls the temperature at the oultets on the driver's side. I know this to be true because running my old actuator by stepping up the temperature it either warms up litle by little or cools down little by little. This is from the parts page at Amayama.com: : SERVO SUB-ASSY, DAMPER (FOR AIRMIX) GENUINE TOYOTA (8710641051) You can see that here: https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/8710641051 If I take off the servo motor and move the lever by hand it goes from hot to cold and back to hot. The mode selector you reference is up and forward from this servo. It does foot, foot/face, face, defrost, and defrost/foot selection. The fresh air/recirc servo is above the passenger footwell behind the glovebox.

When the actuator is not mounted you can see it move just a little bit at a time in sync while pushing the TEMP rocker on the left side of the a/c panel. The new one was either full heat or full old - nothing in between.

Yes, I purchased from ebay using the link that you gave.

Arsenii

It's only now that I realized that it Only moves either to full Hot or full Cold, not sure how I missed it before..

The thing is that this behavior is usually more indicative of the Temperature sensor under the Driver's Kick Panel, here is a thread of the subject, which shows how to enter Diagnostics mode and pull the Fault Codes to see if it is indeed the Servo that is causing it.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Oro

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Hmm, I hadn’t noticed this, either. I’ll check the car tomorrow and see how it works. I still have the original on the passenger side so can compare side to side.

I have had this installed since October or so. I never noticed anything feel any different - air flow and temps seem no different and just fine. I don’t drive this car daily but I did drive it a couple hours about 10 days ago and everything was working correctly as far as I could tell/feel. I’ll pull back the carpeting and run through the operation and see.

Oro

@koreywill Hey Korey,

I meant to follow up on this. Regardless of how that unit moves, it seems to actually WORK just fine. I’ve driven the car a few short distances, and also all-day one day 8 days ago to Portland and back. Everything felt just fine, heat when and where it should be.

I would say for the fact it’s $18 and in hand, stick it in and run it vs. seeking out a much more expensive one.

Bryan