Weak and Whistling HVAC

23 platinum, my hvac for heat (75 and up) on front upper vents only and full fan speed feels weak.

also there’s a whistle when using the front. It’s not back vents or has anything to do with the vents you move by hand. It sounds like possibly the damper when changing between modes isn’t closing all the way. Maybe causing the whistling and the weak flow.

it’s my only true complaint right now. My fan speed when the temp is on low is great but when using heat I can’t feel it coming out really. The rear blows great. But in the front top vents it doesn’t.

 

I always felt the vent flow on the Tundras was weak. Before I traded in my 2014, when I turned the fan speed to max, it sounded like a tornado but the flow wasn't that great. On my current 2023, I think the fan speed/flow is better. Call me crazy, but the only issue I'm having right now is if I turn the temp all the way down to "low", the air is cold! But the A/C button is not on. The light isn't on and "A/C" isn't displayed on the screen. And the air flow is slightly higher when the temp is set to Low vs 61. I live in Louisiana, so if your a/c isn't on, you're only getting warm humid air from the vents!

 

Settings > vehicle settings > climate > “AC on with auto”

check those settings

 

I checked that and it was set to Auto. I turned if off. Still no change. If I turn the temp to low, the air is cold. It's done this even when it was 81 degrees outside. When set to "low", there is no difference in temp even if I turn the ac on. I'm hoping to get the TRD lift installed soon. At that time, I'll have them check out the ac function.

 

I am most surprised by the lack of complaints about this. Of all the Toyota's and Lexus that I have owned or currently own, the HVAC is most crap in my 23 Tundra. I did not expect it to be as good as my Landcruiser, however, I also did not expect it to be significantly worse than my Tacoma. It is so bad that on most days below freezing I do not drive my Tundra. Must be some stupid EEE rated systems in there for better efficiency. I would rather have 1 mpg less than freeze or boil. Rant over!

 

I hope you get to the bottom of it and get it resolved. I came over from a Ram with a blend door problem that kept the driver side about 8 degrees warmer than the passenger side (allowing heat to interfere with the AC). Before I traded it I spliced a closeoff valve to the heater core to shutoff the heat completely in the summer to get better AC results.

 

I’ve noticed the whistle in my front passenger vent. When I return home, planning to check the air filter in glove box. Maybe it’s not seated properly??

 

Mine was fine. Go under the dash where the glove box is and put your hand over the air intake tube and tell me if it goes away

 

I've narrowed it down to when the vent is set for the footwell, that's when I have a bit of whistling noise (and it's always set to that lately since it's cold here in Canada).

I'll try blo ing the air intake tube to see if it makes any difference.

 

Yup. Thinking about putting something over it to muffle the noise but not block.

 

I am experiencing the exact same problem the noise goes away once the cabin heats up, but it is consistently an issue when cold and the vent set to the foot well

 

Mine is weaker than I like but no real whistling in any of the modes I have used. Although the weakness is mainly noticeable in "auto" mode where it seems to want to keep the fan slow.

 

No whistling. But yes, when on high heat and full speed, I barely feel anything coming out of the vents!

 

Ok I have an update on this. I did some poking around and took apart the passenger footwell vent and the whistling did not go away. I poked around more and found that it is actually coming form the rear center console vents and for some reason it only happens if the mode is set to one that causes it to blow on your feet - I guess the tundra still blows air out of those vents and something about the speed of the air when it is set to feet only in the front makes those rear vents whistle.
Poking around some more it seems like it is coming from deeper in the center console (likely why it sounds like it's coming from the pax footwell. I haven't had a chance to explore further, but I'm curious if anyone else who is experiencing the whistle can also make it go away by closing those vents

 

Was just going to post this, closing the rear passenger vents, made the whistling go away

 

I assume this is crew max cab? Anyone here with a DC also have the whistling? I don't have it on my SR5 DC.

 

Correct, CM cab!

 

Well at least we have a workaround, but a bit of a pathetic one.... Sounds like a trip to the stealership is in order...

 

Open or closed rear vents mine makes the same sound. Can even disable the rear air flow and it’s still there.
Shrug

 

Ok - thought I was losing my mind but this whistling is ridiculous problem. It is insidious... like a subtle torture. I find the worst when it is hot air blown in 1/2 footwell-1/2defrost. Are dealers giving this some actual attention? I am going in for first service and I think they will say it is fine... it is not.

 

Mine only whistles when the vent is closed. It whistles through whichever vent is closed. I think the airflow is not as strong as other vehicles, but it is definitely moving a lot of air. I haven't had any issues heating or cooling the truck. I also noticed that it blows cold air on low when the AC is off...

The vents in the previous gen Tundra were ideal, they should have kept those...

 

I agree with Silver 23 100%, coming from a RAM, the Tundra blower is Weak

 

Yup, mine whistles hard, it really is painful.

 

Mine only whistles from front passenger side when set to blow from dash vents only. If I adjust the front passenger thermostat to LO temp, the whistle stops. If vents are set to floor, or floor/defrost, no whistle regardless of temp settings.

 

@wedemmoez

you have this one on your list?

 

Not that I'm aware of.

Guys, report this to your dealer otherwise our engineers have no visibility into your issues!

 

I stopped by. Jumped into a new on lot one that did it. Called it normal. That’s about how it goes

 

yea my DC whistles as well, turning it to recirculate makes mine stop, soon as its put to fresh air, it gets louder with the speed i go, sounds like a jet turbine spinning up

 

Wow, I thought I was the only one. Except after owning and driving the vehicle for about a month the noise just went away. Maybe it needed to break in.

 

Mine is on auto all the time, usually between 68-72. Havent heard a whistling since I got it.