No air coming from vents after drink spilled into defrost vent

A drink was spilled on top of my dash board. Got down into the defrost vent. Now none of the vents will operate. I'm guessing the blend door actuator? It's a 2020 Toyota Tundra. I've not been able to find any videos on how to change the vent door actuator. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

Was it a sugary drink like pop (or do you call it soda?) or juice? If yes, I suspect that the air door(s) may be jammed up from the stickiness on them and their weatherstripping. The actuators are positioned on the outside of the HVAC box and I have a hard time thinking that they’d have been swamped themselves.

If that’s the case though, that leaves the question of what to do about it. I’m having a hard time with the idea of suggesting that you spray warm water down the defrost vent of your ‘20 with a garden sprayer and let it all drain out the evaporator drain tube.

 

It was a darn 16 ounce Carmel iced coffee. My wife had just bought it. I would say very sticky. Im thinking about spraying some electronic cleaner.

 

I’d be concerned with what the electronic cleaner would do to the plastic parts, and the glue on the air door weatherstripping. Unless you’re thinking of something different than I am.

 

I agree, just not sure what to do. maybe I just need to bite the bullet and take it to a shop.

 

Can you hear anything when switching between different modes, defrost, heat, etc.?

 

I can't. I have all of the dash off the passenger side so I had decent access. It actually takes the fan about 30 seconds to come on after I turn the knob on.

 

There were some members here who had some funky stuff happen when water got down the same area having their windshield tinted. I wonder if you could be having the same problem.

 

Could be, I've done no window tinting but I guess the same difference with a caramel coffee going in. I'm just not sure where to look. When I turn the fan switch on I can hear it cycling and it takes about 30 seconds for the fan to kick on. When it does kick on no air comes out of any vents.

 

Let me search to see if I can find the thread, maybe others who remember can chime in as well.

 

I really appreciate any help.

 

Found the thread, it was a no start problem after getting fluid in the same area. Back to square one.

 

Thanks

 

Not giving up yet, hang in there, we can figure this out.

 

I'm going to disassemble the drivers side tomorrow and listen to the mechanism. I'll see if there is anything I can see.

thanks

 

Did you notice if the coffee came out anywhere? On the floor? The ground? Could it still be pooled up in the ducting somewhere?

 

I did not see anything coming out of any vent. But it was a mess. Picture that 16 ounces of Carmel coffee running over the dash from the defrost vents to the floor and everywhere on the dash between. We were going to see our newly born granddaughter, my wife set it on their dash to gather other stuff and it got knocked over. I knew some when down the defrost, a couple days later the vents would not work. but their truck has a nice Carmel smell.

 

Well, it's about 3 hrs past my bedtime and I'm not sure why I'm still up, so take anything I say with a grain of salt.
I was thinking there's some diverter flaps stuck closed and if you knew that it would drain out somewhere, possibly try pouring small amounts of hot water down the vent to flush it out some. But that's probably not a good idea.
My first move would likely be finding a parts diagram of how the dash and duct work are laid out, then start planning for pulling it all apart and cleaning it. Without the air moving, that coffee might be food for mold.

 

we can get back to it tomorrow. past time for some sleep

 

Any luck?