The heater control valve on my 86 4runner sticks and I suspect is my no front heat problem. But I am having a hard time finding a replacement that is 3 way for the rear heat option. Anyone know where I could find a new or refurbished unit?
would it be possible to just do away with it completely and put a pipe fitting of some sort in its place and have it always open?

 

Have you checked with toyota? They still sell a lot of these electrical parts.

 

Discontinued

They are cleanable, soak it in vinegar or CLR if it's really thick, free up the valve and you should be going to go.

Replumbing it with a straight through connection will slow your warm up time, and more so if you're running the blower's of course. Other than that it's just a minor safety issue that you can close off the heater section Incase of a leak but really If it's sticking you can't do that anyway.

 

I'll give it a good soak and see if that helps like suggested.

If I put a straight through T in place of the heater control valve I figure I could put a manual valve on the line going to the heater core, that way I could close it if need be. One more possible leak point but at least it would give me the shut-off.

Thanks for the responses guys