HVAC airflow stuck on front vents?

Yes, they called it an air outlet servo motor here is the location in the images below. Check out the diagrams (below). Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem.

Thank you, Ken. I too think it's this servo, so I've made an appointment with my dealer next week to see what they say. Let's hope they don't come back to saying that it's a $3,000.00 job as it seems like it should be serviceable by removing the glove box and some side panels. Still unfortunate to have to spend a lot of money on a vehicle that we only plan on keeping for another 6 months.

Yep, it happens, let me know what the price is and what they tell you, I would appreciate it.

Well, got some bad news from the dealer. They checked the scanner for DTCS codes and there were none. They took apart the glove box area and confirmed that both actuators were ok meaning they saw movement. They said that they couldn't confirm if there's any damage to the HVAC blend door without removing the entire dashboard to access the HVAC control box. Which they said that if they're going to go that far, they might as well replace it (part# 87050-06581). The work would end up costing around $3200 CDN and both the service rep and I agreed that it probably isn't worth it considering that everything else still works just not the airflow direction.

Any other thoughts or suggestions or is this it? FTR, I did manage to take a look inside by the passenger area where they had taken things apart. I confirmed with the tech that he had seen movement on the air outlet servo motor, and he thinks that it's likely the vent flaps themselves on the inside that may be stuck or damaged.

Yes, I have seen the HVAC housing vent flap have a problem, so this is possible. I would have liked them to remove the actuator and move the pivot by hand to confirm the failure like in this guide to give you an idea.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor

Please let us know what happens.

So not much of an update. I took apart the glovebox area so I could have a better look at the blower motor and actuator area. I can confirm that when changing the air mode, the gears and pulleys don't move for the one up top which I believe is the air outlet control servo motor. I tried moving the gear and lever a bit, but it wouldn't budge. So, since I had this much access, is it possible to replace that part without tearing out the entire dashboard? Seems tight and I could see having to remove the blower and maybe the long air tube directing airflow downwards but is that piece even changeable? Also, what part number is it? I'm having a bit of a challenge finding the part. I think it's Toyota 87106-06250 but would love it if someone could confirm.

They don't give us the part number on this particular car for some reason, sorry. That is a tight fit to remove the servo motor try to remove as much as you can to get at it. Also, I noticed this car has a cabin filter, remove that to see if it is plugged.

I actually just replaced the cabin filter a few weeks ago so it's not clogged or anything. I never knew how simple it was and had always had the dealer do it when I was there for my free oil change. It cost me like $50.00 for them to do it. Ugh. :(

Yep, that why we encourage fixing your car yourself and save the money while learning and making sure the work is done and high quality parts.