Is Ac Always On When You Have Auto Set ?

altwyc88 · September 23, 2009

My soccer-van is the Odyssey and there's a way to set temp on auto and shut off the AC independently... can this be accomplished ?

So far, I can tell that the vent is always on (meaning air is coming through) but there's no way to have the fan kick up/down with a temp setting...

I've read about AC being the devil with the 400H's efficiency, I'm trying to figure this out...

Ideas ? :P

cduluk · September 23, 2009

I'll be honest- I don't know what the "AUTO" button does. I don't think any Lexus owner knows what it does actually.

All it seems to do is blow the fan at max speed. I played with it for a while on my previous Rx300, and couldn't understand what it was good for.

lemon · September 23, 2009

If you have the NAV system, do the following. Press the AUTO button to engage the automatic mode. Then press the CLIMATE button to bring up the climate controls on the touch screen. Now press (on the screen) the A/C button. The little yellow bar under the button will go out indicating the A/C is off. The rest of the system will still be on automatic control. Press the button again to turn A/C back on (or hit AUTO again).

The AUTO button controls everything (fan speed, vent position, A/C on off and RECIRC) based on what temperature you set with the temperature button. If you override any one setting, it now is in manual control, while all the other settings will stay in auto. Example - you can hit auto, then turn off A/C and set fan speed to low. Now, the only thing the AUTO setting will control is the vent position (floor, defrost, vent etc.) and RECIRC.

By the way, when it's cold out (usually around freezing, depends on the make of the vehicle) most vehicles will NOT run the A/C to avoid damaging the compressor. Also, most modern vehicle will run the A/C when defrost is selected (again, not if it's bitterly cold out).

cduluk - you can see this in operation by doing this - hit auto, dial full hot. Air will blow out at your feet and probably RECIRC will go out. Depending on the ambient temp and interior temp, A/C may or may not come one and fan may blow at full speed or not.

Now start turning the temp to full cold. Air will now flow from the dash vents, if recirc was off, it may come on, and if A/C was off it may come on. If it was hot out, the fan might have been on low or medium speed - it will now go on full speed as it attempts to cool the cabin.