According to the owner's manual, you hit this button and the air is filtered through the cabin filter for a few minutes. Huh?
You must be talking about the button on the Climate Control unit. Even when the CC is in recircultate mode there is a small amount of fresh air entering the car. When you press the Filter button the fresh air intake is closed off tight and the cabin air is circulated throught the cabin air filter for 3 minutes. This is to remove dust and pollen from the cabin.
Ahh- I was wondering what that button does. Wondering if that really means anything- considering 3 min later all the pollen comes back in...
It's more useful for clearing out something that stinks rather than pollen. Also useful as a preventive measure if you happen to find yourself in front of a foul-smelling, black smoke-shooting school bus. Three min is enough time to bypass it.
So, is the cabin filter used all the time in outside air mode, and used in inside air mode only when the button is pushed?
They can give us this silly option that nobody wants, but they can't give us automatic on/off headlamps on a $35,000 car??
All air inside or out goes through the filter. When the button is pressed, the fan increases and the outside air is completely shut off as JD mentioned.
Don't underestimate the usefulness of this option. I have a Lexus with Auto ON headlights and while I miss having it in the Prius, I wish the Lexus had the dust and pollen filter button.
It's in the middle of the HVAC controls. There's a little icon of a filter with an air arrow going through it.
I believe this is the manual version of the automatic smog sensor on my Lexus. My LS430 has a sensor mounted in front of the radiator that sniffs the air and shuts off the outside air intake if it detects high levels of exhaust, smog, etc. There are setup controls to change the sensitivity of the sensor or disable it. Where I live, we have more dead skunks along the road than smoggy traffic backups. It doesn't seem to work as effectively on skunk stink.
Ah-ha! So that's what that button is for. I thought it meant "blow air right in my face" because of the way the arrow is aimed at the little man's head.
i think it's a great idea. when i'm stuck behind a big diesel truck, or there is a lot of dust from a construction site, i throw it on recirc. but a complete shutoff of all outside air would be great!
It pays to keep the filter clean though... I used mine today as I was sitting traffic and it made it smell like dirty socks in the cab! Yuck.
