Fan Speed Shortcut??

You have to use temperature as a surrogate if you want to use the wheel controls.

 

This is interesting, I would like to have the temperature buttons on the steering to control fan speed rather than temperature.

 

today I accidentally hit something on the left side, maybe some combination that turned the fan up. It did not turn the AC on and the AC was not on, so I think that rules out auto ac.. I also want to turn the fan up and down, as I hate hunting and poking the climate controls.. I wish I knew what I did.

 

When I need to turn down the fan I nudge the AirCon temperature setting on the steering wheel up a few degrees.

 

There is no direct control of fan speed from the steering wheel. The best option is to leave the system on A/C Auto and then use the temperature buttons to indirectly control fan speed. This will work with or without the A/C compressor, which is enabled or disabled from the MFD Climate screen.

Tom

 

You can turn climate off on the wheel. Hit "Auto A/C". If you've already gone into manual mode, you'll have to hit the button twice, once to go into auto, then again to shut off.

 

Left side of .... the center console or the steering wheel?

If you hit some thing on the left side of the CONSOLE, it could have been the "Auto" switch - which would explain the suddent increase in fan speed?

...just my .02

 

It's ac on or off using this method.
What Diggs wants (and everyone else) is fan control. NOT heat or ac.
I've tried all the methods suggested and nothing works with holding buttons down or whatever. A poor design since the radio controls turn up and down the stations, volume turns up and down, Temp control goes up and down. I agree fan up and down would have been a nice feature. Fiddling with the mfd is a pain and takes pressing several buttons just to change climate controls (I would use fan control more than volume). I noticed also that once the Auto is on using the steering controls you can't turn it off using the mfd. I don't want AC on automatically when it's 40 outside. It takes fiddling with the steering and mfd.
Also as others noticed turning up the temp sometimes turns up or down the fan speed. odd.

 

It's my understanding that the A/C will not come on in "A/C Auto" unless it's actually needed. It uses the Interior/Solar/Exterior sensors to calculate what's needed. If the Air outside is well below the requested temp, it's not going to run the compressor unless Defrost is needed. (defrost engages the A/C compressor for dehumidification purposes)

It's "safe" to leave the system in "A/C auto" even in the winter.

The Fan speed is calculated based on the Delta of actual interior temp vs. set temp, so the greater the delta, the faster the fan runs.

 

True with the AC Auto.

Just another unusual thingy with the temp/delta/fan speed.

 

While the steering wheel button is labelled "A/C", it doesn't actually control the a/c compressor like the MFD toggle. It controls the whole climate system. I was responding to where diggs said "I've gotten pretty good at hitting "climate" off on the MFD without really looking away from the road, but it would be great to do it on the steering wheel." Perhaps diggs meant "A/C" or "Auto", I do not know.. this is a common source of confusion.

In any case, I really don't see the point in trying to outdo the computer. The system takes into account OAT, insolation, and interior temp., then decides how hot/cold the air should be, whether to run the compressor, which vents it should come out of, and if recirculation is warranted. It does this on a constant basis.

I used to be like you, obsessively turning off A/C if the OAT was below ~75 degF or so.. but after doing some reading here, I realized that the system is very well designed. It won't turn the compressor on at 40 degF no matter what the toggle says. It knows that the outside air is cold enough to do what needs to be done.

My experience with manual car climate systems is that most people set the temperature to either extreme, and then modulate the fan. If you get away from this thinking and focus on (relative) temperature, as I believe the designers intended, the auto system will work for you. Instead of asking "how can I control the fan?", consider this: "why do I want to adjust the fan?"

 

Interesting, I recently got the car and have not learned the auto ac feature yet. (Haven't gotten there yet) This shed some light on it. Thanks.

It was the left side of the wheel I hit, must have been auto AC and it didn't turn the AC on since the temp was not in the range to turn it on. I will rtfm..

I have other non-climate issues I would like to work out... I'll probably post soon asking for help.

Thanks everyone.