Auto A/C airflow and cancelling Auto A/C

You've hit on my least favorite part of the Prius' UI.

My shorthand way of thinking of "AUTO A/C" is this:

• AUTO A/C is the Prius trying to be smart about getting the cabin to the desired temperature.
• However, it isn't very smart.
  • 
    
    I do notice that under AUTO A/C, the choice of which vent is used (floor, middle, both) changes depending on the temperature setting, the outside air temperature, and the cabin temperature.
    
    Whenever you turn on AUTO A/C, and then make an adjustment to the Climate screen, the AUTO A/C indicator shuts off -- but A/C is still running. It's just telling you that "you've decided to ignore my advice, so let you heat the cabin on your own, Mr. Smarty-Pants." The settings wills stay that way until you change them yourself.
    
    Hitting AUTO A/C a second time puts control back into the Prius' temperature computer's control. ("So, you decided to listen to my advice after all. What a surprise!")
    
    Hitting AUTO A/C a third time turns off heating/cooling completely, leaving you with just air from the outside (unless you recirculate the air). ("Daiiiiissy, Daiiissy, giiiiiiiiiveeeeee....")
    [hr:67a7a83462]
    At this point, I wish I just had the ability to set various temperature configurations (like favorite radio stations), and jump between them.
    
    But until then, we'll just have to do the Data/Geordi screen shuffle. You can always turn to the person in the passenger seat and say, "Coordinates locked in, sir", giving them the opportunity to say "Engage!"

 

I may be missing something, but I think I accomplish the same thing by hitting AUTO A/C on the steering wheel (once or twice to turn it to full-on auto), then go to the climate screen and turn off the AC (without changing anything else).

Now when I change temp, obviously it can't go lower than outside temp (not your problem I take it!) but it WILL adjust the heat and blower to accomodate your desired temp. You can also select or deselect recirc.

The setting doesn't always surive a reboot, er, restart-- I'm not sure!

 

And if you can talk your dealer into it, he can set up the car so that pressing AUTO doesn't automatically turn on the compressor. When you want air conditioning, you go to the CLIMATE screen and press the A/C button.

 

Is this documented anywhere so that I can show my dealer? It sounds like a really good idea to prevent overuse of the air conditioning. Here in San Francisco we don't have much use for it, even in the summer.

 

Most interesting.

So, the A/C button on the far upper left of the MFD while in Climate settings cuts the compressor on and off or just enables it?

I am still working my way through all the manuals.

Thanks in advance for the response.

 

This has happened to me a few times, most recently this morning, even though it does not get quite as cold here as it does in MO. However, within a minute it automatically shuts off until there is sufficient engine heat for the climate control system to work properly.

 

It toggles the compressor on and off.

 

"Foot Air Leak" is another dealer-settable option. This may be the source of your cold air to the feet, since it is ON by default ("on by da foot?").

I am not 100% sure, but the AC button (when yellow/on) in the climate screen doesn't force the compressor on, it just allows it to cycle as required if the outside air is warmer than your set point. Turned off, it won't run at all.

Come summer is SoCal, it won't matter, becuase it will be on all the time anyway! But now in winter, the cooler air means less AC and less penalty for low temps.

 

I also think it odd that auto A/C chooses foot-well (almost exclusively). In the winter it is pretty useless. Front window (all cars) will fog up if there isn't at least some air flow. I think it should auto choose defrost/foot-well any time the 'snowflake' icon is lit. And, it should honor a different vent setting while still doing auto temp control by adjusting the fan speed and A/C.

As such, I've not been using Auto A/C lately. I set the vents to defrost/foot-well, temp to MAX HOT so the electric heaters will go on and I switch to defrost when necessary. I can do that with the steering wheel button, but to go back to defrost/foot-well I have to use the climate screen. My commute is pretty short so I can adjust the fan speed to control cabin temp. Just like all the other cars I've owned. Too bad since Auto climate control is a nice feature.

 

I noticed yesterday that when I lowered the temperature to the point where the heat cut out, the air started blowing in via the dash ports. When I raised it back up to the point of the air being warmed again, it went back to not blowing directly on me.

Maybe some Toyota engineer gets a nosebleed from warm air in his/her face, and decided to save the world?...

 

Bruceha_2000 said "think it should auto choose defrost/foot-well any time the 'snowflake' icon is lit."
exactly! very well thought out on that one.

 

I'm going to check on the "body customizing settings" in the morning. I forgot about that on the Prius. I know that the Highlander,Sequia,4-Runner,etc, you can change different items. But around here not to many people know about it or ask to have any changes done. :roll: