A/C question

[Shamish]

Here's an interesting one for you: Does the A/C system operate when the "A/C light" is off?

I have a 2010 SR5, and I hardly ever use the A/C (even when I use the defogger, I usually leave the A/C off).

However, when I leave the vehicle running for a while, I always seem to notice a small puddle of water just under the passenger side firewall of the vehicle. The water drips out of the bottom of the passenger side frame rail (right about where it goes from the passenger side floorboard into the engine compartment), and if I follow the water trail, I can see where the water drips onto the top of the frame rail.

I am going to crawl under the vehicle and do some experiements, but I wondered if anyone had any information that might be helpful.

 

[andy24]

On the knob with the A/C, turn it to one of the lines. My defogger was on and everything was off. I tried turning it off and ended up trying this. Between each of them are lines. Put the knob on one of them and it should stop. Hope this helps.

 

[iDRiVaT4R]

I believe the A/C compressor run's when the Defogger is on. It will not turn the A/C light on but you can definitely tell the compressor is on from the RPM change at idle. Even if you have the thermostat all the way to HOT, the compressor will still run with the defogger on.

 

[B'klyn_Mike]

I believe the A/C compressor run's when the Defogger is on. It will not turn the A/C light on but you can definitely tell the compressor is on from the RPM change at idle.

^ X2

My '06 Highlander did this, and my current ride - '09 RAV4 does it as well; the A/C compressor runs in the DEFROST mode. :thumb3:

Mike :artist2:

 

[Shamish]

Thank you everyone! I was, for some reason, of the mindset that the AC Light would be on every time the AC was running. I guess that's not true for the defogger...anyway, that clears up the confusion, and I thank you all!!

 

[dongkeykong]

Any way to bypass the automatic A/C in defogger mode? I forget how but in my Hondas there was a procedure to deactivate the automatic A/C.

 

[OrdnanceMarine]

Any way to bypass the automatic A/C in defogger mode? I forget how but in my Hondas there was a procedure to deactivate the automatic A/C.

On my '05 CR-V there's a series of button presses to allow you to kill the AC compressor while in defrost mode (PM me if you need it). On my '08 Civic Si it would allow you to kill it by applying a second press to the AC button but there was a series of button presses that would make sure the AC light would display truthfully (the AC light wouldn't come on to tell you the comperssor was running even though it was).

Between those two solutions I'm 100% happy with my Honda's climate control systems but I'm trying to figure out how to get manual control of the AC compressor in my 4Runner. 95+% of the time I don't need the AC on to defrost the front windows so why burn the extra $1/hour of fuel that the AC consumes (using my ScanGaugeII readings I see about a .3 gallons per hour increase by turning the AC on) and why apply more wear and tear to my AC system when I don't need it?

I know this is the 5th gen section but on the 3rd gen T4R I believe you can pull the vent selection dial and remove a stop tab to get the option to defrost without AC but I don't know of a solution for the 4th gen or 5th gen. Does anyone have a solution?