auto air recirculate

[JeffN9]

Hi all. I have a 04 SE V6 that I purchased in April. I have yet to have any real problems with my new vehicle but there are a couple of annoyances. One of which is that the air recirculate control is always on when I start the truck. Whenever I have the temp. control turned all the way to low the recirculate always comes on even though the outside temp. should be lower than the inside temp. I'll be driving down the road wondering why the vents are blowing warm air and look down and see the recirculate on. I understand why it would come on for the AC but this is when it is set to vent only. It wouldn't come on if I had the temp. set to 65 or higher but why would I want to introduce any heat to the air.

I have read a couple of threads about this. Apparently I'm not the only one with this problem. The one question that I haven't seen addressed is, can it be re-programmed? I called my dealer and they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. The manual doesn't go into much detail either.

 

[Satman]

:iagree:



:wtf:

 

[Mark86]

It is annoying. Since it has been getting warmer here, I have started to notice this. I just turn it off manually.

 

[JeffN9]

It seems to follow the same rules as if the AC were on. Re-circulate would give you maximum cooling if it were hot and humid out. When you get into your car on a warm day and just want some cooler outside air it forces you to press the button to turn it off every time.

How much lower than 65 degrees is the low setting? Or is the low setting no heat added at all?

 

[bluewolf]

Hated it at first...

Like it now. It only comes on when the cabin temperature is fairly warm. It recirculates the inside air which cools the cabin temp much faster, and then it shuts off. No problem! After that, as long as your air conditioning is keeping the interior cool, the recirculate mode doesn't usually come back on.

Automated stuff... love 'em or hate 'em

 

[bluewolf]

It's not so bad in the summer when the A/C is already cranking but it's a pain in the winter when your engine is cold and developing NO heat yet and that sucker opens.

I've never had the recirc. come on automatically in cold weather. Not one time that I can remember. Only when the cabin temp is hot.

 

[lildevil23]

phew..thought i was the only one

Its been happening lately..and now i just switch it off manually..have yet to experience the cold weather scenario!!

 

[Mark86]

I think low is no heat at all.

Low is also like a max button, it leaves the AC on high, re-circulate, and it only blows the coldest air. It will never leave the high setting. Low is great for gas mileage!! :satan:

 

[JeffN9]

Wow, it looks like I set off a hot topic.

I have yet to drive the vehicle in the winter so I haven't experienced the recirculate turning on/off like some of you talked about. So far all I have noticed is that it is always on when I start the vehicle. I wonder if it is somehow hooked up to the outside temperature readout? I don't know where the temp. sensor is but it always seems to show a higher outside temp. than it really is. Especially when I first start the truck up.

I wish there was a way to just go back to total manual control or at least have it come on the way it was when you turned off the engine. I have just gotten into the routine of turning it off everytime I start the 4-R. Either before or after I put on my sunglasses.

 

[Vortec4800]

I live in Arizona, and its been around 190F or so lately so I've been experiencing the truck in the warm weather.

The reason the temp is always warmer when you first get in it is because when the truck is sitting, the temp sensor heats up in the sun. If you drive it for a little while, the airflow of the outside air makes the sensor read correctly.

The recirculate makes the air blow harder, so when it needs an extra boost of air either hot or cold it turns on recirculate to get it.

Overall I'd say the 4Runner A/C system is good, but not great. In normal conditions of around 70 - 80 its great, but when its 105F outside it gets a little rough. IMO the recirc logic is just about right, when the cabin cools off a bit and the fan speed can slow down, it switches back from recirc to normal.

 

[JeffN9]

The recirculate makes the air blow harder, so when it needs an extra boost of air either hot or cold it turns on recirculate to get it.

Thanks Vortec4800, I kinda figured that was the case with the temp. sensor. Sitting in the sun all day would cause it to read higher than it should. My parents used to live in Lake Havasu City so I know how hot it gets there.

What still doesn't make sense to me is why the system would want to recirculate air that is probably twice as hot as the air outside. I live in Wis. where it rarely gets above the low 90's but the air inside a vehicle that has been closed up in the sun all day has to be about 150 degrees. The extra boost of air from the recirculate doesn't make me feel cooler when it's the same steamy air I'm trying to get rid of.

 

[Vortec4800]

I think its just the idea that if you take the same air and cool it a few times over it will get colder than if you keep grabbing new air and cool it only a little bit. I think theroetically the air will get colder faster if you leave it on recirc than if it is off, even though you may feel the warm air first.

If there is one thing that does annoy me about the auto-recirc its that if I turn it on myself because I'm driving by some dairy farms, or its on by itself because its hot, it may turn off and let in the stank at any time. I think the auto recirc is nice, but you should be able to enable/disable the autoness of it.

 

[JeffN9]

I think its just the idea that if you take the same air and cool it a few times over it will get colder than if you keep grabbing new air and cool it only a little bit. I think theroetically the air will get colder faster if you leave it on recirc than if it is off, even though you may feel the warm air first.

Hmmmm, I understand why recirculate will cool the cabin faster when you have the AC on. That is because you don't want to suck in more warm & humid air when the AC is trying to cool the air that's inside. But when you don't have the AC on the only way to cool the interior is to replace the inside air with cooler outside air. Having the inside air recirculate would not help reach that goal.

 

[ckon]

This is one of the two things I know of that we really need to complain to Toyota about, instead of just bitching to each other here on the forum. For me, the other is the silly engineering of the trip computer.

I just don't understand how a company which always does it's engineering in a precise manner really drops the ball when it comes to an auto air temp program and a trip computer. Toyota needs to hear about it over and over until they fix it.

I have already called Toyota to complain about the trip computer and will also call about the auto climate control as soon as I lodge a complaint with the dealer. The good thing about all of these computer controlled devices and systems on newer cars is that a lot of things can be re-engineered in the field with a little software or firmware change if the market demands it.

So far, this is the best vehicle I've ever owned. Let's let 'em know how the perfection of these trucks is marred by Toyota's lack of attention to detail on these two systems. Please give them a call.

 

[Hoomiester]

:iagree:

 

[ckon]

FWIW, I made official complaints today, both at the dealer and a call to Toyota.

The very gracious rep on the phone said that when they hear complaints frequently they send them to engineering to see if further action is possible and/or necessary, so make sure you call them if you really want this fixed.

The number for Toyota's customer service center is 1-800-331-4331.

 

[Vortec4800]

Maybe we should post the phone number(s) here so its easier to call?

EDIT:

Oops...

The number for Toyota's customer service center is 1-800-331-4331.

 

[JeffN9]

I called also. They wanted my vin number too but since I didn't have it they were able to look me up in the computer. The guy I talked to said that they didn't automatically send the concerns to engineering but instead reviewed them at the corp. office. Regardless I agree that if enough people call they may come up with a remedy.

 

[Iman74]

It comes down to the simple fact it's a computer/machine. We made it, then we can change it. It's getting the fire lit underneath the right people to make it happen.