Climate Controls

[wakeboardwhan]

So the only issue I've really had with my 05 4Runner is the climate controls. It drives me absolutley crazy. I'm used to a knob or lever to make it either hotter or colder. But the climate controls were very poorly designed especially here in Reno, NV where the weather is dyslexic and in one day you can go from heat blasting on high on the way to work, then AC blasting at lunch, then heat again in the late afternoon. What I'm getting at is that it is a major pain to change the temperature multiple times a day the way the system is designed. Is there a better replacement or something that will make the system more simple?

 

[mcflavin]

I set a temperature and just leave it on Auto all the time. Does your truck have the "Auto" feature or is that an option I happen to have?

There are lots of threads about this with better info than I can provide.

The only problem I faced was when I first bought the truck the exterior thermometer was broken off and that made the "Auto" setting not work (even though it is concerned with the interior temperature). I replaced that piece and all is fine now.

 

[zerowkul98]

If this is the pinnacle of your complaints about the vehicle, then youre doin just fine! There are people in here with problems as routine (and common) as the blower fan resistor, locked calipers and expensive 90k maintenence bills....and youre complaining about pressing a button too often that its not "conveinient" for you??!

Sorry, i just think that's friggin ridiculous.

CNN interviewed an Al Queda terrorist, and he said something that reminds me of this post. He said, "American's greatest fear is not an attack, but the feeling they've been inconveinienced! That's what they fear the most: being inconveinienced".

 

[mcflavin]

CNN interviewed an Al Queda terrorist, and he said something that reminds me of this post. He said, "American's greatest fear is not an attack, but the feeling they've been inconveinienced! That's what they fear the most: being inconveinienced".

Unrelated to this thread, I think this quote is dead on. People get more upset about interruptions to their cable TV service than they do about matters of great political importance.


But this guy spent a ton of money on a truck and struggles to keep the interior climate set -- I think this forum exists to help him out.

 

[wakeboardwhan]

I set a temperature and just leave it on Auto all the time. Does your truck have the "Auto" feature or is that an option I happen to have?

There are lots of threads about this with better info than I can provide.

The only problem I faced was when I first bought the truck the exterior thermometer was broken off and that made the "Auto" setting not work (even though it is concerned with the interior temperature). I replaced that piece and all is fine now.

it has the "Auto" feature it is just living in Reno during the spring i start the temperature on "Hi" then by lunch i crank the temperature back down to "Low" then it will do something stupid like snow or rain after lunch and be cold again so i crank the temperature back up to "High" only to have it get hot again less than an hour later. I like to be able to go to cold and back top hot in seconds and not have to hit the up or down button 30 times or hold it forever to get it either all the way cold or all the way hot. In winter this isnt as much of an issue because its always cold, and in summer not much of an issue because its always hot. But spring and fall here the temperature fluctuates hourly

why did Toyota take a perfectly good design of a lever or a knob and make it a distraction to change the temperature???

 

[R.A.]

why did Toyota take a perfectly good design of a lever or a knob and make it a distraction to change the temperature???

The HVAC system my pet peeve. Even down here in southern AZ in the winter time, it's heat in the early morning hours, then A/C a few hours later. It's a real pain because it's so slow to change the temperature settings. I like my T4R but I think Toyota R&D could of come up with something better!

 

[wakeboardwhan]

The HVAC system my pet peeve. Even down here in southern AZ in the winter time, it's heat in the early morning hours, then A/C a few hours later. It's a real pain because it's so slow to change the temperature settings. I like my T4R but I think Toyota R&D could of come up with something better!

I'm glad somebody is as "inconvenienced" as I am. There has to be a better way or some sort of replacement

 

[mcflavin]

it has the "Auto" feature it is just living in Reno during the spring i start the temperature on "Hi" then by lunch i crank the temperature back down to "Low" then it will do something stupid like snow or rain after lunch and be cold again so i crank the temperature back up to "High" only to have it get hot again less than an hour later. I like to be able to go to cold and back top hot in seconds and not have to hit the up or down button 30 times or hold it forever to get it either all the way cold or all the way hot. In winter this isnt as much of an issue because its always cold, and in summer not much of an issue because its always hot. But spring and fall here the temperature fluctuates hourly

why did Toyota take a perfectly good design of a lever or a knob and make it a distraction to change the temperature???

I think I use the controls differently. I never touch it. I set the temperature I like and "Auto." The system thus adjusts the fan speed, re-circ, and whatever else it needs to do to get to 69 degrees. My wife (to my displeasure) has a notion that if she wants it to get to 69 faster, she should set it to 62. I that that violates the design of the system (or thermostats in general).

If I get in the car and it is 92 or 29, the system will fire up the fan as fast as it can (which means immediately if cooling or after the engine heats up if heating) to hit that set temperature. I do nothing but wait.

 

[wakeboardwhan]

I think I use the controls differently. I never touch it. I set the temperature I like and "Auto." The system thus adjusts the fan speed, re-circ, and whatever else it needs to do to get to 69 degrees. My wife (to my displeasure) has a notion that if she wants it to get to 69 faster, she should set it to 62. I that that violates the design of the system (or thermostats in general).

If I get in the car and it is 92 or 29, the system will fire up the fan as fast as it can (which means immediately if cooling or after the engine heats up if heating) to hit that set temperature. I do nothing but wait.

i never really though of using it that way. ill try it out and see how well it works for me

 

[JB.]

i never really though of using it that way. ill try it out and see how well it works for me

Yeah, just use it like a house thermostat.

I'm still not thrilled with the system since I like to get untreated, fresh air and want to control whether the A/C compressor will come on or not, but if you can ignore those things, it works well.

 

[chazkelly]

Climate Control Numbers

Here's a lame question:
I have a 2010 Limited. Why do the climate control temperature numbers have a decimal? ie 72.0. There seems to be no use for this extra digit. Or am I missing something? Not that I would necessarily need to set the temp to 72.3 or 74.8, but why put the decimal on there if it doesn't do anything? It doesn't really bother me, I'm just curious.

 

[simple]

The HVAC controls were icing on the cake for me. I always wanted a 4runner, never thought I could afford one, but I went after it. Now its paid off. But I thought the HVAC controls were new and cool looking. However, I would much rather perfer a dial system now. Also, is it me or is there a pretty big disparagement between lo and 65? Going from one or the other can be like turning on the ac and turning on the heater. Sometimes I hate not having any middle ground.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Honestly... my friends and family complain that I am a polar bear. My truck has only two settings, COLD and HOT... and the first one is pretty much the only one allowed.

 

[BMAC]

I like the system and find it very easy to use. Just pick a temp (68 in my case ) and hit the auto button. If it's hot out it gives you a/c to keep the interior at 68 if it's cold out it gives you heat to keep the interior at 68. What could be more simple and effective?

 

[wakeboardwhan]

after setting the climate controls at 68 and using the "Auto" feature the climate controls are definitely less of an issue for me. its still not perfect because i will have to make changes to the temperature but instead of jumping a 20 degree range i only have to jump a few degrees. what i do like is when i get my remote start in i can keep it on auto and know it will warm up (or cool down in the summer)

 

[chazkelly]

But does anyone know why there is a decimal 00.0 at the end of the temperature number if the ".0" is unchangable?

 

[utobiaus]

And you can set the temp and click off the AC in the morning and click it back on when it heats up later in the day. One click is all you need to do. Jumping way higher or lower won't have any effect other than heating it up too much or cooling it down too much. Turning the temp down won't make the air colder. It'll just keep the AC on longer than you need it.

 

[JB.]

But does anyone know why there is a decimal 00.0 at the end of the temperature number if the ".0" is unchangable?

I'd guess it's because of the option for displaying in Celsius.

 

[Champ306]

I hate how you select to go to the "low" setting and it automatically turns it to "recycling" taking cabin air. ugh. I wish I could meet the engineer that signed off that blueprint and punt him in the nads.

 

[MidwestT4R]

And you can set the temp and click off the AC in the morning and click it back on when it heats up later in the day. One click is all you need to do.

This is a really key point. When you hit auto the a/c is turned on too. Even when it's cold out. So when it's cold out and you really don't need the a/c just push the a/c button once to turn it off. When the outside temp is close to your desired cabin temp or higher just click the a/c button back on.

No need to waste gas running the a/c compressor when you don't need to.