Once in a while I'll turn the fresh air vent on and the AC will be on. One time this happened and I hit the AC button on & off several times to get it to stop..
Finally the AC did turn off.
But one thing that really irritates me is when the fan is off, air will continue to flow thru the vents.

If I turn the selector to change the air flow to all on the floor, it will continue to flow thru the dash vents.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

yup. There's a switch directly above A/C **** on the right.


Flip it to the left.

Presto! You're done!

Now, air doesn't flow from outside - into your car.

 

Archngl, Ok thanks - that did it.
But I still can't get the air flow to change where it comes from no matter where I set the dial.
Look at the right hand dial and note that when set straight up air should come out at floor level.
When set like this the air still comes out the dash vents.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

thats normal for the outside dash vents to still work in all modes

the only fix for that is to adjust the vents so that they are closed

 

speaking of vents, what's the best non-AC way of keeping your car cool? l've found keeping the far right dial to defrost (far right), while keeping the vent open works well, wish l could measure the mileage diff if any there is between AC off vs AC on....

 

Check your owner's manual - any time you have the selector set to any of the windshield positions (defrost - about the last 3-4 clicks clockwise) your A/C IS on... The little light on the A/C button doesn't light - the button isn't in - but the A/C is definately on.


(RTFM )

Tomas

 

Thanks Tomas for that info. I wouldn't think the AC would be on when the windshield was being cleared mainly because this a winter thing.
The air flow selector info is appreciated too.. For some reason my xA won't respond the settings the way other cars I've had did.
EX..When I select #3 floor, the air continues to flow from the dash vents. A *little* bit does come out on the floor.

 

Unless you have the air selector lever set to recirculate with the fan off, some air will always seep through the outside dash vents. This is normal.

And as mentioned above, the A/C will activate in either of the 2 defrost modes (all windshield or windsheild/floor) though the light on the button will be off. This helps to dry out the incoming air which benefits defrosting. If it's cold outside, simply adjust the temp accordingly.

On very hot days, use the recirculation mode along with the A/C (this combo is called "MAX" A/C). This will help to keep the interior much cooler. However, when not needed or when using either defrost mode, return the lever to fresh air as this will help to prevent excesive moisture in the cabin.

 

xa factor, Thanks for the info. The idea of having the AC come on in the winter threw me. I would think this is excessive and having it come on in cold weather would unnecessarily use more fuel.
Thanks again!

 

Most domestic cars in the last 30+ years have had a defroster/A/C link...though lots of folks don't know this. So it's certainly nothing new. The majority of North American Toyotas built in the last 10 years have this function as well. You can thank the Camry for that....or maybe I should say the American public. In the mid-90's when Camry sales really began to reach the next level, customers began to complain about not being able to properly defrost/defog their windsheilds. Toyota investigated and found that lots of folks were not using the A/C along with the defrost. So they came up with the defrost/A/C link. When the gen-4 Camry came out in '96 sales exploded. Toyota was still getting their fair share of complaints about ineffective defrosting/defogging, even with the link. So they investigated futher and found that a good number of customers were driving around, especially in the wet winter months, with the air selector set to recirculate. This causes excessive moisture build up in the cabin, making proper defrosting/defogging difficult. So Toyota sent info to dealers and customers about using the fresh air mode during defrosting/defogging.

Today, most newer Toyotas built in the last several years, have a cancel funtion that automatically turns off the recirculation mode when a defrost function is selected. The xA/xB, being older designs, don't have this cancel function. Plus, since these were actually Japanese domestic market vehilces to begin with, they were designed with the assumption that the owners knew how to properly operate the HVAC system. The reality is, most americans just don't know how to. We don't like to read our owner's manuals.

The next generation of North American Scions will have all of these idiot proof gadgets I'm sure.

BTW, when you cool air, moiture is removed. This is why it helps in defrosting/defogging...provided you have the air selector set to fresh air. In the winter time, just turn the temp up some.

 

xA factor, Thanks so much for that detailed explaination,..You are right about the owners manual..lol
Why do we hate reading the instructions??

 

Yes, it does this for me. On cool mornings where I need neither heat nor AC, I like to flip the selector to floor. Vents still emit fresh air though. I would rather not readjust the vents every time I drive at a different outside temp. What I've found is that if I set the temp up to the blue/white division (10 o'clock position) it seems to disable at least the center vents without pumping any noticeable heat into the vehicle.

 

Where the air is directed to come out is not absolute - you may notice in the manual that it says things like "Floor - Air flows mainly from the floor vents."

There are other little things that you may not notice, too... If you put the temp control into the 'blue area' of the dial, it overrides the air source control slightly and sets the intake to a mix of partly recirc, partly fresh.

If you put the temp in the 'red area' a separate electric heater element is turned on if the water in the cooling system isn't hot enough.

There are all sorts of interlocked controls and features in the HVAC system in our 'simple' little econo boxes. A lot of things are happening 'behind the scenes' that we just aren't told about - they just work.

What gets me the most, though, is how few people read the manuals. It is amazing how many pages of the owners manual I have posted on ScionLife because someone asks a question and nobody knows the answer EVEN WHEN THE ANSWER IS IN THE MANUAL.

Take care,
Tomas

 

Tomas, with all that additional info, I am indeed going to dig out the manual..There are things going on that I never thought would be.
I'm used to the Dodge van I had before my xA..LOL

Thank you for this! I've learned more here about my Scion than from the dealer or from tinkering with the dials.

 

I'm having an issue with my Xb. No matter where I put my air selector, the air comes out of panel and foot vents. When I put it on defrost, no air comes out of the windshield vents.

 

THAT one, Samhain, sounds like the dealer should look at it to make sure it is all hooked up and adjusted correctly.

There should always be some coming out of the dash vents, but you should notice a definate change in where the majority of air comes out when you change the dial.

Tomas