Poppa

This kind of leads me to my question.... how do you just bring in outside air and use the fan, but not turn on the a/c. Example, I'm driving home from work tonight and the outside temp was around 60 degrees, but it was a little warm in the car... I pushed the button that shows a picture of what appears to be "outside" air coming into the car, but to get the car cooler, I still had to turn the temperature down.. seems to me if I was truly running just a ventilation system, that 60 degree outside air would have been plenty cool, but it wasn't... I know I'm just doing something wrong .... but I did find an alternative way of getting the cool air inside... I rolled down a window.


Poppa

jim256

The temp setting will dictate the temp, and warm, or let in outside air- to the extent that it can without the compressor, to reach a cooler temp setting. This is pretty much how every car I've had with auto temp works. No different than a manual heater system, where you rotate the temp wheel to off when you just want outside air. All air still goes thorough the heater core and will warm it if that's what you want, or it will just let in outside air. You need to turn down the temp setting if you're hot.

ilexusown

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Thanks for stating it better. My point is that when I turn "off", I really do not want the ambient air to go through any system. It should be the air temp from outside, similar to opening the window. BTW, what is Recirc?

jim256

The only way air gets inside the car ducting is to go "through the system". Recirc is recirculated inside air (about 20% fresh from outside) by pressing the button that has 3 lights--recirc, fresh, auto with a graphic showing the air pattern. I think you really need to read the manual or revisit the delivery specialists at the dealer.

amphipri0n

20% fresh in recirc? Really?

sgmstr

Hi Guys,

There is a thread about this on 4Gen GS.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-c-button.html

Poppa

Took my car over to the local Lexus dealership to get her washed.. while there I asked one of the service writers about this because, like nakago, I would like to pull in outside air using the fan but not using the compressor... I was pretty much told the same thing... have to go thru the nav, to climate and then click on the ac tab to shut the compressor off.... I was also told that I should normally run my climate control ( heat and ac ) with the "recycle air" button on... I was told it was easier on the system... anyone heard this before?

Poppa

ElliotB

This doesn't answer the question directly but you can get the a/c on without having to go through the menus if you have the default setting to off for the compressor. If you press the front defrost button, the a/c comes on but the air is distributed to the front windshield, your feet and the two outside vents. It does not stay on if you change to another setting like AUTO. Although it may not be considered 'necessary' to have an a/c on/off button, it would have been nice (perhaps).

jakepdx

sgmstr, FYI I just tried the multiple presses of the Auto button for fresh/recirc while the Climate screen was on the display, and no matter how many times I pressed it the A/C stayed on. So it doesn't seem to work on my 2014 ES 300h.

lesz

It doesn't work on my 2013 ES350, either.

sgmstr

sorry, guys. Weird set up by Lexus.

Halfmoon

Ours either

ElliotB

If anyone is interested, you can adjust the a/c to stay on or off manually by going to the Vehicle Customization Menu, and change the Auto A/C setting to OFF in the Climate Control section to be able to leave the a/c on or off manually (and keep it on or off).

I tried the tip mentioned above and it worked in my car (300h). I do have the Auto A/C setting to off - I don't know if that makes a difference. The a/c is on when the left and center lights are on.

Followup:

I did a check and the control works regardless of the Auto A/C setting.

Universe93

Here's a thread on this issue before and some useful info:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...dashboard.html

mcomer

Remember that conventional A/C compressors are belted to the engine and operate at widely varying speeds, too slow at engine idle and way to fast at highway speeds. Inefficient and hard on the hardware. Our Hybrids are powered off the 244v battery and run at exactly the design RPM. While it makes sense to cut off the compressor of a regular IC car to save fuel / $ / noise it should not be as dramatic an improvement for ours.
Let's run a few empirical tests using the average MPG resets and let the trip graphs tell us!