williakz

Jamodeo, I'm almost always in Dual mode (that's where both sides are ganged together, right?) unless my wife tags along on a trip as she likes 2-5 degrees warmer than I do. I always reset it to Dual once she's out.

On the Auto setting of the AC's air intake mode, it all centers on outside air temp. From what I've read here and elsewhere, the basic calculus is that when the outside air temp is below 75F, Auto intake is fresh (or outside) air-biased. When the outside air temp is at or above 75F, the air intake mode is biased to recirculation. As I mentioned above, once summertime temps set in around the country (75F+ constantly), the Lexus AC systems will all go into recirc-bias mode for the duration, and automatic selection of "fresh air" mode will be a thing of the past. Then, you'll hear all kinds of folk complaining of stale air and real stink from mold buildup in the system. The severity of the system bias is still open to debate, but in my experience (I'm in HOT, HOT, HOT Alabama!), the recirc-biased mode NEVER switches to fresh air on its own. I must MANUALLY override the Auto intake mode when I find myself beginning to doze off from CO2 poisoning - just kidding, I hope. And to top things off, the system resets itself back to recirc-bias every time the car is restarted (after stopping at the post office, the gas station, my girlfriend's - oops, forget that last!, work, lunch, work, restaurant, movie, home). And that's just one day. Yup, big PITA - thanks Feds, thanks Lexus. Note that Lexus is aware of the mold buildup problem they've created and their official line - I was shown it in black and white by my Lexus service manager - is that owners are to either switch off the AC compressor using the RTI, switch to fresh air intake by overriding the Auto intake mode, or completely turn off the system entirely periodically for some unspecified amount of time in order to allow the trapped system moisture to dissipate.

On the seat sensor, feel around the centerline of the seatback a few inches up from where it attaches to the seat (the big crack where your pocket change goes to die). You'll feel a hard circular "button" and, if you have light colored leather like me, you should be able to see the leather wearing. When I get the rig back, I'll post a pic.

Tee

Dual mode is when the system separates user controls for the passenger and driver, turning 'Dual Mode' off will make the system operate in single mode. Also I would check the sensitivity level of the smog sensor control, this might be keeping the re-circulation option engaged and not swapping to fresh air mode.

williakz

Thanks for the clarification on Dual mode. When alone, I always keep it in non-Dual (single) mode and quickly put it back there after my wife leaves.

On the smog sensor, I've never changed ANY of my AC settings from their factory defaults. Also, I live a pretty good ways out of the city and often travel further into the wilderness (I stay off freeways) in search of the ultimate golf course. Same AC system behavior in all cases.

I see you have a 2007 LS. I also owned one and NEVER had an AC issue in the years I owned it. The system was programmed as fresh air-biased back then at the cost (arguably) of an vanishingly small amount of fuel efficiency. That said, I see you also have a 2012 RX350 which, I think I recall, has the "new" recirc-biased AC programming. Does your RX cycle acceptably between fresh air and recirc when the outside air temp is 75F or above?

Tee

Good question about the RX, I will need to look into that for you. It's the wife's so I'm rarely drive it but I do know there is no Auto for the re-circulation and fresh air button. It's manual only which I found odd that it would not have that function.

roadfrog

Yes you can brake smoothly when you spend the 60 dollars for new rotors as I did. As for the AC, that does seem F'd up. Maybe there's a workaround.

Good Luck!

williakz

Soon as I burn through the pads (or get disgusted enough with the shudder), you got a deal my friend!

RodT

i hate to hear the amount of issues that you are having with your 13',Williakz but i agree with LexFather just maybe you got a bad egg out of the bunch i hope that the Lexus dealer is gonna take care and address all the issues that you have posted with No out of pocket expense for you. Keep us posted on your outcome

LexFather

Really sorry to hear about your issues then.

williakz

Just to be clear, my issues are ingrown toenails and bad breath. The issues I've been describing here are with the LS460 and some of them have been existent to one degree or another from its inception.

williakz

Hope to get my "baby" back today (it went in on Friday morining). I'll be sure to post up ALL the gory details. Might help someone down the road.

LexiJeff

On my '13 F-Sport, I have the same complaint about the "intelligent feature" of the AC to insist on recirc (It's been frequently above 75F here lately) and yes, I too have the moldy smell complaint.

I've owned other vehicles with the similar AC odor issues and agree, the two best things to help mitigate are to ensure you don't stay in recirc too long, and to actually shut the AC off at least a few minutes before you turn the car off. Not that pleasant in the heat of summer, but, better that than "impressing" people with funk.

williakz

Please consider initiating a formal complaint with Lexus corporate THROUGH your dealer's service manager. The more pushback Lexus gets on their decision to sacrifice customer comfort and convenience to government dictates, the better for ALL of us.

RandyV

On my 2007 the AC defaults to recirc mode. This is easily overridden to fresh air intake by pressing the intake air selector button.

Luxofreak

As for the A/C:

If you set the temperature too low (or even to "LO") it will always default to recirculation and stay there.

To avoid this, what I do is, for example, if the outside temp is 83F, I set my internal temp to 70 or 72F using "AUTO" pressed twice so it will mange the outside/recirculation on its own. As soon as the temperature starts lowering inside the cabin, the system WILL switch to outside intake, as long as you don't set the temp all the way down to 67F or less, or "LO". Next time you use the car again, even if you don't turn the a/c on after the temperature is set, if this temp setting is too low, the system will ALWAYS default to recirculation when you use the fan or a/c, or even if you leave the whole a/c system OFF. The key here is the cabin temperature chosen by the user.

This system is smart, it works perfectly, fan speed, recirculation/outside intake and smog detection - everything is automatic.

When the system is pulling air from outside and the car gets a whiff of diesel from a truck in front of me, it switches automatically to recirculation. Goes back to outside air as soon as the sensor detects no more pollution. And, there is also a way to set up the sensor's "whiff sensitivity" but I don't remember how to right now.

williakz

No, as a matter of fact your AC does NOT default to recirc. In reality, it is biased ("defaults") to "fresh" or outside air intake (OAI). The specifics associated with intake air mode selection are admittedly somewhat nebulous and depend upon a proprietary Lexus decision matrix (neural network). Lexus recently changed the fundamental operation of the system in order to produce marginal increases in fuel efficiency as demanded by U.S. CAFE standards. Your system operates to optimize your comfort and convenience while those of us with newer vehicles suffer extended recirc modes (hours long) and the resultant start-up stink due to mold buildup. Lexus has issued customer guidance on the start-up odor problem which advises owners to switch from recirc to fresh air. You, luckily, have no such requirement since your system is biased to select fresh air once your set point temperature has been attained.

I'm not guessing here. I owned a 2007 and now I own a 2013 LS460. In addition, I have discussed this issue AT LENGTH with Lexus service personnel. Once you have done the same, I'd be happy to compare notes. Thanks for your interest.